First post!

Well, this being our first post and the tenth day of our stay, there is probably too much to say...I'm sure we won't be able to cover everything so far that we have experienced, but we have to start somewhere. Reminders will probably keep popping up in our minds and we'll be able to write of things that were forgotten in this post.

FLYING

We left the MSP airport on the 30th of December. The plane was an hour and a half late or so, due to a snow storm (Minnesota's final and very fitting farewell). We had a connection at JFK in NYC, and by the time we landed we had about 50 minutes to switch terminals and get on our flight to Dublin. Needless to say, that was a hastle. It didn't help matters that it was probably one of the busiest times of the day at the airport. When we switched terminals we had to go through security again, where it was packed and everyone was in a hurry. There was nobody either helpful or friendly--looks like we're not in Minnesota anymore. We hadn't eaten during this time either, so on top of tired, rushed, and flustered, we were also starving. Finally a woman brought us to the front of the line to get through and the security workers were straight-up mean. Doing your job is one thing, but this one woman in particular seemed to revel in picking on Alyssa...and then ask "What's wrong? What's the matter?" "What did I do to you?" the woman finally asked when she realized we were pissed...uh, how about just being plain mean? We were sitting next to a guy that moved from MN to NYC on the plane over there, and we were going to ask him if it was true that all New Yorkers were assholes. We didn't need to I guess, because this confirmed it. There were actually two nice men that helped us figure out where we needed to go, but we will just assume that they weren't from NYC...


We ran through the terminal to get to our gate, and got there about 20 minutes before the plane was supposed to take off (they were already boarding). The entire time we were running people would say and shout things at us asking us why it was we were running. Common sense? Running through an airport? Probably trying to get to your plane before it leaves? We got on the plane and managed to switch our seats so we were by eachother, in the back row. Alyssa took some dramamine for the motion sickness, but we still hadn't eaten... she got sick :( There was a flight attendent that was extremely kind to her because of this though, giving her whole wheat rolls (reserved for first class) and a big quilt (also reserved for first class). We managed to sleep a little bit, when we weren't being harrassed by these two little girls sitting in front of us (cute at first--quickly turned annoying).


We finally got to Dublin, and I think Alyssa should tell about this little trial...

ARRIVAL

The airport that we arrived at in Dublin was much smaller than the others that we had been to earlier in our travels. At the gate we exited we from we walked through a short hallway that led us to the customs lines where we waited with the other passengers from our flight. Erik went first and seemed to get through alright, and as I waited I watched a boy who was about our age going through a different line in front of me. This lad appered quite flustered although the customs officer he was speaking to seemed much kinder than the sterotypical bulky Irishmen, with burning blue eyes, that Erik was trying to get past. I hoped I would go through the older, genteler looking man's line. The boy stood there like a deer trapped in headlights, his face turned red and you could see he was beginning to shake. I told myself that it would be no big deal and that I just needed to be friendly and confident and I would get by alright. Unfortunately, I ended up with the angry Irishman. I walked up as I had planned and said hello and asked him how he was doing. He completely ignored my introduction and immediately began drilling me about the purpose of my travels. I explained to him that I was coming to Ireland on an Independent Study abroad program where I would be doing volunteer work that would be finalized after my arrival. He asked me for letters and paper work, which I had little of. He looked at what I had and was very displeased. He even suggested that I could have forged all of these letter (which mom and I had only forged one of!). So then I was just like that other boy standing there shaking, praying to God that it would all be over soon, and hoping that he would just let me by. He sat there staring at me for what seemed like an eternity, and finally said "If I were to go to your country and show them what you have shown me right now, they would put me on an immediate flight back here...so what should I do with you?" I appologized and said that if it were up to me, I would let him in! Then I asked if there was anything that I could do in order to make things ok. He scoffed at me and stamped my passport and told me that I needed to get things straightened out immediately. I was so relieved! Obviously, he had a small warm place in his heart that he hid quite well. So, then we finally made it in to the country. Woofta!


