Hello from Ireland!

Well, I have finally arrived! It was a long but fun journey. I am going to try not to bore you with details so i will break the events in to small chunks:

last day in USA: I had lunch with my friend Nikki at Applebee's! it was a lot of fun. then i did some last minute shopping and got my haircut. my mom and i spent the night at my parent's friends the
Bickel's. They cooked me a spaghetti dinner, and then I met up with Ellen for one last
American hangout (she and her sister Julie are going to visit in March!) Was given a 9:00 curfew because of my early day the next morning. Got home with 3 minutes to spare. Went to bed around 10:30. My mom suddenly asked if I wanted to sleep in her bed. I was a little surprised because usually she doesn't like sharing a bed with me because I am a cover hog, but I went over to her. Suddenly, we had both teared up. It was a good idea to get it out of our systems ahead of time though.

A day of travel: My mom and I got up at 5:00 the next morning, had breakfast, made sure I was all packed, and then she dropped me off at the shuttle van pick-up. I managed not to cry too much, and before I knew it, was on my way. I met up with another girl from Eau Claire when i first checked in for my flight. We went through security together and then found our gate. Our plane to Newark was SO small. Luckily, I didn't have too much of a problem flying, even though I am super scared of heights. It just felt normal. I am glad it wasn't my very first trip in a plane though! Then we got to Newark at about 2:30 their time. We found our gate, ad then began about a 5 hour layover. We stayed busy by playing cards (B.S. and a very intense game of spoons.) We took off at 7:25 PM. I was seated next to an older Irish man on the plane. I was excited about this, but he wasn't much of a talker. We talked a little bit before takeoff, but he started watching a movie and then fell asleep. I watched "The Devil Wears Prada" for a little while and he watched "Out of Africa" so apparently we are both Meryl Streep fans. I slept for quite awhile on the plane.

Arriving in Ireland: We got to Ireland at about 6:45 AM. We had to go through immigration to let them know we were international students. We picked up our luggage, and then got on a bus provided by the University of Limerick. We got to see some of the beautiful countryside, but seeing as we were moving, it did not make for great pictures. I got to my room in my suite-style house. I am living with another girl from Eau Claire incidently, which I was surprised because I thought they would have split us up more, but oh well. I did tell the housing place I wanted to switch so I could mix it up, but in the end decided to go back, because I realized it would be nice to have a familiar face. Last night we went out to a pub. I had my first Guinness, and this may offend some, but did not care for the taste of it. I ended up puking...oops. Guess I will have to find another drink to enjoy while I am here! I came back and went to bed because I hadn't slept very much and was quite jet lagged.

Day 2: Today I went shopping with a group of people for more supplies. We got on the bus and went "downtown" We went to a store called Argos, where you essentially flip through catalogs, jot down the number of the products you want, take it to the counter, and they get you the stuff from the back. An interesting concept. I had to let my hair air dry after taking a shower Tuesday night and it looked terrible! I know I am supposed to make adjustments living in a different country in some ways, but i am sorry when it comes to having semi-decent looking hair, I would like it a lot. I got a hair straightener for 7.49 Euro and a dryer for 11.99 Euro. Then we went to Penney's and I got a couple more towels, a blanket, and a laundry hamper, all for pretty cheap. After that, some of us stopped at McDonald's, which seemed just tooo American, but we were all pretty hungry. We did end up discovering a cultural difference though: They don't salt the French fries hardly, or if at all. They tasted pretty potato-y :) Then we went to a phone store. I was planning on using my American phone only, but I ended up getting a 50 euro pay-as-you-go phone. We can text each other for free using it! So it will be nice to be able to communicate with the students here via phone. After that, we went grocery shopping. There is a store called Aldi (basically Aldi's) not too far from Plassey. I got a couple cartons of yogurt, bananas, some Ramen-esque noodles, and a Pizza. I went to the store yesterday too, but only got muffins and milk because I didnt know what to buy but needed something!! side note--there are way more American restaurants here than I was expecting. I figured they'd have McDonald's, but today I saw a KFC, a Domino's, a Burger King and apparently they have Subway also. why would they want to eat like us in the US?

Tonight, a bunch of Eau Claire students went out again drinking, but I decided not to. I feel sort of boring, and wonder if maybe i should just let my hair down some more and celebrate this new adventure, and I have worried a little that maybe I am not doing this whole Irish thing right, but I am trying to remind myself it's the second day and I still have time, and I have met some pretty cool people who aren't party-hardy either. And honestly, I do enjoy drinking but I came here more for the traveling part and would rather save my money for that than binge-drinking. Tonight I hung out with my friend, aptly named Katie, who is from Eau Claire and she feels the same way. We discussed some places we would like travel to.

Our Irish roommates won't be here until the weekend. I am excited and nervous to meet them because they have a reputation to be messy and wild. But hey, maybe I do need a little more wild in my life! All in all though, I am having a fantastic time and am looking forward to what is to come! Miss you all. tomorrow I have orientation!

oooh---and also, my mom is going to be visiting March 17-20! She and some friends are going through a tour group, and Limerick is at the end which is perfect. She will be here for St. Patty's day! Woot! it will be great craic. That is Irish for "fun!" it is pronounced Crack. ;)