Is this heaven?

Sorry for the late post! Here is a quick update: I have already accomplished one of my goals – learning how to Irish dance. I completed a five-week Irish dancing class through University College Dublin’s Get-In-Gear Program. Aside from my being shocked at how much exercising I have been able to accomplish through the variety of free classes offered by the program, I was ecstatic when I discovered that the Irish dancing class would work with my schedule. After just five classes, I learned an entire dance called the Reel. I am surprised that it has taken me this long to try it out, especially having grown up in a family that constantly listens to Irish music (Riverdance, Celtic Woman, etc.) in the car. Between my dancing and my new Claddagh ring that I always wear, I am looking even more Irish than before.

My first weekend outside of Dublin was spent in Cork, the second-largest city in Ireland next to Dublin, through a trip organized by UCD’s International Students’ Society; we were all beyond excited to explore a different part of Ireland. We were extremely blessed since it was actually sunny the entire weekend (we were expecting the usual – clouds and light rain). As we bussed throughout the small towns, I was reminded of my first view of Ireland from my plane window – green lands with a few lights gathered in a cluster, signaling a town, with narrow two-lane roads connecting the clusters together. On our way to Cork, we passed through mostly green lands, and our huge Paddywagon bus barely squeezed past the opposing traffic due to the extremely narrow roads (there are highways in Ireland, but not in this particular area). All of the towns we passed through were quite similar – very quaint with rows of multicolored houses and buildings usually situated on a hill.

As we continued towards our next destination for the day, the other students on our trip naturally nodded off on the bus to catch up on sleep. Suddenly, high green hills and gorgeous bodies of water appeared before our windows. Others began to notice the wondrous sights, so they rubbed their sleepy eyes and perked their heads towards the windows in astonishment. The sun reflected off the water, and birds glided gracefully over the edge of the water in the same direction that we were driving. We were winding up a mountain towards Mizen Head, the southwestern most point in Ireland. Although it was on our itineraries, no one really knew about the beauty that we were about to experience, and we were pleasantly surprised to say the least.

Our group exited the Paddywagon bus, checked into the visitor center, and made our way down the different paths to sightsee. I cannot begin to describe what I saw and how inspired I felt by the beauty of the dramatic cliff scenery. I took an unbelievable amount of pictures that day, often photographing the same thing more than once because it was so breathtaking. I captured the different rock formations, the ocean waves crashing against them, and the sun again reflecting off the water (if possible I will add pictures later on because my description cannot do it justice). I kept on asking myself if I had died and went to heaven. I instantly knew that this was one of those places in which I could easily sit all day and think (I do my best reflecting from high places). For the first time, people actually felt warm enough to strip off their extra layers; we enjoyed a blissful warmth of southwestern Ireland that we had not experienced in Dublin yet.

After two hours at Mizen Head, I had never felt such an overwhelming urge to travel in my life. Traveling became an utter priority for me at that point in time – I needed to see the edges of the world. Our hearts and minds were completely open, and on the bus ride home we continued to buzz about all the European cities we wanted to visit, unable to contain the excitement in our voices. I was no longer overwhelmed by the prospect of traveling – it was going to happen.