Tuesday June 23, 2015
When we first began the descent over this tiny, beautiful island I hardly sit still. My face was pressed against the glass of the window of the tiny flying machine I had been confined to for the last seven and a half miserable hours. But as I saw the country that I had dreamed about for years getting closer and closer, I forgot the delays at the airport. I forgot all the turbulence that made the flight rather terrifying. I forgot that I was tired and hadn’t slept yet. I forgot everything except my excitement and the troubled, lonely island that I was so desperate to explore. I couldn’t wait to get off the plane and breathe in the foreign air and see a landscape so unlike the views I was so used to seeing. I was not disappointed. My exhaustion flew away as I navigated the Dublin airport. And as soon as I stepped outside- I stopped. I looked at my surroundings and choked back a laugh. I was here. I made it. I took a deep breath of fresh, reasonably chilly air and set off to find the bus that would take me to Galway.
As we enter Galway, I am upright and alert once again. The countryside was beautiful but this urban life was spectacular. There were men and women pushing strollers and biking to destinations unknown. There were cars whizzing past on the wrong side of the road. I had to remind myself that everything is backwards here. There are so many houses squished together. So many people living their lives in a country that they call home and that I call perfect. They know secrets of this town, back alleys and shortcuts and the best watering holes, secrets I hope to discover. The bus pulls into the station and I prepare myself for the greatest adventure of my life.
-Madison Monnette