The last 5 months have been a whirlwind of spice bags, fiddle players, lush green landscapes, cobblestone streets, big windowless lecture halls, philosophical children and bread going bad after just three days (I appreciate the EU’s restrictions on preservatives but am embarrassed by my food waste in those early days). 

I’m back in the States now feeling weirder than ever. There is a Galway-sized hole in my heart and I miss the city every day. My bus ride from Galway -> the Dublin Airport along the motorway called M6 was a tearful one. This main throughway connects the east and west coasts of the country and is just a two-lane road lined with stone walls, rolling grassy hills, and sheep. Scenes from the semester flashed before my eyes: sharing frozen Digestives with my roommates, the upstairs attic of the Crane bar, performing in the NUIG dance recital with new friends, drag shows at the campus bar, the sunset over Claddagh, surfing and hiking and dramatic coastlines, strolls along the Prom, playing the tin whistle on the banks of Corrib River with my friend and unwilling music teacher Aidan, Tuesday night Bachelor nights in Apartment L44 and the Corrib Village ice cream truck, oh gosh the list goes on forever. So many rainbows and concerts and “what’s the craic?”. Galway will always and forever be great craic. See how I learned to use that word? I also realized that I now have the lyrics to about a dozen pub songs memorized, purely through the simple process of osmosis and spending many nights in the pubs. Those songs will always be a part of me. Just as this city will always be a part of me. I also know now that the Irish tea debate between Barry’s and Lyons is a fierce one and I can proudly claim membership on team Barry’s. 

I wish there was a less-annoying way to say that studying abroad changed my life. I went from having no experience with travel logistics to planning trips around Europe. I visited Belfast, Limerick, Derry, Kilkenny, Dingle, Adare, Connemara, Dublin, Edinburgh, Pisa, Florence, Amsterdam, Paris, and Nice. The non-Ireland trips are for another blog :). I made lasting connections with people I would have otherwise never met, from German and French Erasmus students to my Wisco roommates and Irish students from “the sticks” (how midlanders self-describe) and from bigger cities. I’m rambling because I have so much gratitude for this experience and for Ireland. I’m not sure yet how this experience will shape me as I re-enter my life in America, but right now I’m writing everything down and clutching to memories of some of the most important months of my life. Thank you, Galway!