We got to spend most of our week over at the storage facility at Beggars Bush, which was great because we hadn’t been able to do a lot of work there before. The first two days I worked with the new intern, Rory, as we re-shelved the small library that’s held there. Although there wasn’t a whole lot of educational value that went into this task I still really enjoyed it.

The library in Beggars Bush that Rory and I reshelved.

Having some fun while re-shelving the library... "Who ya gonna call?" "Bookbusters!"

She’s also from the United States (a small school in Maryland) and also an educational history major so we already had a lot in common. I told her all about my trip to Dachau last weekend and since she’s also a history education major she understood what I was talking about when I started discussing how I could use that experience of mine in a classroom. It was just nice getting to talk to someone that was on the same ‘level’ as me. She had also visited the camp when she was much younger so we got to compare and contrast our visits, each occurring at such different times of our lives.

I also got to spend some time cleaning bones this week! I felt like I was an archaeologist from Jurassic Park or something, haha. Sitting there in my white lab coat, with my gloves and dust mask… and of course my paintbrush for wiping away the dust! Rory and I worked on a skeleton together that we originally thought was a dolphin, then someone said it was some type of big cat (puma, lion, or tiger), it was later changed to a deer and we finally found out it was a seal!

Working on cleaning Bubba Odysseus.

Blair and I also took this week to finish up our report on the signage problems at the History Museum- I don’t remember if I talked about it in previous blogs. But anyway it was basically just a report on what problems we found with signage in relation to the ease of navigation at the museum and what we thought could be done to remedy the situation. It came out great and with all the appendices and results wound up being ten pages! I’m actually rather proud of it, haha. We were even able to add graphs by using the data we complied from some visitor surveys we did- it looked quite spiffy if I do say so myself.

Last night was Rory’s twenty-first birthday so I went out with her and a bunch of her friends to this great thai restaurant. (First time having thai and it was yummy!) It was a really cool atmosphere and the food there was great! I actually only ordered an appetizer because the food was kind of expensive. But then one of Rory’s friends realized the meal he’d ordered had shrimp in it, which he’s deathly allergic to, so I told him I’d switch if he wanted to. So it was actually a pretty sweet deal- I got a main course for an appetizer price, hehe.

After dinner we went to a pub called The Porterhouse and had a few drinks there. I couldn’t really afford to stay out too late since I had a quiz this morning in class (which went okay I guess). It was kind of funny because one of Rory’s friends wanted to go home after dinner because he had to be up early. Well we convinced him to come to the Porterhouse with us for an hour then when Rory and I were leaving at one he still wanted to stay out! He said since he was out he was going to stay until closing, which was at 3! We gave him a hard time since he was the one that hadn’t wanted to go in the first place but he said it was all or nothing and now that he went out he was staying until 3… because that makes a lot of sense! Haha

It was cool getting to hang out with a group of kids that aren’t the normal people I’ve been hanging out with these past six weeks (even though I love hanging out with all of them.) Some of Rory’s group were from Seattle, others from Ohio, and a few from Rory’s school in Maryland. Overall it was just a really fun night! Jahna’s twenty-first birthday is tomorrow so I’m sure we’ll be out late for that and having tons of fun!! Stay tuned…

written by  kmr788 on July 10, 2009 from Dublin, Ireland
from the travel blog: Dublin, Ireland
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My new tattoo!

Kelsie and Lindsay had been talking all summer about getting a tattoo so I told them I’d go with and get one also. I didn’t talk about it much throughout the summer though because I was set on what I was getting and where I was getting it. (Where as they talked non-stop about it trying to decide where to put it and what to get.) So I think they were actually a little surprised when I actually got mine since I didn’t talk about it much but that’s only because I was so sure about it.

I kept joking with them all summer that I’d be the only one to leave the tattoo parlor with a tattoo… and I was. lol. They both backed out when they couldn’t decide exactly what they wanted, which I guess is the best thing to do. With something as permanent as a tattoo you sort of have to be sure about it! Lol (Oh and the neck, definitely hurt worse than my wrist or ankle for those wondering. But still, it wasn’t too bad considering.)

