Sep 9

Sep 9 "A Map of My Time Abroad" by Ashley Morrill

For my final blog entry, I wanted to create something that would visually represent the adventures that I had and the amazing memories I made during my time in Ireland and Jordan. As someone who has always been fascinated with geography and maps, I felt that the best way to represent myself and my time with FIE and AMIDEAST was to create my own maps of the three countries that I had the opportunity to visit.

Ireland Map. Photo credit: Morrill, 2019

I tried each day to capture at least one cool thing that I saw while I was in Ireland and Northern Ireland. A task very easy to accomplish during the first few days, I soon became lost in the everyday walks to class and exploring the city with my peers to focus on finding cool new things to photograph. The great thing about Dublin, however, is that there is always something amazing or cool or beautiful to see wherever you go. Whether it was coming back from a city walking tour and finding an engraving on a lamppost or seeing a turn-of-the-century map of Ireland in a small bookshop, Dublin has so much to offer. On our excursions in Northern Ireland, I often found myself in complete awe, particularly at places like the Giant’s Causeway and the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge. One of the coolest things I found while in Dublin was a pop-art piece of a soldier with a designer shopping bag – I found it in a small pub and couldn’t stop staring at it all night. A few evenings later I had to return to grab a picture of it. Ireland and Northern Ireland gave me so much to think about, and so much to fall in love with.

The map of Jordan, set within rigid black lines, was full of amazing excursions in the desert, the Dead Sea, Petra, and across Amman. It highlights the ten amazing people I met through this program and the adventures we had: riding camels, visiting the UNHCR Bazaar, walking Rainbow Street at night, climbing the Roman Amphitheater, visiting coffee festivals, and so much more. I really couldn’t have asked for a better experience in Jordan, and I will miss this program so much!