Offical day #1 in Ireland

Where to begin? I truly feel that is the only accurate thing to say up to this point.

It can't even start today. We start back after my last blog entry yesterday. After trying to fight the jetlag and entering the information about the trip, I ended up tripping around the campus a wee bit attempting to find my way. I got as far as the campus general store and bought some peanut butter and white bread in an attempt to find normalcy. Afterwards, my UNC transfer student partner, her roommate, and I attempted to go out into the city to find some way to purchase bedsheets/pillows/towels/toiletries. It was our first trip into the city, we were a wee-bit sleep deprived, but we made it. Long story short, i got to sleep last night without worrying. I finally met one of my roommates, from Ireland, who was in town just to drop off a couple of CVs for jobs. He offered to take me out for a pint, but on 7 hours of sleep on the last 48 hours, I had to turn him down. Instead, I went to see a movie with Liam Neeson called Breakfast on Pluto? The plot was a bit weird, but the motley soundtrack was absolutely fantastic.

I came back, and slept from approximately 9-6 am. Apparently, who knew, it takes a lot out of you when you're jetlagged. I only woke up to find my roommates arriving from BC and pulling their luggage in. After explaining to them that TP was not provided, and helping them out with the 3 remaining in my 4 pack, I offered a quick tip o' the hat and turned in for the next three hours, only meeting them in the morning when I needed to head out to pick up some milk. Later on in the day, I met up with some international students from California i met the day before to do some day shopping. We went out to St. Stephen's squares, which is close to City Centre( A 2.15 Euro/30 minute ride). I had my first hot meal, which really set into my bones, and I ended up getting shampoo. It was possibly the happiest moment of my life.

After coming back, we went to orientation pt. 1, and were informed that "it's weird sometimes because people are homesick for their pets." I retroactively went back and thought about all the times i could've been talking with my dog Katy since I arrived. I wept a single tear for her. There was coffee/tea afterwards, and I met some kids from AU who knew a couple of mutual friends (this is a "yea....I know it" moment for Nathan and Graham). After a failed attempt to go to Tesco, the grocery store near campus...

I FOUND OUT AFTER ARRIVAL BoA HAD DECIDED TO FREEZE MY ACCOUNT...AGAIN

...we went to the international dinner. Where the following happened.

1. We were fed beef stew and mashed potatoes. There were potatoes in the beef stew.
2. I jumped up with my friend Alex to volunteer to dance the traditional Irish dance first, assuming EVERYONE was behind us! We got up to the front and found a single other girl with us, from the crowd of 200.
3. In an attempt to save a falling Budweiser bottle of another friend, the entire room got crowded and stared me down. I HEARD A PIN DROP. NO JOKE
4. Alex and I spun around a lot. And got dizzy. And were called out for our mad spinz.

Afterwards, we headed to the campus pub for an international night. I got my first pint of Guinness..

and we headed out to the city centre via bus to try to find the local culture.
After getting over the original awkwardness of meeting people from other places, we ended up with the following people: 2 guys from an obscure college in Australia, 6 students from American University, 2 Students from UNC, 1 student from George Washington, and 3 students from Boston University. We had a geniunely good time out on the city, and actually ended up at a bar playing only American music. We met some Irish folk that thought it was a good idea to mingle!

As of right now, it's 3 o' clock dublin time, I've had a lot of craic (irish=fun) tonight, but I believe it's time to turn in.

Missing all my family/friends in Carolina/loved ones! Hope everyone is doing fantastically!