January 7, 2015
I found some candy, have no fear.
Ok here we go.
Wednesday morning, our first in Galway, I woke up to Breigh heading out to see the city with the girls we'd had dinner with the night before. Essentially I rolled over and went back to sleep because my brain convinced me it was far too early to be awake. When I did get up I made my plan for the day which consisted of seeing Galway City--specifically I wanted to see the bay--and to get some groceries (the lack of tea was very distressing) before our scheduled campus tour in the early afternoon. Outside the window it was raining, but since when has that stopped me? I pulled on my handy steel-toed, water-resistant (proven not water-proof at a later date) work shoes and set out figuring how to get to the city. Our apartment has Wi-Fi, but there's obviously no citywide network, so I tried to memorize the Google Maps path before I left.
Confession: I haven't really figured out how to turn on the data for my phone
Despite some qualms about my lack of a physical map, I set off at about 10:30 with my usual sense of adventure. I'd decided to see the city first because it was marked as a twenty minute walk and I had to be back by 2pm for the tour. Funny thing happened though, when I got to the main intersection, I turned left when I really should have turned right. There was even a sign that pointed to the right that said "city-center" but I thought maybe our apartment was located in a suburb and therefore city-center was the wrong direction. I ended up walking in the opposite direction looking for street names I recognized etc. When twenty minutes had passed I found myself more on a country road and I figured I was probably going in the wrong direction and just decided to enjoy my walk. By this point it was no long "raining" it was pouring. And the wind was ridiculous. It's possible to keep your pants relatively dry when the rain is falling straight down. However when the wind it whipping it at you from all sides, dryness becomes a fond memory.
Upon walking in the same direction for a bit longer, began to hear more cars and saw in the distance a highway. It looked like a good bookend for my journey, so I turned back. Luckily I'm pretty good at finding my way back from a place even if I initially get lost. Back in sight of familiar civilization, by which I mean a recognizable stoplight and strip mall, I opted out of going on to Galway because truth be told, I was tired of being wet. However, going back to the apartment was out of the question without tea. Therefore, probably looking similar to a drowned rat, I walked into Dunnes and picked up some essentials which included: tea, sugar, milk, bread, butter, peanut butter (not bad but nor nearly as good as the US), jam, and cereal. Returning to the comfort of our abode, I made tea and worked on this rather cumbersome endeavor I have embarked on. Breigh returned and opted to change, her jeans were soaked through too, but didn't see the point as we would just have to go out into the wet again.
When the time came for our campus tour, some of us gathered in front of the administration office hoped (fruitlessly) that the coach bus parked outside might be for us. When the Galway coordinator arrived however, she told us that we would indeed be walking to the school while drove. In hindsight it was very important for us to walk so that we would know the wbe ay to school; at the time though it was not very fun. When we arrived she showed us her office and then showed us where we would have our orientation the next morning. After there was an optional campus tour by one of the students. I figured it would be prudent to know something of my surroundings, but overall it was probably a waste of energy, if only because my classes are all in three buildings right near each other (granted I didn't know that at the time). Having no idea where my roommate was, I headed back to Gort to hopefully dry off.
It was when I got back that I came to the realization that we were going to have a serious problem in regard to wet clothing. If the student village as a flaw (it actually has several but this is the most obnoxious) it's that not only is laundry expensive (6 euro to wash and dry) but there is only one facility for 100 apartments. I was at a loss, until I figured out that we could put a chair in front of the little electric fireplace and hang wet clothes on it. I felt pretty guilty about the electricity, but given the amount of rain in Ireland, I'd never be able to be dry.
