Galway Girl

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Cope is Dope

It’s been a while since I last posted but i figured i needed to write something about my trip to Copenhagen. My international roommate asked me to describe it in two sentences. I replied, “The clubs closed at 5 or 6am every night. We closed the club every single night.”  And I wouldn’t have had it any other way it was amazing. We were able to meet some other people from Fairfield there and it was so much fun. The first night out, we went to this “authentic German-themed bar/pub” called “Heidi’s.” Throughout the bar they had these posts with nails half in half out and a hammer attached. Whoever thought that it was a good idea to allow drunks access to a hammer was clearly not thinking clearly.  We left Heidi’s - after many yagerbaombs and dances to horrible songs and weird German dub step music - somewhere between 5 and 6am. We squished 7 people into a 4 person airbnb, and let me tell you it was harder than you’d think. The next day we went to Nyhavn where we were able to see Copenhagen’s famous colored houses. There I had some stellar irish coffee to warm up after we went on a boat cruise around the canal and throughout the city. That night we went to the Penthouse Nightclub and it was one of my favorite nights abroad. There was an open bar the whole night. But there was a catch ~ in order to get another drink you had to trade the bartender your empty bottle in for a new one.  This of course meant that you always had a bottle in your hand. Which meant you were constantly drinking. Which is the excuse I'm using as to why I had ten bottles of whatever cider they were giving out. It was so much fun to just drink and dance and meet new people. They even had killer music. The following day we did a hop on hop off bus tour around copenhagen. To close out our trip, we found some karaoke bar that was open on a Sunday night. We left the apartment at 12am and had a round of Denmark’s famous somerby’s cider. I even got up to sing! It was a fun time. Over all, Denmark was an amazing place, but it wouldn't have been the same fun trip if I hadn’t gone with the amazing group of people I did travel with 

[youonlystudyabroadonce-blog]

I swear we tried new pubs, bars, and clubs, but we always ended up at the Quays at the end of every night our first week 

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I am officially a student at the National University of Ireland in Galway #keepcalmandshamrockon

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I wouldn’t have started my trip right if I didn’t have a guinness my first night in Ireland! Our first night out, we went to an amazing pub called “The Quays.” To clarify, this is pronounced like the word ‘keys’ ... but don't worry we still make some jokes about it being pronounced like ‘kwayz.’

[youonlystudyabroadonce-blog]

Starting my study abroad was an adventure. I found that traveling from JFK to Logan by myself prepared me a bit for this 4-month long journey.  It wasn't any extensive training in backpacking or anything but I was able to travel alone for the short flight and collect my thoughts alone while i waited in Logan airport for my friends to arrive. By the time they started rolling in, I was eager to get my journey started. On the flight, I purchased my very first legal drink. It was a little bottle of white wine called “Hope Bay” with a whale’s tale on the front. I found this fitting because i love whales and hope is something that is very important to me. The fact that this was the only wine served on the plane and that it is called “hope” meant something to me. It gave me the extra nudge of assurance and encouragement that I needed to begin this once in a lifetime experience.

[youonlystudyabroadonce-blog]

YOSAO: You Only Study Abroad Once

my dear friend Kayla Valente