Today was a day of first meetings. We traveled to Tallaght, a kind of suburb of Dublin, to meet our Irish counterparts and learned just how parallel we are despite the ocean that had separated us until today. But even before that from the window of the Luas (the local tram) we met the famous Dublin swans for the first time and our eyes met the distant Irish countryside, which looks exactly like you imagine Ireland in every dazzling tone of green imaginable. After a day getting to know the other students we rushed back to Dublin for a sampling of what is in my opinion some of the finest music and food (note we got pasties, chips, ice cream and Mexican in that order) on the planet. On the ride to our night of eating and singing I couldn’t help but stare out at the lush hills longingly, feeling as though I had finally found the mythical land I had heard about in songs and stories my entire life. Something about this place has drawn me in in a way that words cannot say. I now understand all the sorrow in the songs about leaving this place. Somehow this little green island has already utterly enchanted me.