What’s it like getting the opportunity to study abroad? A dream coming true. But, what’s it like traveling across the country within the third year of a global pandemic? Less than ideal.
So far my idealistic fantasy of traveling abroad hasn’t been as luxurious as say the Netflix series Emily in Paris makes it out to be. Instead, I was faced with a sudden flight cancellation, lost luggage, and naturally, sleep deprivation. The irony of it all is that I am still 100% certain this journey will be worth all the mishaps that occur along the way, and I’ll explain why.
After touching down at the Shannon airport and navigating my way through the passport check, airline baggage customer service, and a surprisingly smooth customs encounter, I walked with my fellow Linfield students to our taxis as the sun began setting. We could finally catch our breath with just one last transit until we were at our new home for the next four months. Our arrival there is a messy story in and of itself, but I’ll spare the details as eventually everything worked itself out and we were able to get somewhat settled.
While we went trekking through some of Galway that night, it wasn’t until the next morning that we could really see all the city has to offer. My roommates and I decided to take a walk to the City Centre to do some exploring. The walk over only took about 15 minutes and left our eyes lusting to see more of the city. The cobblestone roads were already bustling with locals walking to work and I’m sure our foreignness was obvious by the lack of urgency in our pace. We spent the rest of the morning navigating our way around the city, recognizing that even in its natural day-to-day state it felt magical. I can’t help smiling and thinking, “How lucky am I?”
After our outing to the centre, we returned home and hopped on Zoom for our first orientation session for school at NUI Galway. We met one of our roommates later that afternoon who is also from the States. We all decided to head out on a mission to get lunch until we stumbled upon the university’s campus. Our impromptu campus tour left us instantly in love! We eventually made it to a restaurant for a late lunch before finishing the day with a grocery haul. All of our mini adventures so far have helped the stress of getting here fade into the background, and for that I am so thankful. We have a few more days of free time before classes officially start and hopefully they will be filled with more adventures.
Best,
Laney Green