To My Ireland Dream Team,

Writing this article is hard. By the time you read this, we'll unfortunately all be back in the States, moving into our apartments, preparing for school, and trying to find a river to follow. While we've been home for almost a month, the memories of Ireland are still vivid in my mind. I don't go a day without thinking about our trip together. It might seem that I was holding this article off, but I guess I didn't know how to put it all into words, let alone one article.

I'll start by saying I never thought I'd become so close with a group of people so quickly. When we were boarding our plane, someone commented that people who studied abroad together become close really quickly. And that statement couldn't be more true. I was terrified to leave the country with a bunch of strangers. I spent the first hours in Ireland in a miserable, homesick mood, but you guys turned it all around. You took my tears and turned them into laughter. You morphed my stress and fears into happiness. I can't imagine spending the trip with any other group of people.

Rose, thank you so much for introducing us to One Night Werewolf. We bonded over that game and Supermacs that first weekend in Limerick. We crammed into a tiny booth at our new favorite fast food joint and tried to play the game. I'll never forget when Kyle was the Tanner and fooled us all.

I'll never forget how proud of ourselves we were when we trekked to Blarney Castle and back without getting lost. Four bus rides and four trains later and we made it safely back to Mary I. We navigated through a foreign country without an adult. We were proud of ourselves, until Connor informed us they took a direct bus to Blarney- insert failure here.

Thank you for stuffing your faces with me during every meal. From the medieval dinner to our food tour of Ireland, every meal was just as amazing as the last. I still miss that breakfast and those croissants. Hopefully the guy from Temple Bar found his tissues. And no one will forget when our last meal in Ireland consisted of soda, candy, and chips- the dinner of champions.

I loved getting ready to go out to Temple Bar with you guys. Abby, thank you so much for attempting to curl my hair and for always letting me gush over your make up collection. I'll always remember that night some of us decided to wear dresses and then regretting our decision because it was so windy. Caitlin, thank you for showing us the traditional Irish dancing and for always being down to do everything and anything.

Connor, thank you for being our shepherd on those nights out in Temple Bar. We would of spent all our euros on cabs if it wasn't for you. You literally herded us out of Mez, and while we protested then, we thanked you in the morning. As we ran through the streets of Dublin in the pouring rain trying to catch the bus, you somehow kept track of all of us. And I'll never forget Chloe's words of encouragement- "you run now."

Some of those bus rides were horrifying. We basically went on a jungle safari ride on our way to Galway. Half the time we were asleep, and the other half of the time we were hanging on for dear life. But Shannon, you made it all better when you were the DJ on our way home from the Wicklow Mountains, even when everyone protested your song choices.

The guy from Temple bar who took pictures with tissues will always be my favorite person we met in Ireland. Liz and Bridget, thank you so much for discovering him. I will always keep that autographed picture of him. And no one will ever compare to the performer at Fitzsimmons. I still get "Whiskey in the Jar" stuck in my head every other day. I'll never forget when Liz bought the C.D. and we packed our suitcases to that song.

Writing this article is hard, not only because we had so many amazing experiences together, but also because I miss all of you so much. It's quite difficult to put so many feelings into words.This article just skims the surface of all our adventures and laughs together. I want to thank all of you for making the trip such an amazing experience. I'll always be here for all of you. We're the Ireland Dream Team- we follow rivers and theres no ice cream for us. Until I see you all at our christmas party reunion,

Slainté!