An Irish Birthday

I am writing this, not as a teenager, but as a sophisticated twenty-year-old. This past Saturday I opened a new chapter of my life. I said goodbye to my teens, my adolescence, and ran with much excitement into my twenties. I feel like just yesterday I was so excited to turn thirteen and say I was a teenager, and now I’m even more excited to turn twenty and say I’m not.

June 25^th, 2011 began just like the Saturday before, at five in the morning. Interesting how the days I work are my sleep in days, but with so much to see, there is no time to curl up under the covers late into the morning. Eight of us gathered downstairs and made our way over to the Grafton Street area to catch a van to Connamara. This time, others joined us from the U.S. and Italy. We requested Bud, but unfortunately he wasn’t able to take us for whatever reason, so instead we had Joe. He was nice, but he was no Bud. We learned that Connamara was once a bog where the English monarchy forced all the Irish Catholics. What a great place to spend my birthday, right? Though the land wasn’t great for farming, it was still beautiful. Originally, the soil of Connamara was really rocky. In an effort to farm, the Irish removed thousands of rocks, but then had nowhere to put them, so they built stonewalls around their fields. They had no cement, so they had to place the rocks in a way that they would fit together on their own. They did a great job, because they are still standing today, good as new.

We saw the bridge they used in filming the John Wayne classic, The Quiet Man. Then, Joe took us to my future home, the Kylemore Abbey. Wealthy, English politician Mitchell Henry originally built it for his wife. It took 100 men four years to finish. Four years after it was completed, Henry’s wife dies. He then had a gothic church built on the grounds in her honor, which took another four years to complete.

After seeing the Abbey, we stopped in the gift shop where I got some chocolate, handmade by Benedictine nuns, and a Claddagh ring. I love my ring so much. I have wanted one for the longest time, but held off on getting one until I could get it in Ireland (I always had faith I’d end up here one day!). From the Abbey we drove to a boat and took a ride down Ireland’s only fjord. I enjoyed some seafood chowder and brown bread while admiring the green and rocky scenery around me.

Before heading back to Dublin, we stopped for an hour in Galway. We explored a street market where I picked up a Christmas present (who’s the lucky one today?) and spotted many attractive Irishman. It’s a beautiful city, and I’m definitely excited to spend a whole weekend there later this summer.

I came back to find some birthday treats from my flatmate, a delicious chocolate and caramel square and a delicious chocolate rice krispee. I really feel so lucky. I love the people I live with. We get along great, and one even goes to Penn State! I enjoyed my desserts as I got ready for a night out with all of my flatmates and other friends. We all gathered at an apartment the floor above before heading out, and they surprised me with cupcakes, a birthday sash, and a card they had all signed. I never would have expected these new friends to do so much for me. I felt so special, and the night was still young. We started at this place called Howl at the Moon. It was four stories tall with all sorts of fancy fixtures, chandeliers and the like. It was beautiful! After discovering there was no set dance floor, we decided to start our own in a room off to the side. It wasn’t long before many others joined in, and we were dancing to everything from Pitbull to Destiny’s Child. It’s always American music, unless you’re at a pub and a group of friends is strumming away in the corner.

After Howl at the Moon, half of the group decided to head back to the apartments, while the rest of us decided to move on to a place called Dandelion. Their dance floor was in full swing and we jumped right in. It was here that I met my new friends from Holland (keep them in mind). After lots of dancing and birthday hugs, we decided to call it a night. On the way home, rather than pass an assortment of places selling late night pizza like you would find in State College, there are late night kebab restaurants and falafel stands. Some people stop to get falafels and one of my friends treats me to some chips (that’s Irish for delicious french fries). While they wait in line, many people admire my sash. The common consensus while I’ve been here is that I’m 23 or 24. While I’m okay with that now, I feel like that is going to come back to haunt me later in life.

I finally made it into bed as the sun was coming up. Before you get too shocked, I have to tell you that Ireland is what I imagine Alaska to be like. It is never ending daylight, unless it is raining. It stays light out well into the night, so it could be ten o’clock and if you weren’t looking at your watch you would think it was six. And then it gets light out incredibly early, well before anyone would ever need light in the morning. So, in reality, the Irish live with like three hours of darkness (unless it’s raining).

