Hello from Dublin! Week five has been excellent. I can’t believe I’m halfway through my time here. It simultaneously feels like I just got here and have also been here forever. I’ve truly been enjoying my time in Dublin, getting to have lots of exciting and interesting experiences.
Last Friday, I went to a performance that was a mix of drag, cabaret, comedy, and musical theater. I got to go for free through my internship as GCN was offered tickets to the show. My friend Kai also went with me. The performer was called Le Gateau Chocolat, and he was amazing. He was funny, charming, and an amazing singer.
Saturday, I went with my friend Luiza to a farmer’s market called The St. Anne’s Park Farmer’s Market. The market was north of UCD, and it took over an hour to get to via bus. We had to take a bus from UCD to the city center and get on another bus to get to the farmer’s market. Our second bus, however, despite being the right one, was not following the route Google Maps was showing me. We eventually just got off the bus, thinking we were close enough to the park. We were far, but we weren’t close exactly. We had nearly a 30 minute walk to the park, and once we arrived, we discovered that the farmer’s market was on the other end of the park. The area and the park were very pretty, so it was honestly quite nice. We eventually made it to the actual Farmer’s Market, which was very lovely! There were several food options. I got pork dumplings, and Luiza got bruschetta, and then we both got brownies. My dumplings were delicious. The brownie was the thickest, most solid brick of a brownie I’ve ever had, but it was quite yummy! I also bought these gorgeous hoop earrings with different colored gems on them.
Once we were ready to leave, we began our walk back through the park, but the main path was swarmed with seagulls. I am not the biggest fan of birds, and neither is Luiza, so we decided to take a different path through the woods. Although it wasn’t efficient, it was very pretty and I really enjoyed it! We then made it to the bus stop to begin our journey to the mall.
Once again, we needed to take two buses, and it took around an hour to get there. But it was worth it! This mall was huge! We checked out several stores and were able to make some exciting purchases, like a bag for Luiza’s mom that she’d been looking for. Both Luiza and I had been wanting a leather jacket, and we both found ones that we liked. We also found an important part of my Pride outfit for the following weekend!
On Monday, I got to have dinner with one of my dad’s friends from college who was here in Dublin teaching a class for her students from William and Mary. It was a fun coincidence that we were both going to be in Dublin on UCD’s campus at the same time! We didn’t even know until about a week before I left for the program!
Another enjoyable thing I did was go to a New Orleans-inspired restaurant called Krewe after my internship on Thursday with Kai. We both got jambalaya, and we shared a plate of Krewe fries. It was all so delicious. The plate of jambalaya was huge.
Internship-wise, things have continued to go really well! I am now at 13 pieces published, which is really exciting. I’m also really connecting with my coworkers and feel like I belong. I can really feel myself growing professionally. My teamwork skills are definitely being developed with working with a small team where we delegate tasks to people based on what everyone needs to do each day and now that I’m more integrated and growing in my writing skills, I’m often helping with daily content, especially if someone else needs to be off of it to complete other things. I also feel like the experience of having an internship in a country different from my own has allowed me to be more open-minded. When writing my pieces, I have to keep in mind that I’m writing to an Irish audience and I have to try and imagine what thoughts would lean to from an Irish perspective, such as with the veteran piece I mentioned last week. My internship has been amazing so far, and I truly enjoy my work and the people. In addition, it seems that my work and presence are welcomed and appreciated. The manager for GCN complimented my writing style, and my coworkers have commented on how easily I integrated into their team. As a whole, I just feel very proud of myself that I’m doing good work and also growing and learning.