We're FINALLY here!!

What a day of traveling we experienced! I have been through quite a bit in the past 30+ hours and my body has just about had enough! We finally got on our flight from Indy to Chicago at 3:45pm (2 hours late) yesterday, but there were some serious problems on the plane when we first got on (and I was in the VERY back row in the corner, right next to the bathroom, yikes). Once we thought it was about time to leave the pilot came over the PA to announce that 5 passengers needed to get off the plane because it was too heavy (and this was a small plane with not many passengers). Five generous people decided to leave the plane, but then they decided those five people could get back on because they found a way to redistribute the weight so that it would all work out. After that they decided the plane was off balance so it took another 20 minutes to get that situated. Finally they decided that one person actually did need to exit the plane and get a flight for another day. It of course took about 10 minutes for someone to finally give in and decide to leave. FINALLY after an hour and 15 minutes on the plane we were ready for takeoff. Thankfully we had a smooth flight to Chicago.

Once we got to Chicago O'Hare airport it was a madhouse! We didn't have the 5-hour layover we expected so we were very rushed to find our terminal. O'Hare is quite a bit larger than Indianapolis Airport (go figure) so Steph and I had some major difficulty trying to figure out where under the sun we were supposed to be. During our frantic rush to the next terminal I managed to trip Steph with my suitcase, drop my bag with my computer in it all the way down the escalator (thump, thump, thump), and have to go through security twice because I left THREE things that contained liquid in my carry-on, which is apparently a big no-no. Finally we were through security and ready to eat since we had not had ONE bite to eat in the 10+ hours that we had been awake. Come to find out, they only sell chips and Chex Mix on that side of the security check. Steph and I each settled for a bag of Chex Mix and a Diet Pepsi for $7.15. That was our last purchase using US Dollars in 10 weeks!

Steph and I were giving one another pep talks at this point in time, because we were each pretty flustered and tired. Then, we stepped foot on our Aer Lingus flight to Dublin and all our worries and stresses floated away:) The atmosphere on the plane was so care-free and "dapper" (that's my attempt to try out some Irish vocab). The flight attendants very kind, making attempts to learn about us and our travels. For some reason the plane was only about half-full, so we each got 2 seats to sprawl across. Steph and I both slept for about 3 hours. We made it to Ireland at about 8:30 Ireland time this morning! We had no problems going through customs and here we are! It's hard to believe.

Once we got through customs we took a bus through Dublin. It was very surreal at first. The buildings are all crammed together and it seems that every other shop is a pub! The roads are crazy! People drive super fast and the roads are anything but straight. Oh, and not to mention they drive on the left side of the road. This is something that will take some time for me to get used to! People seem to walk very close to cars. We even witnessed a car accident. My host dad said that probably won't be the last one we see.

On the bus. This is our "excited/exhausted" face

The bus took us to a hotel that my host dad "scooped" us up from. He is very kind. He actually grew up in England and the family lived there until about 10 years ago. Today is Mother's Day in Ireland, so he took Steph and I to their church to have some coffee to celebrate the holiday. This is where we met the rest of both families, probably the most overwhelming part of our day. There we were, new to Ireland, standing among about 100 people in a tiny cramped room, experiencing quite a bit of jet lag, and meeting the families we will be living with for 10 weeks. What an overwhelming experience!

After this Steph and I each went to our own homes. I unpacked, cleaned up a bit, and talked with my host mom. She seems great! My host sister is precious! She asked me to french braid her hair today, I can tell she is excited to have someone new here. After that we went to Steph's family's house to celebrate my host mom and Steph's host sister's birthdays as well as Mother's Day. Steph's host mom made a really great meal. There were about 10 dishes, no exaggerations. There was lasagna, cous cous, cole slaw, some yogurt-looking stuff, a bean dish, and so much more. I tried about half of it, and liked about half of what I tried. We had the most delicious dessert for dinner, "banofee." It was a banana/toffee pie. It was amazing. By that time though I felt like I was going to explode.

Steph and I spent the next few hours talking with a few of the host sisters and dads. Then Steph's host mom took us on a ride to see Steph's school, and now here I am at home and SO ready to sleep. I have now been up for 33 hours with only 3 hours of sleep.

My host dad is currently making me a cup of tea:) How wonderful. I've been here for only one day and I've already had three cups of coffee on separate occasions and a cup of tea. The coffee is so much different, but I can't decide why. I think it tastes less watered down or something. And the tea is just delicious. I think that may have something to do with the fact that it was made by someone who is from Ireland.

Sorry no pictures yet. I will upload some ASAP, I promise!