Student Bloggers

Two months have passed, and as I write this almost half of the third month is almost gone!

I have become very busy with school which is why it has taken so long for me to get back to blogging. For the last two weeks, I was a hermit in my room only leaving to get food or go to class just trying to get all my essays and projects finished! School is tough sometimes, but it didn’t help being distracted with such an amazing and beautiful country! It reminded me of midterm period back at home and also reminded me of why I am so happy to be finished with my undergrad in May. My friends from home were in the same boat as me as everyone at my home school was in their midterms. They could understand my struggle. However, I made it through alive and unharmed and am ready to tackle those final exams in December…maybe.

October was the time for the international students to register with Ireland. That meant most of us would have our first immigration office experience. The room was really empty except for the group of students waiting their turn at the desk. When my name was called I walked over and sat down at the desk. I had to give them my passport, health card and acceptance letters and I watched the lady at the desk stamp things. I was not dressed decently, I was in sweats, my hair was up and my glasses on. I had no cares whatsoever that day so when the lady told me to look down at the camera, which was placed at an awful angle, I horribly realized that my photograph was being taken and this was going to be the picture they put on my card. I did not even consider that my registration card would have my picture! The damage was done and I was asked to wait for the next task. Funny thing was, when I picked up my card weeks later, even the woman giving me my card said she couldn’t recognize me in the picture! Pretty bad huh? The second part was fun though. We all went to the back of the immigration building into a small room where we had to clean our hands because we were getting finger printed! It wasn’t the ink pad finger printing I was expecting but a really cool machine that digitally imaged your finger prints from a camera pad. When all that was over, I was given a slip that had my appointment time to pick up the card…with the horrible picture…

October was also a time for all the international students to catch the plague. It was pretty awful, mine was during the time I had to go to get my Irish Registration completed. I tried to keep away but it found me and for almost a good two weeks I was sick with a nasty cold. Not something I wanted, being in another country, especially with all the travel weekends I had coming up. Thankfully, my mama, even across the water, was able to make me feel better. She helped give me tips on what to do, home remedies to boost my immune system and when I would need to go to the doctor. Thankfully a doctor was not needed and I recovered slowly but surely!

On a more positive note, ever since coming to Ireland I have been blessed with some real luck! It’s obvious that Ireland fell in love with me the moment I arrived and has been finding ways to keep me here. First, I signed up for College Dinners and after two weeks of ordering from them, I won a week’s worth of free meals from their contest at the beginning of the semester! I used the free meals a couple weeks later which made me really happy. Just because I am studying abroad does not make me any less of a broke college student. Free is always good! Then I signed up for the Subway UK club card. Almost immediately after I got an email about a contest for a chance to win tickets to a Rugby game or a trip for two to South Africa. All I had to do was buy a sandwich and answer a Rugby question. So not seeing any harm I did exactly that and didn’t expect much out of it. A few weeks later I got an email saying I had won two tickets to the Ireland vs. South Africa Rugby game in Dublin!!! I was shaking I couldn’t even believe it. I never win anything and since Ireland, my luck has never been better. So Ireland, your attempts to woo me is working. I mean, why leave when we clearly have such a good thing going here?

This month was also the first time I had left the country. A large group of friends and I went on a weekend trip to Rome and it was a blast! So much culture and history in one city. I got to experience Ryanair and also very annoying street vendors. Tons of Pizza and Gelato later, our brief time was up and it was back to home. It was interesting that I started calling Ireland my home.

I had been in Ireland long enough for it to feel like home! That’s the crazy thing about study abroad. You have so much to adjust to but when you get the hang of things you get more comfortable. Sadly, I only have two months left of this new home. While I am already thinking of things I can’t wait to do, to eat once again, people to see, I also don’t want to leave. It’s this torn feeling but I try to keep thinking that I still have two months. Got to appreciate what I still have left. Two months is a long time, right?