Day Three: Jetlagged Americans

Today was the day where I finally got to meet up with other people in my study abroad program as well as my host family. I said goodbye to Brendan and Catherine and caught the number 16 bus back to the airport, where the rest of my group was meeting. It was there that I met Dave Kilroy, our program coordinator, who made sure everyone in our group met one another. Having been in Dublin for two days, I was basically adjusted to the time difference, so it was funny to meet so many people who were completely thrown by it. Still, everyone was in high spirits as we all gathered together and boarded the bus that would take us to our college.

At the IADT (our college, and no, I don’t know what it stands for), we were picked up by our host families. Everyone kept referring to the experience as being back in kindergarten, where our mom’s were waiting to pick us up. Some also compared it to being “chosen” like an orphan in an orphanage. Regardless, we were all matched up with our host families, and whisked away to our respective home stays.

One of the most surprising things about the whole home stay experience is that is has completely blown the doors of what I thought an Irish home would be like. Neil and Ena (my host parents) have a house that would rival most American homes, and a yard that puts most I’ve seen to shame. Not only that, but they took on four Americans from my program (including me), a German student studying English at another school (Brenda), and Russian student on a 12 week program (Julia). The six of us, along with Neil and Ena and their two kids who live at home, means 11 people under one roof. With plenty of room to spare.

So the other three Americans (Andrew, Carolyn and Shelly) napped, while I chatted with Ena while she cooked, talking about America and my experience the past two days. Soon, though, everyone was up, and we all took turns telling stories about where we’re from and what it had taken to get to Dublin, including flight delays and long hours driving to the airport. Ena’s dinner, it turned out, was a beef stew with rice and mashed potatoes. The six non-Irish people at the table fought valiantly, but the meal defeated us. But Ena had made chocolate cake (of course), and we simply had to have a slice.

Stuffed, the Americans and Brenda decided to waddle down to the local pub to watch the US lose to Ghana in the first knockout round of the World Cup. We then walked back in the fading light, returning to Kilfenora* tired and happy, quickly falling asleep.

*Yeah, their house has a name, not a number.