Leaving Home

---

Monday, January 5, 2015 - I arrived at the Portland International Airport at the dark and early hour of 3:30 AM. I was very fatigued because I could not sleep earlier that night, but was very excited for the upcoming trip. Me and the other three girls (Emily, Caitlin, and Alicia) I am travelling with from school made it through the first flight okay but experienced a very turbulent landing. We arrived in Newark, New Jersey an hour early which meant that our layover there was extended and was no 6 1/2 hours long. After spending the afternoon in the airport (and observing that Jenna Marble's claims about overdressed people at the airport were very true on the East Coast), we made it on to our second flight okay. We could definitely tell that most of the other passengers on the flight were also students studying abroad due to various college sweatshirts being worn. We arrived in Shannon, Ireland an hour earlier than expected. After passing through customs and collecting our baggage we met John who picked us up and drove us to our apartments. He was very nice and told us about his experiences in the US (including some areas around Seattle!). When we arrived the four of us settled into our apartments and slept for several hours, catching up on our jet lag!

---