I Made It!

I have finally arrived in Ireland!! It has been a long couple of days traveling, with a few hiccups, I might add. The original plan was to fly out of Milwaukee to Newark, New Jersey and make a connecting flight from New Jersey to Shannon, Ireland. This, however, did not happen. When I arrived at the airport in Milwaukee the United counter informed me that my flight to Newark was delayed 50 minutes, thus giving me no time to make my connecting flight to Ireland. I decided to fly to Newark anyway, and from there I spent the night in a hotel. I then took the next flight to Ireland (the next day at 7:30pm). I had to check out of my hotel room at 2:00pm, so I headed to the airport a wee bit early. I hung around until the flight was finally boarding. The plan ride to Ireland was actually a lot better than I thought it was going to be. I watched two movies and was served dinner and breakfast. I made friends with the girl who was sitting next to me (a college student at Limerick University, in Limerick Ireland.) She gave me the low down on what to expect going through customs and gathering my luggage. From there everything went smoothly. I found my host dad, and he took us back to my new home for the next three months. The ride from the airport to my new home in Listowel was about an hour and a half drive. I was struggling to keep my eyes open, but there was not too much to see because it was still really dark out. Upon my arrival at my new home I climbed into bed for a nice long nap - I forget how exhausting traveling is (especially when you do not sleep on a 6 hour plane ride). When I woke up I was greeted with breakfast and tea. I spent most of my first day in Ireland relaxing, which I really didn't mind because I was so tired. My host mom took me into town and showed me where everything is, including the school that I will be teaching at tomorrow. The town is adorable - I know I am going to love it. I am also within walking distance to my school so I am sure I will be walking most days too and from school :). After we got back I read my book by the fire while my host mom cooked dinner. We than ate a delicious chicken and potato dinner. It has been a long day and I am struggling to keep my eyes open, but I am excited for my first day of student teaching tomorrow! So many wonderful things await!