the last few weeks spent in dublin were the hardest. you can ask my two closest friends on the trip how i'd basically fallen off the radar. i was spiraling into a dark hole. i had gotten a taste of home when harold visited me and now i missed it more than ever. i cried for days . i spent almost all my time in my room watching movies. i'd even skipped out on days of biking (which i told myself not to do) because i was just so down.
first weekend back from spring break, i spent every night dancing. with some good unmentionable juice in me, i spent hours just dancing into the wee hours of dublin's night. the funniest memory i had was getting on the bus, completely glassy-eyed , going to a bar, going to one club, then running over to another club in the heaviest rain i'd been in, & then dancing to an empty dancefloor. thinking about it, i had more fun doing that than when people actually came. some of those irish guys are too much. then we ran to mcdonalds (which i absolutely DESPISE) and bought food, caught a cab, sat in complete silence, get to my friend's room and sat on the floor eating. lmao. it might not seem funny now, but man...the next day, we were crackin up. we spent 3 nights in a row doing that.
then, for a change, we went to go watch some Gaelic Football. now, what the fuck...that game was intense. i wasn't exactly sure what was going on but basically everything that you couldn't do in regular football (soccer to us), you COULD do in gaelic football. man, those men were beasts.
later that week, we had a 'beauty night' with the nuns who lived below us. it was so cute: manicures, massages, goddess card readings. my goddess card reading was so dead on it scared me. then practically all of the stj girls went into one room, piled all of our make-up into a huge pile and gave each other make-overs.
classes were finishing up & as the last few days rolled around, corners in my heart brightened up. i no longer had a massive paper to do, all my classes were registered for the next fall, a majority of my last few nights were spent packing. i was ready to jump into a plane right then and there. i was DONE with europe.
but on my last full day in dublin, i went to hoath, which is a short train ride from dublin and a small fishing village. i remember the day perfectly. it was sunny with slight wind but still fairly warm. coming out of the train station and finally reaching the wharf, we turned around and looked at the beautiful little bright houses perched up on the mountainous green terrain. the waves danced with the wind and families walked their dogs and old couples sat on the benches overlooking the picturesque view.
i stood there realizing what an epic journey i'd been on. how many other people can say they lived and studied in Europe and not just 1 country but three and all of this in a matter of almost 4 months. 4 MONTHS!? it's still unbelievable to me. i knew God brought me to Hoath on the most beautiful day in Ireland for me to reflect on the gift i was given. i cannot thank Him enough.
that night, we threw a surprise thank-you dinner for our Ireland 'mother', Ann, who was completely in shock. she thought she was just going out for a quiet Friday family dinner. but she said, 'we were family now' and that's just how it went. the night was spent in laughter and a RIDICULOUS amount of food. i mean, hell, it was our last night in dublin! we ate and drank to our hearts desires that by the end of the night, the only thing we could do was sleep and hope to never wake up from this dream come true.
on departure day, it rained as i tried to sell back my bike. the man wasn't there but i wasn't disappointed. i left my bike as a gift for future STJ DTW Dubliners. i hope they enjoy it. we brought down our belongings and i said an almost tearful goodbye to my beautiful room. i hugged camay goodbye, who was getting in a later flight, and crammed into a minibus with 1/2 of the dtw crew. i wanted to cry some more when they began singing 'Molly Malone'. it was the song that began Dublin for us. we unpacked our over-stuffed suitcases from the van and checked in. saying good-bye to our den sister, Claire and Ireland mother, Ann was extremely difficult. it really meant that i was leaving. leaving Ireland for good, leaving EUROPE for good, & leaving the dream behind.
the group sat there knowing that in less than 12 hours we'd be home. our real homes. but also that we'd be leaving a home, too. for someone that had been counting down the days till her return home in such vigor, i was the one who tried not to cry the most (well, as far as i could tell). we boarded the plane and in an hour later, we landed in heathrow and met up with all the rest of the DTW people from the other cohorts. it was really nice seeing people i hadn't seen in 6 weeks and hearing their stories. but almost as quickly, we boarded the plane and the rest is history.
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approximately 9PM, NYC
JFK International Airport
we touched down and it was the sweetest feeling in the world. everyone on the plane clapped but little did we know the terror had just begun.
we got off the plane and was greeted by an hour-long Customs line. almost as instantly as I was glad to be back, I wanted to be back in Ireland. NYC, i love you...but i don't miss this shit. other foreigners came in Swine-Flu masks, which we never had to deal with before. The whole Swine-Flu thing had all of us scared because we were entering 'sick' territory. but after going through customs & retrieving my two suitcases (which felt like they had gained weight since i last saw em in Dublin), i dragged myself to the gate and saw all the crowd and people hugging and screaming and welcomg back and signs. the most important to me wa seeing my parent's face when they saw me. i felt like crying when my mom and dad hugged me. it had been the longest time EVER that i was away from the both of them. my brother just said 'hey', that was our kinda relationship, lol. the last person from DTW that i actually got to say good-bye to was Alice, and from then...the drive home was almost surreal.
the feeling of being back in NYC was great. seeing my dog, Manny and cuddling with him on the couch that night was wonderful. sharing stories with my parents made me proud. if you asked me if i wanted to do it all over again, i would say FUCK YEAH. but i wouldn't change anything. i have no regrets.
GRAZIE, MERCI, 'TANKS, & THANK YOU.
i cannot wait for the day when i can get off the plane and breathe in your air again.
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