A few days ago I bought prints from CVS to complete my DIT application. They require a photo for whatever reason. Monday, I turned them in (photo and application) to my adviser so it can be sent off to the school.
Plane tickets are crazy cheap at the moment and by cheap I mean $650-700 round trip. But I've decided not to purchase them until I've been accepted into DIT. That decision might change. It all depends on how long the process takes and if I notice the price of tickets rising. Hopefully the acceptance letter comes in the next few weeks. I feel like every thing won't start to feel real until then. Ugh, the wait is killing me.
Anyway, on to the main point of this post. Housing or 'accommodation' as it's called in Ireland. It's definitely been rough trying to find a place to stay. DIT isn't like UCF where there's a huge main campus located in one part of town. I'd say the style of it is comparable to Valencia's where there are multiple campus locations through out the city. Point is, the school doesn't have dorms. Every one is to either live at home or in an apartment. I've tried finding apartments near Bolton Street (location where Engineering courses are held) but everything is either completely sold out or way out of my price range (I'm talking like €4000-€5000 per semester. I don't even want to convert that to USD), or it's shared with like 6 other people or is a double room.
I'm looking for a place with no more than 3 roommates and a private room but the way things are looking, that isn't happening. I talked to a good friend who also studied abroad (albeit in Italy) and she recommended a homestay. I've been looking into it and found a lot of places I wouldn't mind staying. Some are within walking distance to Bolton street others are > 5 kilometers away so I'd have to take the bus or train. No big deal. One of my biggest housing concerns are safety, privacy and food. I need to make sure my things are safe while I'm overseas. Otherwise I'll constantly worry if my passport or phone is safe and that won't be fun. I also need to have my own room. I haven't shared a room with anyone for almost 7 years and it'll be hard to give that up. Lastly, I need to make sure I eat. I have a poor appetite and I know if I live on my own I'm not going to eat as much as I need to... Some meals are included in homestays so that's a plus.
I'm 98% sure I'm going to choose a homestay, it's just a matter of finding one that's reasonably priced and near the school. I have to start contacting the families!
-SX
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