Dingle Summer Art Review Past Review
By Jennifer H (Painting & Drawing, SUNY Purchase) for
Ireland Study Abroad Reflections: Comprehensive Reviews of Past Programs
I'm on the fence about if it was worthwhile. I'm glad I got the experience of Europe, forced myself to be disconnected from home for a while, and got to focus on painting so much, but socially and emotionally I felt trapped and this was very hard for me to get through. I would have preferred to be stationed in a foreign city, where it's easier to get around. Or I would have liked to travel to different areas of Ireland more often. Traveling was so expensive that I only spent 3 days in Dublin, and the other 26 in my isolated hotel.
Review Photos
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 0-2 weeks |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
I sort of wish that the program were a little more structured. It was just meeting at 9am for lecture mon-fri and then we were off to paint on our own, and the assistant hardly ever found me to help me with my work. I only spoke with her twice. It was nice to have painting time to myself and be able to choose my locations, but too much was left up to the students. There weren't many critiques and I left not knowing how some of the girls painted. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The professor didn't seem as enthusiastic about the students' work or progress as I had expected. He didn't help out as much as I expected. He wrote off some non-painters from the start and didn't help them at all. I also felt he didn't know much about contemporary art, which was discouraging. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
The housing itself was very nice, but it's location wasn't ideal for me. We had to walk 25 minutes into town on a dangerous road to get anything we needed. We had to pay for taxis to come back at night. It was difficult to travel anywhere. |
| * Food: |
I wasn't entirely aware that we'd have to pay for all of our food prior to the trip. If I had known, I would have brought some things with me to save money. Food in Ireland was very expensive. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
The town of Dingle was really cute and held a lot of history. We got to know some of the locals and due to that, got a good idea of how the culture functioned. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
The town was very safe and I wasn't nervous at all walking around alone during the day. I'm not sure I would have at night - the area near all the bars was full of roudy teenagers. But it wasn't any less safe than what I'm used to in the US. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
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Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
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Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
Select all that apply |
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A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | If you are passionate about painting and interested in Irish culture, this is a good program. What was difficult for me was being so isolated - without a phone, internet, or means of transportation for a whole month. I'm very connected to people all the time, so this was hard for me, though students who are typically more independent didn't have as tough a time. I would bring snack foods with me on the trip, tea, simple things. More nice clothes than are suggested, because you go out to the bars a lot. Get ready to do a lot of walking. Bring a bathing suit to swim in the ocean. |
