At Home Studying Abroad in Galway, Ireland

Blackberries and Basalt

When I first arrived in Galway, I couldn’t help but compare the landscape to the trees, tidepools, and basalt I knew from my stomping grounds in the Pacific Northwest. Just like in Washington state, blackberries wrap around handrails and riverbanks, and ferns unfurl on a trail near the University of Galway campus. When a friend and I caught a 6 a.m. bus from Dublin to Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland, I sent my parents pictures of the famous basalt columns with the message, “Just like home!”

The first time I splashed in the Atlantic spurred debate over which ocean was colder—Atlantic or Pacific. Both seemed chilly to my bare feet as I took in the familiar sensation. As I’ve adjusted to life in Ireland, the similarities I saw as reminders of home became less and less important for me to feel at home here. Instead, I found solace in observing the landscape around me.

When I walk to the Latin Quarter in downtown Galway, I pass a church sculpted from marble, mined in the Connemara region. I read street signs written in Gaeilge and English.  And I look left before I cross the street. Even with the familiar coastal landscape, I am immersed in a culture that is altogether different than the one I know. As my time here comes to a close, though, the differences seem less important than the similarities.

One of my roommates, Natalie, started cataloguing the birds we passed on walks to the bus, our nearest Centra, and activities planned by IFSA. We found robins and magpies with sharper beaks and brighter colors than the ones at home, and we joked that a robin wasn’t just a robin here, but a “European Robin.” As a kid, my dad and I walked around our neighborhood, guessing the names of plants. When I was older, I downloaded a plant-identification app to help. In Galway, my friends and I do the same thing. Every creature offers a chance to learn something new about the landscape we’re living in.

Now I can name varieties from fuchsias to rowan as I walk the streets and trails through campus. By learning about the basic elements of this environment, I feel more connected to a land that seems both so similar and so different from my corner of Washington state. I’ve never thought of myself as scientific (after all, I’m an English major), but casually observing nature here has taught me to be mindful of my place in the environment. Searching for new and different flora and fauna has been the best part of my study-abroad experience.

Holly VanVoorhis | Whitman College | University of Galway Partnership | Fall 2024