- Singing “Sweet Home Alabama” in Dublin
While my Study Abroad was only a Maymester, I still was able to visit two countries for a considerable amount of time. We had scheduled ten days in Dublin, Ireland and ten days in Istanbul, Turkey. Out of the two I was looking forward to Dublin the most. I had heard about the lush landscape and the atmosphere in Dublin was light hearted and fun.
After we first went on a walking tour of Dublin we realized that Ireland did not really have any good history. It seemed as though they were constantly losing battles or having sickness and such. However, the building and streets were pretty and felt more like a small European city rather than the largest city in an entire country.
We also realized that the locals were super nice. One night we walked into a pub, the musicians instantly asked what fifteen Americans were doing in Dublin. We of course told them we were doing a Study Abroad. Then we asked if they knew “Sweet Home Alabama,” knowing most likely they would not. To our surprise they did!!! Once the first chords were played we all had our hands up like we had our shakers ready to sing the good ole song we all know and love. Of course we sang all the words in the song, even added all of the Roll Tide Rolls into the song. It was a very special and bonding moment for our entire class to be able to experience this all together.
On this trip I made some friends that I will have for the rest of my life. This was the best experience of my life in many many ways.