A Few Random Final Thoughts on Ireland

There are a few random things I neglected to mention about my trip so I will throw them at you now.  Again, they are a bit random so apologies for being all over the place with this post.

I enjoyed being a student again.  I mean homework isn't exactly fun, but I enjoyed learning new things.  I enjoyed going out with my new friends.  I liked living in the dorms.  I didn't know the people I lived with prior to going to NUI, but they were good roommates and I learned a lot from them.  They were nice too.  :-)  My neighbors were wonderful too and they became some of my good friends while in Galway.

I brought several books with me because I figured after class, I'd sit in my dorm room and read.  I was sure I'd spend time blogging and Facebooking, but clearly, I needed books to read.  Ask me how many books I completely read in Galway?  ZERO!  I read part of one book.  I read most of another book on the train in England and plane ride home and part of a second book on the plane.  Oh, I did bring and read one magazine on the train to Bath.  I was clearly not expecting to meet so many wonderful people and go out with them so often.  It was a wonderful surprise!  (And I've been reading a lot since I got home to make up for it ha ha.)  

When people would hear I was an American or someone in my group was, they'd often ask us what we thought of Trump.  I couldn't believe how many people wanted to know our opinions of him.  I was intrigued to hear what they thought of him--and American politics in general.

I mentioned food a lot in my posts.  The food was pretty good in Ireland.  I love fish and chips and enjoyed that, but the salmon was good, so was the goat cheese, and I think I told you I tried a cronut and empanada which were both good as well.  As were the few desserts I had.

I walked A LOT in Galway.  I even got 30,000 steps one day.  I feel like a slacker now because since I've been home, there were some days I barely got 10,000 steps.

I stink at taking selfies, but I did try to work on this skill in Galway.  I think I'm making slight progress.

Galway has lots of pubs and restaurants (though finding food after 10pm is challenging).  If you like cider, try the Orchard Thieves.  It's all over the place in Galway and it's good.

It was an amazing experience! I hope to see my new friends again soon and I hope to have opportunities to do a program like this one again.  

Irish (Gaelic) is a hard language to learn--at least for me.

And there you go, those are my final random thoughts.  Slainte