I finally made it! Amy and I arrived in Ireland yesterday morning, 8am local time, 2am Chicago time. I didn't sleep well at all on the plane so I was very tired when I got here. I braced myself for some adventuring as we got ready to go through customs, claim our baggage, and find our mysterious bus. Everything went perfectly though, so not much adventuring was needed. We showed the customs man our passports and our school acceptance letters, found our bags immediately, and were directed to a bus heading to Galway without a problem.
I tried to sleep on the bus and got a little shut eye, but about an hour into the plane ride my butt had gotten really sore for some reason and it still hurt on the bus so I couldn't find a comfortable position! We got to Galway with no problems, in about three hours. Galway is beautiful! I haven't taken many pictures of the city yet but I will, don't worry! We exited the bus station (Yes, Dad, the sign said "Exit" instead of "Way Out." I did, however, see a "Way Out" sign later so our dinner conversations were not a complete loss.) and there was a free shuttle going straight to Corrib Village, where we are living. Amy and I are in the same apartment with our own rooms. Amy found a pile of toenail clippings on the floor in her room but other than that the apartment is alright.
We unpacked a bit and then we walked to downtown Galway. It's really nice because in the shopping/pub district it is all pedestrian. Right away we went to get cell phones. The process was so simple that Amy and I were out in about ten minutes after we began talking to the salesmen. We asked us where to go for lunch and the told us to go to the Cellar Bar or Cellar Pub? Pub sounds more Irish but bar sounds correct. We had fish and chips for our first meal in Ireland and it was delicious.
After lunch we went to go look for Penneys to buy bedding and a towel. We easily found it and picked out some inexpensive sheets and a duvet cover. We headed home to drop off our goods before we went back downtown to meet our friend Mike in a pub, but not before we stopped at the corner store to buy some Cocoa Crisps and milk.
We came back to Corrib Village and headed straight out to Galway. It's a good walk from our apartment to the city. We have no trouble getting through Galway--campus is another story!
We met Mike at a pub called The Quays and he bought us a pint. Surprisingly, I like Guinness! We sat at the bar and had our drinks. We kept laughing at Amy because it took her at least an hour to drink her pint. I'm sure her slow and steady drinking will come in handy when we have no money and are going out every night, but for the first night in town it seemed right to relax with a pint. Mike was in town visiting relatives before heading over to study in Rome for the semester. It was nice to see a familiar face and he's been to Ireland a few times so he knows his way around pretty well. After another pint we moved on to a pub called The King's head where we met Mike's cousin Paul. There was live music but it was contemporary so it wasn't as exciting as traditional Irish music. I did feel at home though when the song "Breakfast a Tiffany's" was performed--it made me think of all my friends from St. Louise and our bonfire singalongs. Next we went to the pub called Taaffe's. There was a good crowd for a Monday night and it was a lot of craic (craic is another word for "fun" and is pronounced "crack.")
Mike's cousin Paul drove us home and I went to sleep pretty quickly. I woke up at 10am today and am now going to bed very late Ireland time so maybe I will not have jetlag? I hope so but maybe it will kick in tomorrow.
We met Mike down on Shoppe Street today and got some raingear for me and a hair dryer for me and Amy to share. Then we got... more fish and chips! Sooo good, but the fried food is starting to get to me so I think I'll start eating better now.
We had a grand time today as we had the opportunity to meet a lot of Irish people (I knew there was a reason we were keeping Mike around.). Mike's cousin and his wife Dawn invited us over for dinner so we went a bit out of Galway and got to see some beautiful views. We stopped for tea at Dawn's parents' house and the view was gorgeous! I figured out how to hold a teacup today by looking at how Dawn was doing it--I guess I never really drink out of teacups and I was afraid I was going to spill it! Dawn and Paul have a beautiful baby named Madison, but she didn't like me very much which made me sad. She would look at Amy and Mike and smile and then she would look at me and get very upset. I don't know what I did wrong!
After tea we left for Ashbury which is the name of Paul and Dawn's home. Doesn't it sound like something out of Pride and Prejudice? Their house is gorgeous and they were grand hosts. They talk and talk and make everyone feel so comfortable. After dinner Paul drove us back into Galway and we all stopped for a pint before Paul left. Hopefully Amy and I will get to see him again as they gave us their numbers if we ever need anything! Meeting them made me so much more excited to go to Westport and meet my own family. We went into one more pub and a man named Declan came up to us and asked if he could talk with us for a bit. Apparently he had thought he had seen his friend over by us and so he told someone he was going to talk to him and he'd been mistaken so he needed to stay and talk to us as to not be embarrassed about his mistake. He was very entertaining and Amy and I are looking forward to meeting a few more people like him.
