As the weeks continue to fly by, I find myself realizing that this summer abroad is passing by much quicker than I anticipated.  After one month, I feel like I have visited all the main sites in Dublin, as well as traveling to Galway and experienced the culture on the west coast of the country.  Today (Sunday), myself along with a few other IIP’ers decided to venture towards Howth, a peninsula on Dublin’s north coast.  The hike was challenging, but the view made every step worth it (picture below).

In terms of my internship, things could not be going smoother.  After about three weeks on the job, I have settled into the communications and marketing sectors of my company, with hopes to eventually get some finance experience in my last few weeks.

It has taken about a month, but I finally feel at home.  For the first few weeks, I was hesitant and slightly uncomfortable with day to day tasks and endeavors.  But all of those uncertainties have vanished, and my comfort level with Dublin and its surrounding neighborhoods has expanded – and I find myself wanting to explore and experience new things on a daily basis.  Just yesterday, after work, I decided to stroll around the pier in the city that I work (Dun Laoghaire).  I stayed in the city until about 7pm, and enjoyed the sites and atmosphere.  I believe that its the little moments such as this that will really tie this entire trip together and make it a truly memorable and enriching experience.  Below is an image of the Dun Laoghaire pier, which used to be the countries largest port until the port in Dublin city took things over in the 1930’s.

With about 6 weeks left to soak up every experience that I can, I am looking forward to the future.  I am planning on traveling to Amsterdam in mid-July, as well as enjoying some time with my parents when they come visit in early August.  This trip has been amazing so far, and its not even halfway over.