...to Ireland

On Tuesday (yesterday) I woke up at 5:30am to catch the tube around 6:15a to Euston train station in London. On the tube I felt the effects of taking medication on an empty stomach and nearly lost it on the tube. I was able to get a seat and relax until the Euston stop. Once in Euston I got my train/ferry tickets and loaded the train to Chester. Once in Chester I boarded a train to Holyhead which is where the ferry port is in Wales. Taking the train through Wales was one of my best decisions. It was a gorgeous day (not raining) and all the sheep were out in the pastures. The farmland there was incredible. If I chose to look out the windows to the South I would see snow-capped mountains. I unfortuneately didn't take any pictures on the train. Coming into some city the train went under a bridge that was not a bridge at all but a castle! Neat! I arrived at Holyhead around 10:30am but had to wait until 2:10pm for the ferry since the noon ferry was cancelled. I got on the ferry and sat next to a window where I slept intermittently for the next few hours. We got to the ferry station where I picked up my bags and made it out to a bus that took me to a larger bus station in Dublin. At 6:15pm I bought a ticket for the next train to Waterford which was leaving at 8pm. I waited. The bus ride was long and it was already dark out so I couldn't see any of the countryside. It was also raining fairly heavily. I arrived in Waterford around 11pm and followed the shoddy directions that I was given. The directions were so bad that I stopped a taxi driver and asked him where it was and he told me that I'd be better off just riding along. He brought me to the student accomodation and we talked to the receptionist, Sean, for a bit. Sean led me to my room and while in the elevator told me how to say "lovely girl" in Celtic. He's a benevolent man though and was happy to show me to my room. The room is much bigger than the room I was staying in in London. I have my own bathroom, too. I'm living in a flat with 3 other people, one of whom introduced himself to me: Kiernon O'Brian. I can't understand much of what he says but he's nice enough to introduce himself to me. I situated my stuff last night and am completely moved in. I got to sleep around 1am and at 1:45am the fire alarm went off but it would come on and go off real quick and it wasn't consistent. I laid in bed until I thought for sure it went off. Went off again. This happened for what felt like 30 minutes. I eventually fell asleep and woke in the morning. I went downstairs to get my internet hooked up and I saw the other social work students here along with Joe Moran, my liason while here. The others had just gotten in and were tired so they all went to bed. Joe and I went out into town to see the grocery stores and other places. He dropped me off at the college where I walked into town to check some things out. There is a river that the town is located on and there are lots of small shops all throughout the streets. Inwards a bit there is a large shopping area that is blocked off to cars. I bought an umbrella at a JCPenny-type store. I then walked to a Tesco which is the big grocery store here. I bought some essentials including OceanSpray cranberry juice...which makes me happy since I can still buy familiar things. As a way to deter the over-use of plastic bags Ireland makes you pay $0.40 per plastic bag. While I was buying my goods I saw that the only reusable bags had ladybugs on them; whoever is reading this probably also knows that I hate ladybugs. I paid the forty cents for a plastic bag and went on my way. Since the bag was heavy and digging into my fingers I went straight back to the apartment I'm living in. It's a nice day though, in the 40's. I'll make my way out again but I'm cold and need to warm up in my room. Free heat!