A couple different people had told me that tattoos in Ireland are expensive (like everything else here I suppose) so I was trying to decide what my spending limit would be. I decided I would go up to 120 euro (about $170), which I’ll admit was still probably way too much but oh well. That’s what the guy at the tattoo place told me it would be so I figured I would splurge (I’m only in Ireland for this whole summer once, right?). But when I went to pay he only charged me 80 euro (about $110) so it really wasn’t much more than I probably would’ve paid in the states. And now I can say I got it in Ireland! hehe

Anyway Saturday night we went out for Jahna’s birthday and ate at this great Lebanese Restaurant, since she’s Lebanese herself.

Jahna and her brother, Saade, on Jahna's 21st!

Jahna had been in the restaurant once before so they knew her there and knew it was her birthday. We asked for the check but still hadn’t gotten it after a while.

Jahna being surprised on her 21st birthday by yet more delicious treats from the waiter... and 'Happy Birthday' over the restaurant loud speakers! haha

At the Lebanese restaurant for Jahna's 21st birthday!

After dinner we wound up going to the thai restaurant I went to for Rory’s birthday on Thursday. Jahna knew the owners there (she really is one of those girls that makes friends everywhere she goes, I love it!) and so we went to have a few drinks at their bar. We each ordered a couple cocktails that were delicious! And what made them even more delicious was that they were on the house! Considering they were 10 euro (nearly $15!) cocktails we saved quite a bit! Lol We ended the night at the Palace Bar, one of Jahna’s favorite pubs in the city. Jahna knows all the bartenders there really well (of course!) so we stayed past closing and had some drinks.

Sunday was one of the final games for Gaelic Football so we went back to the Palace Bar to watch the Dubs play during the afternoon. (We won of course!) Before that though Jahna and I stopped off at Cassidy’s (another favorite pub) and watched the first half of the game while we had some lunch, which was a lot of fun.

After the game Jahna, Meghan, and I walked around the city for a bit while we waited for Saade to meet up with us (he went rock climbing at one of the local colleges for the day). We grabbed some dinner and then headed back to Palace Bar to finish off our night. I got tired pretty early though so Saade and I headed back to campus around 1a before everyone else. Considering I had work this morning I didn’t want to stay out too late and make it too brutal of a day (all in all work wasn’t too bad though!).

This weekend was actually probably one of my favorites of the trip! Obviously it was great finally getting the tattoo I’ve wanted for so long but I also just had a really great time for Jahna’s birthday. Sitting down for such a nice meal was a lot of fun too and Sunday was a blast. Next weekend we head to Paris, which I’m sure will be amazing as well! Then the weekend after that I’m home… how crazy is that?!

written by  kmr788 on July 13, 2009 from Dublin, Ireland
from the travel blog: Dublin, Ireland
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After the dust started to bother me though I worked with Leona on topping up the IMS jars. Which basically means we poured a preservation solution into all the jars with specimens in them, such as the fish. At first I was really grossed out by having to look at all these gross fish while I refilled the jars but after a while I realized I’d grown used to it.

Another day I worked with Leona and Rebecca as we switched out the insect traps they have all throughout Beggars Bush… fun. Really though it wasn’t too bad because it was another experience where I was really opened up to the little tasks that have to be done to make the museum work and really to keep the specimens safe. Leona explained the importance of monitoring the insects and bugs in the museum and storage facilities because infestations of certain bugs can cause a lot of damage to the specimens. It was something I had never given much thought to but once she mentioned it I really began to think about the kind of damage that could be done if this type of care wasn’t taken.

