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I’ve never missed a city before. I’ve missed people, animals, and activities, but not an actual metropolis. When I moved from Boston (well, the suburbs of Boston) as a six year old, I missed my friends, but I didn’t know the city well enough to miss it. When I left D.C. in January, I can’t say I really missed it. I missed some things about it–the cherry blossom festival comes to mind–but I never really missed Washington. I have a feeling it won’t be like that when I leave Dublin in roughly 36 hours. Maybe it’s the possibility that I’ll never come back here or the good memories thoughts of the city with conjure up, but I think I’ll miss the entire city. Not everything about the city, just the city itself. It may not have the Eiffel Tower or the canals of Amsterdam, but it has a unique character to it that is hard to resist.

With that said, here is a list of things off the top of my head I will miss most, followed by things I am looking forward to in the States. I realize this list is pretty generic, but it’s true.

Thing I’ll miss:

• the people
• the accents
• pubs/good pints of Guinness
• my flatmates and friends
• learning so much about Irish history. It’s almost embarrassing how little I knew about Ireland’s tumultuous relationship with England before this semester
• nearby, legal card clubs
• St. Stephen’s Green, especially in the spring
• the absence of humidity (which I didn’t notice until my mother asked me how humid it was here)
• old men always dressed in their Sunday best
• Kilmainham Gaol, my go-to place (literally) for bringing visiting friends
• being able to easily follow Premiere League soccer
• being able to jet set cheaply to any other European capital at my whim

Things I’m looking forward to:

• my girlfriend, friends and family
• the dollar
• burritos and sushi (not together)
• four words: Whole Foods iced tea
• the monuments
• understanding everyone’s accent (although this became less of a problem as the semester went on)
• late-night public transportation
• driving
• being able to watch basketball, baseball, and football games at reasonable hours

That list isn’t nearly exhaustive on either end, and I’m sure I’ll miss a lot of little things about Dublin that I won’t notice until I’m gone, but it should give you the general idea. I’ll likely post once more after I get home to tell you guys about my adjustment.