We made it into Ireland, and were finally able to go to the luggage carousel to retrieve our luggage. Before we had left I made sure to pack an extra set of clothes, just in case something happened to our luggage. I suggested it to Erik and he didn't really seem fond of the idea seeing as he would have to unpack his bags to do so. But in the end he decided to bring just a few extra things that he did not intend to pack for careful measures. Luckily we did, because our luggage did not arrive with us, probably due to our quick change of planes at the Kennedy airport. Tired, sick, flustered, and hungry we headed out to the streets to hail ourselves a cab that would take us to our hotel near the Temple Bar area in Dublin, where our luggage was suppose to meet us the following morning.

NEW YEAR'S

We got to our hotel, which seemed like the nicest hotel we have ever been to (just an average one for Dublin, though I guess). We had a while before we could check in, so we dropped off our carry-on bags and explored a little. We walked around St. Stephen's Green (Dublin's "Central Park" so to speak). One of the biggest changes was made very clear here, for St. Stephen's Green was still very green! No snow!!! It was probably about 40 degrees and the cab driver told us it was a cold spell: ha! We can get used to this! we thought. So we walked about a little bit but Alyssa was still not feeling to great and we were both just exhausted so we went to the hotel and just hung out in the lounge for a bit until our room opened up; Alyssa slept on a little couch with the company of Aragorn and her latest companion, Flynn. I called my parents and told them we were okay, updating them on our New York experience. Our room was good to go and we went up and took a little nap to get some energy for the evening. We woke up, took showers, and headed out for a Dublin New Year's! We started by going to Juice, a vegan restaraunt, which was very good. The food was very good, at least, but it was a bit uncomfortable as the table across from us had three girls that were literally staring at us the entire time (one whose back was to us thought it okay to just turn around and stare at us the whole time). In Dublin, everyone is very Euro-trendy, in black and sleek clothes and what-not; you know, exactly opposite of the tie-dye and patchwork Alyssa and I like to sport. And we only had the clothes on our backs and what was in our carry-on. Oh yeah, Alyssa was still wearing the jeans that she vomited on. Well, not vomited on, for she vomited in a bag, which just so happened to have a hole in the corner of. So the jeans that vomit leaked on. Lovely, lovely!


Then we went to a pub/music venue in Temple Bar. There was a great band playing called Rat King who sounded alot like the Arctic Monkeys; the front man was one of the most entertaining performers I have seen in some time. He was awesome. Barefoot, coming out in the crowd and dancing, sometimes laying down and singing, and sometimes having what-seemed-like choreographed movements with the music. Two Irish dudes came up to us with a smile and said, "You're not from around here, are ye?" No we're not. "Can I get a picture with ya then?" We laughed and said yeah and his friend took a picture of him with these goofily dressed Americans. They were over and a DJ was coming up so we decided to hit up the streets for a bit, which seemed to be where the party was really at. The streets were so crowded you could hardly walk through them, everyone drunk and happy to start a new year (see pictures which will be on photobucket). There was a lot of street music going on, where people were all dancing and celebrating. This was a ton of fun. Eventually we had to go to the bathroom and get a drink, and every bar seemed packed, so we decided to go back to the place we were at earlier. It had livened up quite a bit--lots of people and a DJ who enjoyed such classics as Coolio's "Gangster's Paradise" and Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" An odd mix to say the least, but it was a lot of fun. What made it even more fun was this Dubliner John who took quite a liking to us, I think because we were as weird as his dance moves. He was hilarious, kissing us on the cheeks when the ball dropped and shouting happy new year. Soon after the ball dropped, however, Alyssa wasn't feeling well from her two-and-a-half pints of Guinness she had had. She's a heavy drinker, you see :)


We left and she felt like she was going to vomit, and she insisted to do it in a corner where there were no people (which was nearly impossible to find). We eventually did find a corner, however, and she did her deed, and very soon after we walked away from it there seemed to be random spots of puke all over the street/footpath. Obviously not everyone is so insistent on private puking! We made our way back to the hotel without a problem and just went to bed; we were still very tired from travelling and time-change and what not. But to say the least, we had a great New Year's Eve celebration.

