Homesick for Dublin

Well… I have officially been back in the States for a month now. The time has just flown by, let me tell you. I cannot believe I have been away from my European home for so long! I still wake up some mornings thinking I’m back in my Dublin apartment, only to realize very quickly that I am in fact back in Indiana. It’s quite a shock to the system!

For the past four weeks, I have been keeping very busy. I celebrated Easter with my family. I took a trip to Iowa to see my cousin complete her 2nd year of Med school. I went to Purdue for a few days to catch up with friends during ‘Dead Week.’ I also just got back from Indianapolis where I celebrated one of my best friend’s 21st birthday. I think it’s these little trips that are saving me from completely losing my mind in the Midwest. My friends and family have been doing very well distracting me. My cousin was even so amazing as to get us tickets to go see Adele in Chicago next week!!! That will be the most amazing distraction ever!

Because my summer job doesn’t start until June, I have had time to work on my scrapbooks. Looking through all of my photos and memories of my time abroad, I realize how thankful I am to have had such a life-changing experience. I honestly cannot imagine my life without Dublin. It changed me so much. I am so much more independent and focused now. Thanks to my internship with the Abbey Theatre archives, I actually know what direction I want my life to head in after I graduate from Purdue next year. That’s a major relief considering I have two very broad majors!

I know I have to get back to Dublin and Ireland someday. I had such a strong connection to the country that I cannot imagine a future without it. Now I know that when I go back, it will be different. I won’t have all of my study abroad friends or the IES-Dublin staff with me all the time (which is sad because they were all so amazing). However, I know I will be okay. Dublin felt like home to me from the very beginning, and I don’t feel that way very often. I am not sure when I will get back, but I know that somehow my path will lead me back to the Emerald Isle. Until then, I will just have to rely on pictures and memories!

Here are a few of my favorite study abroad moments:

• Going out to pubs and clubs to dance the night away 
• Stepping into the most magnificent churches throughout Europe
• Finding cheap flights for weekend trips to other European countries
• Chatting with the Irish people… the taxi drivers always have a story or two about their country
• Walking down Grafton Street and listening to the bands and buskers
• Buying the most delicious hot chocolate & walking the streets of Paris
• Eating Chinese food after a visit to Stockholm’s Ice Bar
• Searching for Nessie in Loch Ness
• Standing at the top of the Eiffel Tower at night staring at the lights of Paris
• Seeing the various inspirations for J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter novels in Edinburgh
• Standing outside of Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey knowing the Royal Wedding would take place here a few months later
• Visiting Neuschwanstein Castle in the Alps of Germany with my mom
• Going to Belfast with IES staff to see firsthand the political and religious turbulence of Northern Ireland
• Taking a very moving tour of Dachau, one of Germany’s concentration camps
• Seeing a double rainbow in N. Ireland
• Seeing the treasury at the Royal Palace in Stockholm, Sweden
• Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin
• Seeing beautiful architecture (& castles) everywhere I go in Europe
• Going to see Glen Hansard perform in Whelan’s pub (Dublin)
• Working with the Abbey Theatre every week & getting to know all of the wonderful staff
• Seeing the Giant’s Causeway and walking across the Carrick-a-Rede robe bridge in N. Ireland
• Exploring Galway with a friend one night and running into a stag party dressed as Willy Wonka & Oompa Loompas
• Getting beat down by the Aran Islands with multiple bike mishaps
• Touring the beautiful Dingle Peninsula with my mom & our tour guide
• Working with the wonderful IES-Dublin staff who were beyond helpful
• Meeting some of the best friends I will ever have

While I am still fighting the urge to jump on the next plane back to Dublin, it is nice to be back home with friends and family. If only I could just transplant them all over to Ireland….

Thanks for sticking with me and reading my blog! I hope you all get to have an experience as incredible as mine! If you have any questions, please let me know! I’d love to help convince you to go abroad! It’s the best thing I could have ever done!

 Mindy (mshull@purdue.edu)

Good-byes are the Worst

Well… my semester abroad is winding down, and I am NOT PLEASED! I am absolutely, positively NOT READY to leave Ireland! My semester has gone by so fast. I feel like I just got here a few weeks ago.  But my mountain of final papers and projects due says otherwise. The past couple of weeks have been pretty overwhelming for me. I’ve had major assignments due in all of my classes, and I don’t think my professors realize that I don’t want to spend the last few weeks in Ireland doing homework! You’d think I was supposed to be studying here or something! I don’t know what gave them that idea! HA! To add to that, my mom just came to visit me. We went to the beautiful Dingle Peninsula, explored Dublin, and spent an amazing weekend in Munich, Germany! While it was so great to see her and show her around, it was bittersweet because I know I have to go back to the States soon.

