YOGO (You Only Galway Once)

Hi everyone!

HUGE apologies for not writing for the past several days. It’s been an eventful and busy several days!

On Thursday, Derek and I went to this event for Educate Together all the way in St. Patrick’s College. The event was launching these courses for primary teachers that would teach them about Educate Together’s Learn Together curriculum, which is ethos-based rather than religion-based. We met the Minister for Education again and another senator as well! I’m still amazed by how approachable and friendly the senators and ministers are in Ireland. When talking to them, I don’t feel like there’s a disparity in power at all because they are so friendly and easy to talk to.

It also rained possibly the hardest it’s rained for the past several weeks. Derek and I had to go find dinner ourselves because everyone else had already eaten, and, being the extremely lucky people we are, we were walking outside when it was POURING outside. Our pants were completely drenched, so we literally ran into the first restaurant that we saw. I don’t think I’ve ever been so soaked before.

On Friday, Derek and I had a meeting in DCU (Dublin City University) with Emer (our supervisor) and two other professors. Derek and I will be helping the professors conduct interviews to evaluate the effectiveness of the Learn Together curriculum. I’ll explain this in more detail on Tuesday, when I talk about the research that Derek and I will be doing.

After the meeting, we took the bus to Heuston Station to take a three-hour train to Galway, which is on the west coast of Ireland. I was SO excited for Galway because I had literally heard only good things about it. The train ride over was absolutely stunning. Imagine miles and miles and miles of vibrantly green grass and oddly shaped stones with horses, cows, sheep, and little white and yellow flowers scattered about. You’d think that we would eventually get bored of seeing so much green grass and stone everywhere, but the sight never ceased to take my breath away. I could honestly stare, in awe, forever.

We arrived in Galway, and dropped our bags off in the hotel. The hotel was located in a very central part of the city, which was strikingly similar to Dublin. Strolling down the cobblestone street, we felt like we were back in Dublin, walking down Grafton Street. We noticed various street musicians and also realized that Grafton Street and the street we were currently on actually had many similar shops (including our beloved ge-la-la). This particular part of Galway didn’t differ much from the area of Dublin that we lived in, but perhaps the most noticeable difference was that traditional Irish music was much more prominent here in Galway. It definitely still felt like déjà vu.

Yesterday, we went to the Human Rights Center to hear a lecture about the history of migration in Ireland and some of the legal issues that refugees and migrants must face. Ireland, in fact, accepts and grants refugee status to the lowest number of refugees out of all of the EU countries. It was interesting to see when Irish laws took precedent and when EU laws took precedent, but it definitely was a very complicated relationship.

Later in the afternoon, we went to a horse stable about fifteen minutes away (by taxi) and went horseback riding! None of us previously had experience with riding horses, so we were pretty terrified and unsure of what to expect (especially since it was raining), but we ultimately had tons of fun and got to see a part of Ireland that we previously hadn’t seen before. Our horses walked down the trail in a single file line. Some people, like me, had people from the stable helping them lead their horses. I rode a really well-behaved, calm horse named Alphesio and got to talk to Ellie, who was leading my horse, at the same time. Ellie told me all about her favorite places in Galway and her school (secondary, all-girls school in Salthills) and her love for horses. Super sweet. But the best part was the scenery around us. It literally looked like pictures right out of a tour guide and is the epitome of what tourists think of when they think of Ireland. Long, green grass was swaying in the wind with various rocks and stone walls scattered between the blades of grass. I wish I were a better writer and could take the beauty from the scenery and translate it into words, but I simply can’t. I also couldn’t take pictures because I knew that if I let go of the reins, I would certainly fall off Alphesio and crash to the ground.

And the past two days were beautiful, but today was absolutely breathtaking. We took a bus and a ferry to the Aran Islands, which were about nine miles off the coast of Galway. We rented bikes and rode around the island, taking pictures and running through the grassy fields and digging our toes into the sandy beaches and climbing over rocks and watching seals. It was a beautiful day (sunshine and blue skies!), fit for an equally beautiful island. I feel like I said “this is so beautiful” so many times today, but I felt like there wasn’t any word that could describe the stunning scenery. A picture is worth a thousand words, so rather than attempting to describe the beauty I was blessed to see today, I’ll just show you:

Breathtaking, right? Again, I wish I were a better writer and a better photographer, but honestly, I feel like the best writer and the best photographer in the world wouldn’t even be able to do this beauty justice. All I can say is that I’m so grateful and lucky that I received the opportunity to see this beauty with my own eyes.

Tomorrow is our last day in Galway, and we’re going to see the Cliffs of Moher. This is an item that has been on my bucket list for a long time, and I still can’t believe I’ll actually be there tomorrow! I’m literally shaking with excitement! Anyway, I hope your summers have been relaxing and fun as well so far! Take care!

Smiles,
Anna :)

P.S. Shoutout to my APDA sisters who are competing in IDC this weekend. Good luck, my loves! I know you’re going to be beautiful onstage. I love y’all so so SO much <3