My late night did not stop my body from waking me up early the next morning. Sunday was a beautiful day, and I was ready to get out and enjoy Dublin. After piddling around for what seemed like ages waiting for everyone else to catch up with my internal clock, a group of us finally set out for a flea market that is held the last Sunday of every month in New Market Square. We made a few laps around St. Patrick’s Cathedral before getting some useful directions and finding it tucked away in one of the oldest parts of Dublin. I picked out about six different teacup sets for my future apartment and a pretty dresser. Unfortunately, I had no feasible way of getting these back to America, so they stayed behind at the flea market; treasures for someone else to find. From there three of us made the misleadingly long walk to Phoenix Park, passing Dublin’s oldest pub, The Brazen Head.

After finally making it to this giant park, home to the Dublin Zoo, the president of Ireland, and many reindeer, we collapsed under a tree and took a short nap. Once we recuperated, we did a little exploring, which led us to an ice cream truck. After walking over 5 miles, we felt we deserved a little reward. Apparently Ireland only has vanilla ice cream, a bit of a disappointment, but it still hit the spot on such a hot day. We made our way to a giant monument (I still don’t know what it is) with ice cream in hand, when who should coming running toward us but one of my new Dutch friends! I look over and the whole group of them are relaxing on the lawn in front of said monument. What are the odds in a city the size of Dublin and in a park the size of Phoenix Park? I learned they have traveled to Ireland with a professor and are visiting all the different museums. We relax by the monument as well for a bit and take in our surroundings on this spectacularly sunny day before heading home. This time, we take the bus.

Beat It Journey

I walked to work Monday wearing a nice shirt with the short sleeves, gray jeans, my cute little black ankle boots, and my purple OPhiA zip up. I have misplaced my umbrella (later to be found in another friend’s apartment) but I figured, the walk isn’t long, and I have a hood so should it start to rain on my walk home, I could make it back without too much trouble. Besides, it was a beautiful sunny day with a comfortable temperature to match. After arriving at work, my coworker, Lead Researcher, Catherine, asks if I would like to go out on the shoot today. Do I want to leave the office to go be around the Director and a camera? That’s not even a question. The day goes by, still lovely outside until about an hour before we go to leave. The sky grows dark and it starts to drizzle. It rains off and on our whole drive over to the pitch. Once we get there, however, it just stays on. This was real Forrest Gump rain. There was light stinging rain. There was big old fat rain. There was rain that came in sideways. The only thing missing was rain that came up from underneath. And it was cold. Really cold. The coldest it has been since I arrived. There I was, short-sleeved shirt, gray jeans, black ankle boots, American Apparel zip-up. Not a single thing I was wearing was waterproof, or, as I discovered that night, warm. Luckily, the Irish are experienced in the ways of their weather and had an extra umbrella for me to use and a blanket for me to wrap up in. I sloshed around the field, clinging my blanket tightly around my shoulders, and chasing after the cameraman to keep him covered in an umbrella while he shot b-roll of the football training.

I suppose now you would expect me to go into a rant of how miserable I was, but I am sorry to disappoint. On the contrary, I could not have been happier. I was around a camera again. I was getting a breakdown from the Director of Photography on what he was doing and why he was doing it. Wet or dry, warm or cold, I knew I was at home, and it was impossible to not have craic.

Of course the next two days I wore my wellies and it doesn’t rain at all. Not even a quick drizzle to break up all the sunshine. Fortunately, they matched my outfit, and Catherine thought they were cute.

