Super fun, even with COVID-19 restrictions!

I was in the Fall 2020 program, and because of COVID, we definitely didn’t get the full experience. The pubs were closed the whole trip, we ended up having to be in restricted movement for almost a month, and the country went into Level 5 lockdown (we could only go 5km from our house), so we only went on 2 trips. We also couldn’t interact with the community at all, which was disappointing, and we didn’t have a chance to rock climb or zipline.
Despite all of the limits of the program related to safety and laws, I had a blast! We went surfing, kayaking, cliff jumping, hiking, biking, and walking, as well as doing some art (since we couldn’t do parts of our scheduled trip, we got to do jewelry making, acting, videography, and found art workshops), working on a farm, volunteering (picking up trash and planning and building a community park), doing leadership workshops, and learning about soil science, farming, and sustainable living. The group dynamic was wonderful (the adventure group was like a family by the end, and we had a friendly rivalry with the arts group, including a prank war), and Bundrowes House is a very nice place to live. There are always quiet rooms where you can chill out, but there’s always something happening somewhere else. We had some pop-up pub nights in the house because we couldn’t go to real pubs; everybody did party tricks, the staff acted as bartenders, and we had some different themes.
I tried a bunch of stuff for the first time on the trip. Learning to surf, living with people so different from me, and trying alcohol, among other things, taught me so much about myself and what motivates me. I also learned about Irish history and culture, geology, and environmental science. I would definitely recommend this program to anyone interested in having a fun and productive gap year.
I made an Instagram page on which I posted about everything we did, if anyone wants to see more pictures: @ali.on.the.emerald.isle