Yep, definitely in Dublin...not Saskatoon. Not at all.
The first day was all traveling. You know flying, waiting, more flying and some more waiting. I left Saskatoon on March 25th at 10:30 am and arrived in Toronto to a three hour wait. There I bought some snacks and some water (exciting, I know). Then I flew from Toronto to London on a 6 and a half hour flight (I watched Rock 'n Rolla which was really good). The airport in London was really big and everyone was going everywhere really fast and there were like 3 or 4 terminals and I had to take a bus and stuff!? I got a bit lost and the gate numbers were not put up until half an hour before boarding time. So I waited around for awhile and eventually wandered over to my gate. This lady talked to me as we waited for our flight to start boarding, she had crazy (not good crazy) hair and makeup and was from P.E.I.
I boarded the plane and flew from London to Dublin. When I got there I had to go through a million security gates. The last one I was at had a grumpy man at the counter with lots of questions like "What do you plan to do while you're here?" I told him that I planned to find work and he said I wasn't permitted to work in Ireland. He was wrong. I showed him my visa and he was all "Well, you picked a bad time to come." and I was all "I'm going to ignore that." Then I did.
When I left the Airport I took a cab to my first Hostel, Abigail's Hostel on Aston Quay right on the River Liffey. It was pretty sweet and the people were generally nice. I had 5 roommates, 3 from Russia and 2 from Spain. The second day I slept a lot and wandered around town. I also went to the USIT center (They're partnered with SWAP and Travel Cuts, the agencies that helped get me here) for my orientation but missed most of it because I slept in...oops. I rescheduled and am going on Monday. Hopefully after that I'll have a better idea of what I'm supposed to do.
I'm at a new hostel now. It's called Kinlay House, the vibe is way cooler and its a lot bigger than Abigail's. They have so much more here. A dining room with a TV, a kitchen, a TV room, 3 more floors of rooms and bathrooms. They also have luggage/locker storage and a laundry room. It's a bit more expensive but I had some vouchers for a couple nights free. I got a really good deal. :)
Oh and today I picked up a cell phone(Vodaphone, pay as you go)...that was an adventure. I walked to the Vodaphone store(it was 10 minute walk or so) and had no trouble getting there. For some reason I decided that it would be a good idea to take a different route back. It wasn't, I got lost so I just headed in what I thought was the right direction. It turns out it was the right direction but I had passed the hostel on the way back. Like, REALLY passed it, it took me around 40 minutes to get back.
At first I was feeling super lonely. I think it may have also been shock. EVERYTHING is different here but now that I have the internet and a phone I can converse more easily with friends and family. I'm slowly getting used to things here and am starting to have a better time. :)
Thanks for all the love and support,
Samantha, Sam, Samalam, or whatever you may happen to call me.
