Friday, January 7, 2011

Ballyvaughan FINALLY!

I made it!!! Whoo, That was a long long looooong day. It's 6:30 here in the Burren now and I am EXHAUSTED.

So, I got up around 8:30 US time to finish getting ready for my flight. Misplaced my passport (of course I did) and panicked for about a half an hour. Found it at my friends/neighbors house where I scanned it the night before to make a copy. Relief. Friends, dad, and sister dropped me off at the airport, lots of standing in line then finally my flight to JFK took off around 2:40. Arrived at JFK and found my first Burren friend, Casey! We chatted and ate until we realized the gate was changed and we were NOT informed, headed over to the new gate with second Burren friend, Mandy. Met fifty million (okay maybe more like 10-ish) more Burren peeps and FINALLY got on the flight around 9:40. Six/seven hours (and very little sleep) later, here we are! We arrived about 9 Irish time and waited until 12 pm to get on the road, an hour drive (and lots of furry cows, sheep, fuzzy horses, and tractors) later we arrived at The Burren tired out of our minds and got placed in our houses!!!! How exciting!!!! Like I said, long day. Luckily there was a cafe where a few of us got coffee while we waited in the airport at Shannon, it was A LOT stronger than what we are used to but so so sooooo satisfying.

Since landing at our house locations I have visited the local pub, had my first genuine Irish Guinness (yummmm), eaten some absolutely delicious sea food chowder, unpacked ALL my things, and finally settled in. I'm currently living at Orchard House, the largest house of the 4. It houses 12. Everyone is wonderful, we are becoming quite the group =)

It is SO beautiful here I still haven't even processed the fact that I'M IN IRELAND!!! WHAT!? I still absolutely can't believe I'm here. I haven't taken any photos yet, mostly because I'm still a little disoriented and tired, but expect photos by the end of the weekend for sure. Orientation is a week long! So wonderful, it's like Clark week one all over again haha. We are taking a tour around the town and school tomorrow and then one around the Burren on Sunday. So excited. I'm going to be hiking SO much here. And maybe even some horseback riding! Ugh, it's so beautiful. I can't wait to show you all the harbor, the bay, the limestone, the stone remains, the light quality! Oh so much beautiful scenery I could die.

Alright, before you all die of explanation overload I'm going to head off, but expect another update from me soon! (when I'm much more well rested and functional)

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