Going into Galway

After several days of seeing nothing of Galway besides our apartment complex, the mini-mall across the street, and a bit of campus, I finally ventured into Galway City. Saturday I walked in with several other girls who wanted to go to T.K. Maxx (haha) and we sort of scraped the surface of the city as we searched for cheap bath mats and Brita filters. It’s not what one would expect from the word city in that sense. There are very few buildings over 3 or 4 stories, and walking its winding streets evokes a village feel. The houses are set in rows and connect in neat angular boxes that stretch the length of the street, but what is so rustically charming about them is that each front door is different, and each “house” is painted a different color. So, imagine if you would, different colored wooden blocks that you may have played with as a child. They’re all the same size, so if you stand them up and squish them together, you would achieve a colorful array reminiscent of these houses.
During our excursion I finally purchases a cheap phone and minutes so that I no longer had to communicate with people by window talking (a surprisingly fun thing that we’d all been doing for days given the set-up of our apartments around a small central courtyard). As the afternoon reared its head, so did hunger and we decided to pop into a pub that promised food with a sign outside. So we sat down and ordered a few drinks and then asked for the food menu when we were informed that they didn’t actually sell food anymore. FALSE ADVERTISING. But seeing as how we’d already committed we sat around and watched the horse racing on the screen and talked and drank a Bulmer’s Irish Cider. It was rather nice tasting to be honest, nothing too harsh or too alcoholic. Finally we headed home and it was decided among the masses that we had to go out! So finally I had been persuaded, and I put on what I deemed a nice top and non-sneaker shoes, and we all gathered in apartment 30. People from across the complex slowly leaked in as everyone talked, and I’m happy to say that I made several new friends whom I really like and who made the evening very enjoyable. Some boys who had gone out the night before informed us that no one in the city starts going out until after midnight, so we stayed in the apartment until close to 11, but my new friends were going to visit their friends (also more American students) at another apartment down the street, so we set off into the night, which was startlingly nice. Once there, we met up with some people I already knew and at least a few other people who go to school in the US with one of my best friends from high school, so I made a few more fast friends. Around midnight we finally decided to head into the city and I merely followed those who had been going out since we got here.
As we wound our way into the city, I was fascinated! The city was alive in a way it hadn’t been during the day. The mild and dry night (and doubtless other things) had coaxed hundreds of people into the tiny windy streets of Galway. There were so many people! It was absolutely vibrant with music and light and people pouring out of every building. As a girl from a town where even the street-lights turn off at 10 pm, I was blown away. I truly enjoyed people watching as we searched for a place to go. We popped into several places but didn’t stay long. More than anything I enjoyed talking with these people I had decided to spend the night with. We talked and we walked for hours and I truly enjoyed myself. Something I’ve discovered over the years that almost nothing makes for a better night than finding people whom you can have stimulating conversation with for hours without feeling bored by it, and that’s what makes traveling fun – the people. And that is why when people worry about the state of our generation and our technology addiction, nervous that it will suck the human value of interaction out of our lives, I realize that we would never let that happen.
Finally we met up with another friend and decided upon a pub where we sat and talked until closing time at 2 am. At this time I was exhausted but no, the Irish will have none of that. Just because the bars were closed, there seemed nothing to deter the hundreds of young people from walking around in masses and ordering food at restaurants opened late and just sort of congregating. We stopped in a place to share a plate of “garlic chips” which were fries smothered with a creamy garlic sauce. Delicious. Finally we headed back the apartment and I fell into bed at 3:30 in the morning. I was a fun night, but man is it exhausting to walk all over town until 3 in the morning!
Everyone slept in late this morning, but we all got together go back into town and watch the hurling match finals at a pub called the King’s Head in town. I got a delicious sandwich and we enjoyed the confusing match on a big projector screen. It’s quite like field hockey, and lacrosse mixed together, with plenty of whacking each other with sticks. It was yet another enjoyable time sitting around with people to talk to, and to listen to.
Tomorrow starts classes, but that doesn’t seem to deter our new Irish roommates who are even at this very moment, drunkenly singing on the other side of my door. They certainly know how to have a party here…