This week I have the last of my papers and exams due, and I have to cram in as much last-minute sightseeing and activities that I can.  Wednesday will be the hardest day, though. That will be my last day with my internship at the Abbey Theatre, and I don’t know if I can handle that. I have loved every moment of my internship, and I feel like I’ve just settled into the Abbey family. I love everyone I work with, and my time spent with Mairead in the Archives has been so eye-opening! I really love doing archive work for a theatre with as much history as the Abbey! I never would have thought of this career path before, so I am unbelievably appreciative of my internship placement. I could honestly see myself doing something like this in the future. Now if only the Abbey would hire me as a full-time Assistant Archivist! That would be perfect! Then I could do what I love in the city that I never want to leave! I think that’s a great solution!

Wednesday night will also be hard because we’re having our farewell dinner with all of the IES students and staff. I can’t imagine saying ‘good-bye’ to these people who I have been so close to the entire semester! They’re my family, and we’ve been through everything together these past few months! How can I say ‘good-bye?!’ I think there will definitely be some tears that night (and for those of you who know me well… crying’s not something I do very often). It’s going to be a very overwhelming day, and I don’t even want to think about it!

To combat my sadness, I have been thinking up ways to visit my friends and come back to Ireland. I’m already planning to take a road trip with some of the IU students in my program to Ithaca college in New York where many of my friends go to school. So that will be great! There’s also been mention of a graduation/reunion cruise, which I think would be fantastic! I am also looking into grad school option in Ireland. Hopefully, a trip back to Ireland will be possible in the near future! It’s such a beautiful, friendly country! I HAVE TO COME BACK! We’ll see what the future has in store for me. I know this is not ‘good-bye forever.’ I’ll keep in touch with my friends, IES staff, and Mairead at the Abbey, and I know I’ll come back to Ireland. I still have so much I want to see and do here. My relationship with this country is far from being over!

Well… I should go work on these final papers. Wish me good luck with the week!

St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin

Well… I finally had my first real St. Patrick’s Day celebration. Where better to celebrate than Dublin, the capital of the Emerald Isle?! My roommates and I started off our day by having a group of our friends come over to our apartment for breakfast.  In between cooking and eating, we all got decked out in our elaborate St. Paddy’s Day gear that we picked up a couple days earlier at the 2 Euro store. This included socks, light-up shamrock headbands and earrings, feather boas, plastic leis, pins, and tattoos. Once we looked acceptably green and patriotic, we headed out on the streets of Dublin to join the parade crowd.

We were hoping to catch some of the parade, but most of us had decided to go to Croke Park to watch the hurling and Gaelic football Club Finals with our program. So we had to meet our RA’s and start walking to the stadium before the parade ever started.  It all worked out because the games were great ‘craic!’ (This is a term used often in Ireland to mean ‘fun’ — ‘What’s the craic?’)

I had never seen a hurling match, and I was surprised by the speed of the game.  The Gaelic football game seemed to get the crowd much more excited though. The only bad part about the games was that the stadium seemed to create a sort of wind tunnel causing all of us to freeze in the stands.  But that’s Irish dedication for you!

After the games, a group of us walked along the river on our way to dinner. It’s amazing how the city completely changed overnight. There were green shamrock decorations outside all of the pubs, and the main streets were filled with carnival rides. The Temple Bar area was a complete madhouse. There were people EVERYWHERE… many of whom were already slightly intoxicated. But we managed to make it to one of our favorite pubs, The Quays, were we had a filling dinner to prepare us for the late night ahead. After dinner, we regrouped and headed to our other favorite pub, O’Neill’s, where we spent the rest of our night socializing in the true Irish manner… with a pint and some good ‘craic.’ It was truly a St. Patrick’s Day I will never forget!

Travel = Love

So it’s official… I love living in Europe! It is so cheap and easy to fly from Dublin to another European country with airlines like RyanAir and Aer Lingus.  Besides Ireland and Northern Ireland, I have already been to England, France, Scotland, and Sweden.  In less than a month I can add Germany to my list as well!  Weekend travel around Europe is just so exciting! I cannot even believe how much I have seen in such a short amount of time!

For my mid-term break, I spent 2 days in London where I got to see Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, etc. Then I took the Chunnel to Paris where I spent 2 days exploring the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Louvre, etc. I then flew back to Dublin for night, only to leave the next morning for the program-sponsored trip to Belfast and Portrush in Northern Ireland. 

