So.

The last time I spent any time on this here blog, I was still in Armagh. I apologize for the time-lapse. While I was there, I tried so very hard to remain in the moment, only reflecting at bedtime as I stared at the slats of the bed above mine. I thought it silly to set aside even 15 minutes to visit my blog when instead I could be getting to know someone a bit better in the kitchen or in the hostel lobby.

But now that it’s been just about a month since that trip, I will try my best to adequately describe the whole adventure. Honestly, it was the best experience of my life to-date.

One thing that struck me as odd from the very beginning was my lack of nervousness. By all accounts, I could have been very worried. I was traveling out of the country by myself for the first time, with virtually no familiar faces to greet me once I touched ground. (Except for Fuzzy, David’s first toy.) I felt absolutely no anxiety about anything. Both the long flight and the prospect of making new friends/acquaintances did not perturb me in the slightest.

Quite the contrary, in fact. I was thrilled. The older I become, the more eager I am to go off on my own. I feel more myself when I am alone. On some levels, I feel held back by my friends and acquaintances because I’m aware of their expectations and I know that most people dislike change, particular in those they think they know. In Ireland, I expected to be free to behave and do as I pleased.

But I’m digressing a bit.

Again, I was thrilled. And I was so very happy. There was nothing to complain about. Not the hours of waiting for a bus, or the inevitable small talk with strangers, which I typically avoid.

But just in a few words, Ireland is a place where people have not forgotten how to live life. Everything from the food to the people themselves attest to that as fact. I have never known people who are friendlier or more accommodating. So many of my nights were spent just sitting in a pub listening to live traditional music, or talking to people I met there and hearing their stories. The Irish love to talk, and I much prefer to listen, so I felt incredibly comfortable. The trip was a lovely respite from the rush-rush, hustle-and-bustle of city life that I grew up in. Life moves at its own pace in many places in Ireland, and I very much appreciated it.

I’m still unsure of how to progress. So much happened and I don’t know how I can package it. Perhaps the best way will be through photos, which I’ll get to soon.

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Classes are already in full swing, and though I’ve been keeping up rather easily, I already feel the laziness seeping in.

Thus far, my favorite class is Chinese Philosophy and Religion because it is so vastly different from most other philosophy/religion courses I’ve had. The ideas/values are almost entirely opposite of Western ideals.

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