Blog- Week 8

Kelli Monheiser

Blog- Week 8

Social Life

Arriving back from a stressful, but extraordinary spring break, I believe that a majority of us can agree that we are happy to be back to our home away from home in Spiddal, Ireland. For me, what made spring break so amazing was not that I got to travel all of Europe in a week and a half, but the fact that I got to travel all of Europe in a week and a half with my dad. On our adventure, we rented a car and drove through Ireland; an adventure in itself. We began by driving to a small town of Ennis, where we visited a sale barn and then began our four-day journey through the country stopping at about every Catholic Church in Ireland. It was a neat opportunity to see a lot of Ireland that may be missed on a bus to major cities. Only to find ourselves driving the wrong way down the right side of the street more often than not, we finally made it to Dublin the night before we got on a plane and flew to Paris. From here, we visited the Eifel Tower and Notre Dame Cathedral before we left for a tour of Normandy, and the battlefields of World War II. As for transportation, to avoid big cities and large masses of people, we traveled by train. After several transfers and many useless conversations from people who didn’t know a spit of English, we got the hang of the train station. Although the trains took a lot of our traveling time, and didn’t allow for us to stay long in one place, it was a great way for an old farmer from Crook, Colorado to see farmland in France, Switzerland, and Italy.  Although I enjoyed all the places that we saw, I would have to say that one of my favorite places was Rome, Italy and the Vatican City where we took a tour of the Vatican and New Saint Peters Church, saw the Rome Coliseum, and the amazing work of the worlds most famous artists in the museum, cathedral, and Sistine Chapel. We even got to see the Pope speak from the window of his apartment, which was a truly rewarding experience.

Buttttt, enough about my amazing adventures of Europe, and back to the potential one of those considering Ireland. I believe that this would be a good time to talk about the social life. Living with strangers is something that we all must do at some point. Whether it is moving into a new dorm, or going on a three-month abroad trip to Ireland, it may happen. The only difference between a semester together in a dorm and a semester together in Ireland, is that in Ireland, there is no getting away. If something were to go wrong close to home, you can take the weekend and go home, or join a club and meet new people, but in Ireland, it is different. There are fifteen of us and we are together no matter what. Here, I have found it very hard to get away and find time alone. Something that one should consider before coming here. Traveling is another factor. When coming overseas, it was important to me to travel, and I have, for the most part, held up to this standard as I have been to France, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Ireland, and potentially Scotland and Poland. Although I got to see a majority of it with my dad, it is important to know that some of the best things that you see in you life are with people that you may never talk to again.  Because of these circumstances, it is important to prepare yourself, because that has been hard for me. The simple fact that I am unable to share these great memories with people I know and love, but instead people who feel the same way about the ones that they love. However, I wont say that it is all that bad. From the experiences with new people, I have learned to adapt well with others and handle situations more selflessly. Definitely a golden rule as I get older and will encounter more people throughout my life. So even though three months doesn’t seem so long, it is a learning, and one of the most rewarding, experiences that one will ever embark on as you leave your old family and friends behind and make a new family with the ones surrounding you.