After 13 hours in the air, I’m finally “home”-home for the next three months it is. I arrived at Shannon International Airport about 20 min away from Limerick and it was just as I imagined- all my preconcived notions were actually correct:

1.It’s sunday, so everything is closed and it’s very quiet.

2.There’s greenery and castles everywhere I look.

3.The accents are strong and I could listen to people talk all day.

4. It’s in the country side so it has a calm, mellow feel.

5. Everyone is friendly and very c’est la vie

Igot into the taxi and the woman who picked me up was so excited for my arrival she gave me a hug. Let me tell you one thing about the Irish: They are so incredibly nice.  I had a near heart attack the moment I got into the car and saw cars driving at us. I don’t think I will ever get use to cars driving on the opposite road.

Things that I was most surprised by:

1.The nearest town is Limerick which is about 20 min away by bus-it’s not in the city where you can go downstairs and grab something to eat. Trips have to be methotical and there’s not as much acess to things when you need them quickly. I see that as being the most problematic for me.

2. The apartment is nice but rather empty. I’m thankful I brought a towel and a blanket otherwise I would have had to dry off with clothing, and would be sleeping on a cold matress.

3. The time difference. It’s hard commuticating with people back home when the time difference is eight hours.

This next week I have orientation and classes start on the 7th-looking forward for what’s ahead

Until then,

Living area

Kitchen.

View from my balcondy

Walking into the apartment this is what it looks like. I The 6 doors on each wall are private bedrooms with a bathroom. Luckily, we don’t have to share. The door straight ahead takes you into the common room /living room