The beginning of the week was pretty hard on my breathing with all the dust we were working with but I thought it was just allergies so I didn’t worry about it too much. But by Tuesday afternoon my breathing was pretty bad and I hadn’t even been working with dust for a while. I wound up leaving work after lunch and went home so I could get some rest. When I still felt bad on Wednesday I decided to go to the doctor in the morning and just head into work late. And what did I find out? I have the beginnings of pneumonia! Of course, only me. First strep throat and now pnemonia?!

I went back to work after visiting the doctor and the first thing my boss said to me when he saw me was, “Go home.” Apparently I looked as bad as I felt. I told him that I didn’t want to because I felt bad that I’d already missed two days from strep. But when he asked what the doctor said and I had to reply ‘pneumonia’ it really wasn’t up for discussion anymore. In fact he even gave me a ride back to campus, which was so much better than having to take the bus! I was going to go in yesterday but he suggested that I take another day of rest and just come back Monday (since we don’t work on Fridays.) Again I told him I felt bad for having already missed work because of my strep, but like he said, there’s not much you can do about being sick!

I slept basically allll day yesterday, which meant I felt the teeniest bit better today. But still my wheezing was pretty bad so I went back to the doctor- especially since I’m going to Paris tonight!! The doc basically said that my lungs don’t sound worse but they also don’t sound better so she put me on some more meds. She said Paris will be okay I just have to take it easy and go to a doctor out there if my lungs get bad, but I think I can make it through the weekend- at least I hope I can! Lol. We leave tonight at 8 and I’m supppper excited! Look for my next blog about my trip with lots of pics!!

(Oh and Nigel sent Blair and me an e-mail earlier today to tell us he read our signage report and found it very good and also very useful. He asked that we send him an electronic copy of it so he can make some suggestions and then sign off on it. He plans to submit it to the ‘front of house’ group that will be meeting in August! I was so excited to hear this because one of my worries was that the project would just wind up on somebody’s desk and not be valuable to the museum. Instead it looks like its at least being taken seriously and hopefully some of our suggestions will even be implemented at Collins Barracks!)

((Double oh- I guess I have a lot to say for this blog- but anyway I had my final for my class today so the class portion of the trip is at least over. I think it went pretty well, in fact I think it went really well- oy, I hope I didn’t just jinx it! I was a little worried because with being sick and all I didn’t have a lot of time to study. But it was just two essays we had to write and I think I did a pretty good job with both of them so I guess we’ll see. Okay, done now… off to Paris! hehe))

written by  kmr788 on July 17, 2009 from Dublin, Ireland
from the travel blog: Dublin, Ireland
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The cafe we had crepes at our first morning in Paris!

The café was right by Notre Dame so that’s where we started off our day.

The doors at Notre Dame.

Standing in front of Notre Dame- one of our first stops of the morning.

After Notre Dame we walked around a bit as we made our way over to the Louvre.

The main entrance to the Louvre... down through the glass pyramid.

Kelsie, Lindsay, Ellie, and Me at a fountain at the Louvre.

We took some pictures of the museum and the girls then seemed satisfied to go to our next location. I couldn’t believe they didn’t want to go inside! I may have passed on Notre Dame but I wasn’t about to pass up on the Louvre- it was one of the main things I wanted to see in Paris!! So I told the girls they could do whatever they liked but I was going to spend sometime in the museum, at least a couple hours. “A couple hours?!” It was sort of funny how much shock they had at my wanting to spend time in the museum… but I am a history major, right? It was 11:45 so I said I was going to stay until about 1:30 and then grab lunch. Ellie said she wanted to see the Mona Lisa so her and I went into the museum while Kelsie and Lindsay went off on their own for a bit.

Two hours was not nearly enough time to see it all- which I knew it wouldn’t be! But I got to see the main highlights of what interested me. Ellie was great because all she really cared about was seeing the Mona Lisa so she let me direct us through the museum to the areas I was interested in.

I got to see the Venus de Milo, which was amazing of course!

Venus de Milo... at the Louvre.

On the ceiling in one of the rooms at the Louvre- amazing!

The coronation crown worn by King Louis XV.

