Touch Down

Hello!!

I made it to Ireland with no troubles! The plane journey went really smoothly, there was hardly any turbulence. I occupied myself with watching 1D: One Year in the Making, some random british cook off show, and Brave (which wasn't that good, Kerry, you shouldn't go out of your way to watch it. Probably just cross that off the list and pretend it never was there). The woman sitting next to me thankfully was a really sweet Irish lady. There was no fat person spilling over into my seat, or some obnoxious anxious flyer. Meal was standard, chicken and rice and random little other things. Although I have to say my favorite thing about flying has to be those tiny pretzels they give you... I wish I could get a whole box of those and I'll be set for the plane ride.

Anyway, we made it to Dublin ahead of schedule. We landed at 4:45AM Irish time. The sight was amazing from the sky. The sun was just barely peaking over the horizon and making the top of the clouds we were skimming, a pretty golden light. It was probably the best welcome I could have asked for. And seeing Dublin in it's early stages of waking up was beautiful to say the least.

I had about two hours after my flight to wait for the bus to take me down to Cork. That wait lasted so long. I was in a weird state of tiredness and hungry but not wanting the breakfast food they were selling. Why would i want a full irish breakfast when at home it was about 1:30AM. No thanks. So I sat there, using the free wifi to try and amuse myself to no avail. Anything just to keep myself awake or I'd miss my bus. But alas, 7:00 came and I headed to the bus station just outside.

It took a few kind Irish people to point me in the right direction of where to get on BusEireann headed for Cork. A very warm Irish couple pretty much took it upon themselves to help make sure I got on the right bus. They were headed back home to Cork and were coming from visiting their daughter in Boston. They reminded me of my grandparents a little bit. The woman was extremely nice; she mostly just chatted about who in her family has gone to UCC as if I knew all of them personally. There were times when I didn't understand what she was saying though, thanks to her Cork accent. And I had literally no idea what her husband said anytime he talked but he was a nice old man. The bus came about 10 minutes late and just the three of us got on. And then I slept.... until the next stop when more people filled the bus. The rest of the way down to Cork was a very interrupted sleep. The luscious green fields rolling by held my attention just long enough before my eyes could no longer stay open.

Arriving in Cork City was a bit of a deja vu feeling. It felt like it was just yesterday the family and I drove through this city, kind of lost. Although this time, I was alone and made my way to a taxi as quick as I can to get to Victoria Lodge. Once here I checked in at reception and grabbed my key card to check out my room and the people who I'd be living with. It was quite awkward sliding my card into the lock not knowing what or who was going to be on the other side.

But it turned out to be ok. I have a room to my self (pictures to come at some point when I get the chance) and a bathroom with the smallest shower I've ever seen. And before you ask Dad, I haven't figured out how to use it just yet. There's some weird thing you have to do with heating the water an hour before you want to take a shower. I'm not entirely sure but it seems confusing so I'm saving that task for tomorrow. But, ambitious me finished all my unpacking though! And I met one of my three roommates. She's from New York and is studying abroad too, but with a different program.

We (the API group of us 5 girls so far) had orientation at 2... and walked to the Wilton Shopping Center about 20 minutes from our apartments. It was bigger... much bigger than I anticipated it to be. We got all our linens and bed things at Penny's. Basically like a Marshall's type store. Loads of things were on sale too! I also finally made it to a Tescos. It's like a Walmart but with more groceries. We figured out our phone situation while we were there (my cheap plastic little Nokia is charging at the moment). We ate at a little sandwich shop called O'Briens, none of us were feeling too hungry due to not eating for.... well too long to count the hours. I'm still figuring out what to do about breakfast in the morning before we go grocery shopping.

However, I managed to find time during the busy day to skype with mom and dad and Alec. It definitely made my extremely long day a whole lot better :)

Sorry for the long post, it's been a very busy two days turned into one long one.

My Wings

First dinner in Cork... Turkey and Cheddar cheese sandwich with some unknown chips... I think they were Sour Cream and Union but we weren't entirely sure.

Time for bed!!