Blog- Week 9

Kelli Monheiser

Blog- Week 9

Dublin Field Trip

Ireland is quickly coming to an end as we head into our last month of the trip. With two more field trips left and Dublin now behind us, I believe that I have definitely been able to get a feel for Irish History first hand. This weekend in Dublin was a great way to understand a lot of the history as we visited the Clonmacnoise monastery, the Farmleigh house, the Dublin Castle, Parliament building, Botanic Gardens, and Dublin County Jail, as well as receiving a great deal of time to discover the New Dublin City on our own. My personal favorite was the Dublin County Jail. It was a great way to understand a lot of the history, and it is also nice to go on a guided tour where someone can explain to you what you are looking at.

With our free time, a large group of us went to the Guinness Storehouse where we walked through the very large building and learned how the stout was made. Guinness is a large contributor to the economy of Ireland, and it was very neat to see the process that it takes to put the fine drink in the pubs. And to top it of, we were given a free Guinness after our tour. I would recommend the storehouse in Dublin to those looking to get a feel for Dublin City.

I believe, however, this is a good point to talk about missing home. Being away for three months is a commitment, and even though it may only seem like 90 very fast days away from your family that you probably wouldn’t have seen if you were at UNK anyway, it is more than just your family you will miss. In my situation, I had to work every other weekend, and would probably only end up going home once a month, and in three months, that is only three times. In that sense, I figured, what is three times that I wouldn’t see my family; no big deal. However, I didn’t consider that I would also be missing my friends, my car, my bed, my cellphone, my job, my nieces and nephews, my music and more. I am not trying to discourage anyone from coming on his life changing trip, simply because that is what it is; life changing, but there is more to it than just saying goodbye for a small period of time. I am also not saying that I wish I wouldn’t have come here, because I easily learned more this semester abroad than I learned in class at UNK. It is simply things that cannot be taught in a book, and it is for that reason that I am so very glad that I chose to study abroad.

I have mixed feelings about this point in my trip. I wish I would have seen more, and I wish I could stay longer to fulfill that empty feeling, however it is a challenge to be away from home where everything one needs may be at the touch of a finger. I look forward to what the last month has in store for me, because in 27 short days, I will leave it all behind.