One week from now, I will be on a plane home back to the states. To be honest, I thought I was ready to leave this past week. Maybe it was the exams being over, maybe it was the fact that I have been out every night doing something different since last Monday, or maybe it was just because enough time had passed, but I thought I was content. I remember saying "If a plane sucked me up today and took me home, I'd be totally okay."
A friend of ours visited from Spain this weekend, and she and I got to talking at one of my favorite pubs. We recounted fun stories and interesting things about our cities, but my favorite part of the conversation was reflecting on how much we've changed. I'm still the same bubbly, obnoxious, loud Jimmy everyone knows and loves (or pretends to love but secretly cringes on the inside...if this is you, just keep on pretending for my sake), but I've grown up A LOT; little things aren't as worrisome to me, I'm not as afraid to voice my approval and disapproval, but, most of all, I've become a lot better at staying in the now, the present, the moment that comes and goes before I have a chance to clasp it between my fingers.
Galway is an amazing city with so much culture, beauty, heritage, love, strength, hope, sorrow, worry, courage, and conviction. I recommend this place to EVERYONE. Come for a day, come for a week, come for four months, come for a few years, stay here forever! The time is irrelevant; you will be changed by this experience forever!
This will be my last blog post because I want to spend my final week as far away from a laptop as possible. I want to walk the River Corrib, stop by Hogwarts on campus, go to pubs, visit the Donut Man, walk to Salthill, and soak in the beauty of Shop Street.
So, here are a few thank yous to all the people who made my experience possible:
To everyone who visited from other countries: Thanks for making us appreciate our own country! It seemed like fate that you guys visited when you did. Every time someone would come, one of us would be slightly down or home-sick, but having to show people around and explore always made us re-appreciate and cherish this place we have called home. Thank you for being game to live the Irish life, and for the hospitality of all the places we visited. Best of luck to you in your final weeks, and safe travels home!
To my fellow classmates in our Irish Language Class: I had an absolute BLAST learning the language with you guys! We survived a language that seems completely random and only exists for the sole purpose of torturing us! From swear words to action verbs to phrases including the Devil (Devil a bit? Really??), we took the courage to immerse ourselves in a beautiful culture. Thank you for making those weekly four hour sessions a highlight of my week.
To any Irish students/friends/acquaintances I've made: Thank you for showing me how to have a good craic! With traveling and being ridiculous, I didn't necessarily get to see you guys as often as I hoped, but I am still eternally grateful for the memory I have of each of you guys. Thank you for reminding me that my family heritage is full of trouble-makers and killers, and giving me a truly Irish experience.
To my penthouse/305 crew: You are the ones who made me NOT an old man!!! You guys were the ones getting my sorry butt to stay out past 1am and actually experience the legitimate night life of Galway. Even if I wasn't in the pregames as much as hoped for, I cherish every ridiculous story of being peed on, prostitutes in Amsterdam, games of flip cup, random outbursts of dancing in the apartment/Sonny's, and eerily spot-on impersonations. Let's make this last week the best memory of our entire freaking trip!!! I love you all from the bottom of my Guinness filled heart. (Great Baby Guinness shots, by the way :) )
To my 401 gang: Guys, I cannot tell you how many smiles you've brought to my face. I love hearing about stories from California, realizing that my cousin is one of your roommates, having feuds about St. Joe's/LaSalle basketball (we're totally dominating in January, btw), sharing Thanksgiving dinner together, or playing games of MASH. I am still jealous you guys got new furniture and have a balcony, but I'll let that bitterness go since it's our last week! Thank you for the smiles and the laughter you brought me every time I hung out with you; looking forward to a few more Java's and coffee runs!
