In 2014, I traveled across the Atlantic to Galway, Ireland in order to play a soccer tournament against some top European, Asian, and North American competition in an annual tournament called the Galway Cup. The trip was enjoyable on two fronts. For one, it was fun to meet and compete against kids from all over the world. On the other hand, we got to see and visit some really cool places

The trip got off to a great start immediately as we were welcomed at NUIG, National University of Ireland Galway. Admittedly, at first I was expecting the worst thinking we would be staying in cramped dorms for two weeks and not necessarily too excited about that. However, we were moved into large suites with good sized rooms and individual bathrooms, something we all enjoyed. While the rain every morning would kill the mood occasionally (and it is accurate when I say it rained every morning we were there), the food we had for breakfast lunch and dinner always brightened our spirits. From being introduced to the delicious and crunchy “Taytos” , and enjoying surprisingly good Indian food (from a surprisingly large Indian population), I did not have much to complain about.

My favorite part was making the new friends from everywhere around the world. We shared a bus from the university to the fields everyday with a team from Norway who spoke English well enough that we could have conversation with them. The Norwegians were definitely the funniest bunch as their skin tight jeans always made their mannerisms look ten times funnier. At the field, our locker room was located right next to the team from Guadalajara, Mexico (a team we would end up facing in the competition), and the Latin contingent on our team were able to get on great with the group. Lastly, was the most interesting group in my opinion from Tel Aviv, Israel. While they did not speak great English, they had a great time trying. It also struck me how politically conscientious they were when it came to Israeli politics at 14 and 15 years old.

One of the coolest moments on the trip came when we took a day to visit the famous Cliffs of Moher, which sit on the Atlantic ocean. While the view into the horizon was beautiful the cliffs are terrifying. The farther you walk out on the cliffs, the less protection from rails you have, and the windier it gets. However, if you’re brave enough, the picture you can get from sitting with your feet over the edge is 100% worth the heart racing that will set in.