Living in Ireland under IGY

This was by far the best program I could have chosen to participate in. Though beginning in the midst of a pandemic, the experience I had I would trade for no other - between surfing near daily, spending nights having wild fun with people my own age and taking some of the hardest hikes I've ever been on, there's nothing that could compare.
Being stuck in level 5 had little bearing on my enjoyment of my time here, as the leaders successfully created an itinerary that kept us all engaged for the whole time. We had input on the schedule too, and though it was difficult to coordinate making what we wanted to happen under level 5, we were successful enough. Some highlights included near daily walks, hikes, and leadership workshops, and occasional kayaking, swimming, cliff jumping, and biking outings, not to mention all of the memories that were created with the people I met.
However, this is not the place for people looking for a seriously outdoors experience. While having a home base of sorts in Bundrowes was nice, it meant that we were living in Ireland as students with outdoors education experiences as opposed to students on an outdoors based program. It is a comfortable and loosely planned experience with room for feedback, your own activities and relationships to grow.