Week 1

So it's my first time alone outside the good ol' U.S. of A. and since I cannot post up any pictures on Facebook with my American phone, I figured I'd do this experience some justice and Blog about it.

I've been here a week now, but it feels like I've been here FOREVER...and I mean that in the best way possible. These past few days have just been filled with soo much to do, that I don't even know where to begin. So first, I arrived at the airport at around 8am after 4 attempts of flight booking just to get to Ireland. The hell I wen't through was ridiculous. But anyway, that's another story for another time. Having a couple Pounds on me that my uncle handed me before I left, I traded it in for some Euros and to the bus stop I went for my trip to Limerick. Once I got to the bus station in Limerick, being the fish out of water that I am with 2 suitcases and a carry-on, I needed to take a taxi 1 BLOCK to city campus which ended up costing me 6 Euros. FOOLISHNESS!!! lol. Anyway, I arrived to my apartment and lo and behold, I find that I am now living with another study abroad student from my home college. What a coincidence! I am also living with a girl...or should I say woman from Taiwan named Lei and another American named Cait who arrived a few hours after I did. When I finished unpacking, I, my roommates, and some other girls from my home college head to this Wal-mart type store called Dunnes (by the way, everything is so close here, like walking distance close. I LOVE IT!) so that I can get some bedding bc I was ready to CRASH. But of course, I had to wait until nighttime to go to sleep so that I wouldn't be jet-lagged for orientation at Mary I the next day.  

Orientation was kind of fun, I got to finally meet most of the international students after months of FB conversations, but it was also dreadfully long (Mind you, I have not eaten since I landed and was awaiting money to be wired to me from the States, I think it was the longest I have gone without eating. You would think they would feed us something...but no). I finally meet Maeve and Ger (International Studies Coordinators at Mary I)  face to face and get the grand tour of the campus. There was this whack bbq afterwards which consisted of a hamburger on a napkin...yes, a napkin and a bottle of water. So that was my meal for that day. On my way to picking up my money and finally purchasing a phone so I can reach people, I stopped at this hair salon which doubled as a MoneyGram. The cashier, Sunni (who is obviously African and has a think accent on top of another accent, which makes it hard for me to understand anything he says) asks me all these questions like "where are you from?" blahblahblah. I tell him that I'm studying abroad and that I am from Frostburg State. To my surprise, he tells me that he was a good friend of an aquatance of mine from school who studied abroad here last semester name Shay (apparently they were very good buddies and used to fight a lot). He then introduced me to his wife, Stella, and child and handed me a business card with his name, number, and taxi service (of course, africans are always tryna make that dollar) and told me to call him anytime if I needed anything.

The next day, we had more orientation. Luckily this time, it didn't last as long because we were only registering for classes (which was difficult all on its own). Shortly after, I had gone for a much needed trip to the grocery store with two girls, Shayna and Ashleigh (an Aussie) spending about an hour in the store getting the stuff I needed (which included many frozen dinners, I was NOT cooking) which came up to 83 Euros which was surprisingly cheap considering all the stuff I got. The walk back to my apartment was painful, I had to remind myself that we were walking and not driving. Luckily the girls I was walking with were nice enough to help me out with my bags. But coming back to my apartment and having my roommates laugh at me because of all the stuff I got was priceless.

Saturday was pretty chill, I got to sleep in (finally!) and went for a jog and a mini workout session at the park with Ashleigh. We bumped into some young Irish girls (who obviously knew we weren't from town) that stopped to ask us questions. However, I don't think they fancy Americans very much. A few hours later, a few of us went over to this other international student's apartment who was Spanish, named Isabel. She invited all of the international students to drink and chat with one another to get to know each other. And might I add, she was THE nicest person I've ever met. Honestly, one of the coolest people I've ever hung out with. I got to know my fellow internationals from all over Europe and learned a bit of French and Spanish in the process. I had a blast getting to know them, they are some genuinely nice people.

Sunday morning I had gone to church with Sunni, of course he was late picking me up despite the arrangements I had made with him the day before. Unfortunately, I was unable to go to the tour with everyone else bc I stupidly put all my money into my new Bank of Ireland bank account on Friday, and the bank is closed on weekends so I didn't  have enough on me to go. But chillin with Sunni and Stella was cool. After going to their church, which reminded me much of my grandma's church back home, they took me to their house which seemed to be in the boondocks and I played with his 6 (yes guys, this dude actually has 6 kids, which is surprising for a guy like him) and his friend's children as well. They were too cute, but they were also your regular badasses too. (excuse my french) After that, Sunni took me on a tour to U of L on the way back to City Campus as he told me many more stories about Shay and him.

The first day of classes was pretty  much the typical first day of school for anyone; getting lost, awkward silences in class, course schedules clashing, figuring out how to sign on the computers in the computer lab and trying to work the school's "Blackboard" which doesn't allow me to log on at home, you know etc etc. Not to mention that you have to pay for printing which sucks, you got to pay for everything here! Washing laundry, grocery bags,... it stinks! Oh, I can't forget to mention the cold showers every morning, you have to turn on the HOT water manually, and for a certain amount of time too, which is why I ended up taking a bird bath yesterday morning when the water cut off on me mid-shower while still be covered in soap suds from head to toe -_- But I guess I can't complain, it is what I signed up for. Other than that, I am having a pretty good time over here, finally feeling like somewhat of an adult being thousands of miles away from home by myself. I'm making friends, getting to know people from many walks of the earth, people are nice, and I am lovin it! Honestly, no regrets over here. I'm not gonna lie though, I really miss home. But, I needed to leave home for a while. I was getting too tired of the same ol' things and the same ol' people. I needed to leave the drama and the crap I dealt with back in the States, especially at school. And you know what, it feels good. It's funny because one of the first things I was told when I arrived here by my lovely roommate Lindsey was that I needed to "Stop thinking American". And guess what, she was right...