Sorry for the delay in posts but I just got my Internet working yesterday and it has certainly been the busiest week of my entire life. I left on Monday night at 7:30 pm and arrived on Tuesday morning (Irish time) at 6 am.We spent the whole next day getting settled into our apartments, meeting our roommates and trying to get used to things! I feel like I've learnt so much already and I've only been here for three days! Monday we were all pretty jet lagged and exhausted from staying up all night and then being so overwhelmed the next day.
I'm really lucky to have great roommates and fun people on my program. It's a small program of like 30 kids and we all are getting to know each other really well! It's so weird because I've known them for such a short time but I feel like I've known them for so much longer! On the first night a few of the girls and I went to a quaint little restaurant in the downtown city area which is like a 20 minute walk from my apartment. We were all exhausted and totally had no idea where we were but the restaurant looked straight out of a movie and I had delicious Shepard's pie...score!
The next day we went on a tour of Galway city, shopped around downtown and went on a tour of my new school, National University of Ireland: Galway. The university has about 17,000 
students so its way different from my small little SMC. The campus is actually really compact and I'm so happy that the academic buildings are all in one place! (Even though I'm probably going to be lost 4569346 times but hey, I've gotta learn somehow!) Everyone walks here so we walk about 20 minutes to the city center which is right next to our school. Downtown Quay St. and Eyre square has cobblestone streets and is filled with little pubs, restaurants, and shops! I can't wait to explore everything!! We had our welcome dinner for my program, Academic Programs International, at an Italian restaurant (ironic, I know!) and then we all went to our first Irish pub with a traditional Irish band playing and everything. All of the Irish college students are still home on break so the place was definitely over ruled by Americans but I can't wait until all the Irish students arrive!
students so its way different from my small little SMC. The campus is actually really compact and I'm so happy that the academic buildings are all in one place! (Even though I'm probably going to be lost 4569346 times but hey, I've gotta learn somehow!) Everyone walks here so we walk about 20 minutes to the city center which is right next to our school. Downtown Quay St. and Eyre square has cobblestone streets and is filled with little pubs, restaurants, and shops! I can't wait to explore everything!! We had our welcome dinner for my program, Academic Programs International, at an Italian restaurant (ironic, I know!) and then we all went to our first Irish pub with a traditional Irish band playing and everything. All of the Irish college students are still home on break so the place was definitely over ruled by Americans but I can't wait until all the Irish students arrive! We had our academic orientation today and yesterday and classes start on Monday but the whole class registration thing is so confusing. We pick our classes then go to certain lectures to see if we like them and then we register. I'm looking into taking 3 Irish-English Literature courses, an Irish history class, a philosophy, and a Irish sociology course. I'm feeling so overwhelmed with learning everything but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it soon! Here are a few pictures of downtown and the view from the Corrib rive that runs through Galway. I'll definitely be posting more very soon with my new huge paparazzi camera I got for Christmas!
I'm so excited to be here and right now everything seems a little confusing and I do feel a little lost sometimes but I'm lucky to have good people in my program so we can all be lost together! I'm excited to post all of my adventures that I will be having very soon! :)
6 comments:
Hi Mairead! Jeramy from API here. I came across your blog and thought you did a great job explaining the first hours/days in the life of an API student, and I wanted to share that with other prospective students, so I linked to your post on the API Facebook page: www.facebook.com/APIstudyabroad. Let me know what you think, and have a wonderful semester!
Jeramy
although I really like reading other people's accounts on study abroad, I do think Jeramy should have asked for your permission to publish first, rather than complimenting you and then surprising you that he's shared your blog with everyone on facebook... anyways. sounds like you're havin ga blast, I've been here in Buenos Aires, Argentina for 7 months now and I can identify with that business =) . Ironically, also, today i met this group of New Yorkers and the parents of one of them is in Ireland, and he suggested that I go to Galway if I ever get to go back. Amazing. Anyways, have a great time over there!
So excited for you. We missed you in PR but it went great. Hope you have the best semester. I can't wait to read more.
Coach
Mairead and I go back a ways on Twitter :) Thanks again Mairead for graciously sharing your stories!
Jeramy
I was skimming through the API facebook page and came across the link to your blog. Thank you so much for posting it! I'm going to be studying in Galway in the fall and now that I'm getting all things organized here at home and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit nervous. It's just nice to hear that you're already enjoying your time. I really can't wait to be there now. Thanks again so much [:
Mairead great blog.Brings back many good memories. We spent a lot of time in Galway. Check out the Park Hotel for lunch. A little pricey but great food . Love you Pa
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