In Belfast, I got to take political tours and see firsthand the conflict areas I have been studying about all semester. Very interesting. Then we took a bus along the coast of Northern Ireland. We got to see beaches, Dunluce Castle, the Carrick-A-Rede rope bridge, and the Giant’s Causeway, all of which were breathtakingly beautiful! Northern Ireland is absolutely stunning with its forty shades of green and the bluest water I have ever seen! While it was a very busy mid-term break, it was definitely well-worth the travel exhaustion. 

After my break, I had to go back to classes and my internship for a week before heading off to Edinburgh, Scotland for the weekend.  We were there Thursday night until Monday morning, and we stayed in a hostel that was literally right across the street from Edinburgh Castle! The location could not have been better! We hunted down J.K. Rowling’s  Harry Potter inspirations and saw Dolly the cloned sheep in Edinburgh. Then we went looking for Nessie, the Loch Ness monster, during our Scottish Highlands day trip.  All in all, a very relaxing and fun trip. Getting back Monday morning before classes was not particularly fun though. But I only had to do work for a few days before I was back at the airport Thursday night for my next and most recent weekend trip.

I just got back Sunday from a trip to Stockholm, Sweden, and it was absolutely fantastic! Stockholm is such a beautiful city, and I cannot imagine a better weekend trip! I absolutely loved it there. We got to stay on a boat hostel in a perfect location on the water by the main centre of the city.  We spent one day exploring the Nobel Museum, the Royal Palace, and the gorgeous city. The next full day, we took a ferry to another island of Stockholm where we visited a couple great museums (Vasa and Nordiska) and saw the wonderful arctic animals of Skansen. The reindeer by far my favorite! It felt like a little, old Christmas town, and I loved it! Later, we went to the Ice Bar where we got to wear hooded capes and drink out of ice glasses. Awesome! After that we went to Restaurang Sweden-China where we had the best Chinese food! Not exactly what I would expect to find in Sweden, but I highly recommend it! Sweden was absolutely fantastic, and I am not just saying that because my family has ancestral roots there! It is a beautiful place, and I hope to go back there during the other seasons some day! All in all, I would have to say that I have been keeping very busy with  my travels, but I do not regret a single trip! I have been having the best time exploring Europe, and I know it is just the tip of the iceberg for my future travels! These trips have inspired me to really get out there and see the world around me! Life is too short to just sit around in the middle of the United States.  There is a much bigger world out there, and I dare you to go out there and take advantage of it! I promise you won’t regret a single moment!

A Whole New World

Since coming to Ireland, I have definitely noticed that the news is very different in Europe. People here seem to be much more informed about important events and happenings in the world than they are back in the U.S. It’s pathetic, but sometimes my teachers know more about politics and current events in the States than I do.  Many people just genuinely seem to be very interested in politics here in Ireland though.  It could be because the country has been going through a recession and a huge election while I am here.  In fact, the Irish government will be going through major changes now that the votes are in.  It is definitely a very unique time to be in Ireland.

The best part about being here now is having internships.  Through these we are able to talk to local people about the current events on the country… and trust me… everyone has an opinion! It’s a very small country after all. Two of my classmates are also doing internships with two of the big political parties, so it has been very interesting to hear some of the inner-workings behind such a dramatic election.  One of the parties has come crashing down , losing a large percentage of its seats. The other party has received a major boost in public support, almost doubling its seats. So needless to say, the political world of Ireland has been the focus of many conversations here.  Besides that, though, the people here still seem to be able to keep up with and care about international issues more than we do in the States.  I think the U.S. (and I include myself in this) needs to become more globally aware of the issues in the world. We need to stop being so focused on ourselves. America is certainly not the only place in the world with problems. Being abroad has definitely helped me realize this, and I plan to stay much more informed about Ireland and the rest of the world once I go back home. I don’t want to be hiding from the news like I have in the past. If I ever expect to have a successful career in anthropology or live abroad, I certainly need to brush up my global awareness. Studying abroad has definitely taught me that much!

Has studying abroad already changed my life?!

Any of you considering studying abroad, I have one suggestion for you…. DO IT!!!! How often are you going to get the opportunity to travel and live in another country while you’re in college?! Not very often! So if you’re even slightly considering going somewhere through study abroad, then do it!  I cannot even begin to tell you how much studying abroad in Dublin has already changed me.  I feel like my path in life is so much more focused now that I have been living in Ireland for over a month.  I feel more independent because I have had to budget for all of my trips, food, and other goodies.  I have learned to navigate my way around a big city by myself without getting too lost.  I have learned that it is difficult to focus on school work when you’re living a bustling, European city where there’s always something you want to go see and do.  I have also managed to adjust to apartment-living in Dublin (water problems and all).  All of this has made me realize that I would love to live in a city like Dublin someday.  I love being able to walk everywhere.  I love not needing my iPod because the noise of the city and the juxtaposition of old and new buildings makes every walk new and exciting.  I love people coming up to me in the streets and asking me for directions.  I love the street musicians.  I love the Irish people and the pubs.  I just love the city culture itself!  I can definitely see myself coming back here someday. 

