The Experience:
In the summer of 2014 seventeen travelers landed in Ireland as part of the Texas State University study abroad program in Cork City.
In addition to studying in one of Ireland's most vibrant regions, our travelers explored Irish literature & dabbled in travel writing.
The Place:
Located in South Central Ireland, Cork City is a cultural center & home to beautiful landscape, which includes rugged cliffs, sweeping green valleys, castle ruins, miles of wild coastline & small colorful villages. Along with relevant readings & writing projects, our travelers went on group excursions to Timoleague, Kinsale, Dingle Peninsula, Rock of Cashel, Gougane Barra & Cahir Castle. Several of the travelers took on adventures of their own to places like the Gap of Dunloe, Newgrange & the Aran Islands!
Their Writings:
Here, our travelers introduce you to their own experience in Ireland. While some share their daily walks in Cork City, others take you up & down winding paths on a bike & even on a quirky ferry ride over the Atlantic.
Whichever the experience you choose to read, you'll realize it has changed their perspective in life & provides a new outlook of Ireland.
The Traveler's Tale:
"I wonder when everything changed. Maybe it was when I left the tiny town for the big city...I missed the cool Texas air on my skin...I wanted to walk around at night in my pajamas & spin around, breathing in the magical midnight air."
"You take in an image, a splatter of green & a shallow pool. The tide’s not come in, not yet. It’s out with the blue, the white, & the brown. You lean forward on the precipice of pavement & look down to see a bed of seaweed, parallel to a picnic table, where a middle-aged man in a blue Nike tracksuit sits..."
"My hair is getting too long. I always feel it flapping in the cool Irish wind like a giant feather. The cockatoo look pairs nicely...If my hair could talk, it would have Gilbert Gottfried’s shrill voice. I’ve noticed an excess of barber shops in Ireland, maybe I’ll get a 'dry cut' for 10 euros..."
"At the age of 40, here I am,
entranced by Ireland’s shimmering lichen & the dancing River Lee. I couldn’t
help but say to myself, 'Si Papi, I know...It’s more
than I could’ve imagined back then.'...my thoughts would soon begin to speed up & dip into depths of my
past as the trip progressed."
"Gougane Barra speaks in tones of damp earth moss, a foreign tongue muted with the padding of pine needles. This sacred place of deep textures & breathless skies cannot possibly accept the flaws I carry with me."
"3.) Fecking 'Talk' To The Locals: Don’t rely on the advice of your professor, or your roommate’s friend of a friend who had a 4-hour layover in the town you’re living in for 4 weeks. Yeah, some McDonald’s freedom fries sound great right now, but have you tried the chips from that cart two streets off city center?"
"They had just finished singing...'Come Out, ye Black & Tans,' a wonderfully audacious song that was meant to taunt the occupying British army forces...when Sean leaned over the railing next to the couple & asked if they had any requests for drinking songs. The male half of the couple shook his head with a smile."
"When I inform the man who rents my bike to me that the Gap of Dunloe is my intended route, he crosses himself. 'I’ll pray for ye,' he says, 'not worth the trouble.'
Whether from fairy tales
or my own grandfather, I have some belief that seasoned, old Irish men give
sound advice."
"As I sat down on an empty bench I opened my bag of Hobnobs and quietly munched as I contemplated my time spent in Cork...I never knew entirely if I was being judged for acting like a stereotypical American...I no longer felt like an outsider...I was still a tourist, but Fitzgerald Park opened my eyes to the living pulse of the city."
