I had recently studied aboard in Galway, Ireland at the National University of Galway. I was there for a full semester, so four months, and took 12 credits. There was no way I was taking more than the bare minimum since I wasn’t there to entirely focus on school. I was there to experience the culture and to essentially get out of America.
One big adjustment I had to make while I was in Galway was my roommate situation. In Europe, some countries have no problem signing people to coed apartments (flats) without their knowledge. This is because that is a part of their culture. Many of the Irish students that I talked to said it was normal to live with boys/men, especially on college campuses. I just never expected that I would have two male roommates from India. My third roommate was a girl from Minnesota, which made the transition a lot easier since she understood my slang and what I was talking about when it came to “back home” or America. Their names were Harshall, Sanku, and Kelley. I never particularly thought I would enjoy living with boys at this age but with the cultural differences between us, it was a lot of fun to get to know one another. Sanku would also cook us chicken tikka masala and let me tell you, you’ve never had authentic Indian food unless it was made by a person who was born and raised in India.
Ireland also has some of the most beautiful scenery that I’ve ever seen in my lifetime. Between the many destroyed castles to the view of the Pacific Ocean, Ireland generally doesn’t have a route where there isn’t a part of nature that awed you. The Cliffs of Moher is a place where nature compels you to put away your phone and to stare at what it made. The Cliffs of Moher is a very tourist place to go with many rave view and it doesn’t disappoint. Even with all the people around me, I felt at peace and couldn’t help but admire the way the oceans moves and the sounds it makes. I would have spent countless hours there if it wasn’t for the fact that I was on a tour and we had another place to go.