GOING TO GALWAY

So we woke up and it was 2009. We went downstairs in the hotel to eat our breakfast. Alyssa didn't eat much, because she still didn't feel well. We went out to the front desk and asked if our luggage had come yet. No it hadn't. Damn. This was probably about 9:30 or 10. The airport guy said it would be there by 9. If it wasn't we should call the airport and see what's up. So we struggled to do this, because you had to pay for the phone from the room, and there was a pay phone in the lobby to use, which we had to use a credit card to pay for. I was hesitant but we had to call. So I put my card in, called, no one answered, it went to an answering machine. I left a message. I checked my bank account later and it turns out that the company is some big scam thing and my 30 second local phone call cost me 12 dollars...I need a to call and get a refund.

So we didn't have our backpacks, it was after 10 and we had to check out by noon. Once we had checked out the hotel couldn't accept our backpacks anymore. We really wanted different clothes (especially vomit-y Alyssa).

We just hung out in the hotel room putting off having to check out. We wanted to take an 11:10 train but had to wait for the 2:30 train. Our phone rang at about 11:45 and our bags arrived. Thank God! We changed quick, checked out, and took a taxi to the station. The taxi driver was really funny and commented that we looked like "a couple of fohkin' geeks!" All in good fun though. He also said we needed help, because of Aragorn, Flynn, and Casey Jones all being strapped to our bags. We miss our pets! we justified.

We got to the train station and purchased tickets. I guess buses are cheaper than trains here; the tickets were 35euro each. We were also starving and got some food at Supermac's, a sort of McDonald's thing (I know gross), BUT they had veggie burgers there! So we got a veggie burger and some fries. We were in line for the train and some old women were glaring at us the whole time, whispering back and forth. We got onto the train and slept as best as we could, waiting to arrive at Galway.

Finally we did get there, after about 2 and a half hours. We walked to our hostel, which was fortunately located right across from the train station. We went to bed almost right away and had a good night sleep. Probably one of the only good night sleeps we had at the hostel.

While we stayed at the hostel we explored the city and went out a couple nights with others from the hostel. One night we partied with some Scotch boys in kilts, as well as some other Americans (from all over), a German girl, and a couple Austrian girls. It was a great place to meet people. Due to the uncomfortable beds and loud snorers, however, we were pleased to finally get out after a week.

From then until now we have done not much more than slowly get situated into Galway life. Erik has moved into his flat that interstudy provided him on Forster Ct, a few minutes walk from Eyre Square. Alyssa found a room to rent in a flat in Cill Ard, also a few minutes walk from Eyre Square. We're also a few minutes walk from eachother! Hooray!

School has started for Erik, classes are going pretty well. Very laid back. He has wanted to get started with some clubs (Animal rights club, volunteering club, Socialist party club (;P), Mountaineering club), but his email isn't working at the university so he hasn't heard back from them! He has to get on top of that!
Alyssa has begun her volunteering, starting at the Amnesty international cafe and shop. It serves all fair-trade products from around the world. Everything from baked goods, to tea, to games, to hand drums...all sorts of stuff that are made by workers who are ensured to get a fair return on it. Next week she will begin at an after-school program helping children with homework, working at a Cattery at the Galway Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (GSPCA), and another after school program. Good thing she likes kids!

Obviously there is a ton more to say, but we have just felt so overwhelmed by trying to update everything that has happened in this one post. I think now we will be able to update it much more often, detailing things maybe we missed, things that will happen, and more, all the little details we observe. Everything is so different, but not overtly different. Subtle details that remind us daily how far we are from home--a place we miss very much, but are just as excited to be having a new, temporary one here, across the pond on the coast of the Emerald Isle.