Beyond the atmosphere of the city though, I think the most important aspect of studying abroad for me has been my internship.  My work experience with The Abbey Theatre has been so much more than I could have ever asked for from an internship.  My co-workers are incredible people!  They are always so friendly, and they get so much accomplished each day.  The theatre archives is phenomenal!  I cannot believe how much history I get to encounter and learn about every day by working in the archives.  I’ve held important documents and paintings.  I’ve assisted researchers.  I’ve gone to play rehearsals and performances where I’ve gotten to meet actors, directors, writers, and set designers amongst many other hard-working theatre folk.  It’s just incredible to me how hands-on and fascinating my internship has been so far!  Every single day has been completely different, so it never gets boring.  I have never felt so happy in a workplace before.  I honestly believe that I would be thrilled to do this kind of work for the rest of my life.  I seriously could not have anticipated how much my study abroad internship would have helped me and guided my future career plans.  I finally feel like I know exactly what I want to do with my life, and any of you who know me understand that it has taken me quite some time to figure that out!  I honestly have never been happier, and I wouldn’t trade this study abroad experience for the world! 

So if you can study abroad during your college career, then please take my advice.  Do it before you miss your opportunity of a lifetime! It doesn’t matter where you go.  Each place will present you with a different experience!

“Na-Nu, Na-Nu”

Apparently, having the name Mindy in Ireland immediately triggers people to think of the late 70′s television show Mork and Mindy starring Robin Williams as an alien from planet Ork.  Now obviously, I have watched the show, but I haven’t heard people talk about it in years. So needless to say I was a little surprised when I introduced myself in class the first week and my teacher immediately said “Oh, like Mork & Mindy. Na-Nu, Na-Nu.” Since then, I have been related to that show by numerous Irish people, mostly adult men.  It’s fascinating! One actor I met through my internship even asked if my parents had named me after the show! And I’m pretty sure my teacher is thinking about Mork & Mindy everytime he says my name. Truthfully, I have no complaints about this.  I loved watching the show growing up. I mean, who wouldn’t love a young Robin Williams in rainbow suspenders?!  I have just never heard my name related to an old American sitcom so often in my life!  Then again, Mindy isn’t a very common name here.  As the man at the pub told me last night, “You must be American. You couldn’t get away with a name like that in Ireland!” I’m just going to take that as a compliment because the Irish people here genuinely seem to love Americans.  They always get very excited and ask us plenty of questions when they find out where we’re from and why we’re in Ireland. The most interesting part is that they always seem to know we’re from America before they ever talk to us. Maybe it’s the way we dance…

Who Needs Hot Water?!

So for the past month, my roommates and I have been struggling with Ireland’s hot water system.  They have this thing called the immersion.  We have a timer that is set for hot water to be ready at certain times in the morning and the evening, but if we need hot water outside of those times we flip on the boost (or immersion).  It is supposed to take 2 hours to heat up enough hot water for a decent shower.  While a little ridiculous compared to our plethora of hot water available in the States, the system is easy enough to understand… or so we thought. 

Each morning, we would get about 10 minutes of hot water.  Enough for one person to get a hot shower and one to get a lukewarm shower until the water turned ice cold.  So we tried to set the boost for 2 hours to see if we could get hot water for a shower and dishes later in the day… no such luck. After countless chats with our RA and the landlord, we were finally able to have an electrician come in and look at it.  Unfortunately, the landlord and electrician seem to find nothing wrong with water system. So we wait a few more days, and we still only get 10 minutes of hot water in the morning. So we call again.  The landlord brings in another electrician and he replaces the timer, even though we tell him that’s not the problem. Surprise, surprise… no change.

So our program was nice enough to book us into a hotel across the street for the night while their electrician and plumber came to have a look at it themselves.  It only took them 15 minutes to figure out that the bottom water heater had been broken the entire time.  That means the tank wasn’t heating up like it should.  That also means that we weren’t being ignorant American girls when we said we couldn’t get anything but freezing water no matter how long we set the boost!  So the lovely program staff have put us in a hotel room again for the weekend so we can take long, hot showers and sleep in cozy beds while they get the parts delivered and installed in our apartment. So by Monday we should be good to go with hot water aplenty! Fingers crossed! Although I am going to miss this luxurious hotel life where I got to sleep in the biggest, most comfortable bed on the planet… & take hot showers! What a dream!

