Limerick Living

While attending the University of Limerick, I live in University housing. I am not far from the main campus buildings. It is a 10-20 minute walk to most of my classes, less if you walk like the Irish (they say Americans walk slow). Now that I can say I live in Ireland, let me give you a tour of my residence.

I walk up to my front door and use my key fob to unlock it. A first look into the house will show a staircase heading to the upper level and a door to the bathroom for the lower level.

Turning right will lead to the hallway where the four gentlemen in my house reside. Turning left will lead into our kitchen and sitting area.

The kitchen has cabinets that can store food, cabinets for dishes that were provided by the University, a bread box, microwave, toaster, kettle, sink, a mini freezer, two mini fridges, an oven, drawers for the cutlery provided, and a cabinet under the sink for a few pots and a pan. There is a table and six chairs at the back of the room. At the front of the room is an L-shaped couch and a TV. It can get a little tight in the kitchen when several of us are in the room at one time. The fridges get full at the beginning of the week as four people find places for groceries. Overall, it is a nice kitchen.

Going up stairs will lead to the bathroom and a hallway to the rooms of the four ladies of the upper level. The bathroom has a toilet, sink, trash bin, two mirrors (one above the toilet and a larger one behind the door), and a shower off to the right. The shower has a knob that can be turned to change the temperature to hot, warm, or cold, and knob to change the water pressure. There is a power button to turn on the water. It will glow orange, meaning there is water to use. If there is no light on, pull the cord that is hanging from the ceiling on the left side of the bathroom and the light will turn on.

At the end of the hallway is a closet where the boiler and mop are stored. On the sides of the hallways are individual rooms.

My bedroom is furnished with a desk, chair, shelf, bulletin board, twin-size bed, sink, mirror, towel ring, and wardrobe. The desk is big, making it a nice place to do some work. It even has a light hidden under the shelf. The shelf holds my yarn, books, and a few items from home. Under the sink is a place to store different bathroom supplies and above the sink is another light. The wardrobe has a place to hang a few clothes on the left side and shelves on the right. There is an overhead light on the ceiling and another light above the head of the bed. Under the bed, there are three drawers. I use one to store my shoes. All around the bed is a “bed frame” or as I call it, “My little ledges.” The little ledges make an ideal place to set a phone when lounging in bed, watching a Hallmark movie, or FaceTiming a friend. I am a big fan of my room. I find it cozy and I am enjoying all the shelves, drawers, and cabinets.

My house is a part of Plassey Village. In the village, there is a reception office, laundry building, and many other houses. We have three washers and three dryers for all of the village. It seems to work just fine. I have been able to find an open washer and dryer each week I needed to wash my clothes. Washing cost €3 and drying cost another €3.

The village is filled with both international students and Irish students. In my house, there are six of us from the United States. I have met a few of the other people in my village. The other ladies who are using the International Study Abroad agency (ISA) to study here are in my village. We get to go on adventures together. On the 22nd of January we visited King John’s Castle and this past weekend we went to Dublin with all of the students using ISA. These other students are studying in Galway and Dublin.

So far living in Limerick is going well. I’ll give another update on my Amazing Ireland Adventure soon.