Well I finally made it here! After a nearly 7 hour plane ride, I arrived at Dublin airport. Luckily, I booked a flight with 4 other students from UW-Whitewater so we were able to kind of stick together and make our way to our apartments.

The plane ride was very smooth and nearly empty. I was able to get two seats, and have a window; which made for a stellar view of the sunrise. It was an overnight flight, so we were able to sleep. However, I think I got about 2 hours of sleep total. We arrived in Dublin at around 8:30am their time; so 2:30am Wisconsin time. We all had an adrenaline rush, so none of us were really tired.

After getting our baggage, we got into the line for a taxi and were able to all cram into one van-like taxi. The driver was awesome, however, overcharged us. The fare was 17.50 euro and he charged us 27.50; but there were 5 of us, so we split it.

We got checked in at our apartments. They're just the perfect fit. I need to get used to using a number code to get into our buildings. 2 girls live in one block, myself and my friend Melanie live in another block, and 1 guy lives in another block. There's about 5 buildings/blocks total. Laundry on site, however, it costs 3 euro, so I have a feeling I'm going to be doing a lot of hang drying. I lucked out and the person who lived here before me left about 10 wooden hangers in the HUGE closet, so I didn't have to buy any (in which we have yet to find some).

By the time we took a hour off to settle into our apartments, the jetlag had sunk in and everyone was REALLY tired. But we knew we had to stay up to help get over the jetlag. We managed to walk to a shopping center to get some much-needed neccessities (like a trash can, toothpaste, garbage bags, etc.) and grab a bite to eat. Once again, ridiculously expensive! It was 6.50 euro for a 4-piece chicken tender basket...which is about 7.50/8 US dollars. Hence, why we ventured out later to go grocery shopping.

I have two pre-paid credit cards while I'm here, and since Europe is more advanced than the United States, they have cards that chips in them that you can just scan it and go, instead of sliding and signing. So many places do not take credit cards (as we found out). Thankfully, my mom had gotten me some euros before I left. We plan on going to get more euro in about a hour. I just have to adjust to always having cash on me.

We had heard that the apartments that we were staying in had not washed the sheets since the previous owners and that there were bed bug issues. Thus, we all either bought or brought extra sheets. I managed to just buy a fitted sheet and am borrowing a pillow case from another girl here. And then using a blanket my aunt gave me for the airplane. Wash is going to be done today so I can use the comforter.

By the time we all dragged ourself back to the apartment we were dead. It was about a half hour walk to the shopping center, but we passed an Aldi's on our way there. Thankfully, the grocery store (yes, an Aldi's like we have in the states) is about an 8 minute walk. It's really nice. We decided to take a 2 hour nap and then meet back up to go grocery shopping. It stinks not having phones! We're going to all buy pre-paid ones so we can make local calls and be able to contact one another. Our internet was hooked up once we got back; so I got to talk to my dad and Tom before I took a nap.

Three of us then headed off the Aldi's, and grabbed a bunch of stuff. Only to find they only take cash or "laser cards". Thankfully I had brought 20 euro in cash in case they didn't. Dragging all the stuff back was difficult because I had bought some water bottles, but I managed. I unpacked a little bit more and kind of just hung around the apartment.

The other girl currently living here was not around, however, she has a television in the living area that we have been using. Melanie and I cleaned the kitchen because it was a mess and then had 2 other Whitewater people over just to kind of hang out since we have a TV and no one else does. I have to get used to hearing English accents on TV and seeing such shows at "My Parents are Aliens". It's defenitley different and funny. But they have the Simpsons and Maury and some American shows. I'm not planning on watching much TV, so I should be good.

We also are on an electricty plan. I'm not completley sure how it works, but we use cards to control our electricity. Each person gets 40 euro a month on an electricity meter card and then we have share those and put it into a slot in a box. It makes you have to turn off things daily though. Each outlet has a switch on it to turn it on and off.

The converter I brought is only a 2 prong converter, and my laptop battery is a 3...so luckily Melanie brought along a 3 prong, but her converter doesn't work. So we've been sharing it. She charges her laptop while I use mine and I charge mine while she uses hers.

I have yet to meet our other roommate. She was here earlier this morning, and Melanie got to meet her. She was on her way out to catch a train. She'll be back Monday so I suppose I'll be meeting her then!

Overall, we're making things work. I'm glad that yesterday is over with! Today we had plans, however, because we can't contact one another and no one knows what apartments people are in, it makes it difficult to meet up. We're hoping to go to DCU (Dublin City University) to kind of look around and get our bearings before Thursday's orientation. Our apartments are in a residential area, and don't really have an exact address number, so it makes it hard to find things with mapquest; thus when we go to wander, we never know where to go. Eventually we'll figure it out!

I hope all is well back home! I've gotten to talk to quite a few people last night at 10pm my time (and 4pm their time) and got to post a few pictures. So until next time, cheers!!