Killarney and more

Dear friends in Holland,

Friday two weeks ago the first trip organized by the International Society finally took place! The International Society (DUISS) at Trinity organizes activities for all international students here. It’s something separate from ESN, and they try to organize 2-3 activities each week, varying from movie nights to trips and parties. Last week the organized this trip! Around 6pm we left Dublin with two busses and almost 100 enthusiastic international students and headed to Killarney. Killarney is located in the County Kerry, in the southwest of Ireland and one of the most beautiful areas of Ireland. Unfortunately the roads in Ireland are not really good, so many students felt a bit ill, but the rest of the tour was great! I had totally the feeling of being an 8 year old school-girl on her first school trip, haha! Around 12 we arrived at our hostel and we could choose a room. I was sharing a room with seven other nice girls, of which I knew already five, which was very nice!

Saturday morning we had to wake up quite early, because we were going to visit the Dingle peninsula, which is the most western point of Ireland. We made a beautiful trip by bus and after a bit more than one hour, we arrived at the most western point of the island. There we went to some museum/ heritage centre (The Blasket Islands heritage centre) and listened to a presentation about all famous writers from that came from that area. We didn’t know any of them, but it was interesting. Even more interesting was the beautiful view we had from that place! Pictures are on http://picasaweb.google.nl/110111446223550966554/! After our visit to the peninsula, we enjoyed our lunch in Dingle and went to Tralee afterwards. In Tralee, we went to the County Kerry museum. It was not the most exciting museum I ever visited, but it was worth visiting. Especially the part in which they recreated a city in the county from the Middle ages and the pub in the museum! ;) After that visit, we went back to Killarney to have dinner. We were not so hungry yet, so we decided to organize our own excursion to the Killarney National Park. It was almost sunset and we wanted to see some deer and other animals. When we arrived in the park, we saw a big group of around 30 deer and many other animals. We stayed there and listened to all the sounds (haha sounds really like I am a nature freak, but it was amazing!) and it was a really special moment! We tried to make some pictures as well, but without success unfortunately. Back at the hotel, unfortunately I felt sick (maybe still because of the bus), so I skipped the evening program, which was really a pity. The next day, I felt better and we went to another part of the Killarney National Park to visit some caves (more than a million years old) and a waterfall. The afternoon program consisted of a visit to some old manor house, but we preferred to enjoy our lunch and the sun! :) At 5pm we went back to Dublin. The trip was really great – beautiful landscapes and I met many new persons and also got to know many of my friends better!

I am also busy with many other things in and around Dublin. Study has become more important in my daily life now, since I have to write a lot of essays and do many presentations as well. All essays are due to the beginning of December, but the average word count consists of ±3000 words, so I thought it would be a good idea to start already. Besides my study, I am still having a great time here! J We are organizing dinners, going to parties, shopping, to sports classes and so on. Great! Last week was Halloween, which is originally from Ireland (and not from the US!) and we celebrated it as well! All streets were already decorated for weeks and you could buy outfits everywhere. It was good fun and everyone (little children, students, parents, grandparents) was celebrating it!

November is going to be a busy month for me! :) This Thurssday I am going to Mourne Grange, a camp hill community where a friend of me had worked for a year. I am just going to take a look and see everything see told me about. After that, I am going to Belfast, which I am really looking forward to! We are staying till Saturday evening and on Monday my parents will arrive in Dublin! We will spend the week together (I don’t have classes next week, they call it study week, but it is just a holiday in fact, although I have to work on my essays a bit..) and celebrate my birthday on Thursday together! On Thursday my boyfriend is coming too and during the weekend we’ll go to Galway and Sligo together to explore that part of Dublin! Later that month my friends from Tilburg are coming and my sister as well and in December I have to finish my assignments and essays.

As you can read, time is flying!

I hope I am enthusiastic enough to convince you to choose Dublin as well for your exchange destination! The university is great and the city and Dubliners as well! And a perfect mixture of culture and nature! J But if you still have any doubts or questions, feel free to ask!

With love,

Charlotte