Day 1

So our plane was delayed a little bit for no reason so we did not land in Shannon until about 7:30a.m. (ireland time). It took us about 2 hours to get through customs (ughh worst thing in my life) and the line seemed as though it was standing still. The problem I think was that they did not tell everyone what they needed to get through customs so when people got to the front they had to dig through everything to find what they needed. To get into Ireland for studying abroad you need proof of finances (1000 Euro), health insurance, passport, and acceptance letter from NUI Galway. However, some of the girls did not have everything or only had their debit card and the guys let us through. We then had to wait for the next bus which was at 9:55a.m. and it took us about an hour and a half to get to Galway from Shannon. Once we arrived in Galway we had to take a taxi from the bus station to the Niland House where I am staying. It is a walkable distance but it is probably a ten minute walk and with all of our suitcases we decided against it. Once we finally got here the guy in charge, Oliver, greeted us and split us up into rooms in the most random way. He just went down the list and put us in groups of four and asked if we minded living together. My room is super nice, not really big but big enough. The girls upstairs have a HUGE room. We all unpacked and then passed out for about 4 hours. We then showered and went to a pub named Taffes. It is a traditional Irish bar. I loved it. I had a Bulmers (?) which is a cider and then I had a Carlsberg. The pub had an Irish band and there was lots of traditional dancing. It was hilarious. Then we went to a place called Sunnys where the music was all American. So much different than the first place we went. So far the alcohol has been pretty expensive so I have not ordered more than 2 drinks a night out.

Of course I somehow caught a cold from someone and the symptoms did not hit me until the bus ride to Galway so I am currently trying to fight that off and the jetlag. Neither have gotten me down yet. Let's hope they don't.