Week(end) One in Dublin!

My first week in Dublin was like one long weekend. With our internships not starting until Tuesday, my friends and I had six days to get to know Dublin a bit before having to get into the routine of work. This is my journal of the week!  

Tuesday and Wednesday (travel days!!) May 28 and 29

After saying goodbye to my family at the airport, I took off for Atlanta. My flight plan was from Omaha to Atlanta, then Atlanta to Dublin. The only unfortunate part was the six-hour layover in Atlanta. I passed it by watching TV and scrolling through Instagram. On my flight, I met a few wonderful ladies who were traveling to Ireland for a couple weeks for vacation. I enjoyed talking to them for a bulk of the flight. After landing, customs and baggage claim went as smoothly as possible. For my first time traveling alone, I felt very confident in myself and can’t believe I pulled it off with almost no problems. I never felt unsafe or unsure of what to do next. I was greeted by the friendly IES Abroad staff at our apartment Wednesday morning. After registering and getting my Wi-Fi and key fob figured out, I headed up to my new home for the next two months! There, I unpacked and met my roommates!! Getting to know my roommates and the other interns has been one of the best parts of this week. We all went out to get groceries and other necessities for our rooms. We were all super jetlagged, so we went back to our rooms to rest. I accidentally took a three-hour nap, but then we met up with another group of IES Abroad interns out for dinner. We had a great time getting to know Dublin and each other.  

Thursday, May 30 

On Thursday morning, we had orientation with the IES Abroad staff. They had several presentations on health, safety and shared some great recommendations of things to do and places to go in Dublin. Thankfully they also provided coffee and pastries. That afternoon we visited the Dublin/NYC portal! It was so fun to see the New Yorkers. My parents are going to NYC in late June, so I’m hoping that we’ll get to see each other at the portal! Another grocery run, a quick dinner, and I had an early night in bed. 

 
Friday, May 31 

We had another (intern-specific) orientation on Friday morning. I appreciate the way IES Abroad is doing orientation. Instead of doing it all the day we got into Dublin (exhausted and jetlagged), they spread out the orientation over two days. On Friday, we learned about the seminar we’ll be in, and about a few more specific policies and procedures. The internship placements vary greatly, so the staff could only really give us a vague overview of what the workplace culture could be like. It sounds like a lot of the seminar will be discussing the differences/similarities between Irish and American workplaces. I think it’ll be interesting to see how this relates to my internship, seeing that theatrical workplaces are normally very different from a traditional workplace environment. We also did several get-to-know-you activities and icebreakers, which was lots of fun and helped us to bond and figure out more of what we had in common. IES Abroad treated us to lunch afterwards, which provided us with more opportunities to talk to the staff. They were up and about, asking us if we had any questions or concerns, and doing everything they could to help us out. My roommates and I went thrifting for a bit that afternoon. I’m on the lookout for new jewelry while I’m in Dublin. I think it would be so cool to thrift some! It also would be easier to pack. Then I left the group and went on my first solo expedition in Dublin. I needed to do some grocery shopping, and I only got turned around once on my way back. I’m normally good with directions, but Dublin has been hard for me to get oriented in. But I’m learning and I’m sure that as time goes on (and as I take public transport for 30 minutes to my internship), I’ll get much more familiar with Dublin.  

Saturday, June 1 

I wanted to go to a market to get some fresh food on Saturday morning, but I woke up too late (I'll go next week). Instead, I went for brunch with one of my roommates. I don’t like coffee, but I love chai. We went to a new spot about 5-10 minutes from the apartment and had great chai. One thing I’ve learned about Ireland is that when you order, “iced chai” you may just end up drinking “milk with a hint of cinnamon.” It’s been interesting figuring out which places have good chai. Even though this spot was incredible, I ended up spilling my drink just after we had left the cafe. After recovering from that heartbreak, we joined the rest of our roommates and our other IES Abroad intern friends and went on the bus tour with tickets provided by IES Abroad (they have been spoiling us this week!!). We had such a great time seeing new parts of Dublin we haven’t been able to yet. We saw lots of places we want to explore, and things we want to do. We went out to dinner afterwards and called it a night. 

Sunday, June 2 

Sunday morning, I made my way to a sweet, small-town Baptist church. The people were so kind and welcoming, and they had a barbeque afterwards (free food yes please!). I stayed late into the afternoon getting to know them all. The real challenge was getting back home on public transit. One of the girls had helped me get on the right bus on the right line, but when I got off, I left my wallet! I asked people on the street for help, wondering if there was a number I could call to contact the drivers. The first couple groups I ran into didn’t speak English but somehow I found a wonderful British family that was able to help me. I was so anxious, crying on the streets of Dublin, but eventually I was reunited with my wallet. Luckily all it had in it was my leap card and cash (hundreds of euros though), and not my credit cards and IDs, but it was still enough of a scare to make sure I don’t make that kind of mistake again. I went for a walk that evening, and that was my night. 

Monday, June 3 

I had a bit of a late start to the day on Monday. I went to Howth with my roommates and a bunch of other IES Abroad interns in the afternoon. We took the Dart there, which was a little nerve-wracking at first (especially after my encounter yesterday), but it’s so much easier to navigate public transport with a group. We had so much fun exploring a bit of the town. We walked down to the lighthouse and spotted an incredible musician playing ABBA on the trumpet. We danced with him for a little bit. Then, we decided to go on a hike. I didn’t realize how intense the hike would be when we set out that afternoon. The 1.5-hour hike quickly became closer to 3. We hiked around the coast and down to the hidden beach. We kept stopping for pictures and videos. I loved being down by the beach. I’m an ocean girl through and through, and this was my first time to the coast since coming into Dublin. We were on the beach for about forty-five minutes, but it was the highlight of my day. After a grueling hike back up the stairs, we stopped for some much needed fish and chips. We took the bus back to our apartment and got ready for our internships to start tomorrow!