Recap of the last few days

Whew! What a whirlwind the last few days have been! I'm happy to report that I arrived home safely on Saturday, and have spent the last few days attempting to unpack and catching up with family and friends. I'm still a little sad that my time studying abroad came to an end so soon. While I was (and still am) happy to return to the States to see everyone and spend the summer at the shore, I'm sad to think that the past four months went so quickly. Anyway, I think it's safe to say that my experience overseas, the people I met, lifelong friends I made and the places I visited were beyond what I ever imagined the would be. My decision to study abroad in Ireland was without a doubt the best decision I've made to date, and I am so thankful for everything.

Thursday night, Colleen, Meghan, Tara, Melissa and I met up with our dance teacher in the city centre for our very first Céilí, where we finally had the chance to show off our dance moves. It was a lot a fun, and a great way to spend one of our last nights in Dublin.



Friday morning, we handed in our internship portfolios, the 25-page document detailing our entire experience within the Irish workplace. At 1:30pm, we all attended the Farewell luncheon, and feasted on a 3-course meal in celebration of our time in Ireland and the completion of the program. After lunch, most of us decided to play Ultimate Frisbee in the park. Before heading into the park we realized it was starting to rain. However, after nearly four months in Ireland, we all knew not to let a little rain stop us from having fun. We played in the drizzling and pouring rain, and eventually the clouds broke and the sun came out. It didn't seem to matter that we got soaked, we were having too much fun.

At the luncheon, our program manager, Mary, gave each of us stuffed green teddy bears as a way to remember our time spent in Ireland.


After playing, we changed and headed into the city one last time. We ended up at McGuire's, just across the bridge on O'Connell St. for a pint or two.

We headed back to campus to begin the last and dreaded packing process. Before we started though, Mary, Colleen, Tara, Melissa, Trevor and I cooked a bunch of our leftover food for everyone, in an attempt to use everything we had left. Everyone feasted and was stuffed from the food.

Our last night in Dublin was spent, packing, cleaning and reminscing about the times we'd had together. Before we knew it, it was 5 am and we departed for the airport to headed back to the US. The flight was pretty smooth, and just under 7 hours. It was great to see my parents waiting just outside of the baggage claim for me, although it was pretty sad to say goodbye to the new friends I'd made. We all have made plans to visit one another over the summer, which I'm really looking forward to over the next couple of months.

It's a little saddening to look through pictures and recount the stories now, especially knowing that my time in Ireland is over. After getting the opportunity of a lifetime to live, work and study abroad, I can't imagine that it will be my last time visiting Europe.

Thanks to everyone for following along with my blog over the last few months! I've really enjoyed being able to share all of my stories with you, and hope to be able to catch up with all of you in person in the near future. I love you all!

"Wait, what? I'm done?"

Today at half-five (that's how the Irish say 5:30), I completed my internship with the Marketing Network. Lauren, Jack and I went from floor to floor saying our goodbyes to the people we've spent many hours working with over the last seven weeks. It was a bittersweet ending to an awesome work experience, one that I'll never forget and will always look back on when I remember the past 3 1/2 months that I've been in Ireland.

We managed to have some fun during our lunch hour today, when we discovered a food market down the street from our office. Several of our co-workers have been talking about it for weeks, and today we finally got a chance to experience the incredibly delicious food on what I'd say has to have been the best day of sunshine we've seen in a long time.

While everyone scrambles to complete their portfolio assignment tonight (it's due tomorrow) and as we all attempt to cram every last piece of clothing and all of the extra souvenirs into our suitcases over the next two days, I can't help think it can't be time for us all to leave just yet. Where have the last 15 weeks gone?

Several of us are headed into the city centre for a traditional Irish Céilí tonight. We'll see just how much the last four weeks of dance class have taught us!

Girls Night Out

Today after work, I met up with Melissa, Colleen, Meghan, Mary and Tara for dinner in the city. We chose to eat at Green Nineteen, after Melissa scouted out a couple different places. It was a small, cozy place with a funky, eclectic style, and we remarked about the playing of rap music while eating. We each had great meals, and split a brownie sundae for dessert. I'm starting to realize just how much I'll miss being able to grab dinner after work and catch up with these girls!

We headed back to campus for our final Irish Set dancing lesson, before the Céilí tomorrow. A Céilí is typically a gathering where traditional Irish music is played, and dancing is a must. Our teacher has invited us to come to a traditional Céilí with her tomorrow night in the city centre, so in today's lesson we reviewed each figure of the Connemara Set we've learned over the past several weeks. I'm looking forward to the céilí, as I'm sure with my moves it could prove to be very interesting.

Several of us headed back into the city centre to meet up with some of the other girls in our program for drinks and karaoke. What a fun night!

Last Trip to the Movies

After work today, I met up with Melissa to do some last minute shopping in the city centre. We headed to the Savoy to see Date Night. Starring Steve Carell and Tina Fey, the film depicts the lives of an ordinary New Jersey couple, married with two children. Their lives seem to be nothing out of the ordinary, until one night: date night. I won't ruin the rest of the movie for you, just in case you want to see it in the theaters. However, I will say I found it pretty hilarious at times, and couldn't help but think that Steve Carell's character reminded me of my Dad in more ways than one!

