(Written on 10\/4 sorry for internet issues) <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve been at Maynooth University in\nIreland for about three weeks now and a lot has happened. Orientation was\ninteresting, but from the very beginning I noticed that there is a clear\ndifference in communication style between Rollins and Maynooth. Everything has\nbeen \u201cthey\u2019ll tell you later\u201d or \u201cthey should\u2019ve already told you that\u201d and I\ncan\u2019t help but feel like I am missing some crucial information somewhere. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first two weeks of classes were\nalso a mess. I am having so many connection issues (sorry if this post is late\nbecause of that!) and figuring out which classes I was taking was impossible. A\nfew of the classes I got approved were no longer being offered and as I am here\nfor major credits this was a daunting obstacle. Luckily, I was able to get it\nsorted but I am still feeling frustrated with the communication from Maynooth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once I figured out my options for \u201cmodules\u201d, I\nwent to the introductory classes for a few interesting anthropology and early Irish\nheritage classes. Because of clashing times and strange field trip dates, I\ndidn\u2019t end up getting to attend two of my courses until this past week. This\nbrings me to another major difference between Maynooth and Rollins; attendance.\nNone of my professors take note of who is in class, and many post their\nlectures to their online academic service, Moodle. It has been strange,\nattending larger, non-interactive lectures and just being a face in the crowd.\nI miss the accountability of round table discussions at Rollins. And as much as\nI loved to hate the amount of busy work I was once assigned, I actually hate\nthe lack of feedback and grades I am receiving here as I only have two or three\nessay assignments per class and no exams. Despite the frustration around\nclasses, I am enjoying my time at Maynooth and its gorgeous campus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I had first arrived on campus, it was very\nlate at night, quiet, and colder than home so naturally, I freaked out and\ncried\u2026 like a lot. It was weird being in a foreign place, alone and in a cold,\nundecorated dorm room. Luckily, I called up a fellow Rollins student doing the\nsame program, we grabbed pizza and gushed about all the crazy emotions for the\nupcoming semester. I am so grateful for her help that night! I also met some\nreally awesome friends at orientation who are mostly American, which I do feel somewhat\nguilty for, and one who is Dutch, and we have walked every crevice of the\nlarge, pretty campus by now. We\u2019ve had\nan amazing time talking and debating about strange differences we\u2019ve noticed or\nmisconceptions we\u2019ve had. We also took a very interesting trip to Galway where\nI stayed in my first hostel (I didn\u2019t think it was bad at all but was informed\nit was really nice for a hostel so we\u2019ll see) and took a ferry to the majestic\nAran Islands. On our adventures, we\u2019ve also become well acquainted with the public\ntransport system and I actually really love taking the train. Most often, we\ntake it to and from Dublin. I have quickly fallen in love with Dublin, it\nreminds me so much of Boston. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s so much more to say and I\u2019m sure I\u2019ll get a chance, but my mother is coming to visit tomorrow for a couple of days so I need to finish cleaning my dorm. She is a saviour and thankfully will be bringing me some essentials not available in Ireland, Portuguese spices! I haven\u2019t been able to cook and I missed her so it\u2019s a win-win for me! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
(Written on 10\/4 sorry for internet issues) I\u2019ve been at Maynooth University in Ireland for about three weeks now and a lot has happened. Orientation was interesting, but from the very beginning I noticed that there is a clear difference in communication style between Rollins and Maynooth. Everything has been \u201cthey\u2019ll tell you later\u201d…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":586,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[369],"class_list":["post-19005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-maynooth","tag-rollinsabroad"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/586"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19005"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19005\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19006,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19005\/revisions\/19006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}