Limerick!

Limerick, also known as "Stab City", is located in the West of Ireland. It is known as "Stab City" because of an ongoing feud between two families, where legend has it, they used to stab each other. Though the city is known for being violent, I found nothing of the sort. The people were friendly, though their accents were difficult to understand! One taxi driver gave us a tour of the city, recommended us a wonderful underground restaurant and got us into an exclusive night club. Limerick was tons of fun!

We also visited two castles: King John's Castle and Bunratty Castle. Both were magnificent, but my favorite by far was Bunratty Castle. Bunratty Castle is surrounded by a recreation of an old medieval village, which was filled with little shops and farm animals! The view from the top of the castle was one of the most spectacular and beautiful things I have ever seen. And we also had a medieval dinner in Bunratty Castle, which was quite fun.

The pictures really speak for themselves, so here they are:

Above: Me poking my head out at Bunratty Castle
Below: View from top of Bunratty Castle

Top: View from top of Bunratty Castle
Below: Me locked up in the chamber at Bunratty Castle

Above: Cannons at Bunratty Castle
Below: River in Limerick, as seen from King John's Castle

Above: Me at top of King John's Castle
Below: King John's Castle

Above: Limerick City
Below: King John's Castle

Getting Involved

Classes are good, there is only one class I find even a bit boring. Most of my professors are energetic and enthusiastic. For one of my classes, I have to come up with a business idea in my team (with other students) and create a complete business plan. The project will take up the entire semester, but it will be a really good experience. I am also taking an Irish history course, which is very interesting and necessary.

My internship is at a place called Young Social Innovators (YSI). It is a nonprofit organization that organizes advocacy projects in high schools and colleges all over Ireland. The students work all year with their teachers to try and advocate/change an issue in the community, such as homelessness, depression or even world issues like genocide. I do a lot of data analyzing and graphical compilation, and I enjoy working in my office in the heart of Dublin right by Trinity College. My coworkers are even teaching me the Irish lingo, for example, they call sweaters 'jumpers' and call cookies 'bikis' which is short for biscuits. It is a great experience. If you would like to see the company's website: www.youngsocialinnovators.ie

I also found out the most exciting news yesterday at my internship: I get to meet the President of Ireland!!! I will be meeting her and taking a tour of what is the equivalent of the White House. I cannot believe it!

I joined the choir at Dublin City University, which is a fun time and a great way to meet people. Over the weekend, I spent most of the day in the city seeing the Christ Church Cathedral and 1,000 year old Crypt inside it, touring Dublin Castle and the Chester Beatty Library.

Above: Christ Church Cathedral
Below: Inside the Chapel at Christ Church Cathedral

Above: The Crypt beneath Christ Church Cathedral
Below: Wonderful shot of Christ Church thanks to the lighting.

Above: Me at Dublin Castle

The West of Ireland

This past weekend I went on a trip to the West of Ireland and visited Mayo, Westport and the Aran Islands. I thought that Dublin was an amazing place, well let me say that the countryside of Ireland blew my mind away. It is the most beautiful and most green place I have ever visited in my life. The pictures below show a few of the scenes I actually experienced, and though they look photo-shopped, these are all real pictures I took this past weekend!

We learned a lot on our trip about Irish history, especially about the Potato Famine. It is quite interesting hearing all the stories then actually seeing the places where they took place. It was emotional, even, seeing all the beautiful scenery where so much bad took place. They call it the "Terrible Beauty" of the countryside.

The Aran Islands were outstanding, I got to walk around a monastery from the 7th century, made up entirely of stone which still stood on its own. It was called the "Seven Churches" and I felt blessed to be able to see such an amazing thing, and touch stone walls build over 1500 years ago. The Aran Islands are made up completely of limestone, which makes the scenery even more interesting.

My 21st birthday was also great fun. I got to celebrate it with a wonderful group of friends, and even received gifts from loved ones back in Washington. Thank you to everyone who made it so special.

I have been making travel plans to see Europe while I'm here; might as well take advantage of Ryan Air and their cheap flights around Europe! I have already booked flights to see Paris (end of November) and Barcelona (end of December)! I'm so excited.

Above: Cliff in Aran Islands
Below: Me in the Seven Churches

Above: Jen and I at a beach, sitting on Limestone in the Aran Islands.
Below: Me sitting on limestone in the Aran Islands

Above: The group of Americans in my Study Abroad group which I traveled with
Below: Me in the typical country side scenery in Westport

Above: Me placing a stone on the memorial of an event which took place during the famine.
Below: The Seven Churches in the Aran Islands (7th century)