After our pint we headed to Supermac's which is a fastfood restaurant. Amy got some cheese fries which Mike and I shared with her. Then we headed to the bus station to drop Mike off. He's currently riding to Dublin because his flight to Rome leaves at 6am. It was sad to see him leave because we'd had a lot of craic and it was good to know someone with Irish connections, but I'm sure we'll run into him again sometime while we're still here.
It's very late and I am soooo very tired and sleep deprived so I am going to go, but I will write again soon and PICTURES ARE SOON TO COME.
Peace all the way from Ireland,
Hilary
We came back to Corrib Village and headed straight out to Galway. It's a good walk from our apartment to the city. We have no trouble getting through Galway--campus is another story!
We met Mike at a pub called The Quays and he bought us a pint. Surprisingly, I like Guinness! We sat at the bar and had our drinks. We kept laughing at Amy because it took her at least an hour to drink her pint. I'm sure her slow and steady drinking will come in handy when we have no money and are going out every night, but for the first night in town it seemed right to relax with a pint. Mike was in town visiting relatives before heading over to study in Rome for the semester. It was nice to see a familiar face and he's been to Ireland a few times so he knows his way around pretty well. After another pint we moved on to a pub called The King's head where we met Mike's cousin Paul. There was live music but it was contemporary so it wasn't as exciting as traditional Irish music. I did feel at home though when the song "Breakfast a Tiffany's" was performed--it made me think of all my friends from St. Louise and our bonfire singalongs. Next we went to the pub called Taaffe's. There was a good crowd for a Monday night and it was a lot of craic (craic is another word for "fun" and is pronounced "crack.")
Mike's cousin Paul drove us home and I went to sleep pretty quickly. I woke up at 10am today and am now going to bed very late Ireland time so maybe I will not have jetlag? I hope so but maybe it will kick in tomorrow.
We met Mike down on Shoppe Street today and got some raingear for me and a hair dryer for me and Amy to share. Then we got... more fish and chips! Sooo good, but the fried food is starting to get to me so I think I'll start eating better now.
We had a grand time today as we had the opportunity to meet a lot of Irish people (I knew there was a reason we were keeping Mike around.). Mike's cousin and his wife Dawn invited us over for dinner so we went a bit out of Galway and got to see some beautiful views. We stopped for tea at Dawn's parents' house and the view was gorgeous! I figured out how to hold a teacup today by looking at how Dawn was doing it--I guess I never really drink out of teacups and I was afraid I was going to spill it! Dawn and Paul have a beautiful baby named Madison, but she didn't like me very much which made me sad. She would look at Amy and Mike and smile and then she would look at me and get very upset. I don't know what I did wrong!
After tea we left for Ashbury which is the name of Paul and Dawn's home. Doesn't it sound like something out of Pride and Prejudice? Their house is gorgeous and they were grand hosts. They talk and talk and make everyone feel so comfortable. After dinner Paul drove us back into Galway and we all stopped for a pint before Paul left. Hopefully Amy and I will get to see him again as they gave us their numbers if we ever need anything! Meeting them made me so much more excited to go to Westport and meet my own family. We went into one more pub and a man named Declan came up to us and asked if he could talk with us for a bit. Apparently he had thought he had seen his friend over by us and so he told someone he was going to talk to him and he'd been mistaken so he needed to stay and talk to us as to not be embarrassed about his mistake. He was very entertaining and Amy and I are looking forward to meeting a few more people like him.
After our pint we headed to Supermac's which is a fastfood restaurant. Amy got some cheese fries which Mike and I shared with her. Then we headed to the bus station to drop Mike off. He's currently riding to Dublin because his flight to Rome leaves at 6am. It was sad to see him leave because we'd had a lot of craic and it was good to know someone with Irish connections, but I'm sure we'll run into him again sometime while we're still here.
It's very late and I am soooo very tired and sleep deprived so I am going to go, but I will write again soon and PICTURES ARE SOON TO COME.
Peace all the way from Ireland,
Hilary
