This past weekend I had the opportunity to head out with the UL Windsports Team to the beautiful beaches of Castlegregory in County Kerry. The 2.5 hour bus ride took us down to a region of Ireland called the Dingle Peninsula (once described by National Geographic as “the most beautiful place on Earth”). While I joined the club primarily to join them in non-competitive sailing trips, I decided to go out on a limb and give windsurfing a try this weekend. The club practices three sports: sailing, windsurfing, and kitesurfing. The surfing and sailing trips are run independently, and this weekend was a windsurfing trip. Even after attending the club’s meeting for membership dues and sign ups, I knew very few details about the trip except for the general location, that I was being fed, and that we were leaving at 19:00h on Friday night, but I decided to take the chance and go for it. Trips like these are a great opportunity not just because they are unique, but because they’re cost effective. The university subsidizes all club and society trips, which allows our group to go on a two night trip with rentals, lessons, and food all included for only 35 Euros.
Boarding the small chartered bus with about 11 other students, I was struck by a few things: the trip was composed mostly of Erasmus (EU foreign exchange) students, most of them had no experience windsurfing, and none of them knew any more details about the trip than I did. A member of the club from Ireland was there on the bus to explain the rundown – we would be staying in a hostel, on top of a pub, a few minutes from the beach. The next day we would be surfing in the morning, then windsurfing in the afternoon once we get an OK from local authorities after they test the water following a recent E. Coli outbreak. After socializing with my row-mates on the bus, and snacking on the ever-present “crisps” (Pringles are everywhere in Ireland!) for about 2.5 hours, we were relieved to find our accommodations to be warm and welcoming. The rest of the night was spent playing cards and trying (sometimes struggling) to learn the names of my 14 new friends.
I started out the day confident. I know how to surf! I surf back home where I’m from in Maine, so getting the unexpected chance to surf in Ireland was a welcome bonus, despite my focus on trying to do something new during my time here. The beach was incredible. Where I’m from, most beaches have 2-3 story houses sitting back off the shore a bit on top of a seawall. Here in Castlegregory, Ireland (population 243 as of 2011), was a beach with no visible signs of human impact whatsoever. No signs, no houses, nothing in sight. Just sand, rocks, grassy dunes, and mountains on the other side of the bay. The parking for the beach was merely a muddy patch of grass, and we had to walk 5 minutes through a cow field to get to the water. And yes, windsurfing and sailing trips here are rain or shine. Fortunately, they use 5 millimeter wetsuits here that kept us all nice and warm despite lacking what most people would consider good beach weather.
After a couple solid hours of rainy surf, we got the OK to head down to the windsurfing beach for the rest of the day. This was my first time windsurfing (as it was for most of our group), so we received a full introductory lesson and by the end of the day we were all sailing back and forth across the bay. That night we came together to make pasta bolognese, and walked down to the beach to meet the UL Surf Team, who were camping there for the night. After watching the sun set behind the clouds and gaining a full appreciation for the hot showers in our hostel, we made our way back to the hostel. This night we continued playing games and sharing each other’s music, before heading down to the pub in true Irish fashion for a few games of pool and darts.
Waking up on Sunday, everyone was in high spirits to get even better at windsurfing, especially given the weather – it was the nicest day in the 3 weeks been here! In the high 60s and not a cloud in the sky. Unfortunately for us, this beautiful day did not come with any wind, so after spending the second half of the morning nearly dead in the water, the rental company guy set us up on a giant water trampoline. 15 college students, from 5 different countries, in their 20s, who’ve only known each other for 1.5 days, wrestling each other off a water trampoline in Ireland is the kind of unique experience you get with study abroad. I can’t say it’s something I ever expected to do when I signed up to come here, but somehow it encapsulates the entirety of my time here thus far. The whole point of studying abroad is to experience things you would not be able to experience at home. This weekend I left my comfort zone and did just that. The number one take away here is not to be shy about trying something new while abroad. This weekend has been my favorite weekend so far, meeting people from all around the world and doing something new – the essence of a study abroad experience.
This past weekend has fully cemented my decision to stay involved with this club. On Wednesday evening, I will be taking my first trip out to Killaloe, a small village on the River Shannon just half an hour from campus, to go sailing until dark. One of my housemates will also be joining me on this trip and I’ll be sure to meet some new faces who like me were initially more interested in sailing than windsurfing.
Lastly, I’ll end this blog with a bit of Irish slang that I began to work (to the chagrin of my roommates) into my everyday speech this weekend. “Craic” (pronounced “crack”) means fun in Ireland. For example, I might say “the windsurfing this weekend was great craic!”. It can also be used even more generally like in “What’s the craic?”, meaning “what’s up”. It’s most typically used to describe fun had in groups, or fun had via banter and social interactions, for example: “Let’s go to the pub, and have the craic”.
