The “Ghosts” of Study Abroad Past, Present, and Future

Hello! Long time, no talk. I am back after a midterms-induced hiatus to bring you yet another blog post.

5 years ago, a high schooler from Denmark found his way to my high school in Oregon for a year abroad. In the years since, Johan and I have managed to keep in touch over Snapchat and other forms of social media. So, when I knew that I would be spending a semester in Europe, he was one of the first people I told. We quickly crafted a plan for him to come spend a weekend in Galway, and I got to hang up my tourist cap and become the tour guide.

a cafe table with two mugs full of coffee and two plates, each with a lemon meringue tart — coffee and a lemon meringue tart to fuel our city exploration

bins full of stuffed animals — “artist’s alley”, or the vendor’s area of Akumacon, the University of Galway’s annual anime and manga convention

a canal with rows of buildings on each side — one of the canals that feeds into the Atlantic Ocean

We spent most of Friday and Saturday exploring downtown Galway. We went to the cathedral, strolled down Shop Street, stopped at an adorable café, walked the nature trail that runs by the University of Galway, popped our heads into Akumacon (the anime and manga convention held at the University every year), and eventually found our way to the Galway Museum and its accompanying visitor’s center. At the visitor’s center, we asked about fun things to do and the employee pointed us to a pamphlet about the Aran Islands.

a nature trail with rees on either side — part of the nature trail that runs alongside the university’s campus and the Corrib River

an old stone building with an arched gate in the middle — an old building we found on our walk

a river, on the opposite bank are ruins of a stone castle — We spotted Menlo Castle from across the river!

24 hours later, we were on a bus headed 45 minutes west to the town of Rossaveel to catch a 45 minute ferry to the island of Inis Mór (Inishmore), the largest of the three Aran Islands. Upon arrival, we headed to the only supermarket on the island to grab sandwiches and coffee. What we should’ve grabbed in addition to our lunchtime spread was cash from the ATM, as many of the stores on the island only take cash, and the supermarket closes early on Sunday. But, hey, at least we know for next time!

two people sitting on a ferry. The person on the left is a young woman wearing a teal jacket and a yellow shirt. The person on the right is a young man wearing a brown shirt — Selfie on the ferry to Inis Mór

On the way out of the supermarket, we were stopped by a man running a bus tour offering us seats. As the only other method of island transportation was to rent a bike on a windy, cloudy day for the same price, we happily obliged. This was perhaps the best decision we had made that day. We were able to bounce around the island faster than by bike, were given opportunities to get out and explore sites at our own pace, and got to learn history and current events about the island from an Aran Islands local.

Some of my favorite fun facts from the tour include the following: Inis Mór (and the Aran Islands in general) is one of the few remaining places in Ireland with native Irish speakers, and all schooling on the island is done in Irish; that the islands iconic rows of stone walls were built simply because there were so many rocks on the island that nobody knew what else to use them for.

a graveyard full of tombstones with crosses and low stone walls — our first stop on the tour: one of three graveyards on the island. Some of the tombstones date back several hundred years

a stone pillar framed within a stone arch — another shot of the cemetery

Our main stop of the tour was at Dún Aonghasa, a semi-circular ring fort located at the top of a hill overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. At the bottom was a visitors center, detailing the site’s history and excavation efforts made by archaeologists. Dún Aonghasa dates back to 1100 BCE, and, as an anthropology major at Linfield with an interest in material culture studies/archaeology, it was perhaps my favorite stop of the day.

a gravel walking trail, with a rock wall on the left and trees on the right — the start of the walking trail up to Dún Aonghasa

a rocky uphill path with stone walls on either side — What the walking trail to Dún Aonghasa eventually turns into. It was a fun puzzle to figure out the best route up and down the hill

a young woman standing on a gravel path. She is wearing a teal jacket, yellow shirt, jeans, and sneakers — When I told my friend I was blogging my study abroad experience, he insisted that he take pictures of me so that I would have content. This is the result 🙂

a stone wall with loose stone piles just beyond it — the outer wall of Dún Aonghasa

rocky terrain at the top of a hill with the Atlantic Ocean in the distance — a view from the top of our climb to reach the fort

As with most places where tourism makes up a large portion of an area’s economy, the Aran Islands have many a shop for tourists to visit, including cafés and restaurants, bigger stores selling Aran sweaters and touristy knicknacks, and small shops selling handknit/crochet pieces and art from Aran Island locals. We visited in what is considered the tourist off-season on a Sunday, which means that many of these shops were closed, but it also gave the entire trip a more “authentic”, cozier feel. We ended the day with dinner at a bar, accompanied by the two other people on our bus tour from the day, who were university students studying abroad at the University of Glasgow in Scotland.

traditional celtic style art of a woman holding a stick, positioned on the side of a white-walled building — traditional art on the side of one of the shops on the island. I purchased an art print from a local artist in a similar style from here 🙂

a yellow building and a road — a picture captured from the end of our day on the island, including the rare sight of blue sky and some sun

the top deck of a ferry during sunset. The ferry is flying the flag of Ireland — we braved the cold of the top deck on the way back to watch the sunset on the ferry

Being able to reconnect with an old friend and experience this little corner of Ireland together has been one of my favorite parts of my study abroad experience thus far. But, there is still ample opportunity to make even greater memories in my time here. So, this blog post is dedicated to the “ghosts” of study abroad experiences past, present, and study abroad experiences yet to come. Dickensian puns aside, I can’t wait to see where this adventure takes me next 🙂

Until next time,

Katie