On Wednesday, a group of us head out in search of karaoke. Another girl has an internship at this company called Tower Records. One of their clients is the bar and restaurant called Captain America’s, after the comic, and they have karaoke on Wednesday nights. We found our karaoke night, but, unfortunately, we also found a large gathering of younger teenage Americans. After one too many Hannah Montana and Justin Beiber songs, two other girls and I decide to go up and show them how it is done. We go up to the computer and ask the guy how to pick a song. He asks what we are looking for. We tell him Journey. He asks who sings it (well that sounds promising). We tell him Journey. He instructs us to just type Journey into the top text box and nothing comes up, as to be expected after his response. We try again with LFO. No luck. We decide to just scroll through the list of songs instead of searching for one and come across Beat It by Michael Jackson. Sold. We are belting it out like the professional singers we are when suddenly instead of lyrics on the screen it says ’20 Beat Instrumental Break’. We would pick a song with an instrumental break. And let me tell you, 20 beats is a long time. We bust out our best Beat It dance moves, which coincidentally is as good as our singing. After what seemed like a ten-minute dance showcase, lyrics finally came back on and we finished on a high note, figuratively.

Thursday was a night of trivia at Lotts bar and restaurant. It is located across the River Liffey, which is about a half hour walk from my flat, but right next to where my roommate, Natalia, works. Rather than have her make the trek all the way back to the flat after work only to turn around and march right back out there a little later, my flatmate, Kajsia, and I decided to walk out to meet her to keep her company until trivia at 8. I admit, I did have ulterior motives. Natalia works in an area with a lot of shopping and discovered this store Penneys. It’s like a department store and everything is very inexpensive. I had been longing for an excuse to get out there and poke around. As soon as I entered I realized this might have been a mistake. The store was full of things too cute and cheap for my own good. I could easily do some serious damage in that store, but I had to keep my fully loaded and overweight suitcase in mind. I made it out with two pairs of shoes, a pair of sandals, and a black across-the-body bag I’d been searching for (be jealous Kathy) for only 26 euro! That’s less than what I spend on groceries! I was so pleased with myself that I resisted the urge to step into H&M or Forever 21, which were right next door. I have since made a pact with myself that I will no longer be making extraneous expenditures on myself (besides bus, train, or plane tickets) and will only be doing Christmas shopping for the rest of the trip. Let’s hope this lasts longer than New Year’s Resolutions do.

On our way to meet Natalia, we walked down the bustling Grafton Street, around Trinity College where we saw someone had filled a fountain with soap bubbles, through the cobblestone streets of Temple Bar, and over the Half Penny Bridge, though you’ll always hear it shortened to Ha Penny (pronounced like ‘Hey’).

It’s called the Half Penny Bridge because for the longest time that was the only way to get across the River Liffey in Dublin, and you would have to pay a toll of half a penny to cross. It was common for people to meet their friends at the Ha Penny Bridge back in the day, and that is just the place where we met up with Natalia (without having to pay a toll).

After shopping, we met up with some friends for trivia at Lotts. This trivia was nothing like the trivia I know and love at Roc-n-Doc’s. I can answer questions at Roc-n-Doc’s. I did not know anything they asked at Lotts. Some examples are, “What country did giant ashen clouds come from that stopped flights to Australia this week?” or “Recently, the record was set for the number of twins and triplets born in a year in (a town a can’t remember). What was the number?” or “What is the closest blue flag beach to the Dublin airport?” (Chile, 252, and Malahide if you were wondering). Whatever happened to ‘what is the largest animal in the world?’ or ‘what is the largest organ in the human body’ or even ‘what are the first three books of the bible?’ Ireland is a Catholic country after all. We did get, ‘what is wet on the inside, hairy on the outside, and has the letters u, n, and t in it?’. It was a coconut.

Today, Friday, there was nothing to do at work. When I arrived Catherine said Triona was looking over the treatments we made up for the upcoming documentaries. Since we wouldn’t have anything to do really until Monday, she said I could take a half-day for my birthday weekend. I love Catherine! In the meantime, we played with this HD camera that turned on when you flipped the screen out and had incredible picture quality. When the editor came in to transfer files to Final Cut, we chatted about his life as a freelance editor. He recently spent a year in Canada and said it was a truly life-altering experience, admitting he has officially been bitten by the travel bug (sounds familiar). He plans to spend the next year in New York. Talking to him got me thinking about my plans after graduation. Traveling from country to country freelance editing sounded like a great way to get a start, and what better time to do it than while I’m young?

