Buskers dance for money in the rain in Galway City Center

Our arrival to Galway occurred during what most Arizonans would describe as the storm of the century. It was pouring rain with huge gusts of wind that I worried would send my 50lb bags flying down the street.

We were given our apartment assignments and a quick rundown on how everything operated. I have three American roommates from my same program, and we are currently waiting on our fifth roommate to arrive. They are all really great girls and I’m sure we’re going to have a wonderful semester together.

 The night we arrived in town we had to make a trip to Dunnes (the Irish version of Target) in order to pick up some bedding and other essentials. Did I mention it was pouring? After picking up our supplies, we decided to walk down the street to Supermac’s (similar to McDonald’s) since we were all starving.

Here’s where it’s important to note that we were all carrying our new purchases in paper bags. Even though the walk to Supermac’s was fairly short, I knew this wasn’t going to end well. Sure enough, one by one all of our bags tore, sending our purchases flying in the wind. I’m sure we provided some great entertainment to the drivers going past, but it was pretty miserable for us.

After somehow making it to Supermac’s (and getting some insane stares when we walked in) we were already beginning to see the ridiculousness of the entire situation. I swear, it was like something out of a movie! One of the girls said it had been a great bonding moment and I definitely agree. We’ll always be able to look back on that first night in Galway and laugh.
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Our first two full days in Galway were spent at orientation for the school. All the academic departments gave talks on why you should take their fabulous classes, and campus and library tours were given as well. We went pub-crawling in town for the first time on Friday night.

First was The Skeff, which was an adorable, multi-level pub that was playing the Penguins game. I couldn’t believe it. Next was The King’s Head, a pretty popular pub that plays live music pretty often. Unfortunately the only Irish song we heard was “Galway Girl.”

After a few other random pubs that we stayed in for only a few minutes, we ended our night at The Front Door. Never have I been in such a ridiculously crowded place in my life! It was next to impossible to move, but after about ten minutes I quit feeling so apprehensive about my personal space bubble (I don’t think that exists at all here in Ireland) dissolve and just had fun.

The pub closed around 2am and literally everyone headed to the Supermac’s at the end of the street. It’s safe to assume that that place will never go out of business!

 Aside from a few small issues with our apartment (the washer/dryer machine still isn’t working), living in Galway has been pretty amazing. Exploring the city and interacting with the locals has been so fun!

It rains on and off all day, a fact that bothers many of my fellow Americans much more than myself.