Limerick

By now I have been in Ireland for 5 days, and its just now sinking in that I am living in another country...for 4 months!! There are so many things here that are how I expected them to be, such as the incredible amount of rain, the fact that it really is as green as we see in the movies, and how awesome Irish accents are. But on the flip side there are so many things that are different. For one, microwaves are not a big thing here. You may say - who cares about having a microwave? I do! When I get up to make my tea every morning (and no I'm not drinking tea everyday just to fit in, I actually love tea) I have to stand in the kitchen like the zombie that I become every morning and boil water on the stove. Those of you who know me know that even though boiling water may be easy and mundane, the idea of me dealing with hot appliances while half asleep is dangerous business. Oh well, I suppose I'll just pretend I'm camping and then it wont seem so out of the ordinary. For another thing, the Irish are super into the whole saving energy movement. Normally I would be 100% behind them. But their love of being green (pun intended) means that  I only get 6 hours of heat in my building per day, have to wait a few minutes after turning on the water to get into the shower for fear of turning into a human popsicle, and the list goes on.

Ok, so before you start thinking that I complain too much, let me just say that I love Ireland. Trying to adjust has been hard, especially since I arrived with the flu, but the people here are ridiculously nice and are eager to help. Unlike much of Europe these days, the Irish people love Americans and are just as curious about America as we are about Ireland. I can't even begin to tell you how differently things are done here, but I will do my best over the next few days to express all my first impressions of Ireland. This post and the few after may be a bit long so I apologize in advance for those of you who are reading this. There is just so much to say and do, and I want to share as much as possible.


So this is Kilmurry Village, which is where I live on campus. The University used to be a large estate before it was converted into a university in the 1980s, and it encompasses over 300 acres of truly beautiful landscape. The campus technically lies in the outskirt suburb area of the city of Castletroy, which is only a five minute drive to the city center of Limerick.



Limerick is located along the river Shannon, the longest river in Ireland at approximately 224 miles long. With a population of around 80,000 people, Limerick is the third larges city following Dublin and Cork. It is the only Viking settlement on the west coast of Ireland, the rest of the viking settlements being located on the east coast and in the north.

The castle you see in the background is St. John's castle, built in the 13th century. It lies right near the center of the city and is one of the biggest tourist attractions in Limerick.



St. Mary's cathedral is another great feature of Limerick. The oldest building in the city, it was constructed back in 1168 by the vikings and is still in use today.


Well, off to get some stuff done before my busy first day of classes tomorrow. Look for another post soon!