Catherine came back from her lunch break with a delicious chocolate delight for me that looked like a muffin because it had a white drizzling as opposed to icing on the top, but tasted like a cupcake. Have I mentioned I love Catherine? I would post a picture for you to decide what it is, but I’ve already devoured most of it beyond recognition.

This weekend, a group of us are setting off for the western mountains of Connamara. I can’t wait for more incredible pictures to show you. Oh yeah, and to be 20!

Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow

It was a sad end to a great night walking away from Alex as she and her Study Abroad group piled into a cab. I got to tour the pretty campus of University College Dublin as I got lost trying to find where Alex was staying, I met some fun people from Arizona State, and we found this great dance club to celebrate our last night in Dublin together. As if being abroad weren’t fantastic enough, I had a little time to share it with one of my best friends. I desperately hope I get a chance to repeat the experience with all of them. I hugged Alex goodbye knowing our adventures in Dublin were over (for now) but walked away with the silver lining that my adventures in Dublin with new friends were just beginning.

Unfortunately, I didn’t realize one of those adventures would be battling a seven-hour workday with a cold. My first week in Dublin and I get taken over by a running nose and scratching throat. The loud coughs and constant trips to the bathroom to blow my nose are making a lovely impression on my coworkers, I’m sure. Thankfully, they are feigning ignorance. After living for so long in this climate maybe their bodies are immune to colds. Or maybe it is because they are all such genuinely friendly people. Whatever the case, bottom-line, I am still able to get my work done, so all is well. My work, which has, thus far, consisted of researching for upcoming documentaries and writing pitches to get funding for these documentaries. All interesting, though albeit not very hands-on tasks. It is still early though, and the company is in that stage between the end of post-production on one docu-series and the start of production on another docu-series. In layman’s terms, there isn’t much to edit yet. I got to meet the lead editor, and he was nice and friendly (who isn’t in Ireland?). Right now, I’m just really looking forward to the next day shoot, so I get to do some work on-set.

There have been many other adventures besides my cold, though. That’s one of the things I love about Dublin. There is always something to see or do. On Friday, I went with another GE intern to Merion Square where we saw some fantastic street performers. Merion Square had a festival going on this weekend, and part of it was performances for the Street Performers World Championship. There were showmen from Australia, England, USA, Japan, Sweden, and all over the world.

Besides that, Merion had a variety of food booths, a carousel, and the ride with swings that spins. Saturday had much more, including a breaking of the world record for most people dressed up as ‘Where’s Waldo?’ in one spot. I will never wonder where he is again. I can safely say he is definitely in Dublin. I wasn’t there for the Saturday festivities, though. A group of eleven of us got on an eighteen-passenger van at 6:45 AM and set out for the Irish countryside with our driver, Bud. Bud was the best guide we could possibly ask for. He was an adorable Irish grandpa filled with jokes and interesting stories and tidbits. We started our tour with a stop at the Blarney castle. The castle and land around it was beautiful. After spelunking in the dungeon, we made our way up the ever winding and narrowing staircase to the top of Blarney castle. There, at the top, I lied on my back and craned my neck to give the rock wall a smooch, probably passing my cold on to everyone behind me, in hopes that I will become incredibly lucky and eloquent. I know it may be gross, but I came all this way. How could I not? Bud said it was safe!

Next was a stop in Cork. Bud directed us to this tucked away restaurant where they serve really good traditional Irish food. We got hit with some really windy showers on the way, so I was looking for something to warm me from the inside out.

I decided it was time for my first Irish Stew, and learned that the driver was misleading us. The restaurant didn’t serve really good traditional Irish food; it served absolutely amazing traditional Irish food. It filled me right up, and then some, and was exactly what I needed. After lunch, we took our time looking through the shopping markets in Cork.

From Cork we went on to the Rock of Cashel. It was a breathtaking 4^th century castle where Saint Patrick had spent some time living. It was truly awe-inspiring to be standing in a place where people had stood back in the year 400 AD, to touch what they touched, to see what they saw. I can only imagine what everyday life would have been like walking through those rooms. Outside the castle, there was a graveyard with graves dating from the early 1700’s to the mid 1900s. The whole experience just reminded me of how much I love history.

