lá a haon (Day one)

This has been a very full day and a half...or however many hours it's been since I left. I wrote this first portion in the Heattrhow airport (which becomes obvious as you read):

So the great journey has begun. I’m not sure that I’ve yet realized exactly what I’m doing, or that I’m actually doing it. Currently I am sitting in the Heatthrow airport after hours of travel waiting for my last flight to Cork, Ireland where I will be spending the next five months of my life. I started in good old Portland, Oregon and rode in a crazy Air Canada plane to Vancouver. The thing was ridiculous, row 13 (which I was seated in) was at the very front of the plane, facing row one, and only on one side of the plane. I decided to sleep for the duration of that flight because the people facing me definitely didn’t want to make small talk (which I was quite willing to do) and I didn’t want to have to stare at them awkwardly for an hour and a half.

The Vancouver airport is gorgeous. It took some wandering to find the way to the international terminal. You had to like walk through a really dark room which had a bridge over a painted river…I don’t really know what was going on there. Anyways, just chilled there, watched a gorgeous sunset, and then boarded my eight hour flight here. I think I may have watched six episodes of Bones but I did spend some time working on my resume (see Mom, I’ll get it done!) and then slept. Getting around Heatthrow has also been kind of a hassle but I think I’m set, just waiting for a gate number. It’s kinda cool to sit and watch, and mostly listen, to all these people here from all around the world. Currently some child is growling at his mother, and most everyone else is kinda just in that travellers daze that I am most definitely in.

Travelling internationally on your own kind of sucks. Just seven months ago I was travelling around the world with a really great group of people, this experience is sooo much different. I don’t think I’ve really talked to anyone since I left Portland. A couple flight attendants, the customs people and the airline representative have been my only social interaction in hours. Soon I’ll be in the land of gorgeous accents though, so I guess that’s more motivation to strike up conversations.

            

So yeah, about to be in Ireland. Something I’ve been talking about for awhile, but I still can’t believe I’m going to be there in less then three hours. I’m not even sure what I’m going to do. Take a taxi to my apartment and then…rest probably. I have all of tomorrow to wander around. Two other girls from Bowdoin are gonna be getting in tomorrow as well so hopefully we’ll find a way of meeting up. The next day is orientation and then classes start on the 5^th!! I can’t believe I’m starting school again so soon, usually I’d still be on break for another two weeks. But hopefully the classes will be cool, although I still have no idea what I’m going to be taking. Hopefully some environmental science, music and maybe spoken Irish…I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

I wasn’t sure if I was going to start a blog or not…but I guess this means I am. Don’t be surprised if I don’t post regularly, but I will try to keep a record of some of the best shenanigans I get into. Shenanigans being anything exciting or noteworthy of course. Perhaps something so amazing will happen that I’ll have to write a book about it and get rich and famous…woohooo…not. (can you tell I haven’t really slept in…a long time?). Hhrrrmmmm, well I think that’s enough for this first post.

p.s. noise cancelling headphones are AMAZING for airplanes…just…blow my mind amazing…that is all.

Since then I have arrived in Cork. Successfully took a taxi to my apartment building, but then was unable to enter the building and had to search around the block with all my bags for the reception area...oh well, found it. The woman who runs the building is really really nice. My room is nice, I'm sharing with an Austrian girl who also seems really nice, I only met her for a little while and then she headed out for the night to stay with friends. 

I happened to arrive at the same time as some other people who had been on my flight. We decided to wander around, get our bearings and find some food/a pub. We successfully did all of these things. The people I spent time with are also both from the states here for the semester and were a lot of fun. We just wandered for awhile, found stores that would be useful, groceries and so forth. Then we found a cheap chicken place that was either actually good or we were just starving after having travelled all day. We then made our way to a pub to get a pint of Guinness...something we thought necessary to the first night in Ireland. When we found one (called Bodhran) there were some really nice Irish guys who we sat and chatted and drank a pint with. It was really great...but the three of us were getting tired so headed back here.

Now I'm surprisingly not tired, however I think if I were less tired I would've been able to write a lot more interestingly about what I've done so far...however I don't seem to have the mind capacity to think of witty things to say. 

So I am off to bed. Tomorrow we find our way to the university (which apparently looks like Hogwarts...yay!), get cell phones, and continue to try to find our way around this new and exciting place.

Oiche Mhaith (Goodnight)