I sat and thought for a long time about what I would write about as my favorite place. Thinking back to all of the wonderful times we had and places we explored already makes me miss Dublin so much. Originally I began to write my favorite post on a small café, but I suddenly realized what was truly my favorite place in Dublin by how much I miss it.
We stayed in small apartments called The Highlight Student Living. It was a nice building full of student accommodations with laundry rooms, study rooms, gyms, and social spaces. Everyone on our trip stayed in the same wing and floor so we were always nearby. Each student got their own room with a desk and dresser and our own bathroom with a shower. Five rooms all shared a hallway with a kitchen and living area as well.
Not only were the accommodations nice- much nicer than our current dorm rooms, but it was the place where everyone on the trip became friends. Before class you could find us meeting up in the lobby to catch breakfast, after class we would be found together in the kitchen, and then we would all meet in the social space before trips. We spent hours in the kitchen cooking, eating, talking, and doing homework together. When we came home after exploring we could be found in the kitchen all talking or down in the social space making friends with other abroad students.
In the social space we could play giant jenga, pool, and ping pong. I lost many games of ping pong. There was also a giant chess game in the courtyard. Every morning I would walk a lap or two around the courtyard and one day another student named Kevin joined me. I made a joke about climbing down this hole and not knowing me very well he took the joke seriously. I was laughing so hard as he told Jesse that I was going to get stuck in a large hole. Another day a large group of us laid in the bean bag chairs talking to other students and discussing music. No matter what we did at Highlight, we always had a fun time.
In our rooms we were spoiled. We had full sized, comfortable beds with the cutest reading light attached to the wall and outlets so you could easily lay in bed while charging your phone. A nice chair and large desk with lots of storage for all your things. We each had our own bathroom and nice glass shower. There was also three rooftop terraces for us to use.
Not everything was perfect though. The rooms were hot so we left the windows open and eventually our Kitchen had flies in it. One night someone killed a fly against the door and left the body just chilling as a warning to the other flies, it didn’t work. I was also worried I was going to get charged for getting foot blood all over my bedsheets. One night I was wearing new Doc Martins and, because they were so stiff, they caused blisters that popped and I was bleeding and didn’t realize it.
On our Belfast excursion we would talk about going back home and we all meant Highlight. In fact when we did go back to Dublin it really did feel like we were all just going back home. Braden made a comment about how she was excited to sleep in her own bed again, referring to her room at Highlight. Highlight Student Living was my favorite place in Dublin because it felt like it was my home.