As my friends and I got to the airport, ready to head to Budapest from Germany we all declared we have reached that inevitable point during study abroad where we all gained a bit of weight, thanks to a diet primarily consisting of potatoes, pasta and Guinness. I was in a bit of denial, which didn’t last long.  I bent down to grab my passport and reality hit me as my pants ripped, the timing could not have been more fitting.  The day was just starting to get chaotic.  Easy Jet, easily our least favorite airline insisted that we could only have one bag. Try telling that to a group of girls on a 10-day trip.  We scooted off to the side of the line to layer up.  Each time I bent down to grab a new layer, my pants ripped a bit more. The sound of my splitting pants and our ridiculous outfits caused us to laugh harder, making the check-in lady yell faster and louder in German.  Somehow we all managed to waddle through security sporting all types of new styles including pants worn as scarfs and sweaters made into shawls. We were now running late so people started staring at the odd looking Americans fumbling through the airport.

Four friends and I started our 10-day European jaunt around in Berlin.  As we arrived I instantly saw signs of there rich history.  Outside a coffee shop right by our apartment was a popular car called a Trabi. It was no longer running but rather used as a symbol of the fall of the Eastern Bloc, we saw them everywhere in the few days we spent in Berlin.  Some of my other initial thoughts were that this place wasn’t what I had pictured Germany to look like.  It was a lot more difficult to find a ‘classic’ German pub with the wooden benches, barrels and tables holding boots of beer than I thought it would be. So after searching for this bar and failing we ate in a Turkish restaurant.  We later learned about the high population of migrants primarily from southern and eastern Europe, the largest of this population being Turkish. This was do to a law put in place around 1685, rights were granted in the nation for religious freedoms along with other civil rights causing the population to climb from 1.9 million to 4 million.

Belfast was an experience of a lifetime. I was aware of the political and religious tension, however knowing something and understanding a situation are two completely different things, seeing Belfast taught me that.

Again I have managed to get a bit behind on blogging but in an attempt to push off studying for exams I have found a bit of time (:  

After arriving safely in Dublin...

I met my roommates and new friends, found a bar playing the Packer's game, successfully completed the Guinness tour, moved into my flat, booked 11 trips and adventured to the other end of Ireland.   

5:20am last Saturday morning 12 very lethargic college kids including myself rolled out of bed to link up with 

I started my journey this morning at 5:00am to fly 3,918 miles away from home to a place where they call a highway a ‘carriageway’ and a raincoat a ‘mac’. I depart to an unfamiliar place with an unknown path.  Over the next 4½ months I’m excited to take on the world as I travel to as many countries as possible and of course, explore my new country of dwelling, Ireland! I have no idea when I will have time for the actual school part of study abroad but I do plan on taking the traveling quite serious. 

I will try my best to blog as much as possible, although I make no promises.  Some places I hope to visit are: