I Made It!

Well, everyone, I have officially made it to Ireland! Technically speaking, I made it a few days ago, but it was pretty recent, so give me a break. The plane ride went pretty well. I was a little afraid in the airport because they overbooked the flight and I knew I was one of the last people to buy a ticket, so I was worried they would bump me. Luckily, they didn't, so I made it on the plane and to Ireland on time.
We got in pretty early for Ireland, (late for the US), and I was running on about 2 hours of sleep. Compared to my usual 14-16 hours of sleep a night, 2 was clearly not going to cut it. All of us in the API program attempted to catnap on the chairs in the airport, (they were more like some sort of torture instrument), but we all had little success.
After everyone that we were waiting for had arrived, we got on the bus to take us to our apartments. One look at those fluffy cloud-like bus seats that could have been made by Jesus himself and I knew I was a goner. I struggled valiantly to stay awake to see the beautiful countryside, but about 20 minutes in I was on my way to dreamland. From what I did see when I was awake, I could tell that this was a wonderful place. It was so much like the pictures that I had looked at for years.
The apartment that I'm staying in is really nice. I'll make sure to post pictures soon. I have 1 American roommate and (we believe) 1 Irish roommate. My American roommate and I have been sleuthing around the apartment to see if we can dig up any clues on them. We have figured out that her name is either Shauna or Shannon, and that she has an affinity for Skippy peanut butter and Captain Morgan's rum. Hopefully not together, though...
These past few days have been orientation for international students that are going to attend NUI Galway. I have been flooded with information, so basically I try to block most of it out unless I hear key words like "safety," "grades," or "expulsion." If I didn't have this defense mechanism I'm pretty sure my brain would explode. It's much easier to read the packets they give me over time, so that I can slowly take it all in.
The city of Galway is a great town. There is so much hustle and bustle going on, and there is so much to see and do. In my head I keep thinking, "Oh, I have to go there at some point," or "That place looks like it has really nice Irish sweaters," but it will be a miracle if I can make it in half of the places that I want to go. I'm going to try my best, though.
Today, our Resident Director, Finn, who is officially on my Top 10 Favorite People Ever list, (sorry, Ke$ha, you've been bumped), took us on a tour to give us some tips of places that are the best in their field. It was really helpful, and I won't feel like such a newbie next time I head into town. At the end, a few of us wanted to get some food, so we asked Finn to recommend a place to eat. She replied, "Definitely head to McDonalds." All of us were a little caught off guard, so we awkwardly chuckled, and said, "No, really, where should we go?" "McDonalds." After a short explanation, we realized that she meant Mc Donaghs, which is this place with really good fish and chips. I'm sure this will not be the last time that I feel like a silly American tourist.

Mc Donagh's, with its delicious fried-fishy-goodness.