Probably my favorite room in the Louvre- gold was everywhere!! Literally floor to ceiling (and including the ceiling too!) so beautiful!

Of course our next stop was the Mona Lisa!!!

Lots of people in the room with the Mona Lisa.

The Mona Lisa!! So much smaller than I realized, hmm...

After the Louvre we met back up with Lindsay and Kelsie and made our way to the Eiffel Tower.

Notice the Eiffel Tower in the back!

No explanation should be needed. :-P

At the base of the Eiffel Tower.

Kelsie, Lindsay, and Me... the background should need no explanation, haha

The Eiffel Tower at night (though with the flash it doesn't look like it).

Ellie, Kelsie, Lindsay, and Me at the top of the Eiffel Tower!!

The night ended rather early, around 1am; I figured I should take it a bit easy given that I’m still trying to get over this ‘pneumonia’ bug! All in all it was a pretty great weekend and I’m glad I had the chance to go to Paris. I was telling my parents though that it’s not really a place I’d be interested in visiting for a long period of time. I wouldn’t take a trip to Europe just to go there like I would to Germany or Italy. Instead if I ever head back to Europe I may take a couple days and go to Paris in between wherever else I visit so I can spend more time at the Louvre and see more of the sights. But really, I wouldn’t be interested in more than three days or so.

I’m also happy to report that the French weren’t nearly as mean to us Americans as everyone said they would be. We actually met quite a few nice Frenchmen that helped us out along the way. That had actually been something I was worried about because I didn’t want to deal with that rudeness, but luckily we didn’t have to!

It’s hard to believe this is my last week in Dublin, I’m going to be so sad to say goodbye to it on Saturday! (Even though I’m stoked to see my family and friends back home!) I’m especially excited to be able to celebrate my 21st birthday at home with my friends next week. Even though my real birthday is tomorrow I feel like it’s going to be rather anti-climactic and I’m pretty sad that I can’t spend it with my family and friends back home. I guess I’ll just have to settle for celebrating it twice: once in Ireland and once back home in Chicago!

written by  kmr788 on July 20, 2009 from Paris, France
from the travel blog: Dublin, Ireland
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I was actually a little worried about my birthday because I wasn’t sure how it was going to be away from home without my friends and family. Especially since it was on a random Tuesday night and we all had work the next morning I wasn’t sure who would actually want to go out and celebrate with me. Plus without my friends and family it almost didn’t seem like there was a point in actually celebrating my birthday. Then there was the whole anti-climactic part of not turning 21 in America and having been able to legally drink since I got to Ireland in May. Luckily though I’ve met some great people here in Dublin and they made it an amazing birthday for me!

Monday night I went out to some pubs with Denise and Jahna and we ended the night at our favorite pub- The Palace Bar. They gave me a free shot at midnight to ring in my first legal drink (of course we’d already been drinking since ten but it was the symbolism behind the drink that mattered! Haha).

My first drink as a legal 21-year-old!

Tuesday morning my supervisor let me and the other intern, Rory, come into work late so we could go out to breakfast for my birthday! We ate at this great little crepe restaurant that was delicious.

Walking to Beggars Bush after my birthday breakfast... we got soaked!

Work was good and they let us go a bit early so Rory and I walked around in City Centre for a bit before meeting up with the rest of my friends for dinner. I’d been craving Italian food since I got here and Rory knew of a great Italian restaurant so that’s where we went for dinner (it didn’t compare to Spaghetti Warehouse but was still delicious). I had some delicious brushetta with the most amazing fresh tomatoes and some yummy ravioli along with tiramisu for dessert of course. A couple people couldn’t make it to dinner so it was actually pretty low-key with about six of us.

Rory and Me at dinner... with the huge birthday pin she made me wear! hehe

Ellie, Meghan, Me, Lindsay, and Kelsie at dinner for my 21st birthday!

