Week Nine - Social Connections

First Bus Ride as a group

Many different connections are being made while I am on my adventure here in Ireland.  The first connection that I made was with the people in my cabin.  Since we all came here together not really knowing each other very well, with the exception that a few people came here with a friend.  We all needed to connect and begin to mesh well together for this three month adventure.  After the first couple of days and lots of struggling to remember every ones name, I feel like we have all connected with one another.  The next form of connection that was being made, was with our teachers that are instructing us in the different classes regarding Ireland.  Each of these teachers were really easy to get to know and get a very accepting and welcoming feeling from each and every one of them.  After meeting our teachers, came meeting people out in the communities of Ireland.  Most of the time this is done while having some food in a pub and talking with a waiter or a local Irish man/woman.  They are very inquisitive about where you are from or the religion that you practice.  These are all done with a warming, inviting atmosphere and if the questions begin to get to personal they will refrain from forcing answers out of you.  This is good to get to know about them and where they are from, while also making some new friends while here.  Since I have been here and in other countries traveling, I have had the pleasure of chatting and getting to know a variety of people from all around the country.  These conversations and connections that I have made while, they may seem brief, shall be some of the best connections that I have made in such a short amount of time.

Going Lip Lining Outside of Galway

Week Seven - Language Issues

Dia Dhuit.  Conas atá tú? Tá mé go maith.  Do not worry I will not be writing this blog in complete Irish.  This is one of the more difficult things that I would say that I have learned, since being here in Ireland.  Just that simply greeting, question and response took me quite a few tries to say and even now I still cannot say that I pronounce it correct.  The first part, the greeting, Dia Dhuit and is pronounced like GeeHa whicht which is a typical greeting in Ireland meaning "Hello, good day".  The second part, the question, Conas atá tú and is pronounced like Koonas atah twoo which is a question for asking "how you are doing".  The third and final part, the response, Tá mé go maith and is pronounced like Tah May Go Mah meaning "I am good".  While I try to learn this language I resort to trying to sound the words out, like we were taught in elementary school.  For the most part this does not work.  As you can see the words do not have much of a pattern to try to sound out and have two consonants together.  The only thing that can make understanding this language is when a really thick accent is placed on top of the words.  This makes listening to people in the pubs or around town really difficult to understand.  If you think this could not get much worse you are wrong.  The thing that can make this language even more difficult is the unique pronunciations that each region in Ireland.  Some places have totally different ways to say hello or they change where the emphasis is at in the word.  Maybe you are thinking "hey,  that is pretty bad, no way this can get any worse", well I am here to tell you it can and it does.  The part that makes this language even harder to understand is when a few pints of Guinness are in an Irish man wanting to have a conversation.  I have found it easier to not ask him to repeat himself, because it can and possibly will get worse.  While the language is difficult to foreigners to speak and understand not many of the locals choose to speak much of the language.  Since I have been here I have not found a single person who solely speaks Irish, many people are bilingual.  And fret not all of the signs for direction and caution are in both Irish and English, so you do not have to speak the language to get around and have a good time in Ireland.  Go raibh maith agat le haghaidh léamh/Thanks for reading.

An Emergency Sign

More Travel Experiences to Come

Kyle Halsted

Ireland Study Abraod

Just an informational Sign

Week Six - Daily Habits

Ocean view

Since I have been here I have made some changes when it comes to my daily routines.  One of the biggest changes is being more disconnected.  When I say this it is being disconnected from all of my electronics that I would normally be using normally when I am home.  Since I have been here it seems like all of the batteries that are in my electronics seem to have a longer life span between charges.  I have also been walking more and spent more of my time outdoors exploring and site seeing.  This is different for me because I am constantly stuck indoors working on homework and projects for school.  Another thing that has been quite refreshing is that nobody really seems to be in a rush for anything.  This is a nice change of pace from being home where it constantly seems like every one I see is rushing to finish their tasks by a certain deadline.  This allows more time for reflection and some introspection my future goals and where I want to be in the near future.

Homemade Spaghetti

Even though it seems like I have a lot of free time, I still have homework assignments that are required to be completed.  This helps me feel less homesick because it is something that I enjoy doing and reminds me of home.  Another thing that is nice and reminds me of home is all of the cooking that we do within our cabin.  The home cooked meals allow a sense of home to still be here, even though I do not get to enjoy meals prepared by my family at home.  Another thing that our cabin does to ward off the feelings of homesickness are to play lots of card games.  We play games like rummy, pitch, and even cribbage.  While playing card games help ward off some homesickness it does not fend off it all.  It is nice that everyone here is so open and willing to talk.  Since everyone here seems to have became friends in such a short time,  it feels like the connections that have been made here have lasted much longer than the few short weeks since we have all got here.

Chicken Potatoes and Rice

More Travel Experiences to Come

Kyle Halsted

Ireland Study Abroad

Kitchen

Living room

Dining room

River by Spiddal

Week Five - Culture Insights

During my stay here in Ireland I have been able to pick up on a few differences between our two cultures.  Some of the differences that I have noticed include the views on religion and drinking habits.

To start most of the local Irish that I have talked to make the claim that to be Irish you are also Catholic.  I think that the main reason that all Irish people make this claim comes from when there was so much turmoil during religious prosecution in European countries.  During the civil war in Ireland the two sides were split based on religious views.  This kind of separation between the religions in Ireland have caused  some parts of the country to be like a puzzle.  This sense that even parts of a city have boundaries seem really confusing at first, but when I step back and look it seems fairly similar to segregation we had before the civil rights movement.  The real difference is that there segregation is still affecting the country today, while we seem to have moved passed ours for the most part.

Meal Quality from a pub

Another huge difference that I have noticed is when I spend some time in the local pubs.  Many of the locals will only have 1-2 pints before they are done at the pub.  This also includes locals around the same age as myself.  This is unique because all you ever hear about in the United States is underage drinking and binge drinking at parties.  The idea of a lower drinking age and being more involved in teaching youth how to drink responsibly is a great idea.  While talking with locals about the two drinking cultures I feel that the safer and more understood is that of the Irish Culture.

Breakfast is Served All Day

 The reason I feel this way is because more youth here understand the dangers of drinking.  This allows for more people to drink socially and to have a great time.  While pubs are like bars, bars are not like pubs.  The reason that I say this is because when in a pub, you can get restaurant quality food.  This is the main difference that distinguishes the two from each other.




This is how I have seen the two different culture.  While both are strangely similar, they each have their own unique aspects that show the greatness in each culture.

Small Church on Aran Islands

Church around Trim Castle

 













More Travel Experiences to Come

Kyle Halsted
Ireland Study Abroad