"Maybe that was a good way for me to realize early on that I should let go of my expectations for these next four months."
10 days ago I walked my parents and their bags to the taxi that would start their journey back to Texas. In their bags were a few of my things: some boots, a light jacket, my straightener... stuff that I hadn’t used much or didn’t think I needed between now and May 16th and could free up space for me to bring back souvenirs and other things I acquire while abroad.
"Before I know it, four months will be behind me. It's time to try as much food as I can, and see as many sights as my feet (and transportation card) can take me."
8 days ago I hopped off a tram in Vienna to begin a week with one of my favorite friends in her city. We took time to catch up in a Viennese cafe before walking around the city and going to trivia with her friends.
7 days ago Austria announced a limit of 100 people indoors, resulting in the closure of most museums, churches, and tourist destinations. We ate at McDonalds and talked about how glad we were that we peeked into the church last night.
6 days ago I went on a guided tour of the alpine town of Hallstatt. I met a kind family of fellow Texans on the tour. They asked me how I was feeling about the fate of my semester abroad. I told them I’m always hoping I don’t open my computer to find the dreaded email.
That night there was a travel ban announced. Initially I wasn’t sure what it all meant, was I not going to be able to go home after Friday? There was no way I could get from Austria to Ireland, packed, and to the US before midnight on Friday. Would I be stuck in Ireland for 30 days? It later became clear that Ireland wasn’t included in the ban, but I still felt it was probably best to cut my Austria trip a few days short.
5 days ago I bought a next day plane ticket back to Ireland. We enjoyed lunch beside the Danube and some beautiful hilltop views. I got an email from Purdue, I was free to continue my semester abroad, as long as Ireland didn’t reach level 3 travel advisory. I got an email from my school in Dublin, classes would be online for the remainder of the semester.
3 days ago I walked around Dublin for two hours. I had no real destination, it was a nice day and I just had this underlying feeling that it might be my last chance to do this for awhile. What should have been a bustle of St Patrick’s weekend activity was empty parks, and where there was people, there was bright yellow signs outlining symptoms and precautions, and arrows drawing attention to newly installed hand sanitizer dispensers.
When I got home, I saw a post that Ireland had been added to the travel ban. I opened my computer...
Subject: Return to US, COVID 19
I was only “strongly encouraged” to leave Ireland, but this point I knew I’d probably be back in the US by the end of March, if not the end of the week.
2 days ago I had to ask myself if it was moral of me to attempt to go to 5:30 Sunday Mass. The church that’s about a 20 min walk from my apartment was having Mass as usual, with emphasis on the precautions of sitting at least one meter away from others, and leaving the church if there were already 100 people there when you arrived. Another nice day in Ireland, I chose to walk over there and if it looked like a bad idea for me to stay, at least I got to enjoy a nice walk. There were 40 people at Mass.
Yesterday I went to lunch with my roommate to celebrate my birthday. We went to a small, low key Asian street food restaurant— one of the few restaurants that was still open. Enjoyed a nice lunch and took the long way back to the bus stop. I didn’t know at this point that I’d be in New Jersey 12 hours later.
10:00 pm I’m notified that I’m booked on a flight for 9am the next day.
12:21am the dreaded email from Purdue
Subject: Directive to Depart Program - You are to depart and return home at your most immediate opportunity.
"People always say that abroad changes you and whatever and I'm not so sure about that yet"
Today I’m posting this from Texas. Before I started writing, I looked back through my other posts. As I said in my bio, I wanted this to be something I could look back on and see how my attitudes and emotions evolved.
I just didn’t think I’d be looking back so soon.
The quote above was from my last post 9 days ago. Since then, abroad has changed me.
I said in the first post that I was letting go of expectations for this semester, and I felt I did a pretty good job of that. But there was one certainty that framed my mindset and that was the fact that I had four months to make the most of my time abroad.
Apparently that certainty was actually an expectation.
I had listed out places to see around Ireland to make the most of 4 months.
I had set out to watch the entire Fresh Prince of Bel Air series before the end of the semester.
I would have sent a lot more with my parents had I known that 10 days later I’d have to pack up all of my things in less than 6 hours (God bless the United Airlines baggage drop lady who overlooked the fact that one of my bags was .6 kg over the weight limit).
I packed up an unfinished list along with half of the 4 month supply of contacts I brought with me in January, and other things I never got around to using in two months.
So how did this change me? What did I learn from all of this? I learned that nothing is certain. Had you told me in January that I'd be packing up on my 21st birthday to leave Ireland on St. Patrick's day I would have shown you the confirmation number for my May 16th return flight and called you crazy. I mean really, you could have told me this at the beginning of March and I wouldn't have believed you; I didn't even consider this a possibility when my parents left less than two weeks ago.
But things change often times beyond our control. I am devastated that my time in Ireland was cut in half, and I'm not looking forward to trying to stay on top of my European Ag Policy class from my living room in Texas.
I really am so pleased with the two months I had in Ireland, which I think made it harder to say goodbye... I met some wonderful people, went to great places, and overall felt like I had settled in well and made the most of my time, even though I didn't know it would be cut short. I'm so grateful for the time I did get, and for setting goals that helped me make good use of my time, even if I was unable to fully complete those goals in the end.
And though nothing is certain, I think it's likely I'll be back in Ireland sooner than later, ready to finish the last two seasons of Fresh Prince and cross off the remaining destinations on my list.