First Week

I have finally settled into life a bit here in Ireland. I am getting comfortable with my room and roommates, though at times I have to just take a minute and pull myself back together. When I finally got to sit down last night and reflect on everything, I started to get very sad at everything I am leaving behind to do this. I think this will be one of those times that is incredibly bittersweet for on the one hand, I am making wonderful friends and connections around the world while I am here, but on the other, I am disconnecting from the world and home I have always known. In truth, I really just want all of my friends and family to visit me now to bring a bit of home to Ireland. I look forward to all of your visits everyday and appreciate how lucky I am to be getting such a wonderful tour of Ireland with you.

Well, again, I don't have pictures just yet, but I did go to my first local pub and had a Guinness, which was quite nice. The traditional loud Irish music and first time freshness of it all made it that much better I think. In addition, on Saturday, we went and did the Bushmills Distillery tour where we toured the facilities and then sampled the whiskey, which was not so nice, but the tour was! Then we walked from Bushmills to the Giant's Causeway (see above), which ended up around 2+ miles in drizzling rain, so that was not so nice either, but the company was excellent so it made the trip a bit easier. I have been making friends with people from all over the world! Many are from France and so I think I need to get up a bit of nerve and just dive in because I'm sure it would improve my own French to converse with them, though, they just seem to want to speak English! Giant's Causeway was quite chilly at this time of year, so I hope when I return with everyone else, it will be a bit more suitable for pictures! I cooked a big thing of chicken divan last night which was the perfect end to a busy but perfect day.

Betsy is the newest addition to Cranagh village. She is one of the most hysterical people I have ever met, honestly, I think I am laughing most of the time when I am with her. For instance, TV in Ireland rarely has commercials, if ever, so you can sit in front of the TV for hours while making and eating dinner because the story never ends! We sat from 6 to 9 last night watching simply the most ridiculous shows about hospitals and people we have no interest in just because they never have breaks. I think its brilliant and something the US should definitely adopt. Also, she didn't have her luggage so we had to go into the main building on campus to carry them back. Well, it was barely spitting rain when we went outside so we figured we would be alright. By the time we had the luggage outside, it was sleeting rain and the iciest(?) coldest storm I have ever been in. And then, we still had to carry her bags up the 3 flights of stairs to the rooms! Again, absolutely dreadful but a riot!

The cold here is different than anything I have ever experienced. It gets in your bones and you are wet all the time it feels like, and there is hardly any point to doing your hair because it just always looks terrible - Hayley, I really mean that, I have tried very hard, but it just isn't happening for me here. :) I am going to start working on that essay today mom, I wrote it on the blog so now I have to do it.

I am sorry for the long posts, but the Internet and phone in my room do not always seem to be working well, so when I get the chance to post I feel I should take the time and do it for a few days in the worry that it wont be available again! And now I am going to end with my new favorite phrase, see you!

Arrival in Ireland!

Hello everyone!

I have arrived in Ireland and I am doing just fine. I wanted to update everyone on my travel here and my safe arrival. The time difference is hitting me hard this trip. I think I allowed myself to nap for too long but then sleep for too long today! (Sorry Elsa!) So I went to bed at 9 woke at 1, went to bed again at 3am and slept until 1pm and am tired again at 9pm!! Either way, I'm definitely going to bed early tonight because orientation starts tomorrow at 10.

My flight was fine. I sat next to a small child, which I am always weary of, but she was great, didn't cry at all. I did have to wake her to go to the restroom during the flight which made me feel like such an awful person! I met Alain on the flight, who ended up waiting for me through customs because I said I wasn't sure about how I was getting to school. I had met some girls before the flight, but the size of their pickup car was questionable at best and there were 2 girls plus suitcases in that car. Alain offered to take me to school and I obliged! As crazy as it sounds, it ended up being lovely. His dad picked us up from the airport, Alain had been in Vermont snowboarding, we spent 30 minutes traveling to his house, which is on the way to Coleraine (where my school is located). We went inside his house, it was beautiful, met his dog, very nice, and his mom, a teacher at the University had a meeting it so happened in Portrush, 2 minutes from Coleraine, so she drove me the rest of the way! I feel unbelievably indebted to them, but have no way of showing my gratitude because I am still trying to get myself sorted out! Either way, I feel like it was my first real connection to Ireland, besides Eamon of course!

School is fine; my room is small and sparse but quaint and I am trying to make it feel like a home. I am living in a flat with 4 other girls, of whom I only know 2. Agnes is from Angers in France, (said Anjai) and is very informed because she studied here last semester as well. She has been very kind to me, giving me hangers, plates, silverware, toilet paper and other essentials! She has also assisted in traveling into Coleraine for groceries and beauty supplies via the bus. I believe we are taking the train this weekend from the university so that we can get acclimated to using it. Alicia is from Toronto, Canada, although based on her lack of an accent I would have said she is from America! She is very sweet and highly motivated to exercise which is exactly what I need. We all went to check out the recreational facilities today and they were quite expensive which was very disappointing, but perhaps we will still join. The other 2 girls are not here yet; one is an American and the other is from the Republic but she has been vacationing with her family and won't return until Monday.

In short, I am getting along just fine here. I want everyone to know that while I am sad to be away, it is going to be an adventure and I am ready! I have Internet in my room, so please, post on this page and let me know everyone is doing okay there as well. Also, if you would like my mailing address, I can e-mail that to you. I don't feel comfortable posting it because it is the Internet, but I will certainly e-mail it to you by request from your comments or e-mails.

Also, again, my camera does not want to upload pictures to my computer at the moment. I am working on it, but failed to bring the CD with me to install the software in case this happened. It is loaded and should work properly, so perhaps when I am not exhausted I will have a stroke of genius and work it out.

Love you all, best, Megan

In place of those I can not get to work, here are some you have probably not seen!

Dad and Me getting the Canady Scholarhship and Kissa :)

Day Before

I leave tomorrow!! It's very exciting, but there are so many things to do before I go! Finding the passport, collecting all of the important papers, getting clothes packed (thanks Tyler!), debating about bringing yarn for knitting, bringing pleasure reading books or Dante's Inferno, all kinds of things! I just hope that everything goes according to plan tomorrow because it has finally decided to snow here! I think we got around 3 or 4 inches today. I leave out of Pittsburgh and then to Newark which will be a direct flight to Belfast in Northern Ireland. So, I love you all and hope you are well. Wish me luck in Ireland for those first couple of days, and also for my luggage to arrive with me :) Keep in touch, Megan

First Post

Just to kick things off, I wanted to post the first message. I leave in less than 1 week and I am getting excited, but very nervous. Dad is working frantically to find suitable transportation from the airport terminal to my dorm room, some 60 miles away! Thanks Dad! Mom and I are meeting with the travel agent today to hammer out the last few details of their own trip. Thanks Mom!

Mom and Dad are coming to visit me first while I am away over Mom's spring break at the beginning of March. We are going to see so much of both Northern and the Republic of Ireland! We plan on focusing on the southern region of the Island. Then Tyler will be stopping by on his own spring break to visit Northern Ireland and see Eamon, his good friend from NI who studied abroad at WVU last year, and me of course! Aunt Shirley and Uncle Tom will visit over my 21st birthday and Easter where we will explore the south of Ireland and the west coast! Hayley will visit me the very next week in London for a fabulous time in the city! We plan to explore museums and really wonderful 'old stuff' during the day, and hit the town in the evening for some serious nightlife (a highlight of the trip for Hayley :) ).

I'll keep everyone posted on my arrival and beginning pictures of my trip. Keep checking back to this site for more. Feel free to post if you have any departing wisdom for me!