November, what a busy month! Not only were all the scholars together twice in Belfast (Thanksgiving and the Belfast Classic Basketball Tournament) but I was fortunate enough to have three weeks of visitors in November starting with my favorite: my parents! My parents landed in Dublin on a Thursday morning and made it down to Waterford that afternoon after multiple stops for food along the way for my dad- yes, this is where I get my love for food from. Thursday night I showed my parents around Waterford a bit. On Friday, we went to Kilkenny for the day and explored the Kilkenny castle. Saturday I took my parents to one of my personal favorites: Dunmore beach (15 minutes from Waterford). They loved this and were amazed at how beautiful the views were. They picked a great weekend to come, as our team had not one but two basketball games this weekend- this is very unusual for basketball in Ireland. After my two games, we spent Sunday and Monday in Dublin. I was so thankful to have my parents come and visit, especially since it was venturing out of my mom’s comfort zone with her hate for flying- she loves cruises but unfortunately it would have taken way too long to cruise across the Atlantic so she compromised.
A few days after my parents left my friend Thea from college visited, followed by four friends from high school (Mikayla, Skyler, Frankie, and Jon), and my Aunt Stacie and Uncle Matt. I was able to spend a lot of time with all of them and show them around different areas of Ireland. They all loved the quaintness of Dunmore and the astounding views of the coast. All of them were able to catch one of my basketball games. I enjoyed a night out in Cork with my four high school friends and dinner with my Aunt and Uncle there as well before they all headed back. Frankie and Jon were studying abroad for the semester in England so it was only a short flight back for them. I think my Aunt and Uncle might have explored more of Ireland in 6 days than I have seen so far! Each day they had a full itinerary of what they were doing. They were able to explore Dublin, Kilkenny, Waterford, Cork and Galway all in their short time here!
In between all these visitors I travelled up to Belfast for a delicious Thanksgiving dinner with all the scholars! Thanks to Sport Changes Life for organizing this and making us feel like we were at home. It was sad to say my goodbyes to all my visitors, but shortly after I was heading to Belfast again for 3 days for the Belfast Classic. November was definitely a month to remember for my time in Ireland!
Thanks to all of my friends and family that took the time to visit me in November! I really missed everyone so it was nice to have a piece of home with me for some time. It was great to show everyone a bit of what this beautiful country has to offer. More visitors are welcome!