Dublin and Actors and Castles… Oh My!

Life in Ireland has been quite busy the past week and a half! But every moment has been AMAZING!!! I have officially had all 5 of my classes at the IES Center. The center is this Victorian brick building that used to be a post office. It’s really cozy, and everyone there knows you when you walk in the door. It’s so great! The classes have been really fun, too! I’m taking Perspectives on Northern Ireland, Irish Language & Culture, Revolutionary Traditions, Irish Communal Identity, and an Internship Seminar. The professors are wonderfully nice people with lovely Irish accents.  They are quite captivating speakers, which is good considering each class is 2 and 1/2 hours long. They also incorporate a bunch of field trips/walking tours into the course curriculum.  It is so great to be able to be out there actually seeing the places that you are trying to learn about in class.  Everything is so much more meaningful this way.

I have also officially had my internship with the Abbey Theatre Archives for 4 & 1/2 days. It is such an incredible opportunity for me to be a part of such an important organization.  I get to organize and catalog old handbills, pull pictures and news clippings for researchers, and attend important meetings for the theatre. I even got to go to the first rehearsal of one of the new plays to hear the actors read through their lines together for the first time! I got to meet the actors, the writer/director, the set designer, and the rest of the Abbey Theatre staff on Monday! It was so awesome! I feel so important working for a theatre where Alan Rickman, Fiona Shaw, Sam Shepard, and Liam Neeson have all performed! How many 21-year-old college students get to say that?!

I have also been doing some traveling and exploring lately.  Last weekend, a group of us went to Cork in the southern part of Ireland.  We stayed in a cute, little hostel called Sheila’s for a decent price. In Cork, we went on a pub crawl with people from all over Europe. We also went to this cool English Market where we bought some fresh (& cheap!) food to cook dinner. The best part of the weekend however was the side trip to Blarney Castle! IT WAS INCREDIBLE!!! I have been dying to see a real castle for years, and my dream finally came true! It was so beautiful and majestic that we hardly noticed the constant rain. We got to walk the grounds and climb the castle. We managed to make it all the way up the tiny (& slippery) spiral staircase to the top of the castle where we proceeded to kiss the Blarney Stone to get the “gift of gab.” This was not an easy task because we had to lay down on our backs, grab the metal bars, and bend backwards down a hole to kiss the bottom stone. A little terrifying, but well worth it!

Well… more to tell you next time! Goodbye for now!

Dia dhuit! Hello from Dublin!

So… I have officially been in Dublin for one whole week now, and I have to say I really love it here! Sure there have been some ups and downs during this past week, but all in all it has been incredible! So, let me fill you in on some details from my first experiences in Dublin.

1) The plane ride to Dublin was not scary at all. The only frustrating part about the airports was all of the security checks out of the U.S. & into Ireland. It was simple enough, but the lines were pretty long and boring. Once I got my luggage from the carousel, a group of us made our way to the terminal to meet up with our program leaders. All of that was a breeze, but as soon as I was told to head outside & get a taxi by myself to my apartment I started to freak out a little. I had never been out of the country, used Euros, or been in a taxi by myself. Most importantly, I had no idea where I was going or what I should expect. Thank goodness these Irish folk are so friendly! A taxi driver immediately came over & loaded up my bags while I climbed into the passenger seat where the driver’s seat should be. It was so surreal driving on the opposite side of the road just trying to take in my surroundings. My taxi driver was so friendly, and he told me some history about the area as he took me on a mini tour of the city on the way to my apartment. He genuinely seemed to care about me & made sure that the man waiting outside my apartment building was the staff member I was supposed to be meeting! How lovely!

2) My apartment is fairly small, and it is definitely not meant for 3-4 people. The oven doesn’t have numbers, the hot water doesn’t work, and we don’t get to dry our clothes.  But I love it regardless because I have two fantastic roommates, a room to myself with a wonderful view, and a prime location for city centre shopping and activities! We have to walk a lot more here to get to class though and I have already broken my new pair of boots, but that just gives me a good excuse to go shopping for some cuter (& sturdier) Irish shoes, right?!

3) I have already made a bunch of new friends in my program through city tours, pub nights, and orientation.  I have also taken 2 out of my 5 classes which all focus on Irish culture, history, and politics, and they are fantastic! But best of all, I have completed 2 full internship days with The Abbey Theatre! This is the oldest theatre in Dublin, and I get the wonderful opportunity to work in the archives department where I get to help locate, catalog, and preserve photos and programs from over 100 years of plays. The staff is incredible, and I know I am going to love every minute of my time spent with them!

 Slán go foil! (Goodbye for now!)