All of the good things in life -- events, moments, trips, even relationships -- inevitably end, and I admit that I was disheartened to know the good times incurred on this trip would be over as I now have to endure a week longer in Ireland with my parents. (While my parents coming here wasn't necessarily a bad thing, I knew that towards the end of my study-abroad trip I wanted to go back home.) When I finally committed to the trip to Ireland, I had not a slight clue on what I was getting into, but in looking back at my trip, I can definitively say that the trip flew by. It honestly feels like just yesterday we took the introductory walking tour through Dublin with Lorcan Collins. But isn't that the point of any brand-new experience -- to enjoy your time with the people you don't always know (or like) even when in a totally new environment? This exact feeling is why I did commit to this trip. I was tired of feeling like I wasn't broadening out my horizons on my outlook towards my own life, and I decided to do something about it. The result was a trip I can reminisce about for a lifetime.
Of all the moments that made the trip memorable, the most rewarding part of the trip was getting to live in one of the world's premier cities in Dublin. By the end of the trip, I was not an American tourist that had been in Dublin for only four weeks; instead, I was an honorary Dubliner who had taken advantage of the public transportation system to gain a better, more acknowledgeable insight on daily life in Dublin. I believe -- for the sake of wherever my professional career takes me -- that this insight moving forward will be of great benefit in the further development of myself as an individual man with individual thoughts.
Roughly, the Temple Bar area of Dublin. Living in Dublin for a month should be incredibly beneficial for growing into the man I would like to be as I continue to develop and gain a better understanding of the world I live in.
As for the nation of the Republic of Ireland itself, it seems like every individual locality outside of Dublin is just as welcoming and lively as the capital city itself, and you just couldn't feel like a stranger wherever you may roam. From Kilkenny to Galway, there was always a pub to indulge in, a bed to sleep in, a room to dwell in, and people to meet that seemed like -- for the most part, really -- they actually wanted your presence, whether for financial reasons or for social reasons. The nature of it all -- from Giant's Causeway to the Cliffs of Moher -- acted as the beautiful starring role of the project that drew you in with their collective beauty and allure to tourists and anyone who may choose. Additionally, these respective locations all acted as a form of catharsis from the rest of the world's problems and my own problems I needed to deal with, and they both undoubtedly helped when I felt lonely and out of place in Ireland (which still happened frequently, unfortunately).
Giant's Causeway was a peaceful yet busy place, and as simple as it is to say, I am glad we all got to take a break from class time and encounter the beauties of Mother Earth.
Perhaps the true wonder of the Emerald Isle is the Cliffs of Moher in all its grand beauty and downcast weather. I am smiling here, as I did for the rest of this natural excursion (which is incredibly rare for me to be irrefutably happy with my surroundings).
Of course, a blog post is not complete without a proper connection to class materials. In reading four vastly different yet vastly similar Irish memoirs detailing authors and their strife with either growing up or in facing midlife crises, one can encapsulate just how difficult life in Ireland or Northern Ireland historically has been. With the Great Depression, constant British aggression, war, the Troubles, and women's liberation movements, loneliness, depression, and alcoholism, the words of all four authors were eloquent, emotive, and encapsulating in their immersion with the Emerald Isle's tough times but strident legal, political, and social objectives that have carved out an Ireland in the future which has excelled on the world stage in political processes and economic development. Politically, the pedagogy of the various political ideologies prevalent through world history and the current state of the world illustrate the central importance of politics that either bestows or plagues the Republic of Ireland with its political process. It is clear that Ireland's embodiment of socially liberal and fiscally conservative leadership in the Oireachtas and presidency incumbent to the legislative and executive branch has transformed the nation of Ireland from a mass-emigrating, weak economy colony of the United Kingdom into a growing, expansive economy that looks at future generations when crafting a bright future for the Republic of Ireland.
The last night in Dublin was spent with some great people and a little too much to drink :)
"Every man dies; not every man really lives." Quoting from the movie Braveheart and its fierce, powerful, and inspirational protagonist William Wallace, this is a quote that has stuck with me ever since I first watched the film. Like the nation of Ireland, William Wallace understood the painful blight and oppression his Scottish people incurred at the hands of British aggression and went on to do something about it by rallying his Scottish brethren and sisters for initial Scottish independence from the crown. Looking directly at the quote to the film, Wallace clearly did not want to just die at the hands of the crown; he wanted to go down -- as he inevitably did in the film -- with a fierce fight and influential vigor for his homeland and the cause for Scottish independence. Looking indirectly to the film's quote, I can apply this to my own life as well. For someone who has never felt at home at UWL and even in high school, I have felt that I have never and might never embody a life well lived -- that I would be lonely for an indefinite amount of time, that I would fail to find personal success, that I would never come home to another great person who understood me, that I would never give love to anyone else, and that I would die alone if I didn't do anything about it. While others on the trip probably committed to the trip to Ireland to fulfill a dream to visit the beautiful nation and everything it had to offer, I wanted to take the trip for more of a personal reason in revitalizing the hope I once had for a future that I could look forward to. Now that I am sad that this trip is over, I believe I have met the requirements that I set before the trip. As I now say my goodbyes, I will do what I can to keep on keeping on and become more of a man who really lives.
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