Week 1: Disoriented is spelled A-B-B-Y

What a crazy couple of days it has been! My first day in Ireland started out fantastic, but quickly my exhaustion and disorientation got the best of me. I knew I would fall in love with this country because the very first Irishman I talked to was my seat mate, Mark, a six year old on his way home from a family vacation at Disney World! We played some tic-tac-toe, napped, and watched the stars . It was quite a good time. I smoothly passed through customs (the agent even smiled at me!) and made it to my hotel with all my bags and important documents! Once at Dublin City University where I had a dorm room reserved, I realized that I couldn't check in until 3:00. What was I to do for 6 hours? The receptionist nicely let me leave my bags and told me how to get to the city center. I walked to the bus stop through the campus, which is completely gorgeous, but also completely empty. I missed my first bus (apparently you really have to want to get onto the bus) but I rallied and succeeded my second time.

Once in the city center I was so proud that I rewarded myself with a latte on the edge of the River Liffey. I skimmed through my guidebook and researched the best, free attractions that Dublin has to offer. Completely disoriented I set off, quickly real

izing that my big leather boots (great for plane riding) would not work for exploring. The blisters quickly formed as I trudged around in circles trying to

find a pair of comfortable, cheap replacement sneakers. Eventually I found a pair but the damage had already been done.

I tried to rally my spirits with a panini before attempting to actually do something touristy, but exhaustion quickly got the best of me. It's funny how when you are tired everything quickly escalates into feeling like a disaster. I managed to make it to the garden of remembrance* and a museum before calling it quits. Although the receptionist earlier had been nice enough to tell me how to get into the city, she didn't exactly tell me how to

get back! I hopped onto one of the buses she said I could take and scanned the scenery looking for the stop at which I boarded. Eventually I was yanked out of my daze when we arrived at the airport, definitely not where my dorm room was. Choking back the tears of frustration, exhaustion, and hunger I asked the driver if I could stay on and if he would show me where to go. He did. But by that point I had been on the bus for 1.5 hours and really had to pee! Let me just say that Irish people have a very skewed sense of distance. A 10 minute walk =just around the block. The rest of the night (it was now around 6) was spent showering, feeling sorry for myself, and sleeping.

What a gloomy blog post! Don't worry, my advent

ure in Ireland quickly recovered the next morning. Fed up with the emotional roller coas

ter that is the Dublin City Bus, I took a cab to my official orientation hotel where I was greeted by Suzy, a lovely Cork resident, and her dog, Sutie. She let me in my room and I dropped my bags, put on my most embarrassing running shoes and set off to enjoy the day. It was a truly beautiful day, around 70 with sunny skies, and I was determined to enjoy it. I mostly just explored the streets and parks, read my book, and people watched. A very low-key day, but just what I needed. At 5 I met the rest of my group and we went out to d

inner. It was a little awkward at first since we were all jetlagged and overwhelmed, but it was still quite nice. After dinner we went out and I ordered my very first pint!

Not wanting to overdo myself I drank Carlsberg and enjoyed it heartily. But don't worry a pint of Guinness was

in my near future!