After completing the MCAT on Saturday, the work did not stop. I arrived home from London, unpacked, and started working on a few of the papers that are due toward the end of the month. Due to traveling, I missed the church services available online at Summit RDU. This did not help my mood as I always feel rejuvenated by the church and that I have individuals that are supporting my faith. Having spiritual support is something I have missed the most about the United States. On Monday, I had an Animal Cognition class online and continued to work on papers and got my schedule for Virginia Wesleyan next year planned. I was concerned about when to take certain classes and if I can fit in all my major and minor classes. Upon graduation, I will most likely have around 190 credits, which is much more than required. This has made my schedule extremely busy. After working on my schedule, I went to Storyhouse, a local coffee shop and library that many students go to study. At the end of the day on Monday, I attended karaoke night at the Student Union. My friend Bruno and I sang a song together and listened to many brave students sing various songs. Tuesday was just as busy as Monday. I had three classes and continued to work on my paper for Intercultural Experiential Learning (ICE). In the afternoon, I was able to go to lunch with one of my closest friends here, Una. We went to Bella Italia, which is one of my favorite Italian restaurants in Chester. It was refreshing to talk to someone about their family, experiences, and goals and feel like we were similar. So many international students have extremely different life goals than me, making it hard to connect with them. After lunch, I ran to get my laundry, changed, and attended my last soccer practice. Once soccer finished, I was about to leave when some of the men's soccer team asked if a few of the women's players could stay. I ended up staying and playing a much better level of soccer than I usually do in England. It is always a pleasure to surprise men's players by keeping up with them while playing. I walked home completely exhausted and then watched the Greatest Showman with my friend Parker, who had never seen the film. Wednesday was a long day, as I was packing for my trip to Ireland the next day, continued working on my paper, and played in the last women's soccer game this semester. The weather was horrible; it was raining and cold. Our team was winning 4-0 at the half, so Brooke and I (the other American student on the team) got sat for the second half. Many of our friends came to watch and support which was extremely nice of them. The rest of the day was filled with packing, writing, and sleeping in preparation for Thursday. I woke up at 4:00 AM on Thursday morning to catch the train to Manchester Airport. We got there for our 8:45 flight around 6:00. The security line was absolutely horrible. The group of us almost missed our flight, despite taking the quickest and earliest train to get to the airport. However, we were all able to make it to Belfast, Northern Ireland that morning and settled in around 10:00 to get ready for St. Patrick's Day celebrations. My group went to get Pho at a local restaurant, went to the store to grab some supplies, then stood in line for a bar that was throwing a block party. We stood in that line for 2 hours and ended up giving up due to the probability we would not get in. However, we all met some individuals in line who knew another local place to go and went to another location with them. Because of this, I did not regret standing in that line. We interacted with other Irish students the entire night, somehow bumping into other Americans as well before ending the day. Overall, it was extremely busy and fun on St. Patrick's Day. Friday was our second day in Belfast. I walked with some of my friends to the C.S. Lewis park. I took many pictures and sent some to my Reading Narnia teacher, who was very interested in C.S. Lewis when teaching me sophomore year. Lexi, Laura, and I then took bikes to St. George's Market, an old Victorian market in Belfast that was an excellent place to grab food and buy little vintage trinkets. After spending 3 hours there, we walked to the Belfast Botanic Gardens and spent some time walking around the area. We tried to catch a bus to the city center after this, but we were unable to and ended up walking the 30 minutes to City Hall. After spending some time around City Hall, we headed to our AirBnB on a bus. Some of my friends fell asleep during this time while I made reservations at a Chinese restaurant. We had to wait until 9:15 to eat because both of the student groups that traveled to Belfast wanted to eat together. Once we all met up and finished eating, we walked around Belfast a little longer before we headed home for our early train in the morning. As it turns out, only 4 of us had bought train tickets in advance for the train on Saturday from Belfast to Dublin. The four of us who had prepared ahead went straight to our hotel and then headed into the city to wait for the other students. There, we went to Lily's cafe and grabbed either breakfast or lunch. There, I had the biggest fish and chips I have ever seen. We all split up from there. My friend Alondra and I went to Dublin Castle, saw the city hall, went to a few museums, and walked to Trinity College to meet up with some of the other students who had seen the Book of Kells. Most of us walked to St. Patrick's cathedral and spent some time in the park near there. After an hour or two, six of us went to a local restaurant, gelato place, and the store before returning to our hotel. Sunday morning was a difficult one. I woke up around 3:20 AM to get to the airport in time for my 6:00 flight. Hannah, Alondra, and I got on the plane, where I felt sick for the majority of the time (not COVID sickness). We all got home around 10:50 and slept for most of the day. Currently, I am continuing to work on schoolwork, listening to church, and finishing this blog.
Picture Descriptions
Top Left: Belfast Botanic Gardens
Top Middle: Streets of Belfast
Top Right: Flower at Botanic Gardens
Top/Middle Left: River in Dublin
Top/Middle Middle: St. Patrick's Cathedral
Top/Middle Right: Alondra and I
Bottom/Middle Left: Dublin Castle
Bottom/Middle Middle: Hallway of Presidents in Dublin Castle
Bottom/Middle Right: Dublin City Hall
Bottom Left: C.S. Lewis Park (Aslan)
Bottom Middle: Group of students at St. Patrick's Cathedral
Bottom Right: Dublin Castle
Bottom Corner: Fish and Chips at Lily's
This week has been an exciting and long one. It is getting hard to remember when I have done what. I have continued to feel a little anxious due to my MCAT possibly not going extremely well. Additionally, I have also had mixed feelings about soccer and what my role will be next year on the soccer team. The overwhelming feeling this week has been one of annoyance with the people I travel with. I often feel a little left out and not listened to when wanting to make plans or do something. This makes me miss my family, my close friends, and my roommates back in the US even more. Ultimately, I do not feel particularly close to any international students anymore and do not know if this has occurred due to exhaustion, the stress of traveling, or if I am just realizing how lucky I am in the United States to have people who genuinely love me. I am thankful for everyone I have met and traveled with thus far, but I long for those close relationships back home. I am ready to not travel anywhere far for a little while, be at school, and work on schoolwork.