HERE!

Hey all,

Ok so I've been in Galway not yet 24 hours and I can already tell it's going to be a blast. The city is so cool, completely unlike an American city. There are flagstone streets and so much outdoor eating. However, the outdoor eating is completely useless as it is about 43 degrees, windy and very often rainy. We haven't really met anyone outside of the SJU kids, because I think everyone is still a little too jet lagged and nervous to really branch out.

The first day was stressful, I won't lie. We got on our 9:40 pm Eastern time flight at JFK and landed at 9:05 am Dublin/London time at Shannon airport. We went through customs and got our bags and walked out to the bus station. Of course there were like 40 students in line for the bus to Galway so we didn't fit on the first one and had to stand in line in the freezing cold for over an hour waiting for the next bus. But it was fine and we were in Ireland so no one really cared. We finally got on the bus around 11:00 am and took an awesome bus ride through the Irish countryside. I, however, could not stay awake as sleeping on the plane was just not happening. We all sort of nodded off but arrived in Galway just after 1:00 pm. We got off the bus and took the short walk to Niland House where deciding where to live was another nerve wracking and stressful event. It all ended up working out and I'm rooming with Ainsley Keating across the hall from four other SJU girls that we've been getting close with.

It was about this time, as I was unpacking and feeling incredibly jet lagged, that I started to freak out. Like really freak out. There was a good hour where I contemplated putting everything back and buying a ticket to the bus, back to Shannon, and on a plane back to JFK to take a train back to Hartford and a cab back to Avon. Seriously. I did NOT anticipate the intense anxiety. I won't lie I'm still feeling it a little now. It's so hard being away from home. I know this will be the best experience ever, but for the first few days I can't help but feel utterly terrified. Having my blackberry has really helped and everyone has been really supportive. I just wonder how many times I'll have to skype with my parents without crying...

Later in the night though, we all got showered and decided to walk around Galway. We were finally starving after not eating for 12 hours. The time difference totally throws your eating off. It's almost 1 pm here and I've eaten yet don't feel hungry. But we wanted to see all the spots we've heard of from all the other Galway vets and so we found the super market and lots of pubs that they'd mentioned. We also found a Subway, Papa Johns and a Dominos. Maybe we'll be okay after all... haha. But really, Galway is a small city but it has all the stuff we need. We then decided it was time to eat and saw a place called "Paddy's". Advertised live sports and food 7 days a week. Had to be good, right? Wrong. We walked in and it was for sure a bar where everyone knew your name. They didn't know ours. So after a few awkward stares we decided to book it outta there and head somewhere else. We ended up at a place called "The Front Door" which had pretty good food. When we finished dinner it was only 7:00 pm and we couldn't go home because we'd just all fall asleep and mess up our clocks even more, so we went to The King's Head Pub and all had our first pint. We talked and drank but also just sat there listening to the accents haha. I also looked, because there are some CUTE irish boys. We're going out for real tonight, so hopefully we can do some interacting.

Today we woke up really late. I didn't get out of bed until noon. I skyped with Mom and Dad, didn't cry while we were talking, but sobbed when I hung up haha. It will all be normal in no time, I'm sure. We're going to go grocery shopping soon, as we have no food, and then find our way to campus which is about a mile walk away.

Love you all and can't write here how much I miss you, because it'll only make me REALLY cry. Talk to you soon!

Oh, P.S: turns out skype mobile does not work when you're out of the US, so for those of you without smart phones, I will skype you when I'm actually at my computer!