On our way back, Bud took us through some impressive countryside. At one point, he pulled over to the side of the road so we could get out to admire some fluffy Irish sheep.

We got back around 7:30 PM, and Bud left us with some big Irish hugs. It was such a fulfilling day that really made me feel like I was in Ireland.

On Sunday, six of us from the day before and 3 others took a thirty-minute train ride out to Howth. It’s a small coastal town just north of Dublin. The coastline was beautiful, and the area was so peaceful; it was a very calming place, unlike the hustle and bustle of Dublin.

We went to a restaurant called Beshoffs, as per Bud’s recommendation, for the best fish-n-chips in all of Ireland.

As usual, Bud knows best. The meal was delicious, and we got to eat it while admiring the sailboats in the harbor. After eating, we took a stroll out on the pier where a man told us he’d give us a group discount for a boat ride out to the scenic island just off the coast. We agreed and set sail for some closer picture taking. Once we got close to it, the captain pointed out some seals swimming around nearby. On the island there was a lighthouse from the 16^th century that the British had built, along with a few others scattered up the coast, for fear that Napoleon would try to invade.

When we made it back to land, we browsed through the street markets they had set up before heading back to Dublin. On the way back to our apartments, we passed Merion Square, still buzzing with its weekend festival, and caught a collection of Waldos as they were dispersing from the second day of the world record-breaking attempt.

From countrysides to coastlines, it was a very picturesque weekend that made for a lot of exploration. While I was sad to see Alex go, I am now even more excited to be here with the opportunity to experience all this.

P.S. Happy Father’s Day! I love and miss you, Dad. I am so thankful for everything. You’re the best! Love, Heather

"Hey Mairtín, I've got an editor for you."

That is how I was introduced when Mairtín, Line Producer of a docu-series nearing the end of post production and Director of another docu-series in the beginning stages of production, walked into the office Tuesday morning. That comment left me bouncing the rest of the day.

I took some photos of my walk to work to give you all a little tour. The sky came out a little misleading, it was much sunnier than it looks. It has been all the while I've been here (minus Sunday). I must have brought the sunshine with me, knock on wood.

I begin with a nice stroll along the canal.

Then I come to the bustling food and shopping area of Baggot Street.

Finally, I go through a cute residential area.

It is such a pretty walk, especially on these sunny days that we've been having. I hope it keeps up like this! But even if the rain clouds roll in, I'll still be sunny because I was called an editor.

African Sunrise

I’m in Dublin. Need I say more? I feel like that sentence alone is enough to express the sheer amazing, incredible, outstanding (and every other synonym) time I am having. I arrived on a beautiful sunny Saturday, a rarity I am told. The weather wasn’t the only sunny thing I encountered; the Dubliners all had dispositions to match. I should’ve started off a bit on the grumpy side after Delta broke the handle on my big suitcase so that it wouldn’t come up for me to wheel it around with ease, and then they have the nerve to claim ‘not liable for damages to handles and wheels’ but it is impossible to stay upset when the people you are complaining to apologize in an adorable accent and top it off with a ‘Cheers!’ as you leave. I couldn’t help but laugh at how ridiculous I must have looked bending over so much that I was practically crawling on my knees just to get my suitcase to wheel along behind me.  Once I was out of the airport, I met a cheery bus ticket salesman, and then a cheery bus driver, and then a cheery cab driver. By the time I made it to my flat I was downright chipper. And then I was greeted by a cheery, though hard to understand through his accent, front desk attendant.

After unloading all my stuff in my flat, my roommate and I joined a few other girls to get cleaning supplies and groceries. We made our way up to Grafton St., one of Dublin’s shopping hubs. It’s an adorable street filled with a variety of shops, street performers, and human statues. We had lunch at this cute little café on a side street where we found a friendly Brazilian waiter who filled us in on all the must see sites of Dublin. How do you top off a great first day? With a fabulous first night of course! I am lucky enough to be joined here by my favorite person in the whole state of Arizona for the first 5 days of my stay. We met up to enjoy Dublin’s night life together, and I got to meet some really fun girls in her program. I look forward to as many more Irish adventures as we can fit in and a weekend trip out to Scotland to visit her after she leaves me.

