CAPA WORLD

In this week's post, Emma paints the image of what home in Dublin is like. With friends from all over the world, she forges a bond with them as they take on what this charming city offers and settle into weekly routines. She also shares what her go-to spots are and how welcoming Dublin and its lovely people have been so far!

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In this week's post, Emma discovers the sounds of Uilleann Pipes, a traditional Irish musical instrument, as part of her Irish Language and Culture course in Dublin. She also shares what makes this extraordinary instrument so special and even gives it a go at playing it!

“What did you say the address was again, girls? The GPS can’t seem to find this place.”

You know you are in for a real adventure when that persnickety little blue dot on the Taxi’s Google Maps starts having a meltdown. Desperately computing and recalculating...searching for the unsearchable. Gems are meant to be hard to find, right? Or wouldn’t we all be rich?

It just so happens that the meeting place for our CAPA course, Irish Language and Culture, was a cultural goldmine—full of good craic (the Irish term for FUN!)!

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In this week's post, Emma visits Dublin sporting landmark, Croke Park, and learns about the wonderful world of Gaelic Football. As part of her efforts to find her place in the local culture and get situated in the city, she takes in the sense of community displayed in this beloved sport. Without also staying too far removed from American sports, she shares how she kept up with the Super Bowl!

My geographic coordinates have changed. Who knew this newly adopted latitude and longitude would inspire a new habitude and attitude about life? While I am loving the opportunity to meet a diverse array of people from around the world, and discovering the enchanting nooks and crannies of every alleyway, I am still trying to find my footing and adjust to my life abroad (literally and figuratively—the cobblestones are quite slippery here!). Like many things, a sense of belonging is something we never fully appreciate until it is lost.

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Where in the world should you go? In her first post, Emma walks us through her study abroad dilemmas and how she eventually selected a city and program that aligned with her degree and interests. She's thrilled about making her way to Dublin and shares how her family, friends, and advisors, as well as a four-leaf clover, nudged her toward her decision!  

Where we’re going, we don’t need luck!

In the soundtrack to my life, “Should I Stay or Should I Go” sums up my fall semester perfectly, as my journey to study abroad was no walk in the park! No, no, no, not one bit! Indeed, I was very lost in the park with no compass to make clear which path I should take and no map to answer my burning question: “Where should I study abroad?!"

I was searching all over the globe for a program that would satisfy my academic requirements, financial needs, and personal desires! I met with several advisors, made spreadsheets, and had weekly conference calls with friends and family to poll opinions. For most of the semester, I had several applications started in various different programs.

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Meet Emma Aulenback, an official CAPA blogger in Dublin for Spring 2019:

University: University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Major: Sociology
Study abroad location: Dublin, Ireland
Internship or volunteer placement: N/A

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