SAS - The Land of the Irish

Who would have thought Ireland would be my favorite country thus far? You would probably think because it was my first port or because it was my first time seeing land within 8 days it would be my favorite. Even though I was super excited to plant my feet on land and could have almost kissed the ground, these were not the reasons why Ireland has been my favorite thus far. The Irish people are like no other kind! They are people who know how to show you a good time; they are very helpful, generous and outgoing. Even though the weather seemed to be gloomy and misty, which is the case all the time, the people of Ireland don't allow this to affect the way they feel about life.

The people of Ireland, Guinness Beer, hostels, pubs and Irish coffee are something all new to me.  I know this may sound silly, but when I first got to Galway I was just exited to even see people driving on the opposite side of the road (lol). Two other students (Jasmine and Tatianna) and I walked around to experience the city.

At first we walked to my hostel so I could check in, but we couldn't find any street signs so it took longer than we thought. We asked a few local people how to get there and a lot of what we heard was, "You go up this street and make a left, then walk about 5 minutes down and make the first right at the second stop light." There were a lot of these directions given in Galway, but luckily for us it was a small and easy city to get around. There were many times in Ireland that when I asked for directions, there were never any street names in the description. Finally when we made it to the hostel, it wasn't ready at the time so I walked with Jasmine and Tatianna to theirs. It was my first time staying in a hostel and was unsure of what to expect. I was really iffy about staying in a hostel because one of my friends on the ship had a bad experience at a hostel in Halifax, Canada. However, one thing I did and I suggest anyone doing before staying in a hostel is check for the ratings and review of the place, as if it were a hotel.  

The place Jasmine and Tatianna were staying in had about 6 bunk beds and 4 twin beds, which was about 16 people in one room. Besides this cramped room, the people who accommodated the girls and other people who were staying at the hostels had to be some of the nicest people I have ever met. At the girls' hostel, I met a man from Poland by the name of Sebastian. He insisted on getting me a cup of coffee and telling me his life story while I was waiting on the girls. He had such a love for the country of Argentina, which he had never been to so I couldn't understand why he cared for this country so much. It wasn't until Sebastian went on with his life's story that he told me he had never met his father or even knew his name; he always felt he was an Argentinean man because of the love he had for the country. Sebastian was one of the many locals I had the pleasure of meeting and getting story time from.

When the girls were finally ready to go, we headed to my hostel which turned out to be a more spacious place than theirs. I shared a space which was a one bedroom apartment with one of the girls from the ship for about 35 euros each. Our place had a queen-sized bed, small-size living room and a tiny, tiny kitchen and bathroom. The upside of that experience was it was my first time experiencing a hostel which turned out to be really nice, clean and quiet.

After dropping my bags at the hostel, the girls and I went to get some food and did some sightseeing. We got a taste of the scenery, the food and the live music on the streets. One thing I noticed in Galway is there are not many restaurants, all you see are Irish pubs and this is where they sell most of their dining food. We went to a pub where I had this great big sandwich that made my mouth water (lol).

After we left, we did some more sightseeing, got lost and ended up at this giant cathedral which was really beautiful inside.

Later that day, once everyone was settled, we all met up for a night on the town.  I had the experience of being hit-on by many Irish men that night and for most of the time in Ireland, which I came to realize they really have a thing for Black women. There wasn't a day that I went out in Ireland and wasn't hit-on by an Irish man (lol).

That night really ended up being great! It gave everyone a chance to bond and to get to know each other outside of class on a social level.

The next morning, we left Galway for Dublin, the big city of Ireland. It was cool getting a feel for both cities of Ireland and to see the differences of what the cities had to offer. Galway was a smaller but more personable city than Dublin. I came to  find out many people on the ship liked or preferred to be in Galway. You wouldn't normally expect a lot of people (let alone students) to favor a rural area vs. an urban one.

Nonetheless, we all had a good time in both cities. I felt the ship got to Ireland at the prefect time because there was a big U.S. football game going on that weekend between Norte Dame University and the U.S. Navy. There were so many people from all over the world in town to see this game, about 35,000 people filled the seats of the stadium. I didn't get to go to the game because it was sold out once I found out about it. 


However, I did have many interactions with the people flooding the streets of Dublin all night long. Literally, all night! I had my first experience being homeless in Dublin (lol). The group of friends I was with wanted to have an experience of knowing what it feels like to be homeless for a night. It's not as dramatic as it sounds, but I can say I won't want to do it again (lol). We basically stayed out all night until everything was closed and all the people went back to their homes. Since it was so cold outside we had to make a decision to either sleep in Mickey Dee's or find someone from the ship with a hostel room and crash on their floor. We ended up sleeping on the hostel floor of some of the girls from the ship. There were 12 people in this tiny, tiny room. Three people slept on the bed, which were the ones who paid for the room, and the remaining nine took the floor. I had the pleasure of sleeping underneath an open window and if you know me at all you know I can't stand being cold (lol). I couldn't sleep the five hours we had to spare before returning to the ship that morning. That morning was so miserable! Not only did we have a bad night of sleep, we also walked about two hours back to the ship in the mist and cold. When I first saw the ship, I think I was happier than when I first saw the ship in Halifax (lol).

Ireland was a great first-port experience. I would recommend anyone to travel to Ireland and stay either in a hostel or B&B (bed & breakfast) because the people in Ireland are great with housing others and love Americans.