international student – My Love To The Leprechauns

Disoriented and Dehydrated by Day 3

Emily Bernstein

May 5, 2017

Travel

Hello! It has been almost three weeks since spring break, so yes, I am behind in my blogging. (And if you missed it, you can read about Mom and Dad’s visit to Ireland and my trip to Amsterdam here.) There are multiple reasons that I’m behind: 1) I recently turned in my last paper this week so I finally have free time and 2) there are so many memories from break that I wanted to remember them all, but here goes.

We started off in Milan, staying in an AirBnB in Seregno. We explored Milan for a day, seeing the duomo and wandering the city. The next day, we took the train to Venice – which I think we all enjoyed a lot more than Milan. Venice is a beautiful city to wander in and explore all the small shops you may stumble on. You have to be willing to get a little lost in Venice to really see everything you have to.

It’s beautiful there! 10/10 would recommend.

Pro-traveler tip #5: If you have strict dietary restrictions, be patient with whatever international city you’re in. It can be difficult to find good food, but not impossible.

Highlights from Italy:

Guy: “Eating gelato in the sun along the canal.”

Kim: “Every facet of Venice, especially seeing it for the first time.”

Kaitlin: “Every meal and the first moment getting off the train in Venice.”

Emily: “The guy in Venice making masquerade masks along the canal.”

Pro-traveler tip #6: You don’t have to be fluent in the language of the place you’re visiting, but it’s always an advantage to know a little bit of it.

From Milan, we took the train to Nice. Nice was nice – oh come on, I had to say it! But actually, I think we all really liked Nice. It was the part of our vacation that was actually just vacation. We spent one day on the beach, reading, listening to music, relaxing, joking with each other. It was really wonderful. We also took the bus to Monaco one day, so check that country off the list! Monaco was beautiful – I felt a little out of place just because everyone there looked like they were coming off a night at a charity ball and they were just heading out to brunch on the beach.

Being in Nice was also a great way to brush up on my French skills before next fall when I take French 201. Conversationally, I did pretty well, but I still need a little more refreshing.

Highlights from France:

Guy: “The pastries, not getting sunburnt, and Monaco.”

Kim: “Reading my book wrapped in the quilt in the AirBnb, laughing in the park, playing 20 questions on the beach.”

Kaitlin: “Reading a new book on the balcony, finding beautiful paintings, the view from the AirBnb.”

Emily: “Wandering the streets of Nice just exploring, the beach.”

Pro-traveler tip #7: Always figure out train schedules, ideas for food, making plans before leaving a wifi spot.

We flew from Nice to Barcelona, Spain. Barcelona is a beautiful city and it’s nothing like I expected. It is so modern and active and contemporary. There are, of course, old, authentic European corners of Barcelona, but I think what is so endearing about the city is how mixed up it all is with the modern. We visited a market in Barcelona and were surrounded by fresh fruit and seafood and corn tortillas filled with salsa and meat and vegetables and I could eat almost everything in the market! It was wonderful.

We also visited a lot of old churches, and we visited the old Jewish quarter of Barcelona. I made everyone take a break from churches so we could have a short introduction to the first synagogue in Barcelona and it was so small but beautiful. While we were leaving, a family from Jerusalem came in and it made me nostalgic for Israel, but how could I be missing that country when I was in an amazing country too?

Eating in Barcelona was a breeze. We all loved the sangria and the paella. And honestly, who doesn’t love paella? It’s so good.

All of us loved Sagrada Familia when we visited. It’s quite an amazing building, and I can’t even imagine how wonderful it will be when it’s completed. Maybe we’ll all have to go back and visit when it’s completed as a reunion.

Highlights from Spain:

Guy: “Sagrada Familia and paella.”

Kim: “Paella, churros (it was her first one!), and our adorable only family photo.”

Kaitlin: “Sagrada Familia and walking the pier with sangria at sunset.”

Emily: “Paella, wandering along La Rambla street, the old synagogue, sangria, Sagrada Familia.”

(Can you tell we all loved Sagrada Familia?!)

Until next time, Europe. We all had an amazing time.

Sláinte.

Books on Books on Books on Books

Emily Bernstein

January 26, 2017

1 Comment

Ireland

I haven’t blogged in some time because school started and I didn’t want to bore you all (read: my family) with all the intricacies of syllabus week and my nerding over my literature courses.

But alas, all I really have to do here is nerd about my literature courses.

My school week began at 7:30am on Monday so that I could get dressed and walk to my 9am class on time. Said class is Human Rights Law (a law class completely focused on the European Convention of Human Rights and the European Convention of Human Rights Act of 2003 that Ireland instated in order to properly ensure that everyone’s human rights are being respected). Our lecturer, while funny and nice, speaks very quickly about Irish politics and such. It’s going to be tough, but this is why we go to school! …Right?

The second class I had was Study of a Major Author, and the author we are studying is (drumroll please) Shakespeare! I’m very excited about it. Not only is the professor very passionate about Shakespeare and every piece of art that he’s affected since he started writing, but she also assigned plays that I love: King Lear, Twelfth Night (which I’ve read and performed in, so I think I’m set on this one), and Henry IV part 1.

