The Whirlwind Week

Hello family and friends!
So sorry this has taken me a while to update you on my travels thus far. Just in case you are wondering...I have arrived in Ireland, Safe and Sound!! :) This past week has been such a great experience already...can't imagine what 5 months will teach me!

So, to begin....

We got to the airport 3 hours ahead of the flight which gave time for checking in, security, etc. Saying goodbye to my siblings was tough, but goodbye to my Mum and Dad was really sad. Everyone was teary-eyed; it was with a mixture of happiness and excitement but also of nervousness and not knowing what lay ahead that I walked towards the airport gates. I kept saying to my friend Kathleen over and over and over again..."What the heck am I doing? Tell me why I'm going to Ireland again? What am I doing??" We both laughed nervously and kept our heads up as we walked in the airport security. Got food, settled down in the seating area, met 20 of my fellow Quinnipiac friends (all in the same study abroad in Ireland program) at the airport and we all boarded the plane...anxious to get to the "Emerald Isle!!"

We waited and waited and waited and waited on the plane before we took off, and once we took off there was a lot of turbulence. It didn't really matter to me, I just kept saying that I felt like a little lost child...going out of the country without my parents!! It just didn't seem right! The whole plane ride felt like a dream in the sense that I still had no real grasp on the fact that I would be living in Ireland for 5 months, 3,000 miles away, and would return to the US when there was no snow, no icy winds, no skiing slopes, but instead flowering trees, and chirping birds.

During the plane ride I attempted to sleep but I really only took a couple cat naps. This wasn't the best idea because we were going to land in Shannon, Ireland at approx 7:30 am (Ireland time). Ireland is 5 hours ahead of the US, so that meant we felt like it was 2:30 am. We had not adjusted yet and the first day in Ireland was really miserable. I had been told by my friends from QU that the first two days felt like H-E-double toothpicks, but I didn't really think the day would be too terrible. Well, needless to say....It was a really long day.

When I stepped off the plane onto the Blessed Irish land, I was startled that 1) it was still dark out at 8 am and the moon was out, 2) I was taken aback by the cold and the bone chilling air, and 3) was just simply overjoyed to go through customs (yeah right).
Once bags were collected, and we started to move out to the bus (to take us from Shannon to Cork) I tried to balance my backpack on my rolling duffel bag, with my hiking backpack on my back and around my waist. It really was not too much of a challenge...except for the fact that I was running on very little sleep, very little food, and hence was not walking very straight.

Our bus driver, Ellis, was so amazing!! He was the first real "Irishman" I had met on the trip thus far, and during our bus ride, he told us stories about his life, how he came to live in Ireland (because he was originally an "Essex boy") and little things about the countryside that we passed by. The bus itself was very odd, because 1) we boarded the bus on its left side, we drove on the left side of the road, and Ellis used the stick shifter with his left hand while sitting on the right side of the bus...a Bus using a stick shifter!! One thing I noticed is that there are so many rotaries on the road from Shannon to Cork! I don't know if this is true throughout Ireland, but we literally drove around/through 20 rotaries during the 2 hour time period. It was quite an interesting ride too for the fact that the bus overheated, and a loud beeping noise kept ringing. So, we had to pull over on the side of the frosted roads every 5 mins so the bus could cool down. Meanwhile, all 20 of us inside the bus were freezing...we wished the water heat from the bus could be transferred to the inside and we could get warm! Well, it was a wish that was to no avail...every 5 minutes of driving down the road, we would pull over, open up the door to the bus and Ellis would go outside to check the water. Huge clouds of smoke from the bus would flood the inside.

Oh what an adventure!! Let me say, that I have never been so happy in my life to have gone "exploring" with my Mum & Memere when I was younger. We would really be lost while driving, but instead we would just call it "exploring" and that we were going on an adventure. It certainly prepared me for the bus adventure. :) Eventually we had to be picked up on the side of the road by another bus, which was already full of 30 American students also studying abroad at UCC (University College Cork). We made friends with our fellow Americans, fell asleep on the bus, and eventually arrived at our dorm!