January 8, 2015
Bright and early we had to be back on campus for our first orientation. Basically they gave us the same information we that we got in Dublin about clubs, safety etc. Orientation ended at 1pm and we had the afternoon to ourselves. I wasn't super enthused about just going back to the apartment, but I also didn't know how to get to the city center from campus. I ended up walking back to Gort with another girl from Arcadia. Pretty much the only big event that occurred on our second day was that we met our Irish roommate. As I mentioned, we initially didn't really focus on who our roommate might be as we were busy settling in. It became a matter of curiosity shortly afterward. Peeking into the other room, (perhaps not the most appropriate move) Breigh suggested that our roommate was a guy, a concept which was supported by the fact that the soap in the bathroom was leather-scented. However, the toiletries in the shower looked as though they belonged to a girl. Looking back, we probably could have asked at the office but I guess it wasn't that important to know. We had resigned ourselves to not knowing our other flatmate before the following week (when we were told many Irish students would be returning), so we were surprised that evening when we heard the apartment door opening. Both Breigh and I were in our room, settling into blogging and warming up our beds. We were mid-conversation when we heard what sounded like two guys enter the apartment. Our conversation paused momentarily as we looked at one another with excitement and nervousness, but neither of us knew what to do so we just kept talking. The talk was rather stilted as we listened to the newcomers opening doors etc, and we kept looking at our door wondering if we should go out or not. Suddenly we heard a voice say "hello?" in the hallway and so we scrambled to open the door. Breigh, ever the extrovert, said "Hi, are you our new roommate?" and introductions were made.
Our Irish flatmate Justin is from a town north of Galway City and is a first year at NUIG. He also introduced us to his friend Dominic who's from Westmeath. Though it was already after 10pm, we spent the next hour and a half just talking and kind of doing the whole "getting-to-know-you" shtick.
January 9, 2015
Early on the 9th we had to report back for our academic orientation. On the bright side, the sun weather seemed to want to make up for the two previous days of bad weather. This was our view on the way to school. At time of year the sun doesn't rise until 8:30ish.
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| The Corrib River |
We received paperwork, our student IDs, and the International Academic Catalog which listed the classes available to all visiting students. The main departments then presented to the students an overview of the available courses and how to get in touch with department coordinators etc. While some of the information was relevant and helpful, it was fair boring. After my last department spoke, I headed outside, determined to find the way to the city. Just past the footpath (I feel so cool using Irish-English terms :p ) leading to the student center there was another that went in the direction of a footbridge over the creek. I had no idea where it led to but I'd seen Arcadia people staying at Niland House (a housing complex in the city center) head in that direction so I figured it would be a good starting direction. I followed the path around onto a public street which passed a cathedral and led to a bridge that crossed the river. On the other side I didn't really know where to go I convinced myself I couldn't get lost as long as I knew what direction the river was in. Eventually I started seeing (and following) signs for Eyre Square. My main objective in all honesty was just to see the bay. The city is pretty, but it's a city; I wanted to see open water.
I wandered around for a while trying to look like I knew where I was and ended up finding Eyre Square and Shop Street (the main shopping district) on accident. On the way I found this:
which was pretty cool. I actually was going to walk down a different street, but I saw this out of the corner of my eye. Given that in the US it's not a very common name (well there are a lot of us, but it's no Smith or Jones) it was awesome to just see it on the side of a building.
Once on Shop Street I followed signs for the Spanish Arch which I knew was near the docks.
Behold, the Spanish Arch:
And behold, the Corrib River as it rushes (and I mean Rushes) toward the bay:
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| I didn't realize how much I missed the sound of wind through the wires |
When the wind reached as a level that I felt I might be blown over the wall of the jetty, I thought it might be prudent for me to return to the city. I was really wet and starting to get chilly, so I decided to stop and get some lunch. I walked up Shop Street looking at all the options and chose to step into Taaffes Pub, which someone has suggested as a place to hear traditional music in the city. It was afternoon and thus no music, but it had the perfect pub atmosphere. Of course, you can't have lunch without some sort of refreshment. This was actually my first pint in Ireland (my first drink period) and it was delicious as was the soup and sandwich I had.
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| FIRST Pint in IRELAND |
Once I was nourished and reasonably warm, I reckoned it was time to head back. Unfortunately I still didn't know how to get back to Gort directly from the city so I had to go the long way around by NUIG. Better safe than sorry though. That night was pretty quiet, but dry at least. :P
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