To Stonehill: Guys, what the hell can I say? We've become thicker than thieves in literally less than 4 months. The stories and experiences we have shared make me feel like I was destined to know you; thank you for being you. Unapologetic in who you are, I always knew I was in for a ridiculous ride. Who would have thought our journey would begin with an awkward meeting in Kennedy's pub, drinking Guinnesses at 6pm with the old folk. You guys are an amazing, incredible, beautiful group of people who will always remain in my memory. We at SJU cannot be thankful enough to know you guys (seriously, it's unhealthy how much we love you all), and I cannot be blessed enough to call you guys my friends. Christmas party shall be most epic, and I cannot WAIT to see what final stories we can muster up this week! (Yo, let's LT this joint!!) (BTW, don't get too cocky about case race victories...we're waiting for the perfect chance to strike...)
My 205 SJU/Marquette ladies: Well, ladies, you know my words of wisdom: SEXY BUT SAFE!!! What can I say except I love you all for soooooo many reasons. I have been on this ride with you guys more than most here, and I couldn't be more thankful for your group. I have countless memories with each of you: Molly, for the innumerable amount of conversations we had about AMUURICA, PBR, writing, love, Irish language (I wonder if we ever actually perfected how to say "Hello"), or ridiculous escapades involving Irish men; Lauren, for the Titanic dreams you shared with me, our very-real Ronnie/Sammi pub fights, playing airplanes in you apartment as I tried to pull off a yoga pose, PERSEVERANCE, or any other unreal mayhem that we call our life; Liz, for your friendship before and during this amazing experience (but, sadly, because I know so much about you now...we can't be friends when we get back), beautiful trips to Paris, Edinburgh, London, and Rome, AMAZING Sammi impressions, almost hitting nuns in the Vatican, and our talks about the craziness of SJU and our love for it; Kathleen, for being my girl from day one! and always having my back...you and I have had too many self-affirming conversations so I'm keeping this brief, but know that I love you always, especially for our Papa John's, McDonald's, Supermacs, Fat Freddy's runs and incessant need to buy each other stuff (and for being the ultimate bro)! Thank you girls for an amazing semester.
And, of course....DRUMROLL PLEASEEEE.....to my 105 Apartment!!! Guys, I wouldn't want to live with ANYONE else this semester; you guys are the greatest bros a bro could ever have. Chris: I love the fact I have an excuse to visit the midwest now! From teaching me the anatomy of a gun to the millions of electrical signals sent via nerves, from hating Canada to loving Seth McFarlene, from Taylor Swift to older women who dance with you in pubs, and everything between, I am insanely stoked you got to be our roommate. I cannot WAIT to hang out when we get back to the states! Sean: how the hell do we not see each other ever considering we went to the same high school AND college?? I could not be more thankful you and I actually had the chance to get to know each other and just hang. Our late night conversations and oddly strange fake-family impersonations, cooking dinner and collecting pints, discussing books or movies, or just dancing like idiots at Sonny's or some club. We definitely gotta' grab lunch when we get back to campus and you're always more than welcome to chill at our place! And to Kyle: my roommate now of two years...Congratulations! We haven't killed each other yet! Haha I can't tell you how freakin' excited I was when you told me you were thinking about coming to Galway. It has been another amazing semester getting to experience this crazy ride with you. Thanks for helping me become a ginger for the night, adopting me into your family, showing me Chris Brown and that cute little kid, and, of course, heating our room every night to fend off the bitter Irish cold! Not too many words can express how lucky I am to have you as a roommate, and you must be so thrilled we get to live together again next semester! Right...Kyle? RIGHT?? Love ya' buddy.
And, to my family and friends in the states: I love you guys, I miss you guys. Thank you for listening to my stories and reaching out when needed, but also allowing me to have this experience for myself. You are all the reason I even had the guts to be here, and you will never know how thankful I am to have you guys in my life, especially now that a fairly large body of water separates us. You guys are all so amazing and special and close to my heart! I will see you all so soon!
And, of course, THANK YOU IRELAND!!!
With Irish Love and Gratitude,
Jim Jam
P.S. I'm gonna' thank myself: Thanks for being really really really ridiculously good looking, Jimmy!
