Welcome to Ireland

Well.... I'm here.

It's been a pretty hectic day, or 2 days. I keep on forgetting it's Monday. I still think it's Sunday since I've been up for a lot more than 24 hours now. I think. The time adjustment is confusing me. It's also confusing my phone and my computer as they have both completely turned over to Irish settings. I can't even get Google US anymore, it's Google Ireland now. Which means no more cool google picture art every single day.

I guess I'll fill everyone in on how my trip went down. My parents and I left our house at noon and drove to Newark. Got there around 3 and did all the pre-flight bag checks and boarding pass procedures. My bag was 14 lbs. overweight so we had to pay an extra $50. But whatever, I'm gonna be here for 4 months. I was nervous as hell in the airport yesterday for the simple fact that I had never flown before and I was doing it alone for that first time. I got to security and said goodbye to my parent, which was really sad. Every time we have a long break from school it gets harder to go back and leave home. So I went through all the frisking and shoes off crap, and waved one last goodbye to Mom and Dad. Then I proceeded to gate C86, the farthest gate from the security checkpoint. I've gotta say, since I've never been in an airport, I was surprised to find all the restaurants and shops throughout. It was like a mall. Yay for being naive. So then I got to my gate and watched the end of the Vikings game and the first half of the Jets game.

I got on my plane at 6:40. It was a 7:25 departure. Originally I was seated behind the wing next to a young Irish couple. The guy was a definite rugby meathead and I couldn't understand a word he was saying. However, they got moved to an empty row and then they threw two late comers next to me. But seeing as how I told the stewardess it was my first time flying, she moved me up to the row just before the wing that acts as the emergency exit. A ton more leg room and there was only one other guy in the row. The flight itself wasn't as bad as I thought. Take off was definitely a, "Holy Shit" moment. But once we got on our way I was drinking a coke and rum and eating some kind of pasta beef concoction. Then I just watched Enemy of the State on the little tv monitors in the headrest and fell asleep for an hour or two before landing.

We arrived at Shannon at 6:40 AM. My first impression was, damn it's dark, damp and cold. I changed the money I had in my pocket over to Euros and got a cab to my residency. The cab driver was pretty hilarious. I told him I was studying international politics and he kept calling me the next President of the United States. We chit chatted about Ireland for the entire ride. He was a good guy. He drove nearly 90 the entire way to the University, which was about a 30 minute drive. I consistently thought we were going to crash because of the change in traffic patterns. I wasn't used to seeing all the cars coming at me on my right hand side. It took some getting used to. And there are so many roundabouts. The entire driving system just seems so chaotic. Hardly any stop lights, just a bunch of yield signs, which makes it harder for pedestrians to cross. I also found it funny when he told me they got 3 inches of snow two weeks ago and the country basically shut down. Kids had off school for 4 days!

So I arrived at Plassey village and got all my stuff unpacked. I was a bit overwhelmed at first though because I completely forgot to get plug converters. So I put that on the top of my list, otherwise I'd have no laptop access. I was also unable to use my international calling card to call my parents. Since my phone switched over, it's been a pain. The house phone was hard to figure out at first as well. There's no dial tone, it just beeps like it's disconnected. I then found out you have to push "0" on all Irish phones to get a land line. Whatever. My apartment is very cold and a bit messy. A very weird set-up. Two rooms on the ground floor, one mine, and a bathroom. Then you go upstairs to find another bathroom and two bedrooms and through another door there's a kitchen and what looks like a booth you would find at a chain restaraunt. We have a TV that gets 10 channels, all Irish. And we have no dishwasher so we have to hand clean everything in the freezing cold sink water. I met both of my roommates upon arriving. Theodore from Greece and Nelson from Uganda. The both are in their last year of study here at Limerick. Both nice guys, although I had the hardest time trying to understand what Theodore was saying to me. He has such a heavy accent.

So after calling my parents, finally, I decided to go in search of this adapter for my laptop. 3 hours and a couple miles later I finally returned with one. I went to 4 different electronics stores and nobody had one. Finally some store for people who build computers had a dell converter and alas, my journey was over. It gave me a chance to walk around and explore a little bit though. I didn't take my camera because I was in a bad mood. Tired, jet lagged, hungry. This university is in the suburbs so we have to travel by bus to get into town. It sucks because I can't just walk down the street to a cafe to get a bite. I have to pay 2 euros and go into town. The town itself is like the size of Lebanon. Not very big. I loved DC because of the hustle and bustle, and this place is far from that. It's kind of in the middle of nowhere. It's also a lot dirtier than I thought it would be. Trash all over the side of the roads and what not. I got lost several times walking around. The one time I ended up in some walled in community reminiscent of former East Germany. Hopefully I'll get better adjusted to the area once school starts. I just think DC spoiled me.

Now it's approaching 10 PM my time and I'm very tired. I'm going to skype with Emily for a bit and then head to bed. I'm still pretty hungry, I have yet to find a grocery store. Tomorrow I'm going to wake up and go in search of one. I need a towel and soap, etc. And I can't go another day without eating. It really sucks that this study abroad program wasn't more organized. I know no one from Penn State or even anyone else from the States for that matter. That's what happens when you don't have a definitive date arrival or welcoming process. The girl let me into my room and that was about it. "Here you go kid, go discover Ireland yourself."