Irish Hogwarts (corny but true)


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Europe » Ireland » County Galway » Galway
August 31st 2011
Published: September 5th 2011
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Two days ago I began my journey in Ireland. I arrived at 8:30am after a long sleepless flight, relieved to finally put my feet on the ground again. I had spent the last half hour of the flight talking to the guy next to me who was a native of Belfast (capital of Northern Ireland). Along with telling me about backpacking in Montana for six weeks (with various mountain lion, bear, eagle, and wolf sitings) which was just plain awesome, he gave me a heads up about Ireland. The first of many people to warn me about the rain and the lack of sunshine. Well as much as I hate the rain I wasn't about to let that dampen my spirits (pun intended).


Getting my luggage, walking through customs and lugging my stuff out of the airport was a refreshingly easy set of tasks. Even finding the bus station was as easy as walking up the hill outside the airport to pair of roads filled with buses going to various destinations. The pamphlet said that the next bus nonstop to Galway was at 10:45, but the guys waiting outside the bus said one would be along at 9:30. So far things were going pretty smoothly. I ended up being the only person on the bus as it moved from the airport to Dublin City to pick up more people. The bus driver was a friendly guy named Donny who had an odd accent. Turned out he was from London but had lived in Ireland for the past 10 years. We chit chatted until we pulled into the station and met a bright eyed girl who was posted there to inform people about the coming bus. It turned out that they had canceled the 10am route and that Donny would have to wait until 11:00 before leaving. No skin off my back I had no where to rush to, as I'd be at the apartments well before the office closed. We made idle chat and Donny sold the girl a pair of perfumes for 30 quid deal out of a bag he had at his feet. Something straight out of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels down to the English slang for money. Finally we were on our way. I tried to stay awake and talk with Donny as we made our way through the Irish countryside, but the lack of sleep had finally caught up to me and I faded fast. I slept on the bus with fits and starts but finally we arrived at the bus station which was large and had a glass waiting room between it and the streets.. I bid farewell to Donny and proceeded to look for a taxi on the other side of the station.

I felt a little racist as I passed the first taxi holding an African driver, but to be honest I had learned from my travels that foreigners who have emigrated to countries for jobs like drivers were often the ones mostly likely to cheat you. I also knew to avoid vans. However, as I was about to pass the first van, its older Irishman driver called out to me. I relayed my piece of advice to him, but he waved me on saying that it would be no problem. I asked the price and what he said sounded about right. I lugged my two pieces into the back b/c I felt guilty about the weight and didn't want him to judge me. I jumped into the driver's side (their passenger side after all) and he explained to me that vans were the same amount as regular taxis but increased with the number of travelers. As we made our way down the busy street he pointed out the hospital, the university and a few other important sights as I told him about being a student and why I was there. He was extremely nice explaining that his company dealt with many visiting students and knew my apartments rather well. He kept mentioning something about if I knew whether they were waiting for me. I told him the office was open and they said it wouldn't be a problem. When we arrived the price was as he said and he even offered to take the extra few cents off. I waved him off and gave him a tip as I thanked him for his hospitality. He told me that I should approach one of the cleaning ladies who were having a cup of tea outside the Subway next door in order to get to my apartment. As I waved goodbye it finally struck me why he said this. The apartments were three identical buildings with large window fronts, but there wasn't an office in sight. I approached the cleaning ladies and discovered they were Polish. They discussed amongst themselves but couldn't seem to help me with my problem. When I went back to wait for my landlord and find her number to call the office, an Irish cleaning lady met her compatriots and upon hearing about me came over and offered me the number. I called and was told someone would come for me. Twenty minutes later a man pulled up and waved at me. His name was Paul and he worked at the Atlantis Apartment offices. Paul gave me a magnetic key that opened all doors into the apartment. He showed me that both the air and water heaters were timed so that they heated during the night so that it was warm during the day. They also had boosts to heat during the day but would use twice as much energy. I thanked him and proceeded to unpack my stuff staying up only long enough so that I would be going to bed at normal hour.

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