travel day

after only a few hours sleep (due to an NYE celebration and the excitement of the IRE move), i was up and packing the remaining items into my suitcases. bonnie arrived at 2738 shortly before 8, and then she, Preston, Erin and i packed up the car and were off to iHop for a farewell breakfast. our conversation revolved mostly around my leaving, but we talked about Erin's job and Preston's last few years in Vet school. shortly after 9, we decided it was time to leave and off to DFW we went.

B, P and E were kind enough to help me haul my bags into the airport to get checked in. i was prepared to pay extra for my bags as they seemed quite heavy, but, to my surprise and Preston's amazement, each bag weighed in slightly under the 50 lb. limit. whew! :)

bags dropped off, boarding passes in hand, i was ready to travel! after hugs and goodbyes, i entered the security line prepared to be labeled 'that girl'. i had two carry ons, my computer, a small bag of liquids and was wearing boots and a long sweater. as i said, quite ready to hold up the line of travelers behind me. going through security always stresses me out and this time was no exception. fortunately, it didn't seem to take too much time filling two bins and throwing my one bag up on the belt. my travel company waited until i was through the x-ray and heading to reclaim my items before one final wave goodbye.

i picked up my things and headed to the nearest bench so i could repack, put on my shoes and belt and then find my gate.

the flight to newark was uneventful. i sat next to a woman and her young son who asked questions for the next four hours like 'what would happen if the plane caught on fire?' and 'do you think i could go have a chat with the pilot?' adorable. we ended up landing 30 minutes early in new jersey, so by 3.45 i was wandering around terminal A looking for monitors to tell me where to find the gate for my flight to shannon. when i couldn't find my flight information on the departures monitor, i found a TSA agent and asked for help. she pointed me out to the ticketing area and suggested i ask at the american counter. from there, i was directed to terminal C. i found the tram and rode it over to terminal C along with 50 million other travelers. no kidding, it was a tight squeeze! as i headed down the escalator in terminal C, i felt as though i were in london. there were so many international travelers! it made me smile to hear the british and eastern european accents all around me. once i was downstairs, my heart sunk as i realized i would have to, once again, go through security. this time was not nearly as smooth as my DFW experience. grrrrr. oh well, at least i had plenty of time to get to my gate. feeling a bit scattered after getting through the x-ray, i found the way to my gate and was quite delighted to find a Sam Adams Brew Club located directly next door. i was tempted to order a GUINNESS, but decided to save that for my arrival in IRE. so i settled on a sam adams boston ale, sat down at a table and watched the end of the penn state vs. florida game.

i made a few phone calls, sent a few texts and then headed over to my gate. we boarded around quarter to 7 and i was fortunate to find myself seated to a young girl who was on her way to cork to study for the semester. she and i chatted briefly. i told her not to be afraid to wake me if i fell asleep and she needed to use the restroom. there's nothing worse than being trapped by a sleeping seatmate when you need to go! the flight took 6 hours and some change and i filled the time listening to my iPod and watching 'life as we know it', 'CSI' and 'Phinneas and Ferb'.

it was almost 7am when we landed in shannon. i had a bit of hold up going through customs as i told the agent i was staying for four months and my letter from Ballymaloe only cleared me for 12 weeks. after a bit of chat, the gentleman decided to give me a one-month stay stamp and wished me well. i only had to ask him to repeat himself 5 times...and to think i was confident that the accent wouldn't cause me a bit of trouble!

i located my bags, drug them out into the airport arrival area and found the coffee shop where my parents told me to wait. i didn't mind waiting as i was amused by the group of st. thomas students that were congregated just a few feet from me. they were in IRE for the same j-term course that i took in january of 2003: celtic christianity. i had to smile at the thought of the adventures in store for them but was then saddened at the thought of the time that had passed...had it really been 8 years since my first visit to IRE?! i was quickly brought back to reality when i saw my parents walk through the airport doors. i waved frantically and when they still didn't see me, i ran over to them leaving my bags to fend for themselves.

hugs, tears and laughter...i am finally here!!