To wrap up this amazing experience of a lifetime, the group went on two field trips for the last two weekends. The first weekend we went to Northern Ireland. While on our way to Northern Ireland we planned out quite a bit of stops. My favorite stop was the Folk Park. At the Folk Park one could experience the life of Europeans before traveling to the new world in America. Around this park there were many different houses with different trades that any person could know how to do. One of the ones that hit close to home was the blacksmith trade. Another really neat thing that was done on the Northern Ireland Trip was being able to take the Black Taxi Tour. During this tour, we had a taxi cab driver drive us around to tell us all about the history and the current events going on in Northern Ireland. Being able to hear the history in history class as well as being able to see it first-hand really put the whole situation into perspective. This was one of my favorite, but yet, terrifying field trips. I loved seeing the history and how it still plays a huge part in the culture today, but, knowing that at the drop of a needle, the calm city could have a crazy amount of chaos.

The last field trip we went on was in Dingle. Dingle is a small town close to the most western part of Europe. While in Dingle we were able to go to the Cliffs of Moher, and Blarney Castle. The Cliffs of Moher were awesome and the weather was perfect, however, I really enjoyed Dun Angus. Blarney Castle was one of my favorite stops throughout the entire study abroad experience. It was my favorite because of the gardens that were surrounding the castle. It also helped that the weather was once again spectacular. Being able to just take my time and enjoy the gardens was my favorite part.

Over all, I am really content with how this study abroad experience went and impacted my life. Being able to be with my friends as well as experience it all with them, turned them into my family and helped make this trip go a lot better.  

Building bridges. What does that mean to you? To me, building bridges is one of the most important life skill everyone needs to have. Building bridges in this form doesn’t mean to build an actual bridge, it means to connect with whomever, or whatever is on the other side of you. This kind of sounds like a service project, but it’s different because you aren’t servicing others. You are putting in your skills with their skills. Working together to connect in the community as well as personally. While in Ireland, we were required to do this for our semester.

While in Ireland this semester, a few of my classmates and myself built our bridge with the daycare. This daycare is just a short 20 minute walk up from the Park Lodge Hotel. When we first walked there, it was strange, we were able to walk right up to the daycare as well as just walk inside. We all paused and questioned if we should be doing that because in America, you would have already talked to someone about being in the building. After walking in, we were able to sit and talk with Ashley and Jane Marie about who we were, what we were there for, and all about the study abroad program. They also both talked about the daycare and what kind of kids they watch over. The age group was quite the range, from 5 years of age to 10 years of age.

We worked with the kids March 28^th and 29^th during one of their camps. During the camp, we got to do a few projects, connect with the kids, as well as bond with some of the staff members. The projects we did revolved around Easter and even St. Patty’s Day. For the most part, they all liked the project. A few of the older kids didn’t like them as much because of the fact they were almost too old for that type of project. That is something I would make note to change if I could go back and change it. I didn’t realize that the project would be so boring for the older kids. 

After what seemed to be one of the longest bus rides in my life, we finally made it to West Port. West Port is a small little town in Country Mayo. This town has been one of the cutest towns I have seen while here in Ireland. Before we got to actually take time out to explore this cute little town, we climbed a mountain.

While on our way to the mountain, we made a pit stop along the road to look at the mountain we would be climbing. Many people said “holy cow, that’s so high up!” but I thought, there is no way that people actually climb that, and there must be another top that everyone is looking at.  To my disbelief, the highest point that I thought no one would reach, was the top we were all aiming for.

Miranda and I walked up the mountain together. The first 5 minutes of the hike, we thought, ‘Oh no, we can’t do this.’ But we didn’t stop, we knew we could make it, so we trucked along. What we thought was half way through, was only an eighth of the way through. Not long after, we started to make little markers for rest for ourselves. These markers made the hike go by a little quicker. Before we knew it, we had made it half way. The view at half way was spectacular. I honestly couldn’t believe that it could get any better.

As we rounded the corner, there popped the rest of the hike. It was almost a straight up and down shot. At this point, Miranda decided it was too much for her body. I managed to make it the rest of the way. It was an unbelievable sight.

To me this hike was an accomplishment, it gave me the confidence to know that I can do anything I set my mind too. To other people, this hike is also a pilgrimage. Many people find themselves on this hike. I personally found a way to light my confidence a little more.