Ireland or Bust: The Last Week

          I never go anywhere for an extended period of time expecting for it to become my new normal. Dundalk, Ireland has become my new normal. The people, the streets, the view, it's all so wonderful. Going into my last week, I don't know how I'm going to leave. I don't know how I'm going to return to my old normal when this one is so great. 
          I've had my fair share of challenges on this trip, but none have ruined it at all. I'm sitting in the apartment and I feel so content with where I am and the life I am living. The chocolate is so much sweeter here and there's enough water to go around, but in the end, I have to go back to California. I have to go back to my big old country and leave this little one behind. 
          There is still one week to go and leaving is becoming more and more of a burden. Sometimes I think to myself, "What if I just stay?" Well, you can't Josie because you're in the middle of college and you have a life to go back to. You'd also be breaking the law. "Okay then." I've been thinking that a lot, actually. 
          This is not to say that I don't love my life back in the States, because I do. There is just something so great about feeling so at home somewhere, feeling so part of people's lives. I have all the people of Dundalk Community Church to thank for this feeling. I have my new friends from Chicago that happened to be here to thank for that. I have God, above all, to thank for that. 
          So this last week, I'm going to revel in this normal. I'm going to soak it up and take it with me back home. I'm going to try to drink as much tea as possible and I will never call biscuits "cookies" ever again. French fries are chips and chips are crisps for the rest of my life. Ireland, this is my last week. Please rain as much as possible because I'm going to miss it when I get home.