I’ve been living in Dublin, Ireland, for nearly three weeks now. While I wouldn’t necessarily call myself a fully integrated member of Irish society, I no longer walk slowly or stand in the middle of busy sidewalks, I rarely use Google Maps, and I speak their primary language fluently (as you can tell).
That said, as a study abroad student who yearns to blend into new spaces, I’ll admit that some things are impossible to do when you’re living in Dublin during a May Term program. That’s because I’m not just here to learn but to create. As a photojournalism student, every day I whip out my industry-standard camera — from yours truly, the Moody College of Communication Equipment Checkout — and go out into the world to capture the bits and pieces of Dublin’s culture.
Here’s one of the stories I’ve picked up while being abroad.
On the morning of either my fourth or fifth day of living in Dublin, my roommate and I came across a local convenience store that overlooked the canal. Naturally, our pockets were filled with tea cakes, our hands balanced coffee cups, and our cameras swayed with each step toward the cash register. There, we met the store owner and our first Dublin native, Hugh.
Now, Hugh, from his first impression, was a man who stood at the front of his store and waved at every face that walked inside. Each time the door opened, I could hear, “Connie, Tommy, Aimee, Cole.” This guy knew everyone. No matter where he was or how far from the door he got — if there was a bell ringing, there was a name screamed. I quickly realized he wasn’t going to let me leave without becoming part of that list.
So, I met this guy. We get lost in a 40-something-minute-long conversation about quite literally everything found in the dictionary. Pubs, horses, refugees, U2’s song “With or Without You” (which was allegedly written in his home), and, eventually, the discussion turned to the history of Dublin and its shifting community.
Hugh wasn’t afraid to get into the details. To him, the vibes are different now. There are more people around, and with that, there are more faces; there’s truth to that. As the capital of Ireland and home to 40% of the country’s population, the Dublin area is an undeniably influential city. Flooded streets never cease or slow down, and thousands of people travel in and out of it every day. Yet at the same time, for Hugh, he described his experience with Dublin as that of a small town.
For him, it wasn’t the size of the city but his exposure to people that defined the culture. He saw the same people every day — loyal customers he knew as mothers, fathers, workers, and school kids. Owning the gas station was his retirement plan. Talking to people was how he wanted to live, and, more interestingly, it was why he loved Dublin.
In those 40-something minutes, I learned more from Hugh than any film or TV show could offer. Standing behind the counter and hearing about his experiences reshaped something in my brain. Sure, Dublin was a city I was studying in, but it was also a home.
Studying back in Austin, I wouldn’t have been able to feel this. Certainly, I could’ve done a quick Google search and been like, “OK, bet,” and wandered off, but that’s the problem. I would’ve wandered off without having felt the pure, emotional weight of other people’s experiences. Whether as a student or a journalist, that “aha” moment is critical.
Traveling abroad is a choice made for various motivations. There’s an infinite number of skills you can learn and experiences you can have, but there’s a finite amount of time in your life.
From walking everywhere, things are constantly shifting. New stores cycle through the old ones; the smell of fusion foods floats through the air. But like Hugh brought up to me, I wasn’t going to find a true sense of timeliness in Dublin until I sat down and started seeing the bits and pieces of repetition that make up this structured chaos. Observing and reading, as I did through my screen in Austin, was not the same as actually living in another society.
Instead of basing my understanding of Dublin as just an Irish society, I should’ve tried discovering its many communities; that’s where culture really reveals itself, and that’s only made possible if you’re in person, living there, and open to learning in the little moments.
This blog was contributed by Amanda Morley, Global Ambassador for May 2026. Amanda is a Moody College of Communication senior participating in the faculty-led program “Documentary Photography Storytelling” in Dublin, Ireland.
