Greetings from Ennis!

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I'm Off To Join The Circus!

Well loyal reader, after a week and a half visit home with the 'rents and sister's family, I'm finally over the pond. Not much to report as of yet, as I just arrived this morning. Of course my ass is dragging lower than a pregnant warthog's, but that's to be expected when you jump ahead 5 time zones (6 if you count the TX -> NC transition) and the previous night was spent dodging the motherly tendancies of Aer Lingus flight attendants. I must say, I was quite impressed by Aer Lingus's plane. We flew over on a A330, which was decked out well in the latest of tech gadgets. I, of course, wound up trying my best to sleep instead of re-watching "The Watchmen" or some such movie. Got a few winks in...

No pictures to post as of yet, as I have spent most of today in transit on planes & trains. Met up with Hilary, one of the hosts of the farm I'm going to be working at, and she's finishing up a volunteer shift at the Oxfam Bookstore right now. Hope to get some pictures and whatnot tonight and over the next few days, and we'll see when I can upload them...

I always like to put a "lessons learned" section in my reports, and figure it's a good thing to add to the blog as well. After all, if we're not still learning, what's the point? And here we go:

Lessons Learned:
1) Always double-check the time that your train is supposed to depart, or else you will wind up on the wrong train. The folks at the train station don't care that you're getting on the wrong train, they just want to see some sort of ticket. Yeah, I did it again and hopped on the wrong train. Fortunately I did resolve the issue and got back into the groove at the next stop.
2) Wheeled suitcases are next to useless for European travel. I've seen so many people struggling with their wheeled bags that it's already made me grateful for my backpack. Broken cobblestone sidewalks are not caster-friendly.
3) Buy bottled drinks at the Irish-equivalent dollar store. Corner stores are insanely expensive when compared to the 4 for €2 bottles.

Alright, time to go see what I can see. I'll be typing up some journal entries on the netbook even if I don't have internet access. And I hope to get you some pictures next time. Apparently this has been one of the nicest June months in recent memory...let's hope it holds.

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Photos

Aer Lingus
I would prefer a 4-leaf clover on my plane. I need all the luck I can get

Dublin!
No backing out now, I'm Dublin-bound

Comments

[Kelly]

Hot?
So... its hillary hot or not?

[Geoffy]

wooooooooo!
and Jamesy's off! Have fun, travel safe, and I hope to see you in 6 months :)