After my flight landed in Omaha on Friday April 24th, I wasted no time getting back into the routine of my life in the States. Saturday my parents drove me the three and a half hours from my hometown to Kearney so I could participate in RA training for next year on Sunday. Since then, my time has been spent catching up on sleep, visiting with friends and figuring out when I was going to start back up with work for the summer. I haven’t really stopped to reflect on my three-month long trip until right this very minute: 10:22pm on May 5th.
There are things that I loved about my time in Ireland and things I absolutely hated. Then there are those things that don’t fall into one of the previously mentioned extremes. These are the things that are the hardest to think about and remember going through, but some of the most important aspects of the trip, such as the everyday living. The Park Lodge Hotel was wonderful, and I will always remember Jane Marie, JP and Geraldine as three of the most friendly and kind-hearted people I know. But the place itself and the people who ran it being wonderful don’t compensate for the fact that I was more or less isolated from the local people.
The Park Lodge is a 25 minute walk from Spiddal, which I might have seen mentioned somewhere in a blog posted by a participant from last year. But when I signed up for the trip, and when we went through orientation, this fact wasn’t presented how I would have liked it to have been. At best, it was quickly glossed over in a PowerPoint presentation. I had a rude awakening when I got to the Park Lodge and realized that if I ran out of bread, I couldn’t make a quick trip to the store to get some. Or if I wanted to spend a night out at the pubs, I had to gather a group to either walk the 25 minutes to Spiddal, potentially in the dark, or split the 25 euro cab fare to get to Galway. Because let’s face it, if you’re going to pay for a cab, you might as well pay to get into the city rather than the small town of Spiddal. But of course, that is also more expensive.
The isolated location of the Park Lodge was an obstacle that was overcome with time. It became easy to plan meals ahead and keep a running inventory of the groceries and supplies I had so when I got the chance to shop, I knew exactly what I needed. And it turns out, getting a group together to go out isn’t very hard at all (who knew, right?!). However, I know that my experience would have gotten off to a much better start if I had been prepared for this from the beginning instead of having to deal with the frustration that accompanies getting blindsided.
One part of the everyday living that isn’t so easy to deal with is the close proximity of the people on the trip with you. You spend the entire trip with the same people, and I will tell you right now: they will get on your nerves. There will be people you don’t like, and there will be drama. These are just facts of life, so accept them now and figure out how you’re going to deal with it. I found that solo walks to Spiddal were beneficial, as was splitting from the group on day trips to Galway and doing my own thing. Living in a small cottage with four other people (not necessarily of your own choosing, depending on the situation) gets to be suffocating and irritating sometimes, but there are things you can do to lessen the frustration. And don’t be afraid to talk to the professor accompanying you. That’s what he/she is there for.
Now I’m going to be honest, and in doing so I might sound pretty naïve. Before going on this trip, I had no idea what a hostel was. None. And I didn’t even think to look it up. I just told myself, ‘Eh, it’ll be fine. It can’t be that different than a hotel,’ and brushed the worry aside. Not a smart idea.
Hostels, in general, are pretty different from hotels. First off, there are four to 16 people sleeping in one room. Don’t let this scare you, because on the field trips, you will always be roomed with other members of your group. But for weekend trips, be warned: unless you pay for a private room, you will be sleeping in a room with strangers. Secondly, the bathrooms are usually the same quality you would expect to find in a restaurant or mall. The smaller rooms usually have private bathrooms consisting of a toilet, a sink and a small shower that resembles one of those push-button sinks. The larger rooms, from my experience (we only stayed in a 16 person room once, so this may not be the case for all large rooms), have a public-restroom, multiple-stall layout with two or three shower stalls thrown in. Again, the bathroom was clean, it was just a little unexpected. The third major difference I noticed (which was a big deal for some of the people on the trip, myself included) is that wifi is usually only available in the lobby area, and even then it’s unreliable at best. For those of you who will be relying on Facebook or iMessage for communication, be prepared to go a weekend without communicating with people back home.
Other than these three major differences, hostels weren’t that bad. In all but one, there was a free breakfast offered at the hostels on our field trips, and the hostel I stayed in during the one extra weekend trip I went on was absolutely amazing (if you visit Edinburgh, stay at the Edinburgh Central Youth Hostel). Once you know what hostels are like, they really aren’t that scary. I just don’t recommend going into a hostel blind like I did, because it’s really not what you expect.
The only other thing I want to give commentary on is the academic aspect of the trip. The classes you take while on this trip are not hard, but they are time consuming. You will have reading assignments, and you will be expected to be able to talk about what you’re supposed to have read. There will be a few papers assigned, and we did have a final for history, though we were able to use notes, text books and the extra readings given over the course of the semester. Our UNK professor did have expectations for our participation and conduct throughout the trip.
While some of us disagreed over how these classes should be conducted and graded, the fact is: you are in Ireland to learn about Ireland. The field trips do teach you a lot, but they are constructed to supplement what you’re learning in the classroom. Sitting through four hours of class Monday through Thursday is hard. It’s hard to stay focused and hard to process the amount of information thrown at you in that amount of time, but, in my opinion, I would have felt cheated if I had paid the amount of money I did to go to Ireland on this Study Abroad trip and not learned anything more than that the country is beautiful.
Looking back on the trip after being home for a week and a half, it’s hard to believe that I experienced the things I did. It seems unreal that just two weeks ago, I was sitting in the living room of Cottage 6 at the Park Lodge Hotel in County Galway, Ireland. But I was. Life here hasn’t changed much since I left, so it feels almost like I didn’t go at all. I have the memories, though, and the pictures and the souvenirs to prove that I did go and that I was strong enough to stick it out when things got hard and all I wanted to do was come home. Now that I’m home and facing a completely normal summer, I almost want to go back and continue having adventures and exploring new places. I guess now I’ll have to figure out how to have adventures here, in the good old USA.
I am so glad that I went on this study abroad trip, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants the chance to travel and experience a different kind of life than they lead here. And it is a different kind of life, one that takes time to get used to. But once you get past those everyday difficulties, the not-so-everyday experiences can impact your life in the best way possible.
Slán!