Lend me your eyes, I can change what you see

The first thing I noticed about Ireland was how different it looked from the United States...even from 35,000 feet in the air. Every time I've landed in New Jersey and New York, I have always been struck by the number of lights you can see from the sky...it looks as if the entire world has been ignited. In Ireland, however, all was dark. A few splotches of light were scattered here and there to indicate small cities and villages but the vast majority of the land black: untouched. When the sun came out, however, I realized that the land wasn't black at all....it was green.

Ireland is one of those few places that really is as picturesque as it looks.

When driving just about anywhere it's hard to ignore the beauty of the landscape. Miles and miles of fields and animals with friendly passersby and bus drivers that want to hear all about your journey and plans. This place is truly lovely and I can very easily see myself falling in love with the atmosphere of this fairytale-like country.

The past few days have been a complete blur. We've toured the majority of Limerick City which,

despite online reports of crime, is peaceful and friendly. I've met a group of awesome people who are fun, adventurous, and just as excited as I am to venture throughout this new place we've quickly come to call home.

Our first big solo adventure was this past Wednesday, to the city of Galway which is just an hour north of Limerick. The bus journey was through the country and I could barely take my eyes away from the window and all of the, well, GREEN. Galway itself was even better than I imagined. The entire city is just so full of vibrance, music, and culture. Because it can also tend to be a bit touristy, there were a lot of quaint sweater and jewelry shops but I could definitely spend many days wandering through the streets and finding new things to love. Things like that are hard to put into words...just look at the pictures. Even though they're lovely, however, they naturally don't do Galway the justice it deserves.

Galway is also located on the coast of Ireland so we were able to see the sun set over the ocean...it was pretty amazing. Naturally, there has been so much that has been going on these past few days but to capture it all in one blog post would be insane. Tomorrow, I'm off to the local market which takes place every Saturday morning in Limerick. I've been told the freshly baked cakes are delicious.