November Rain, November Sun

Even though it is always fun and exciting to travel outside of Dublin (whether it be within Ireland or internationally), it can be equally rewarding to see the sights and sounds of what the city and its neighboring towns have to offer!

This past weekend, the Dublin Zoo finally drew me in and I spent the day with my friends laughing and waving at the chimpanzees, holding our breath with the hippos, getting frightened by the lion’s roars, and imitating the baby elephants trumpeting. We even ran into another American who’s visiting Dublin for the weekend who’s studying abroad in Belgium (he recognized us by our accents, it’s tough to hide those haha!)

The zoo is located in Phoenix Park, only one bus ride away from Rathmines, and we lucked out to have perfect weather for it. I hadn’t been to the zoo for years, so it was such a nice way to relax and de-stress after a week of assignments and interning. I think being there with friends, with the sun and all these kids running around us having a blast, it can really take you back to the times when you were younger and got so much enjoyment and awe from the simplest things. There’s definitely a lesson in there somewhere; getting too wrapped up, taking things too seriously, can sometimes take away from the moment and the pure joy that can be found in it.

In a similar thoughtful fashion, what with November here and the end of the semester coming up quickly, there has been more time for me to reflect on what it means to be moving away from Dublin and back home again. Though there’s still a month to go, I’ve started to really pin down my weekends and decide where I want to go and what I want to do before I have to leave. There’s still so much to do and see, but I’ve decided that two of my weekends this month will be devoted to travelling outside of Ireland—I’m thoroughly excited to say I’ll be going to Amsterdam and to Barcelona! Two very different places, but two places I’m sure I won’t regret. It will be amazing, I’m sure.

Also this month, IES Abroad has provided us with the opportunity to go see a play, “The Gigli Concert,” by Tom Murphy at the Gate Theatre. Stephen, one of my favorite professors here, has invited us all to go, and I’m so excited—I know anything that he recommends is going to be a great experience, I definitely trust his opinion over my own haha! That, along with a night at the Abbey Theatre seeing the storytelling show, “The Moth,” makes this month quite a busy and artful one. I can’t wait to see what else might be in store for my last few weeks here.