Mostly though, it gave us a chance experience the country beyond what we simply saw in Dublin. Ireland, by no means diverse as larger countries such as the US or Japan, as a greater degree of variances in culture and tradition than one might expect. The West of Ireland has a distinct flair to it, and Galway, as a town, was quite enjoyable. It was really quite different from Dublin, which at times feels cosmopolitan and generic.
Locals were quick to remind visitors that Galway's a city, not a town. And while 72,000 residents makes it larger than your typical American college town, it feels very similar in nature. Galway as State College or Chapel Hill makes a lot of sense, and not just because the renowned National University of Ireland is located there. Galway just feels like a cool college town. There's a university village home to a number of cool bars, filled with the hipster elite and drunken flirty coeds; a series of ethnic restaurants to please the palate; and while the music scene doesn't feature indie acts like The Frames, there are plenty of places to listen to live music, essential in becoming a future elitist music snob.
Another interesting note about Galway is the slight difference in accents between it and Dublin. While I am no expert on dialects of Ireland, my linguistic background helped make these differences in tongues discernible. The clearest difference in the homogenized accented world, where British and American media rein supreme (no doubt these two forces have dulled the distinctions in the brogues) Galwegians have a tendency to great me with "Hiya," aside from momentarily transporting me to a Scandanavian land, the "hiya" was immediately recognizable in its familiarity. While much of the media we have studied has declared the west of Ireland to be uncivilized "bogmen," I found this general congeniality not to be lacking in class or couth, but to be honestly be far more welcoming than the aloofness I found at times in Dublin. Although they may chafe at this (on both sides) Galwegians filled me with a sense of southern hospitality. They're like Texans and their "howdy," minus the grating gusto and saunter.
Finally, as we often do, when confronted with a new place or new experience, we try to associate the new with the old, previous experience, or with something more familiar. And generally, Ireland's weather has been quite good in our travels here, but our time in Galway was a bit more depressed due to gray skies and intermittent showers. On Sunday, I had saved time for me to do some sightseeing in the city, but the rain hampered this, siphoning my will and doing a walk about searching for nooks and crannies filled with new experiences and resultant journal entries.The rest of the group had had enough, and whilst I tried to make do in finding something else to do on my last day in Galway, my compatriots packed their belongings and hit the bus hours before I rode back with Dr. Chown and Dr. Rank. I'm not saying they missed anything, but it did seem odd that they were in a rush to leave only to arrive a mere 30 minutes before we did in Dublin. The issue of burnout and the impetus of culture shock will be saved for a journal in the near future.
I liked Galway; I really did, and when I return to Ireland, it will definitely be on the list.
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