Even a ‘showery and blustery’ Sunday couldn’t ruin my spirits. Why? Because I am in Dublin. 30 of us Americans met up for a little PowerPoint orientation, and then a ride on the Viking Splash Tour. It was a car shaped as a boat. We got to wear Viking hats and scream at unsuspecting victims on the sidewalk. Besides all the silliness, it was actually really interesting because Dublin is full of beautiful, old and interesting buildings but I had no idea what any of them where. The tour went all around Dublin, and we learned about anything and everything the city has to offer. Then, at the end, we discover this is not just a car shaped as a boat, it is an actual boat. They strapped giant floaties on the sides of the boat and we set sail in this small lake formed by a lock in the River Liffey. It was on this lake that we saw the old boathouse were U2 has recorded all but 2 albums, as well as a new arena, many posh apartments, and boats from WWII made from cement. After the tour, we went to dinner and a show at the restaurant of a hotel. While enjoying a tasty 3-course Irish meal, I got to listen to an Irish band and then watch some Irish dancing. It is incredible how fast their feet were moving. It is safe to say they were a little more advanced than I ever was in my Irish dancing days. To top off the night, I bonded with an Irish boy over our matching hair colors, and he introduced me to a new color description for it, “African Sunrise.”

My first day on the job was both about what I expected and better than I expected. I have a short 15 minute walk past a canal, bustling shop and restaurant area of Baggot St., and shady residential area. The small collection of offices resides in an old fashioned apartment building. I jumped into a team of two Portuguese interns that have been there since January and will stay until July, a graphic designer, and a researcher/associate producer. There wasn’t much for me to do today, which is what I expected, but that is because they are going to have me editing, unexpected (at least this early), and the director was out shooting footage so there was nothing for me to edit yet. So, my day was spent reading up on Gaelic football, predominantly about the women’s league, because I will be working on a documentary series that follows a women’s Gaelic football team. After the summer, they will be making a spinoff documentary series that follows the star player as she comes to America on a soccer scholarship at Northwestern.

After chatting with the associate producer, I learned that she joined the company in April and before she had worked with a company that was bringing gambling into Dublin. The gambling system was designed by Penn State grads, the same grads that created the LionMenus website us Nittany Lions have come to know and love. Small world!

Walking on the way back from work, I was loving life. I felt so assimilated already. I know three different ways to get to the St. Stephen’s Green and Grafton St. area from my flat. Granted I had to get lost three times for that to be the case, but now I know every way possible to get there and back. I was told I look Irish today at work, and on my walk home, I definitely felt Irish. Strutting along, alone, not lost, with my African Sunrise hair, I felt like I belonged here. If I just don’t open my mouth, I could pass as a Dubliner. Until I try and cross the street and almost get hit by a car because I’m looking the wrong way and don’t see it coming from my right. As long as I keep my mouth shut and stay on the sidewalk, I can totally pass as a native Irish person. I’m not just making this up. Twice I have been asked for directions. The first was by tourists but the second time was today by an Irish women. Just as I was getting back to my apartment building a car pulls over and a female Irish accent comes out the window asking how to get to such and such. For a brief instant, I thought about whipping out a fake accent to go along with some fake directions to give her, but I decided against it and replied in my plain old Yankee accent, “Sorry, but I have no idea.” It’s okay, though. Why? Because I’m in Dublin.

On Route!

This blog post is dedicated to the amazing Alex McEntire. Not because I’m on my way to see her now. Not because I’m typing this in the JFK airport located in New York City where we took a trip with our friend Kathy our freshman year, and she was rudely pick-pocketed. Not because her blog is what got me thinking about making one for this trip. This post is dedicated to fantastic Alex McEntire because I now have a beautiful and fitting banner underneath my title, thanks to her.