We listened to some music at the Palace and had a bunch of drinks and shots of course! Since we know all the bartenders we stayed past closing and hung out for a bit. After that we walked over to Doyles and had a couple shots there as well- (I’m not sure whose idea tequila shots at two in the morning was but somehow even with that the next morning wasn’t too brutal.)

We headed home around three and I was dreading having to get up for work this morning but it actually wasn’t too bad considering. It also helped that I really didn’t do much at work, haha, but more on my last week in a later blog.

Now I can’t wait to get home and continue my birthday celebration with my family and friends!! I guess in the end I realize now that I get the best of both worlds- turning 21 while in Europe and then coming home a week later to celebrate with everyone back in Chicago!! Can’t wait!

written by  kmr788 on July 22, 2009 from Dublin, Ireland
from the travel blog: Dublin, Ireland
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Me, Blair, and Rory.

I did a couple tasks for Matthew this week, especially on Monday. I still wasn’t feeling the best Monday from my small case of pneumonia and Matthew (and everyone else) was so good about making sure I was feeling okay. I was working on the computer in the breakroom typing up some manuscripts for Matthew and he kept poking his head in to make sure I was feeling okay. He kept telling me I could go home if I didn’t feel well and he would even drive me back to DCU if I wanted. Although I did feel really sick, I actually felt better just knowing that everyone here was looking out for me.

I really wish that Matthew had been our supervisor throughout this whole summer instead of Nigel. Especially because in most ways he basically was! I barely ever saw Nigel and never really worked with him, plus he was gone three of the seven weeks we were interning and was even gone for our last week. He always seemed too busy to be bothered to deal with Blair and me and so the two of us were often on our own in finding tasks to do. But Matthew took us under his wing and always made sure he had work for us to do over at Beggars Bush. He was always so grateful too! Even when I was doing something as simple as typing up a manuscript he would tell me how much he appreciated it, how important it was, and how much it was helping him out. I think a task, any task, is so much easier and more gratifying when you feel like it’s actually helping someone and you’re a benefit to the organization. That’s what Matthew does, he makes me feel like I’m really valued here and that’s something I never felt from Nigel.

Alice, Rebecca, Me, and Emir... I miss them already!

Alice is moving to Chicago at the end of October and I gave her my contact information so we could get together when I’m back home for Christmas. She said she definitely wanted to get together for a drink so I really hope we do.

Alice, Rebecca, Emir, and Me in front of the Hippo!

I ended my internship at Beggars Bush where I took more pictures and said some more goodbyes.

Rebecca and me on my last day :-(

Leaving this internship behind is by far the hardest part about leaving Dublin. I thought leaving the actual city, leaving the pubs, leaving the sites would be the hard part. But instead it’s leaving behind this museum and these people. Saying goodbye- that’s definitely the hardest part. When I left the musuem and then Beggars Bush for the last time I was surprised at how emotional I felt at having to say goodbye. But in the end I was grateful- because I’d rather be sad at having to leave because it was such a great internship than glad its finally over because I had a bad time there.

I guess it just all goes back to that old saying- don’t cry because its over, smile because it happened. And I’m definatley smiling.

Smiling on my last day as I leave the museum because it really was an amazing summer!

written by  kmr788 on July 23, 2009 from Dublin, Ireland
from the travel blog: Dublin, Ireland
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I sit here in my Dublin apartment with a cab coming in less than an hour to take me to the airport where I will fly back to Chicago… I’m not quite sure how I feel about that yet. This summer has been so amazing in so many ways that I’m saddened to have to leave Ireland. At the same time I can’t wait to be back home and see my friends and family.

My last night in Dublin was pretty amazing though, which I guess is fitting considering how great the rest of my summer was! Let me give you the cliffnotes to help you understand: I got home from the night at 7am = awesome night! I leave for the airport at 8am = rough morning! Luckily I had just enough time to get home, jump in the shower, and sit here to write my last Dublin blog.

