So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye

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Hello lovely people! It's hard to believe that this will be the final blog that I write from Scotland. As per my study abroad requirements, I will write one more blog once I am back in the states and attempting to get adjusted, but I think blogs from Scotland are much more fun. I will start by giving you an overview of what my week has been like this past week. I finished my last class Tuesday afternoon and straight after class I went to catch a train with a flatmate, and we were bound for Ireland! Actually, we were bound for Belfast but still "technically" Ireland. Our flight arrived in Belfast around 9 or so and we took a taxi to our lovely little hostel. Given that we were both quite tired, we had a very exciting evening of laying in bed and falling asleep quite early. We're quite the party animals, as you can see. The next day we got up, checked out of the hostel, and hit the streets. We had until around 4 until our train to Dublin so we had some time to kill, which we managed by walking around Belfast and seeing what there is to see. Given that I only saw a very small part of Belfast on my class excursion and we were on a time limit, it was nice to be able to casually stroll around the streets and see other parts of Belfast that didn't make me feel so sad. Of course it was raining, because it always always rains, but being an Oregonian I'm used to walking about in the rain and have gotten even more used to it since being here. Belfast is quite a lovely city, I encourage you all to take a wee visit. We managed to find our way to the train station and around 4 or so, we were off to Dublin! The train to Dublin from Belfast is only about two hours and it's a lovely little journey. Spoiler alert: Ireland and Scotland look very similar in terms of landscape. We arrived in Dublin around 7 or so and checked into our next hostel. We had booked a tour for the next day and so we decided to go out and find the meeting point so that we didn't have to try to find it at 8 the next morning. Dublin is much larger than I expected, but it's also very quaint. There are a looooot of pubs, no surprise there, and they are almost always full. It took us a couple of tries to find a place to have dinner, and of course I can't remember the name of the pub that we finally settled on. I had basically one goal while I was in Dublin, and I am happy to report that I achieved it. That goal was to drink a Guinness. Now, I really do not like beer. Any beer. All of my friends love beer and I am the oddball who always goes for a cider (really it just means that I'm a trend setter 😊 ). However, I felt that not having a Guinness while in Dublin would be against some sort of law and the beer police would surely be knocking on my door if I didn't have one. I had been told that Guinness was obviously better in Dublin than in the states, to which I felt some relief. Because let me tell you, Guinness in the states is disgusting. So at the pub my flatmate, who doesn't like beer either, and I each ordered a half a pint. To my surprise, it was not half bad. It was indeed much better than in the states, and I was able to drink my entire glass, which is quite an achievement for me considering that I don't even like sips of any beer. I still don't like Guinness in the states or other beers in the states, so all of my friends will have to come to Dublin if they want to have a beer with me (which I'm sure they would all be fine with). After beer and food we made our way back to the hostel and tried to catch some shut eye, as our tour was scheduled to depart at 8 the next morning. We woke up not so bright eyed and made our way to the meeting point. The tour that we had booked was a coastal tour that ended with the cliffs of Mohr. Our first stop, however, was a town around 2 or so hours away from Dublin called Kinvara. It's a lovely little town situated by a bay, and the buildings are all very colorful which I loved because I love all things colorful. After a short stop in Kinvara we made our way in some direction and ventured to Corcomroe abbey. I always love old abbeys and cathedrals and this one did not disappoint. It's situated at the foot of some limestone hills and it is partially in ruins. There is also a large cemetery, because what abbey isn't complete without a cemetery? There are also some skeletal remains of an important person that I can't remember the name of, and we got to take a picture of his skull. Hamlet, anyone? After the abbey we ventured to what is known as the mini cliffs. They are like the cliffs of Mohr, but smaller, yet equally as beautiful. The water of the north Atlantic is incredibly blue on the coast of Ireland. I told my flatmate that we could just jump in and swim to America, but she wasn't having any part of that. We then finally made our way to the real Cliffs of Mohr. Let me just say, they are absolutely stunning. They're very tall. I don't remember how many feet, but very tall. They stretch for miles and there's not a single bad view of them. There is a somewhat wall in place so that people don't fall off of the edge, however people jump the wall and go sit by the edge anyways and it's just become accepted. Being the trend setter that I am, of course I had to jump the wall and sit by the edge (sorry mom). The view is incredible, and the water is so so blue. It's in wonderful