I’m also taking State of the Union: American Literature since 1930. I know, I know… Taking American Lit in Ireland? But this professor is assigning mainly literature written by mixed race authors which is an interesting aspect of American Literature that we don’t always study in the US. Beyond this, I think it will be interesting to take this class while here (plus it satisfies a credit back home, so why not?).

My favorite lecturer at least (not class because I don’t have one yet) is my Irish Literature since 1930 professor. She was so engaging and we are studying amazing texts. Waiting for Godot is one of them (and she pronounced it correctly), and we are also studying poets and novelists that we skip over in the US because we mainly focus on British authors. It’s going to be a tough and demanding class but I can’t wait.

Last, and certainly not least, is my British Literature since 1945 class. Again, we’re studying great texts (have you noticed a pattern yet?), and the lecturer is funny, if not a little quiet. Though not as engaging as my Irish Lit professor, this professor is definitely going to teach me a lot. We’re reading a lot of poetry (yay!), and plays (like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead), and two novels. I’m excited.

Can you tell I like all my classes? They are all going to be hard, I’m going to have to be reading about three books a week for all of my classes, I’m going to have to read the Irish Constitution and the ECHR Act of 2003, but I am really looking forward to learning everything I can while I’m here.

Having gone through syllabus week, and survived, I realize how blessed I am to have the education that I do. I have read at least one thing on every literature course syllabus. Not that I won’t be keeping up with the reading, but it lifts a little bit of the pressure off of me.

This post is called books on books on books on books because I think that is what my life is going to be like for the next few months. While I’m definitely going to travel and have lots of fun, I’m probably always going to be carrying around a book – just call me Rory Gilmore (even though I’m not her biggest fan).

Still, I’m nerding out because I get to read all of this amazing literature while living in a place where amazing writers have lived and traveled and written about. Catch me squealing like an excited tween over here in my room.

But then catch me crying when, during finals and midterms, I have five papers all due within four days of each other.

Outside of school, I’ve been spending time with my friends (Kim, Kaitlin, Guy, and Ian – get used to these names), and sleeping a lot. Kim, Kaitlin, and I went food shopping today and navigated the bus system all by our adult selves. It rained today after two days of being crazy windy. Ireland is great and I’m doing well.

Hi Mom!

Quote of the week: “Hold for short time.” -Daniel, a German Erasmus student (probably only funny in the moment but still).

Girls Like You Always Get To See Ireland….

Emily Bernstein

January 16, 2017

1 Comment

Ireland

Today was a whirlwind to say the least. After flying to Boston yesterday, watching the Packers beat the Cowboys (woo!), then boarding a plane to Shannon, Ireland that was probably 1/3 study abroad students, the day felt like a week.

After landing, everyone that was on my flight navigated through customs, then met up with University of Limerick students in yellow shirts (meaning they are International Student Guides). They shuffled us all onto a bus that took us from Shannon to Castletroy, where the University of Limerick is (the city center of Limerick is actually about 20 minutes away from us). I tried to take photos of the drive, but it doesn’t get light here until about 8:30am, so I’ll have to snap photos some other time.

I got to my apartment complex – Troy Village – around 8am (local time). I immediately got to unpacking so that I wouldn’t have to do it later.

At 10:30, we (meaning the other international students in Troy Village) walked to main campus for a tea/coffee social. From Troy Village, campus is about a 20 minute walk, which I moaned about at first, but it’s beautiful and it’s pretty nice to be off campus.

I shopped for bedding and for some food that would tide me over until tomorrow when I can focus more on what I want to eat throughout my months here in Ireland.

I have my own room here at Troy Village, but I do live in a three bedroom apartment. One of my roommates is from Venice, Italy. She is so so nice and funny. We get along great and she even offered to show Italy to me over spring break if I wanted. How could I say no to that?? I have yet to meet my third roommate because they have not yet arrived.

I met up with some people from my flight at Scholars Café, which is just a pub with a fancy name on campus. They are so nice and sweet. We went from there to another pub a little ways away (don’t worry, Dad: Castletroy is safe, plus I was with a group of people which included three men). This was a real Irish pub full of Irishmen drinking whiskey and Guinness. Here, I found Orchard Thieves Apple Cider so, while I could not participate in the trying of Guinness, I could still have a pint in my hand while chatting.

At said authentic Irish pub, we met Eoin (read: Owen). Eoin is a 40 year old Irishman who was all too happy to chat with the group of us at the pub about Ireland, ourselves, and himself. He was funny and was such an interesting person to meet. It’s definitely an encounter I won’t soon forget.

We returned to UL campus where I met up with my roommate, Marzia. We walked back to Troy Village together, ate a quick snack, and then retired to our respective bedrooms.

Today, I learned that Ireland has so much in store for me – friends, learning, culture, etc. Today, I learned that the University of Limerick is huge and that I can’t wait to start classes. Today, I learned that Ireland is beautiful and cold and wonderful.

Today, I learned the Irish/Gaelic/Celtic word for cheers. Everyone says it slightly differently, and it’s definitely a strange word. But that’s most of Gaelic for you.

Sláinte.

PS: in my local grocery store, they sell taco ingredients, so a few people and I are going to have taco night tomorrow night (yay!). Taco Tuesday in Limerick is real now.