Another week has gone by here in Dublin, and I think it is safe to say that I am starting to settle in. This past week has been so much fun and at the same time pretty tiring. Wednesday night, we had a group dinner at a restaurant called The Little Kitchen and it was delicious. It was still light out when we finished eating (I swear the sun just doesn’t set here) so we all decided to hit the town and see what the pubs had in store.
On Friday, my friends and I got tickets to go see a St. Patrick’s Athletic soccer match. The whole experience was super cool, and it was awesome to see a soccer game in a place where people truly cared for the sport. The stadium was a bit smaller than the ones we have back home, but the atmosphere felt so much more fun and energetic.
The following morning, we had a bright and early bus ride to Kilkenny waiting for us and thankfully I was able to sleep a little bit (which was much needed after the late night we had before). We got to see the castle in Kilkenny and also explore the town, giving my friends and I the opportunity to see the beautiful church that was a few blocks down the road. We then went to Glendalough, which was pretty cool and the scenery there was gorgeous. Because of the weather, the time spent there was cut a bit short, and our guide said that we would not have enough time to go see the lake. But Aidan and I did not let his warnings scare us and decided that we would sprint about 1.5 km along the rain soaked path to get a chance to see the lake and valley. I have no clue what was going through the heads of all the people we ran past (probably something like: “What are these two idiots doing?”) but the view at the end was completely worth it! This part was by far my favorite of that day’s trip, even though we had to ride the bus back breathing hard and soaked to the bone.
In my internship, I finally finished building a LEGO version of an AFM machine that is fully functional. Now all that’s left to do is hook it up to the software … but it’s all in Chinese! I see a Duolingo account in my future.
With all the trips and events we have alongside the classes and internship, the summer definitely feels like it is going to be all gas and no breaks, but I would not want it any other way. I’ve only been here for about two weeks, but so far the Summer in Dublin program has been an incredible experience and I just know that it is one I will never forget!
