Ireland: I've Never Felt More At Home In My Life Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

I loved the IES-Dublin academics. I took classes all about Irish history, culture, language, & politics with other American students. The best part is that the courses were taught by local Irish professors! They were so nice, and they easily accommodated to the American educational system. They provided syllabi and didn't stray too much from the American grading system. I loved these classes though because most of them were fairly small in class size. We got more individualized attention from the professors. The classes seemed a little long because they were 2 & 1/2 hours, but they were only once a week. We also had no classes on Fridays! My favorite aspect of the educational experience at IES-Dublin was the fact that we got to go on field trips throughout the city in order to get some firsthand experience with the host culture.

On-site administration of your program

The staff at the IES-Dublin Centre were AMAZING!!! They are some of the nicest and most welcoming people I have ever met! They always seemed genuinely happy to see us when we walked into the Centre. They were always willing to provide advice and answer questions about anything! They stopped us to chat and see how we were doing frequently. I absolutely loved them, and they made my first experience living in another country so much easier!

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

The location of my apartment was absolutely AMAZING! We were so close to Grafton Street, Trinity College, and all of the nightlife. I always felt safe walking to and from my apartment. The apartment itself wasn't anything too fancy. There were 3 girls sharing 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom. There were supposed to be 4 of us, but our other roommate never showed up. If she had, I think our apartment would have been much more cramped and less manageable. We didn't have to buy too much for our apartment. Just a few kitchen utensils, cleaning products, etc. The only major problem we had was with our hot water. Our apartment had a broken water heater so we could only have 1 quick hot shower per day. We thought we just didn't understand the immersion system at first, so we had our RA double check it for us. When it still didn't work, we talked to the landlord. It took him forever to get around to fixing the actual problem. IES was really nice about it, and they put us in hotels for a few nights while it got sorted. As soon as the IES-Dublin Centre staff hired their own electrician/plumber instead of the landlord's, the problem was fixed in 20 minutes. I absolutely loved the location of my apartment though!

The food in Ireland was just fine. Many of the options we have in the states were available there. They just had different brands. We did most of our grocery shopping at places like SuperValu and Dunnes. The SuperValu by the Liffey & O'Connell has excellent hot sandwiches for a quick lunch. Gotham Cafe off of Grafton had some delicious food. Butler's Chocolate Cafe had wonderful hot chocolate! There are also an abundance of pubs to go to for a pint! O'Neill's, Porterhouse, Bleeding Horse, and Whelan's were some of our favorites!

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

IES organized this amazing field trip to Northern Ireland that I highly recommend to anyone in this program! The first half was a Peace & Conflict concentration that people taking any of the Northern Ireland/politics classes could attend. It was so amazing. We got to tour Stormont (NI's Parliament) and talk to various party members. We also got to take personal tours of Belfast's Shankill and Falls Roads. It was such an eye-opening experience. When the rest of the IES group met up with us in Belfast, we got to sign the Peace Wall before seeing the Titanic dockyard. Then we headed onto Portrush, NI. We got to see the Giant's Causeway, Dunluce Castle, Bushmills Distillery, Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, and Glenariff National Park. Northern Ireland is SOOOOO BEAUTIFUL! You must do this trip! I also enjoyed going to the Gaelic football and hurling matches held at Croke Park on St. Patrick's Day with IES students and RAs. It was a very cool way to experience Irish culture on a very touristy holiday.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I ended up getting an ear infection during my time abroad, and I had to go to the local physician to get a prescription. I called an IES staff member first thing in the morning and she called and scheduled an appointment for me for that morning. It wasn't too big of a medical problem, and it was handled fairly quickly. As far as safety, we were required to have a charged, functioning cell phone with us at all times for IES staff to contact us. I never once felt unsafe in Dublin (or Ireland in general).

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

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• Americans