We didn’t get downtown until nearly midnight last night. U2 is playing in Dublin right now and the concert had just gotten out so O’Connell Street was a mess with 80,000 people emerging on it at once! We went straight to Palace Bar, our favorite in Dublin, and spent our night there. The bar was open until two, though it normally closes closer to twelve; I think with the U2 concert most pubs stayed open late.

We met some interesting characters last night and at one point Meghan and I had a gentlemen come up to us and ask us back to his apartment… in case he wasn’t clear enough by this gesture he clarified further, “You know I’m taking about sex, right?” Yeah, we got that. Thanks. Shockingly enough we kindly refused his offer, but hey we did get a free drink out of it… and a lot of laughs too! I swear the pub was filled with all of Dublin’s creeps last night and they all seemed to come up to me! Eh, I guess it made for an interesting last night, haha.

Although they made the last call a dozen times after closing at two most of the people didn’t actually leave until past three. Since we had been there so much throughout the summer we knew all of the bartenders and stayed past closing to hang out with them for our last night. After everyone left around three Willie, the owner’s son, asked us we wanted to have a nightcap of some Jamison. Although we tried to decline he wouldn’t let us, “When is the last time the five of you are going to be sitting at a pub together in Dublin?!” And he proceeded to pour us our whiskey, haha. Followed by another one later in the night of course. He also gave me a ‘Palace Bar’ t-shirt, which I was very excited about!

We had a fun time just all sitting around talking about whatever it was we talked about. Of course every time I looked at the clock I though, “Okay now I have four hours before my cab comes, nope three hours, sweet two hours!” But I would much rather have had it that way because it really was a great night!

Around 6am we ate “breakfast” in the bar, which consisted of another Jamison and a quarter of a bar sandwich- yummy! Finally around 6:30am we realized that we should probably get going since some of us hadn’t even packed yet! We said goodbye to our lovely bartenders and in turn said goodbye to Palace Bar and downtown Dublin… aw, I miss it already!

Well now my cab is going to be here in about twenty minutes and I have to finish throwing the last of my things (including this laptop) into my suitcase. I’ll put up one last blog tomorrow when I’m back in Chicago to properly wrap up my summer. But I guess this will be my last blog from Dublin… can we give one big “Awww!”

written by  kmr788 on July 25, 2009 from Dublin, Ireland
from the travel blog: Dublin, Ireland
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For my internship portfolio I had to write a paper on how living in Ireland for this summer has impacted me as a person. I began the paper by explaining how difficult that is to do. I think when someone is still in the midst of a life-changing experience it is difficult to see the full meaning of what that experience will one day mean to them. Ask me a year from now, five years from now and I may have the answer they’re looking for. But ask me today and you will only get the jumbled mess of emotions I’m feeling after just having left Dublin and just having said goodbye to the country that had become my home these past eight weeks.

I can still remember when the plane landed on the tarmac at Dublin Airport back in May. I stepped off the plane knowing that the experiences I was going to have this summer would leave me changed forever. I suppose I realized that the person stepping off the plane at Dublin Airport in May would not be the same person stepping back on it in July. Part of that feeling left me a little scared I’ll admit. It’s always scary to change because you’re not always sure who you’re changing into. A better person, a worse person, a stronger person, a weaker person? I’m still not sure I can say exactly what type of person I’ve been changed into but I hope it is for the better.

I made friends more easily than I ever expected going to Ireland. By the time I’d landed in Dublin I’d already met two of the people I would hang out with the rest of the summer. When someone lands in a new country by themselves it only makes sense that they are going to gravitate towards those people who are in the same position as them and hold on for dear life. So that’s what I did. And by the end of the summer I had a group of girls that I spent the last eight weeks of my life with. I know I will always look back on them fondly because it was these friendships I created that made this experience not only easier, but also so much more enjoyable.

I think it would be hard to have an experience like I’ve had this summer and not remember the people who were around me as I was experiencing it. All the people I’ve met on this trip, whether they’re the group of girls I regularly hung out with or the random stranger in the pub, will have a lasting impact on my life because they were there when this summer changed me. They have a unique view of me that no one else will have because they saw these changes occur as they happened. I left my family one person but came back another. The people in Ireland, however, have been able to see this small transformation as it was happening. Though, I’m still not completely sure who I’ve been transformed into.