We were a little sad leaving the theater, knowing that it will be our last trip to the movies for a few months. Nevertheless, we had a good time and filled our stomachs with popcorn!

A New Intern, 3 Work Days Left

At work today, Jack, Lauren and I met the new intern, Liz, who will be taking over for us next week after we head back to the States. She's also from BU, but studying at the University College Dublin (UCD, for short. We'd met her before, as she and a bunch of the other BU students at UCD traveled to Northern Ireland with us a few months ago. It was fun to have another intern in the office with us today, and we grabbed burritos for lunch and sat in St. Stephen's Green to enjoy the warm, almost humid weather today.

After returning from lunch, we realized just how warm it was outside. Our office was really warm, and one of our co-workers commented on the warm weather Ireland has been experiencing, and said they haven't felt heat like this since last summer. (When I say warm, we're talking 55-60° F) Maybe we brought the 'warmth' over with us? Jack and I agreed we'll have an interesting time adjusting to the heat (and real humid) over the next few weeks at home.

It's hard to believe I'm almost finished with my internship! We finish on Thursday, and our portfolio assignments are due on Friday afternoon. It feels like yesterday that I just arrived home in Dublin after spending nine days backpacking through Italy and France. Where has the time gone?

Dublin Zoo & St. Patrick's Cathedral

Melissa and I decided to take advantage of the nice weather today and head back to Phoenix Park and the Dublin Zoo. Everything is in bloom, and I think it's safe to say spring has sprung in Dublin!



We found a swan's nest on the way to the zoo, and stopped to check it out.
As we crossed the street, we found an ice cream truck and couldn't resist.

And here begins our trip to the Dublin Zoo. We arrived around 1:15pm, and managed to close the zoo at 5pm. The weather throughout the day was unpredictable, as we've grown accustomed to during our time in Ireland, first it rained, then the sun would come out and then the clouds returned. We didn't seem to mind the rain out all. I think it's okay to say we both love animals, and really enjoyed walking around to see some species we'd never even heard of before.












We were hungry, and stopped to grab some lunch. A few of the little boys eating in the picnic area with their families were feeding this bird their chips (french fries).


















After a few hours of wandering through the exhibits, we decided to head into the city centre to check out St. Patrick's Cathedral. It was practically pouring rain by the time we reached the church, but we managed to take a few pictures and wander through the gardens next door.




It was another great, rainy yet sunny day in Dublin. We wandered through the Temple Bar area, across the Ha'penny Bridge and down O'Connell St. reminiscing about our time spent exploring the city we've learned to love and call home for the past 3 1/2 months. It's hard to believe that our time in Dublin is coming to a close, and we both agreed how much we're going to miss this place. Enough with the sad talk, we still have a few more days left and we're not about to stop all of the fun we've been having just yet!

Last Saturday in Dublin

After a later night out on Friday, most of us opted to sleep in a few extra hours this morning before heading back to the Temple Bar markets. After visiting each of the different sections of the market last week, I had a good idea exactly what to eat. Two lamb skewers, a berry smoothie and a banana and nutella crepe later, I left the food area feeling pretty satisfied.

Although we took the bus with a smaller group of people, we ran into most of the others from our program. Great minds think alike!



The weather was a little chiller today than last week, but that didn't seem to stop any of the vendors. I was amazed at all of the beautiful flowers on sale throughout the city, and couldn't resist a picture of the gerbera daisies.
Colleen, Melissa and I split up from the bigger group when we saw a sign for Cadbury's Chocolate Emporium. We went inside and were asked to enter our names and guess how many chocolate bars it took to put together the gigantic Ireland sculpture on display. And of course, there were free samples!

Throughout the market and the streets today were tons of musicians. For the first time since I've been here, I saw a women playing a harp on a street corner.

We wandered down Grafton St. and passed St. Stephen's Green until Colleen spotted a line of horse drawn carriages. After one of the drivers did some convincing, we hopped in one for a 30 minute tour of the south side of the city. He took us around Marion Square, another smaller park, and passed several of the government buildings. And of course, we got the opportunity to finally spot some of Dublin's famous Georgian architecture.




The doorways are an example of the Georgian style architecture. Notice the side window panes and half-moon shaped window above the door. Most of the doors throughout the city are painted random colors, as you can see above.

We headed down to the Grand Canal, which we were told runs almost all the way across the country, to Limerick. There were tons of boats along the canal, many of which we occupied by people enjoying the nice, cool weather.

After departing from our carriage, we walked back down Grafton St. to do some shopping. Melissa spotted a man asking ash tray shaped containers on the street, and we stopped to check out how exactly he was making them. Turns out, he was using old recycled aluminum cans and a pair of scissors. I think we might even be able to make them ourselves!



After buying a few soveniors,we came back to campus to eat dinner and rest for a few hours before we head back into the city again later on tonight. What a great way to spend our last Saturday in Dublin.