First 72 hours in Limerick, Ireland

I made it!

I had a direct flight out of Chicago to Dublin. The flight was 7 hours long luckily for me I was able to sleep majority of the flight besides for waking up for meals. The meals not only looked disgusting but tasted like rubbish. I arrived to Dublin around 10 AM and was surprised by how long it took to go through customs. As a student studying abroad I received a special stamp prior to receiving my visa from the immigration services located in Limerick. I collected my backpack, carryon, and checked bag and headed to the bus station. I took a bus from the Dublin airport to Limerick which was a two and half hour ride. On my bus ride, I would look out the window and it looked so familiar, it was as if I was driving down the interstate in Wisconsin. I was greeted by a staff member from the Mary Immaculate campus who brought me to my accommodation for the next 3 months.

My accommodation is called City Campus, it is located 15 minute walk from anything I could possible need, groceries, essentials, clothing store, etc. all 15 minutes away! I share my apartment with three other American girls, two who study in Minnesota at St. Cloud and one who studies at Misericordia in Pennslyvania. They are super sweet girls! We share two full bathrooms, kitchen, and living room. I have my own room that has a closet, desk, and bed. It's very simple but I feel safe! Over the first couple of days I learned a range of students live within the 9 apartment buildings. I've been keeping busy getting settled in and finding my way around town. I've noticed how cute limerick is, throughout the city there are aspects of modern and historic buildings. The Shannon river runs through the downtown area of Limerick. I love the city so far, so many decorative coffee shops, tons of clothing shops, and a pub on every corner! I have been going for runs in the morning and their is a great trail amongst the river. The weather here is cold and rainy especially when its windy. It rains for forty minutes and then it is sunny for forty minutes! The adjustment to the weather and time difference has been hard to get use to. I finally feel after 72 hours used to the time difference. I've been keeping busy getting lost in the downtown area and finding cool places I want to check out for the next 3 months. The Mary Immaculate school is gorgeous, it is a very small campus but well kept and has fairly new buildings on the campus. We have 13 international students from the United States we've been hanging out all together for our orientation. The first day of orientation was today, we went on a school tour and learned where our classes will be and how to be successful student at Mary I. I've noticed us Americans stick out like sore thumbs. This is something I hate and trying to assimilate and learn the culture here. I've been told Americans walk very fast, are overly loud in public, and super friendly where as the Irish are more reserved. Another culture shocks is how they pronounce all their vowels, try to say aluminum foil to someone who is irish and they will laugh at your face! I learned this the hard way hahaha. More culture shocks to come and I can't wait to be more knowledgeable and be more diversified for my time over here! I plan on traveling to London September 13 - 15, following that somewhere else before my friends visit. So far I am loving my time here in Ireland and the days are flying by. Cheers.