Cead Mile Failte- A Hundred-Thousand Welcomes

"Leprechauns, castles, good luck and laughter.

Lullabies, dreams and love ever after.

A thousand welcomes when anyone comes...

That's the Irish for You!"

The last two and a half weeks in Ireland have been a whirlwind.  Here are the major points:

Finals---

Finals in Ireland are very different.  You have a week off for 'study week' (I went to Italy instead) where all of the Irish students try to cram in as much material as they can about the classes they took.  As I have mentioned before, Irish students don't go to all of their classes.  One girl I know has never (in her two years at university) gone to all of her classes in one week.  That is why they all need the study week in order to learn the material.  I had two essays and three written exams. Each essay was to be 8-10 pages long... which is difficult since I'm really not an essay writing person.  Special thanks to Erin for proofreading everything for me!

All three of my exams were in giant rooms of 400+ students from all different classes... in Salthill.  Salthill is up the road from Galway- about an hour long walk from my apartment.  We had to take the bus from school to one of them and a cab to the other because it was in the morning.

(The sunset I walked out to after my first final in Salthill was over)

My first exam was Entrepreneurship on Wednesday the 5th.  It was a two hour long test consisting of four questions.  You pick two and write short essays on them in the time given.  The test was a breeze (I hope!).  

For Econ, our professor gave us mock questions a few weeks before to practice with.  Lucky for us... the questions on the test were the exact same.

Marketing was my last final right after Econ on Monday the 10th.  It was the hardest one because the teacher picked very random topics from our book that we hardly discussed.  Regardless I think I was able to write something that made sense! (I only needed a 35% on the test to pass the class)

(Celebrating the end of finals!)

Beer Tent and Christmas Market--

After my first final, I went to the Christmas Market with Allie, Liz, Ashleen, Kevin, OB, and Giblin.  OB and Giblin are Allie and Liz's Irish roommates (O'Brian and Giblin are their last names).  We all went to the German beer tent that was set up and had ourselves a liter of Oktoberfest beer!  This was awesome because even though I didn't get to make it to the actual Oktoberfest, I was able to have my own little one without even leaving Galway!

(Me and Ashleen)

(Allie and me)

On Allie's last day, the two of us and Melon went to the Christmas Market one last time and went on the Carousel!  It was super fast though... we were all quite dizzy afterwards.

(Entrance to the Market)

(The Carousel)

Tig Neachtain--

The Saturday after Italy, Allie and I went into town to do some shopping.  We wandered around and stopped in front of the Tig Neachtain pub.  We had never been in and we were hoping to get a cup of tea somewhere where we could sit down.  Inside was picturesque.  It looked just like you would image an Irish pub to look like.  It had little walled-off stalls for people to sit in and an open area with a piano in the corner.  While we were drinking our tea and old man got up and went over to the piano.  He played Christmas carols and sang along to them.  I couldn't have imagined a better way to spend the afternoon than to be sitting there listening to him sing.

12 Pubs of Christmas--

It's a tradition all over Ireland that the students do a pub crawl after finals called the 12 Pubs of Christmas.  You start at College Bar on NUIG's campus and follow your planned route to make it to 12 pubs by the end of the night.  The rules are as follows:

Eating is Cheating
One drink per pub
Finish with a round of shots
If you can't hack the pace, get out of the race
Half an hour in each pub
Slow drinkers must be ridiculed
Don't be a wandering drunk- stick to the planned route
Always leave a man down (yes I typed that correctly)
Cocktail drinkers must be ridiculed
No matter how drunk you are do everything with a smile

The pubs we went to were:

College Bar
Sally Long's
Kelly's
Busker Brownes
Front Door
Spanish Arch
Pizza Pasta Shop (We were eating and cheating)
Quays
King's Head
Taafes
McSwiggans
Fibber Magees
Skeff

Now... I think it goes without saying... I definitely didn't have a drink at each pub.  Very few people ever make it to 12... and if they do... they typically don't remember it.

(Ashleen, me, and Melon at 12 pubs)

(Our bows)

Last Night--

My last night in Galway I spent with Melon.  Almost everyone else was gone so we went out for dinner downtown.  After much debate we decided to try The Quays.  We had never been there for food, but it was one of our favorite places at the beginning of the semester.  It felt right to finish where we started.  I ordered the Seafood Chowder and Fish and Chips.  I know---seafood overload.  But you have to do that when  you are in Ireland.  The have the best seafood ever!
After our dinner we walked over to the Tig Coili for dessert:  Irish coffees.  Boy did they make them strong!  Woo!  The bartender was quite generous with the whiskey.  While we were there I also looked for the dollar bill I had them put up.  However, because of the decorations we couldn't find it.  Hopefully it's hanging up there somewhere.

(My dollar bill at the Tig Coili)

Now--

I'm at Shannon Airport.  It seems like just yesterday I was getting off the plane to start my semester.  I can't believe how the time has gone by.  There has been so much excitement over the past few months, but I know that I am ready to go home.


It was a life-changing experience being abroad in another country.  For the first time I had to live on my own and cook for myself all the time.  Although being in Ireland made it tricky to adjust to, I got the hang of it, and with the help of Pintrest, Melon and I became exquisite chefs!  I will bring back my new-found cooking skills (and my ability to improvise when ingredients aren't available) to the States and use them at home and while at school next semester and for the rest of my life.

This has been a semester to remember.  I am so thankful to have had Melon as my roommate!  We were both on the same level of weirdness so we got along really well.  All of the people I met, American, Irish, German, Italian, Spanish, etc.  Everybody made this trip what it was:  a success.  I know that the memories I have made will live with me forever and I will never forget this semester.  I think the connections is what study abroad is all about.  You go to another country not just to go to school, but to learn from people you meet.  When you study abroad you are exposed to people from all different backgrounds.  Not only is that interesting for you because you get to learn about different cultures, but it also helps you gain knowledge and insight for the future when you are in the working world.

So to Galway- thank you for an amazing semester.  I will try to be a bit more relaxed about everything, I will look for the craic wherever I go, and I will call people I meet 'love.'

(Watching rainbows form)

(The Dingle Donkey with the puppy on its back!)

(I'll always be on Galway Time)

Cead Mille Failte- A Hundred-Thousand Welcomes

"May you always have
Walls for the winds,
A roof for the rain,
Tea beside the fire,
Laughter to cheer you,
Those you love near you,
And all your heart might desire!" 

"God then made man.
The Italian for their beauty.
The French for fine food.
The Swedes for intelligence.
The Jew for religion.
And on and on until he looked at what
he had created and said,
"This is all very fine but no one is having fun.
I guess I'll have to make me an Irishman.""

"May there always be work for your hands to do,
May your purse always hold a coin or two.
May the sun always shine warm on your windowpane,
May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain.
May the hand of a friend always be near you,
And may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you!"