It’s not just Ireland that’s changed me though; it’s the travelling outside of Ireland too. Travelling is such an eye opening and life-affirming experience that I feel it is impossible to do so without it having a great impact on your life. Especially when it’s in a foreign country so far from home.

Of course the trip that had the most impact on me was Dachau. I feel that visit changed me more this summer than any amount of pub hopping or site seeing in Dublin will. It amazes me to think I spent eight weeks in Ireland yet I think the eight hours I spent in that camp will change me far more. Of course, spending the time in Dachau wouldn’t have been possible if I hadn’t come to Ireland to study abroad. Maybe that’s what Ireland really was for me- an entranceway to newer and greater possibilities.

Of course my internship also had a great impact on me! I feel like everyday I had an experience there that changed me. Sometimes it was the silliest of things too, such as getting to hold a book from 1846. Something so random for any other person and yet so meaningful for me.

Also, I always felt like I was leaving my mark on history when I was working in the museum. I was opening up exhibit cabinets that hadn’t been opened in a hundred years and then locking them back up where they probably wouldn’t be opened again for another fifty years. It’s odd, and somehow powerful for me, to walk past one of those display cases and know I was the person who handled the specimen and affixed its registration number to it. I can go back in five years, ten years, twenty years and stand at that same specimen remembering back to when I picked it up and held it in my hands. The little experiences like that are actually what I feel impacted me the most and will stay with me the longest.

Actually maybe its not that those little experiences impacted me the most I think instead it’s that those experiences are the easiest for me to see the impact of right away. Maybe because they are so simple and small. It’s the bigger experiences that will take me a little bit longer to process. Even just thinking about all the great people I got to work with this summer and all the different tasks I got to do. I think a few years from now I’m going to look back on this internship and say, “Wow! I actually did that?!” In fact, I think that sums up this entire summer- wow, I actually did do that!

There are still times when I can’t believe I actually spent my summer living in Dublin, even while I was still there. Even now, eight weeks after getting to Dublin and a day after heading home, I can’t believe that I actually lived in another country for a summer. It’s something that I think will take a while before I can ever fully process it.

And then it was time to head home- that was a whole other experience in itself. It’s all so bittersweet too because while I was so excited to be heading home and seeing my friends and family, I was also sad at having to say goodbye to Dublin, which has become my home these past eight weeks.

This feeling of sadness is probably the best indicator of how much Ireland has changed me and I think it shows how I’ve been changed for the better. If I had a poor time while here or thought it had negativley changed who I am then I’m sure I would have felt more relief at leaving. Instead I wanted to continue the amazing expereinces I had in Dublin and that means that I was sad to have to say goodbye.

So what did I get from my time in Ireland? Memories mostly, memories of a summer when I was twenty that impacted the rest of my life. Experiences too, I have lots of those. Experiences of a new culture so different from my own that became my culture for a short period of time. The biggest thing I got from my time in Dublin though is the new person I have become from these memories and experiences. A person that I may not fully understand for another five, ten, or twenty years.

I’m still not sure if I wrote the type of paper that my professor wanted for my personal project on how Ireland impacted me. I could have talked about the differences in the Irish and American workplace or the differences in our culture- but most of that I talked about in the weekly entry journals I also had to submit. I could have made up stuff about how this experience has changed me instead of fully admitting that I’m still not sure yet of its impact. I could have done all that and maybe it would have been what he wanted. But that’s not me, this is. And this is me admitting I still don’t fully know what this summer has meant to me… but I sure can’t wait to find out in the years to come.

Thanks all for sharing this summer with me and taking the time to read my blogs and look at my photos. It really was one hell of a ride…

written by  kmr788 on July 26, 2009 from Chicago, United States
from the travel blog: Dublin, Ireland
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