Sunday
So I got through security with no issues (they let me through with hand sanitizer in my purse... clearly recognizing how much i need given my recent lack of hygiene after Morocco) and sat with plenty of time. There was the CUTEST irish family sitting next to me, the youngest boy racing a car under the waiting area seats. As we were in line to get on the plane I overheard the girl behind me trying to figure out how to get an aisle seat as she had just gotten food poisoning and was concerned about how fast she could get to the bathroom. so I switched with her and actually got a seat near the wing with extra leg room. The flight was pretty boring, thank God. I watched the social network which made me happy because i had missed it when it came out and I slept the rest of the trip. It was very dark when we landed in Dublin.
Oh Dublin. I love it here and can't wait to come back, but it's been suuuch a random day. I took a cab (the dricer was the cutest old irish guy who loved telling me all about Ireland and Dublin and where everything is) to the hostel I had picked out, just to find out that I had made a reservation for the night of the 9th... while I was in the air. Luckily there was room, but I couldn't get into the room until 2. it was 8am. So I left my bags and realized that if I had booked the hostel for the wrong day, I probably booked my flight for the wrong day. I checked and there it was. I hadn't even landed in Dublin when I was supposed to be boarding a flight on the way to Paris. But since it's a Sunday morning, nothing's open so I can't do anything about it anyway. So I walked. I walked and walked and walked all around the city just taking it in. The sun rose well after 9, right before I found a Catholic church that had mass at 9:30. It was a beautiful cathedral and a very short but sweet mass. I was walking around after just looking at the statues and stained glass when a young man approached me asking me if he'd seen me before and whether I wanted to talk. He seemed nice and I had nothing else to do (and besides I was still in the church surrounded by old Irish people) so I figured, why not? It turns out he's from Nigeria and is studying engineering. He gave me his facebook info and email, then asked me if he could take me to breakfast. So I went with him (i figured it was money i wouldn't have to spend later when I was actually hungry) to a nice little restaurant that played rihanna the entire time we talked about nigeria, morocco and the USA. It was a pretty cool breakfast. Afterwards he showed me where i could take the bus the next morning to get to the airport. He invited me to his apartment but don't worry mom, I didn't go. Instead we said good bye and I went to the internet cafe so I could let everyone know that i was safe and buy my ticket for france for the right day.
I headed back towards the hostel, but it wasn't 2pm yet soo I decided to go to Trinity College which btw is only a 2 minute walk from the hostel. I walked through campus, went and saw the Book of Kells which was cool and interesting but definitely not worth the 9euro to look at a book behind glass that you can't take pictures of. But I thought my mom would kill me if I didn't at the very least see it. I sat on a bench and read my book for a while, then stopped to watch a men's rugby practice (i think it only interests me because no matter how many times i watch it i still don't get it... kind of like football) then continued wandering around dublin. I stumbled on the national wax museum which sounded cool but in actuality was pretty damn creepy. I mean, i think it could have been fun but I was also alone, and nothing is as much fun alone as it is with friends. By that time it was almost 3 so I went to the hostel and got my baggage from the luggage room and went to the room I was sharing with 3 other girls. No one was there so I decided i was in desperate need of a nap. I put the sheets they gave me on my bed and slept for at least 2 hours. I woke up and had no drive to get out of bed, but I knew if i didn't i wouldn't sleep well at night and I had a very early morning the next day. So I got up and remembered that i hadn't brushed my teeth, washed my face, or taken my thyroid pills in about a day. to be honest with you i still don't have the energy to figure out how long it had been. lol.
so as i was getting ready, the girls i was sharing a room with got back. they are sooo nice! They're from germany, but they're studying in manchester and just visiting ireland before they go back to school. they slept while i read, then they asked me if i wanted to order food with them. sorry mom, but i didn't get fish and chips like you insisted, but i did get chips... with my chinese food. I couldn't get over the fact that I am American on my way to France eating Chinese food with German friends in Ireland and the last meal i'd had was with a nigerian. let's add a few more countries in there, shall we? it blew my mind.
I have to say, the hostel i was in was AWESOME. It has WiFi downstairs, was really clean and had free coffee and tea. It was minutes from the Temple BAr (which i was too exhausted to see) and Trinity College. Oh and did I mention that it was 10 euro a night? or that it had a bus come and pick me up for the airport at 4:30am for 7 euro? it was perfect. So if you're going to dublin... Ashfield House fo sho.
Monday
Thank God I woke up in time (I even woke up at 2:30 thinking i was already late) and was able to get all my stuff together. One of the girls in the room was also leaving in the morning so we left together on the bus. When I got to the airport I found out that I'd made a mistake and bought luggage space for one 15kg bag instead of 20kg. wasn't going to happen. So I had to buy a second bag to add to it and just checked my carry on (I wasn't positive it was going to make the size restriction cut anyway). Unfortunately, after checkin both bags I realized that my computer was still in the bag that was going to be my checked bag. I started to get nervous, but at this point there was nothing I could do so I said a prayer and went through security, no problem. I got to my gate with half an hour til my flight and they were still boarding for the last flight that was leaving from that gate. Again, I got on with no issues. After a while though I was nervous because it was nearing 9am and we weren't descending. A woman came on the loudspeaker and told us that Beauvais was closed and that we were landing in Lille. Awesome. Once we landed they assured us that there would be a bus going to Beauvais. So we all rushed to get through and put our baggage on the bus, but only a few made it onto the first one. So I took my luggage off that bus and waited for the next. Althought it looked like it was filling up, I got onto the next bus, but it's going to take about 2 hours... great. a shuttle was supposed to pick me up at 9:30 from the airport to take me to charles de gaulle in time to meet with my program director for orientation. not going to happen. i'm hoping that the shuttle at least is there though because regardless of the time, I need to make it into Paris to take the metro and find the hotel i'll be staying in with my program.
love you!!!!! please be alright!
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