contrast with the green grass on the cliffs. The cliffs also contain the cave in which Harry and Dumbledore go into to find the horcrux in the sixth HP movie and it was wonderful to see. Scotland loves Harry Potter, and I'm perfectly alright with it. It was an absolutely wonderful way to end the day, and thankfully the sun had been out all day and it was the best weather I've seen in a while which was also wonderful. The trip back to Dublin was a bit long, and after we got back we got a bit to eat and passed out rather early, again because we're party animals. Ireland is a lovely place and I am very happy that I got the chance to experience it. However, I have to say that I think I prefer Scotland over Ireland, though I might just be a bit biased. We caught out plane back to Glasgow this morning, and the rest of the day has consisted of getting last minute things ready to go home. I ran into quite a dilemma today, because I have far too much stuff and not enough room to put it. The weight limit for a checked bag is 50 pounds, and trying to make everything fit has been a very very big struggle. I started packing around 6 I think this evening and just finished a bit ago, so around 10. That's 4 hours of rearranging, stuffing, and squishing all of my stuff between three different bags trying to find a way to make everything fit and my suitcase be under the limit. I have a backpack and a small duffle bag that I'm using as a carry on, and it was still a real struggle. It's exceptionally difficult to try maneuvering around a room full of stuff when the stuff takes up literally every inch of the room because the room is the size of a cubicle. I was trapped in my room at one point because my stuff was all blocking my door. In the end, I managed to come out victorious and my suitcase weighs in at around 45 pounds. Not to mention both of my carry on bags are completely stuffed. Clearly this is a lesson that I need to be supervised when packing for long trips and I should not be allowed to bring so much stuff with me in the first place. It's a wee problem that I have. All part of the experience, eh? Today was a gorgeous day, being around 65 degrees with all sun for the first time in a long time. Of course it had to happen when we're leaving. Well played, Scotland. I am excited to be going home tomorrow, yet also quite sad. I think that every single person in the program is feeling this way, and it's a very unsettling feeling. I have loved every single second of this journey, and I am so incredibly thankful for this opportunity. I would like to say a big enormous thank you to my parents, because without them and their support this trip would never have been possible. I would also like to thank all of you. Whether you contributed to my trip financially or simply by sending me good thoughts or even by reading my blogs each week, I feel so much love and support from everyone back home. I have learned a lot about myself from this trip. I've traveled via many many forms of transportation. I've pushed myself beyond my comfort zone. I've also created some wonderful friendships that I will always cherish. I have grown to love this tiny town that I've gotten to call home the past 8 weeks, and it will always have a special place in my heart. Traveling is a funny thing in the sense that you can plan and prepare as much as you'd like, but the world has a way of taking you down a different route that always seems to work out better than what you had originally planned and everything is perfectly a mess. I think back to before I left for this trip, and I remember being incredibly stressed and worried because of all the work that had to go into it. I look back now and don't even know why I was so worried. I am a firm believer that things will work out the way they are supposed to in the end, regardless of what you may think in the moment. This trip has been a true indicator of that. I have been exhausted since the day I arrived, and I wouldn't want it any other way. I came across a quote that says "The gladdest moment in human life, me thinks, is a departure into unknown lands."-Sir Richard Burton. This is incredibly accurate. It has been one of the greatest times of my life, and only affirms my feelings that I am in the right field of studies. Simply put: I have been 100% humbled by this experience. There are many many things that I will miss about Scotland, however I have a feeling that it is not goodbye forever. I fully intend to make my way back one day, perhaps with some of my friends and family. My plane departs from Edinburgh tomorrow at noon, and I arrive in New York at 2 p.m. the same day. Silly time changes. Given that tomorrow will be filled with little to no sleep, jet lag and lots of emotions I'm sure there will be tears, but for my parents sake I'll try to get them all out before I arrive back in Portland (which will be 10 tomorrow night, so I've got some time). If I cry then they cry and it becomes a whole big deal. So for now I will say see you later, Scotland. As for all of you wonderful people, thank you for sticking around with me the past 8 weeks. I hope you've all enjoyed reading as much as I've enjoyed writing. Hopefully my writing won't turn to rubbish on my return to the states. I'm already excited to see where my travels will take me next, but I guess for now this means that I'll see you all state-side! Next stop, USofA!

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