Galway: Arriving and All Ensuing Drama

At last, I am here, arrived in Galway. The flight was a short one, we had a lovely tailwind that brought us in to Shannon Airport about twenty-five minutes early and luckily at that! Getting through customs took about forty minutes! Why? Well, the Irish timetable is far more leisurely than the American, or better yet, New Yorker timetable. Here you get done with things when you get done with them, or you simply let it slide. Long story short, my luggage was waiting for me at lost baggage claim before I even made it to Customs! 

After the airplane ride from Newark to Shannon, I took a public bus to Galway, a journey that in sum total was about eleven hours from my driveway at home to the front step of my new home in Ireland. Needless to say, I am exhausted! Not tired, not fatigued, but just flat out exhausted! Oh well, I am only resting now, later I have to go out and buy toiletries and bus tickets and anything else I might be missing... which is thankfully not my luggage! Funny story about my luggage. After I was sitting on the bus from the airport for about an hour, I received an email from my airline, sent to inform me of the fact that the airline had mixed up my luggage with someone else's! I was quite distraught, but as soon as I arrived in Galway and checked my suitcase, I found that I did indeed have my correct luggage after all. Why the airline thought I didn't is a mystery still. 

Anyway, you may be curious what a typical home in Galway (or my home in particular) is like. Well. I am living in a cozy little neighborhood of attached homes. My home, number 12, is a four bedroom house. There is a small kitchen and eating space in the back with a small rectangle of fenced in backyard, there is a small sitting space with a fireplace, and the bedrooms are upstairs along with the bathroom. It is a cozy home, very small if we were to compare it to a four bedroom home in the States, but it is old and with nice character. The windows are kept open, even in the rain and cold (and yes, it is cold here already!! Only 56 degrees) as to keep air ventilation throughout the home. There are heaters in each room that run on timers. The shower is electric, and apparently very finicky so I will have to watch out. I have been given a half shelf in the kitchen for my foods, a shelf in the fridge, a drawer in the freezer and a drawer in the bathroom. My room is snug but comfortable, with a nice view of some other homes and a park. The house itself is about ten-fifteen minutes outside of Galway City Center with ample public transportation via the bus system. 

Alas, I am off to explore the city a little bit and purchase a cell phone SIM card and Irish cell service plan. Perhaps now that I have rested for about an hour, I will feel less.... well, less like I have been awake for about 30 hours!  

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