Today is March 1st, which means Iv'e been studying in Ireland for exactly a month. Wow! I was told that the three months would fly by quickly, but I feel like I just got here, that's why it is important to make every day count! In the last month I have met so many incredible people, have learned so much about myself and have really grown to love Ireland as a second home. As far as the studying goes, I sometimes forget that I am STUDYING abroad and not just on a three month vacation. I find myself getting caught up on planning out where I will be traveling on the weekends and less on academic aspect. The classes are not hard, but they are more time consuming than what I was expecting. I really enjoy Gaelic class and practice conversing with the locals at the pubs in Galway. I am usually wrong, but they appreciate the effort. :) History class is my least favorite. I have a hard time understanding him and he jumps around so much that I never know what he is talking about. The classes are three hours and I have hard time staying focused for that long, even with the small breaks. I don't mind literature class, but our professor has given us four books to read and I don't know how he expects us to read them all in such a short period of time. Although I know that I have learned a lot in the classroom, but I have also learned a lot outside of the classroom from talking to the people.
Besides studying, last weekend we took our first field trip to the Aran Islands. There are three Islands and our group traveled on ferry to the biggest island called Inishmore which is 3 miles wide and 12 miles long. It was an incredible feeling standing on the top of the ferry boat and looking out into the huge ocean. When we reached shore we rented bikes and took a bike tour around the coast of the island. This was my favorite day since staying in Ireland. We stopped to take pictures but the pictures don't do this beautiful island justice. We stopped at a goat farm and got to hold the baby goats and learn about goat milk and cheese. We biked to the cliffs called Dun Aengus and worm hole.The cliffs were incredible and when the waves hit the cliffs it would sound like thunder. I have never been afraid of heights, but I was very scared to get too close to the edge of the cliffs.The worm hole looked like a rectangle swimming pool and I couldn't believe that it wasn't man made. The tour guide told us that Red Bull has diving competitions off the cliffs into the worm hole. By the end of the bike tour, the group was exhausted and hungry.I think we underestimated the amount of biking so for future reference be sure to wear the appropriate shoes and clothing. Overall I would say the Aran Island was a very successful first field trip. I enjoyed the biking so much that four of us planned a trip to rent bikes in Galway and travel the area for the weekend. I will talk about this impromptu trip in my next blog so stay posted! Until next time, cheers!
Besides studying, last weekend we took our first field trip to the Aran Islands. There are three Islands and our group traveled on ferry to the biggest island called Inishmore which is 3 miles wide and 12 miles long. It was an incredible feeling standing on the top of the ferry boat and looking out into the huge ocean. When we reached shore we rented bikes and took a bike tour around the coast of the island. This was my favorite day since staying in Ireland. We stopped to take pictures but the pictures don't do this beautiful island justice. We stopped at a goat farm and got to hold the baby goats and learn about goat milk and cheese. We biked to the cliffs called Dun Aengus and worm hole.The cliffs were incredible and when the waves hit the cliffs it would sound like thunder. I have never been afraid of heights, but I was very scared to get too close to the edge of the cliffs.The worm hole looked like a rectangle swimming pool and I couldn't believe that it wasn't man made. The tour guide told us that Red Bull has diving competitions off the cliffs into the worm hole. By the end of the bike tour, the group was exhausted and hungry.I think we underestimated the amount of biking so for future reference be sure to wear the appropriate shoes and clothing. Overall I would say the Aran Island was a very successful first field trip. I enjoyed the biking so much that four of us planned a trip to rent bikes in Galway and travel the area for the weekend. I will talk about this impromptu trip in my next blog so stay posted! Until next time, cheers!