Hello from a hotel in Dublin! In the weeks since my beloved program in Dublin ended, I have been traveling around Europe with my sister Tirzah. She met me in Dublin, and we’ve since traveled to Barcelona, Venice, and Paris, spending a few days in each city! We’ve now returned to Dublin, where we will spend a few more days before heading back to the States! It’s been a blast exploring different cities and getting a taste of what they all have to offer. We’ve checked out Parc Güell in Barcelona, ridden a gondola in Venice, and explored the Louvre in Paris! And I’ve gotten to show my sister some of my favorite spots in Dublin, like Nando’s, Murphy’s Ice Cream, and St Stephen’s Green Park!
As much as I love these other cities my sister and I have visited, I think I can honestly say Dublin is my favorite (Paris is an extremely close second), although that may be because I got to spend so much time there, truly immersing myself in what Dublin has to offer. From experiencing the work culture to going to community events like Pride and farmer’s markets to just wandering the streets, I got to spend eight weeks getting to know Dublin not just as a tourist, but as a professional and as someone temporarily living there.
To give a highlight reel of my time in Dublin and in this program, I will start with my arrival! The exhausted giddiness I felt as I stared out the window of the bus with other EUSA students on the way to UCD will stick with me forever. In that moment, I took in the lush greens of Ireland, the unique style of the homes and buildings, the narrowness of the roads, and the misty rain I would grow to tolerate if not love.
The following weeks were full of fun adventures like checking out the gorgeous landscape of Glendalough, trying and failing the Gaelic games, looking for seals in Howth, hiking up a mountain in Bray, checking out markets, and riding a Ferris wheel in Galway. I explored the food scene as well! I had fish and chips, tried several Irish stews, ate delicious potato cakes, tasted the sweetness of fresh Irish strawberries, gulped down raw oysters, tested out a spice bag (had a piece of chicken stolen by a seagull), had Murphy’s ice cream, and, the best part of my Ireland food experience, Nando’s, which I have now had a whopping six times. And best believe I will be having it one more time before my sister and I leave Dublin.
As much fun as my adventures and explorations in my free time were, I also had the most amazing time in my internship. Working at Gay Community News was an absolute dream. My coworkers were all so lovely, and I will miss them dearly. I am so unbelievably proud of myself and the work I did. I wrote a total of 35 articles during my short time with GCN, and I put my heart into each one through my research and writing. It is a thrill to have my name in the byline of professional articles, and it’s even more of a thrill for these articles to be written with the intent to contribute to a magazine like GCN, a magazine dedicated to producing news and articles for the queer community in Ireland. I got to be part of something that means a lot to me but is also so much bigger than myself.
Through my time in Dublin, I was able to grow as a person living and moving through this world, and also as a professional who will soon be joining the workforce. I’ve learned how to be independent, how to value exploration, how to communicate, how to value differences, and how to be open to learning. I’ve learned more about my career preferences. Prior to this internship, I would have said I had no true intention of ever pursuing journalism, and while it still is not my first choice, I have been exposed to it in such a way that I could truly see myself doing it, especially if it’s with a focus on community the way GCN is. I have gained confidence in my skills and abilities because I was able to exercise them and see the results of my work. I feel I have grown into myself and learned more about who I am through this experience, and I am just beyond grateful for this opportunity. This summer will linger with me for the rest of my life as one of my fondest memories.