The first week/ London!

Dearest friends and family,

So here's my first official blog post. A lot has happened in the last few weeks (obvs). Moved to Ireland, been traveling every weekend, job hunting, etc.

Getting to Ireland was certainly a trip and a half. It seemed the States would only let us go if we pried ourselves from its cold dead fingers. Our flight from Williamsport, PA to Philly was cancelled on the 22nd of July. So we got to spend an extra day in Lewisburg, which actually was very nice to be with my family a little longer. The next day we flew to Philly at noon, and then waited 9 hours to board the plane and take off. It turned out to be good though, as John was able to fix my computer within that time, and we had a lovely date in the Wendy's.

I shed a few tears as we were pulling away from Philly, since I didn't know when I was going to be back again. And I still don't! The flight was smooth enough and we slept a little bit so that was great, as I hate flying :P

The first week was pretty good, somewhat frustrating. I went into the city centre every day, getting lost several times. I had to get my PPS number (=social security number) as soon as possible. So I went to the office and waited for 45 minutes for them to tell me that they weren't giving out PPS numbers that week. That was fun.

Onto the next task of getting a bank account, which you can't do without a PPS number. But I digress. I went to the bank that had a good reputation for graduate accounts, which you can have for two years after you graduate. I went to one branch that said I could use my lease as a proof of address, but that I wasn't eligible for a graduate account. Another branch said I could get a graduate account, but that I couldn't use my lease as proof of address (even though it was ok for the PPS office). And so the circle begins..

ANYWAYS though, not everything has been so frustrating here :) First of all, it's great to finally be with John and not have to be tied to the computer.

During the first week, the Galway Races were on outside the city. I went on Ladies Day with a few friends I met when I was here at New Years. The day was very glamorous, lots of summer dresses and big hats-think Kentucky Derby! It was quite an experience, as there were people from all walks of life there. The day was a lot of fun, full of friendship and bets, while we were enjoying the sunshine.

Second of all, we have been non-stop traveling for the last three weekends! The first weekend we flew from Dublin to London. To continue on a theme of John and I traveling together, our flight was delayed for four hours. To add insult to injury, we had left Galway an hour late due to the traffic from the Galway races. So we raced at speeds that are only legal on the autobahn. We made the 120 mile trip to Dublin in an hour and half, only to find our flight to be delayed. But, we did as the Irish do and went for a few pints in the airport pub. We got to our hostel around 430am in the morning, to find our friends in a drunken state outside the hostel. Finally going to bed when the sun was coming up, we woke up 5 hours later for a day full of football (soccer) and fun!

Will continue on with the rest of the London weekend and the other weekends in a few more (shorter!) posts.

Lots of love to all of you!