Leaaavinng on a Jet Plane

Well, I’m officially back in "Amurica.” Initial observations: more variety in beer, things are cheaper, better snack food.

Generally I don’t write about “doing things” but I’m going to make an exception here for the exceptional last 24 hours in Dubs.

After packing on Friday, Mike and I headed into the city for the World Cup (USA – Slovenia match). He was donning the USA jersey, I wore an American flag as a cape. The first half of the match was pretty disheartening but when the goals started coming in the second half, it was pretty incredible. When the second goal happened, Mike literally clotheslined me off of the bar stool in a bear hug. It was pretty weak that they didn’t count goal #3, but life goes on. Between the French loss to Mexico on Thursday and the England – Algeria tie, I’m overall pretty happy about the Cup.

I couldn’t have hoped to spend my last night in Dublin any differently (well, unless of course the entirety of Team America and the Blackrock Crew would have been there). We went to Messrs Maguire and hit Pygmalion later on. On the way back, Eunan and I (for some reason unknown to me) stormed across Blackrock’s front lawn Call of Duty Omaha Beach-style. It was outlandish in every possible way (and I’m covered in cuts and bruises)… Afterward, we killed the remaining booze and sat around as Eunan continued his reign as “DJ Eurotrash”.

I didn’t think I had any emotion left after the infamous “Goodbye Blackrock” week of drinking and crying, but yesterday morning proved differently. It was incredibly hard to say bye to the half of Team Ireland in appearance. (But at least they have a flag signed by Team America to remember us by…)

It was a long day of traveling, glad I left with everyone but getting to the airport at 07:00 for a 12:50 flight was brutal. As much as I love the USA, the first experience I had with an American on Saturday was some clown from Arizona who actually thought their Holocaust-status immigration law was a fantastic idea. Not exactly the greatest first impression of a place I hadn’t seen in six months.

Thank you Ireland for a fantastic semester. I will forever remember the five short months that I had there and cannot wait to return. I met some incredible people from all over Europe and it has been a genuinely eye-opening experience in every possible way. Expect a post later in the week that’s a bit more reflective of the overall experience – I wrote it already but I want it to be legit.

Oh, PS – a few of Team America wanted this, so anyone else who’s interested: I made a Blackrock playlist, appropriately titled: “Back in Black(rock)”. Direct download link: Back in Black(rock).

Back in Black(rock) track list:

I Gotta Feeling – Black Eyed Peas

Hey, Soul Sister – Train

Stereo Love – Edward Maya ft. Alicia

Tik Tok – Ke$ha

Galway Girl – Steve Earle

Riverside – Sidney Samson

Little Lion Man – Mumford and Sons

Show Me Love – Michael Mind

Sexy Bitch – David Guetta ft. Akon

Never Gonna Give You Up – Rick Astley

The Irish Rover – The Pogues

Don’t Stop Believin’ – Journey

Save Tonight – Eagle-Eye Cherry

Leaving on a Jet Plane – John Denver

Dog Days are Over – Florence and the Machines