I got my room key, literally dropped my bags in the door of my room, and returned outside again for exploration of Cork! Luckily the bus dropped us off into town, because it is honestly a 40 minute walk from the city centre (with all the little shops, pubs, restaurants, and attractions) to our dorm. Walking around downtown was at first nerve racking because we were free to explore on our own in groups (without our fearless leader Mark)! It really was a great afternoon, until we had to walk back with our bags of bedding, pillows, and shoes. When our group finally got back to the dorm, we all headed out again to get food, at the grocery store (which was another 20 minutes away from our dorm). Tesco's is the name of the store and it truly feels like a Walmart! It was so good to get food (even though it was only a loaf of bread, peanut butter, and Multigrain Cheerios.) Luckily we went out again during the week to get more substantial food...but until then, it was good ole college food (aka PB sandwiches).

That first night in Cork, they told us to stay up as long as possible to adjust well to the time here. I think I tried to stay up until 10:30 pm and that is all I could handle.

The next morning (Sunday the 3rd) me and my friend Kathleen found this lovely church just 10 minutes up the street from our dorm! Its called the Church of the Holy Spirit and it is so beautiful! The one thing I absolutely love about my faith is that I can go anywhere in the world, and walk into a Catholic Church and feel absolutely at home. Because of this "home" feeling, I, of course, cried throughout the entire Mass (thanks Mum and Memere for passing that quality on *wink*). It felt so nice to be in a place where I knew I was loved and appreciated, by the One who matters the most in my life, Jesus. It is so encouraging and heart warming to know that wherever I go, even if I'm without my family, He will go with me too.

Walking back from Mass, I slipped on some black ice on the sidewalk. It had started to rain/sleet, but I hadn't even anticipated any sort of ice. It was quite a comical fall, I might add. Since the roads are so narrow in Ireland, there is very little room between the sidewalk and the street. When I slipped, I banged into Kathleen and she fell too. Luckily there were no cars going by, nor was there anyone to laugh at us for being "Stupid Americans" and not being more careful on the ice.

Initially on Sunday, our Quinnipiac group was going to tour Blarney Castle, however because of the rain/sleet/ice no buses were going out to Blarney, and the attraction was closing early in the day. As a result, our little caravan of 55 Americans trekked through the University Campus in the miserable rain, and explored some more of the city. That night we went out together as a group, and it was so wonderful to have substantial food for the first time in two days....it doesn't really sound that like long, but believe me, when in the cold and rain, sleep deprived, and having walked at least 7 miles during that time, two days seems like eternity!! ;)

After the delicious meal, me and my two friends took our first Irish taxi home! It was much needed after the large meal...plus we were all still recuperating after walking for so long in the days past. (In the few short days since then, the walk really doesn't seem that long at all, and if you walk with a friend, the talking makes it pass even faster!)

When I came back to my dorm that night, I met a couple of my roommates! I have one American girl roommate, and three Irish girl roommates! They are all so nice, and I really am looking forward to getting to know them better in these coming months! Shortly after I returned from dinner, the power for our entire building (of 500 people) went out. All I kept saying was, "THANK YOU DADDY FOR FLASHLIGHTS!" I'm so glad I have a Boy Scout for a father, because not only did I have one flashlight...I also had a spare one. "Just in case...You never know...Its always good to be prepared!"
Also, that night, my friend locked herself out of her room, so I went with her to the Warden's office to get a key to her room. The power kept going back on, then back off, and it finally came back on in the middle of the night. Praise God! With the power off, the heat had also been off...and everything was freezing cold!!!

Monday we had to wake up bright and early for Orientation. It was a great day, and there was less walking! We still explored the campus, and also went out for a little lunch (at Mango's...this really cute little restaurant/shop). The power went out again that night, but only for a little while. We were freaking out about finding the times for our classes online, because we started school the next day (Tuesday)...and the power being off didn't help one bit.

So far, this week has been great with classes!! My professors all seem really nice, and I already feel as if I know my way around the campus! I absolutely LOVE Cork, and it has already begun to feel like home to me.

I have so much free time in between classes, so I definitely will be posting again soon!!
Talk to you soon!
-Marissa- :)