I have had such a great first week in Dublin!
On Monday, I arrived to Dublin Airport around 8 am with Kendall, and then took a bus to the UCD campus with a bunch of other internship students. Once we got to campus, we received our dorm assignments and met our roommates! We’re on the very top floor, so getting our suitcases upstairs without an elevator was interesting lol. After we dropped our stuff off, we headed back to UCD village and went on a campus tour. UCD is a HUGE campus with so many nice outdoor areas, a beautiful pond, and lots of different indoor amenities. By the end of the tour, I was exhausted, so after running a few errands, I settled in for the rest of the night.
On Tuesday, we had orientation for the first half of the day, and then a group of us went into the city center to shop around a little and get dinner. One thing that I LOVE about Dublin is how easy the public transit is. There is a bus that comes every few minutes and takes us from the UCD campus directly to the city center, it could not be more convenient.
On Wednesday, EUSA brought all of us to a Gaelic sports club where we got to learn and play three different Gaelic games! We tried hurling, Gaelic football, and handball. These sports were no joke…they were not easy to just pick up and play. My favorite was definitely Gaelic football though, it kind of reminded me of soccer. I really want to try to go to a match while I’m here! Luckily, it didn’t rain at all while we were playing on Wednesday; it was such a perfect, sunny afternoon. It was also so interesting to get a full background on each sport, and gain some deeper insight into how meaningful these games are to the country. I’m so grateful to have gotten to have such an important cultural experience within just a few days of being here!
On Thursday, we had a free day to practice the commute to our internships! To get to my internship at EISS, I have to take a bus to city center and then a train up the coast, so I was definitely glad to do a practice run. Although my commute was long, almost two hours, it went well! Because I was up so early, it was nice to have the entire day to acclimate to the city a little bit. I took the train back to city center and walked around for a few hours. I went to Dunnes, which is the main department store here in Dublin, and got a few things for the apartment to make it a bit more homey! I had such a peaceful afternoon just walking around and taking the city in a little bit, each day I just feel more and more grateful to be here! Later in the afternoon, I took a bus to Blackrock and went grocery shopping at Aldi. It feels sooo good to be all stocked up on groceries. Also…wow I cannot get over how awesome it is to buy reasonably priced dairy products. Blackrock was beautiful! This was the first spot where I had been able to see the ocean, which was super exciting. I sat there by the train tracks for a little while just taking in the view!
On Friday, EUSA took us on a day-long excursion to Gleann Dá Loch, Wicklow and to Kilkenny. Gleann Dá Loch was so gorgeous! We spent a couple of hours walking through the trails, which felt like a perfect introduction to the gorgeous views that Ireland has to offer. At the end of the trail was a huge lake, which was so worth the wait! After Wicklow, we headed to Kilkenny. We had a little under two hours there, but I loved the town SO much, I’m definitely going to make it a goal to travel back there. We spent our time touring the Kilkenny Castle, which was the best decision.
Saturday was my favorite day so far!!! I went with my roommates to Howth, which is a small coastal town in Dublin. We spent most of our time there on a cliff hike, and were so lucky to have such perfect weather on our way up! It was sunny and warm, and the ocean looked actually unbelievable. On the way down we did get caught in a bit of a rainstorm which left us a bit soaked the rest of our trip lol…but we did not care, anything was worth it for the views we got in Howth! There are seriously no words to describe how in awe I was this entire day.
Possibly the best part of our day in Howth is when we saw…SEALS!!! Seals are my favorite animal, so getting to see them up close and just in the open was an insane experience. I think we probably sat just staring at the seals for at least 45 minutes, we could not get enough!
Although I have had an amazing week, I am excited to start my internship next Tuesday. I will be working for Early Intervention Support Services (EISS), which is a school that creates individualized behavioral/educational programs for 3-6 year olds with autism. There are so many skills that I will gain from this role, but also many skills that are required to bring with me to be successful in the position. Enthusiasm, empathy, adaptability, and perseverance are all key skills that I plan to take with me into this role. Specifically within the context of Ireland, I see the importance of bringing with me a light-hearted and easy-going attitude, as well as an eagerness to ask questions and learn new things!
I hope next week is just as amazing as this one was! Slán!