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| This was on the luggage carousel in the airport. Just for a reminder! |
I'm here. Thank God. I can't tell you if I like being in Ireland yet, but I hope I will. Yesterday was a hard day for me. I'm not going to lie. Tuesday was spent traveling all day and by the time I arrived in Dublin (4:45 AM I may tell you), I was done. I got off of that plane happy to be on the ground again, standing, and more than ecstatic over the free WIFI in the airport lobby.
Not that the flights were bad. Because my flight from San Diego to Chicago was so early (Dad and Mom dropped me off at 5:00 am), I slept the entire four time. Luckly, I had enough time to get from Terminal 1 in O'hare to Terminal 5 and grab lunch before I boarded my flight to Ireland. It was a six and a half hour flight to Dublin from Chicago. We got lucky with the tailwind. I sat towards the front of the plane, literally two rows behind first class. It was so nice! Mom did an awesome job finding me this great aisle seat, with no one behind me, so that I could stretch out. She also got me this spectacular meal. You can see it in the photo I've included. It was so tasty! I had this wonderful mixed green salad, with tomato stuffed chicken, steamed green beans and peppers, risotto, a fresh french roll, and cheesecake. Apparently, we were on Ireland time while flying because I was served a glass of white wine with my meal, no questions asked, no question of age. Needless to say, the wine was not that good. I had my one glass and asked for sparkling water instead.
Despite all of this, yesterday was still rough. I checked into my apartment and was so ready to crash. I cried when I got in. The apartment was so bare. There was nothing in it. I was given a mattress protector, a duvet, and a pillow but that was it. I think I was more upset over the fact that there was no toilet paper in my bathroom. I don't think you'll ever understand how upset I was over that. I ended up crying at least 10 times on Wednesday. I was jet-lagged, nervous, scared, tired, homesick, you name it. I probably made a great first impression on the people I was with.
Luckly, one of my flatmates and my on-site program coordinator saved the day. Abby, also an American, gave me a roll of toliet paper and a comforting smile that helped get me to orientation. Did I mention that despite the fact I checked into my apartment at 7 am, I really couldn't do anything because Orientation started at 9? Roberta, my coordinator, is basically a Saint Mary's girl's Ireland mom. She's the best. She came to campus after I called her in tears over how stressed out I was and that I was not having a great day. She brought me old bedding that belonged to a Smick from last semester, as well as a towel and an extra pillow. She was comforting as I cried in her office about how I missed my family and that I just wanted to be home in my own bed.
After that, things started to turn around for me. I was finally able to get the wifi working on my phone so that I could iMessage my family and Facetime them. I had something normal to do that got me in the zone– making a bed. I cannot stress how good it felt to make a bed. It was something that wasn't new. It was familiar and it saved my day. I took a good two hour nap after that.
I woke up feeling immensely better. Almost as good as I feel today. I am still a bit homesick, but the jet-lag is almost gone and I'm beginning to see the beauty of Maynooth University and Ireland. I've met all of my flatmates now, two of which are boys! It's so weird to live with men when Saint Mary's is all women. They're great guys though, so we shouldn't have any issues. It is nice that Abby likes to cook. We'll be making a lot of dinners together. I'm very excited.
Needless to say, these past two days in Ireland haven't been that bad. I'm still not super excited about being here yet, but I find myself more comfortable as the day goes on. I can't wait to start exploring the town and meeting more Irish people. Currently, only International and First Year students are on campus, so it's pretty quiet. I'll post again in a few days or if something exciting happens. Saturday is our first exploration trip of Ireland with Roberta. We will be going to Sligo.
PS: Here are some pictures of my room in my apartment! Not a lot of decorations, but can't wait to start decorating that cork board with tickets and pictures of our adventures here.
