In our final meeting leading up to Holy Week, everyone in the office talked about how sudden Easter felt this year. We all felt that this year Lent seemed to go by faster than normal. Part of it is the fact that Easter was so early. Another part is the fact that Saint Patrick’s Day fell on a Sunday. On a personal note, I had different people visiting me throughout the month of March. Regardless of the reasoning behind Lent’s feeling so rushed, that represents a larger theme I’ve noticed this year. The time is flying by. It’s already April—in two months, I’ll be packing my bags and getting ready to head back to North Carolina to start law school.

I have to constantly remind myself to enjoy the present moment and not let the time go by too quickly. I catch myself worrying about everything I haven’t done yet and preemptively missing the friends I’ve made here. Every day, I tell myself to take things one day at a time and appreciate what I have while I have it instead of worrying about what it will be like when it’s gone.

On the other hand, with only two months left, there are pieces of home that I miss more than I have in quite a while. It’s as if, because I know I’ll have them soon, I feel their absence more intensely. With that in mind, I have a mental list of things that I miss right now set against things that I know I will miss when I’ve left Dublin. That way I can keep everything in perspective and embrace the opportunities that I have here without being too sad knowing that I won’t have them for much longer.

Things I Miss About Home:

  1. Watching college sports. Normally, my March is defined by a running commentary of basketball games in the background of everything I do. I love following both men’s and women’s March Madness. Being in Ireland hasn’t stopped me from doing so—it’s only made it harder. I quickly learned  that, not only do Americans living in Dublin tend not to watch because of the time difference, but Irish people don’t understand collegiate sports as they exist in America. I woke up at 4 AM a few times to watch important games, but found that I didn’t have anyone to share that excitement with. I’m looking forward to being able to watch basketball at a normal time and to have people around me to watch games with.
  2. Sinks with one tap. It seems mundane, but I miss being able to balance the hot and cold handles to create an ideal temperature for washing my face or brushing my teeth.
  3. Driving. Anyone from home would be shocked to hear that I really miss being able to drive places. I’ve always viewed driving as a means to an end, but being unable to drive at all since coming to Dublin has me appreciating it in a new way. I miss being able to quickly drive to the grocery store or gym on my own terms, without needing to factor in twenty-something minute walk or balance waiting for the bus with whatever I have scheduled. I’ll definitely appreciate being able to drive in a way I never did before when I get back home.
  4. Iced tea (sweet and unsweet). I may love hot tea, but there’s something to be said for a glass of iced tea with dinner.
  5. Being in the same time zone as my loved ones. I can’t wait to no longer need to do the math to figure out if it’s too early for me to call home. It hasn’t been too difficult to keep in touch with my friends who are still in college, but by the time my other friends or family are off work, I’m getting ready for bed. One of my best friends from home and I have started to schedule phone calls multiple weeks in advance. It will be so nice to wake up at 8 am and know that if the people I love aren’t awake yet, they will be soon.

Things I Will Miss about Dublin:

  1. The city itself. Dublin has an energy unlike any other place I’ve lived. It’s hard to put to words exactly what makes the city special. James Joyce wrote, “when I die, Dublin will be written in my heart,” a beautiful sentiment that better encapsulates what I feel than I could say. I’ve found that the longer I live here, the more the city feels like it exists within me, like it’s burrowed into my soul. Each time that I travel out of town, I’m taken aback by how excited I am to return.
  2. Accessibility to the rest of Europe. One of my goals for this year was to travel as much as I could, and I’m proud of how much I’ve succeeded. I’ve gone on at least one trip a month and I’ve loved being able to explore new places and cultures, both in Ireland and abroad. I know that once I return to America and start law school, I’ll be much more restricted in my ability to travel. I’ll miss being able to take a 30-minute cab to the airport to then spend a weekend in an entirely different country.
  3. Staff meeting. Every Tuesday morning the entire office meets to go over the calendar for the next few weeks. Inevitably we end up chatting about our weekend or funny things that have happened in the church. It’s a small office so we’re all around each other all day, but that’s the only time each week that we are all intentionally together. 
  4. Cream crackers. I was trying to describe them to one of my brothers and said “they’re like softer saltines without salt,” which is is a disservice to the cracker.
  5. Community night. Every Monday, Lizo, Meag, Jane and I sit down for dinner and prayer together. I love when it’s my turn to cook because I’m able to show off family recipes, and it’s always fun to see what the others cook for similar reasons. We make it a point to never talk about work during these nights—it’s just time to catch up with each other and make each other laugh. I can’t imagine living with people and not having this shared time together. I will miss my community members dearly when we’re no longer living together, and I’ll particularly miss our intentional time together.

Neither of these lists is exhaustive, but it is a fun exercise to determine what makes my time in Dublin with House of Brigid special alongside the pieces of America that make me excited to return. Either way, with a little over two months left here, I intend to take advantage of every opportunity that comes my way.