I can’t believe I’m actually one seven and a half hour flight away from the land of my ancestors, my red-haired kin. It still seems unreal. As I sit here, sipping my Starbucks, I can only imagine what my next eight weeks will entail. Naturally, I’m picturing lots of traveling, on-set and editing work, meeting fabulous Irish celebrities, and having a P.S. I Love You moment in the beautiful countryside. I take comfort in the fact that the hardest part of my trip is behind me. Packing.

Packing was three straight days of filling a suitcase, only to have to empty it out and start again when I found more things I need/wanted. At one point I literally had to sit on my suitcase in order to close it. The finished product can be zipped without my entire body lying on it and only 20 pounds over the weight limit. I was determined to keep it to one giant suitcase and a carry on. Dealing with two big suitcases when going to Arizona was difficult enough, and I had help. Having to get two big suitcases from the airport to my flat is not an experience I need to include on this trip.

This trip that is now 20 minutes plus a seven and a half hour away from officially starting. Cue the butterflies in the stomach! Next stop, Dublin.

Pre-Departure

I imagine anyone reading this, besides my old roommate Jenny perhaps, would be wondering the origin of the blog title, so I feel like a disclaimer is in order. Though they are incredibly fitting, they are not my own words. It is actually the first line of the song Rocky Road To Dublin by The High Kings that I have adopted as the theme song to my summer. Naturally, after first hearing the song posted on my Facebook wall by my friend Doug, I became immediately obsessed with the band. It was short-lived, however, because I soon discovered the band would be touring Irish festivals in the United States all the while I was in Dublin. That's life I guess.

I made the decision to keep a blog while I am abroad this summer, not only to keep my family and friends updated but also to always have something I can look at to remind me of this fabulous adventure I am getting ready to embark on. For those of you that didn’t know, I am spending eight weeks this summer abroad in Dublin, Ireland. I will be interning with a production company known as Cambell Ryan Entertainment. My official job title is ‘Production Assistant,’ and I am to provide ‘all around film/video production assistance. Sounds promising, I know, but I have been assured I will not be spending my days getting coffee. While even getting coffee all summer wouldn’t be so bad since I am in Ireland, it is still an internship, so I do hope to learn a lot and gain experience I can use to further myself in a film career. Yes, film. The dream is still alive. Penn State sent me a very exciting email that still has me beaming to this day. I was accepted into the film major. Finally, I can get away from gen eds. Finally, I can take classes I’m really interested in. Finally, I can get in there and get my hands dirty. But why wait until the fall when I can jump in this summer?

I have always had a desire to travel abroad. Who hasn’t? But I also wanted to be more than a tourist. I wanted to spend some time living abroad, get immersed in a different culture. What drew me to Global Experiences, the program I am going through, were their internship placements rather than just class placements. Job experience abroad rather than studying abroad is something that could set me apart from other similar applicants vying for the same position as I am in the future. And there was a discount for Penn State students going to Dublin, so really it was fate.

It is surreal really. I am excited and nervous, but mostly, I still can’t believe it is actually happening. I flip through my passport constantly, but it still just seems like a toy. I have talked with my roommate, booked my flight, ordered power adaptor plugs, and google-mapped my walk from my flat to my internship but it still feels like I am just bidding my time until I head back to the Ranch for the summer to be a camp counselor.

The Ranch. That’ll be the hardest thing to leave behind this summer. Not a summer has passed since I was eight years old that I was not there. What started as the most fun week of my summer became the most fun summer job I could ask for. It was more than just fun games and adventures. It was the people that made those summers so memorable. It was both campers and staff that made my summers so special. Without them, it leaves me a little worried about this summer. Granted, I’ll be in Europe where there will be plenty of new experiences to be had, memories to be made, and friendships to be formed. There is no doubt in my mind that this summer will hold its fair share of magic, but the Ranch has become a part of me, and to not be there for camp leaves me with a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach.

But enough melodrama! That is not what this blog is about. It is about everything and anything new; new places, new jobs, new coworkers, new friends, new food, and new stories. I was once a girl who was uncomfortable with change, but I’ve become a girl who thrives on it. Right now, new sounds exciting. New sounds intriguing. New sounds like something I’ll want to look back on in the future.