Recommendations for Future Students:
Definitely save room in your suitcase for souvenirs
Make sure to take advantage of free time, explore! Especially if you're in the city.
Expect to spend more than you anticipated
Bring a mobile charger for your phone
If you're using your phone to take pictures, make sure you have tons of space.
Ireland is a country of living history. If you visited New York City today, it would be difficult to gain an understanding of the history of New York, outside of museums. But in Dublin, there are marks of history all over the city. There are bullet holes from the Easter Rising. Painted flowers mark where rebels hid and died. Statues are displayed prominently to remind us of those events. Bridges, streets and buildings bear the names of revolutionaries, writers and historic figures. In Belfast, we saw murals painted in honor of fallen revolutionaries, reminding everyone of what our tour guide called "the troubles". In Galway, we walked along old streets meant for horse and buggy, now repurposed as a pedestrian-only shopping area. No matter where we went, we were unable to avoid history. And nowhere was this more true than in the country.
It is impossible to drive in Ireland for more than an hour without passing a significant historical landmark. The land in Ireland is naturally rocky, and as a result farmers cleared their fields of stone and used those stones to build fences for their plots of land. A lot of those walls are still standing. When you drive or walk through the countryside, it is impossible to not feel the meditative, peaceful nature. The calm countryside and beautiful natural vistas can instill a sense of tranquility in even the most jaded and cynical. At the Giant's Causeway and the Cliffs of Moher, the wind comes off the ocean, steadily bringing a salty smell and lightly pushing against you. Words can not describe the beauty of these sights, especially the cliffs of moher. Their beauty was stunning, and the calm sea breeze relaxes you in such a way to make it impossible to not be present in the moment. Anxieties about the future, bad memories from the past and complex thought becomes next to impossible and I had to surrender to the raw beauty of nature. The beauty of nature is a remarkably common theme in Ireland's greatest works, and after this trip I truly understand why.
When I read Sean O'Casey's Juno & The Paycock, the play seemed funny. It had tragedy, and the ending was tragic, but the father character seemed comical. When we got to see this play performed in the Gate theater, however, it was much more tragic. A big part of that was watching the set of the play change- instead of reading and imagining an apartment, constrained by my modern mind, here was a set designed to emulate the type of apartment this family would have inhabited at the time. Barren, sparse and depressing, it was hard to watch it become comfortable and then revert back to emptiness as the play ends. Imagining this scene, I hadn't thought of the time or wealth of the characters. But seeing it on stage, it was impossible to ignore. And it was this difference that helped me realize I could comprehend these works, but not understand them. Although this was a modern, similar culture it was still a well defined one, with a common history, and I was an outsider. Although I could learn about it, I wasn't from it and it wasn't my history.