For Sharon

It was a 6 hour flight. I had orange juice when the lady first came around. I watched all three NCIS: Las Vegas episodes (it's quite good for a spin off. I'm pleased) and ate some Oreos and fell asleep before they came round again. They were offering dinner that time, but I declined. I wasn't hungry and airplane food is icky. I slept on and off for most of the flight. I didn't have breakfast on the plane either, though they offered that too. As we got closer, I woke up and looked out the window. It was pitch black because we were still over the ocean. Later I heard some girls saying how scary it was to look out and only see black, but I thought it was nice. Then we dropped into some clouds and everything was gray and foggy looking for a couple minutes. Underneath the clouds there still wasn't much to see. There were scattered lights, but no huge lit up areas like even the smallest US cities. It looked like there were streamers of tulle attached to the plane wings and I immediately thought of Sharon. I watched them for a while, because there wasn't much else to look at and then we were landing. It was bumpier landing than I'd had so far.

On the ground, I put my wool coat, my hat and my scarf all back on. We had landed about 15 minutes late, I think (we were supposed to get in at 6:45 am, and it was at least 7). It took a while to get off the plane. The airport was absolutely empty when we got into it. We had to go down at least four escalators to get to customs. There was a long line, or queue as it would be called here, in front of the two elderly men who were there to let us into the country. They had everyone who wasn't a student go through first. There were at least 70 (maybe more, maybe less, I'm awful at estimating numbers of people) of us left. Professor Petersen and her family waited a little longer, but after 45 minutes of so they decided to skip up the line. Professor Petersen stopped to tell me that she'd try to keep the cab driver from leaving. I don't know what took so long but I waited over two hours in line to get through customs. All I could see was that the men were looking at papers and taking pictures and typing on their computers. Finally, there were 15 or so people in front of me. Another flight had just landed and the line behind us had gotten really long. One of the men let everyone from the EU go through. All the other people had to wait behind us though and I wasn't last in line. Some decision seemed to be made because all of a sudden, the line started moving a lot faster. I got up to the window and I gave the man my letter and my passport. He asked if I had proof of insurance and of finance. I gave him my insurance card and told him I was going to open an Irish bank account. In a monotone voice he told me I had to have proof of finance 30 days from right then. I said okay and he gestured me through. I scrambled to get all my stuff and get out of the way. I went to get my checked bags and walked through customs. A bored looking man gestured me through a green gateway (meaning I didn't have anything to declare).

I came out and looked around frantically for my cab driver hoping and praying he wasn't gone yet. I didn't see him in front of me and as I turned to my left a man leaning against a counter was saying, “Unless this is her. Are you looking for me?” I started to say maybe and he waved a paper at me that said my name on it. I said yes. He took me out to his cab and helped me put my bags in the back. I almost walked around to the wrong side to get in the front seat, but remembered at the last minute that the driver sits on the other side. We started driving and he was telling me how he didn't expect it to take so long and that he had been working all night and had been about to leave when I came out. I don't think he meant to make me feel bad, I think he was just talking because he was so amazed. I apologized and explained what I could see. We listened to a CD by, I think he said her name was Kylie Minogue (or something like that) for part of the way. I recognized one of the songs. Apparently she's Australian. His CD was well-loved because it kept skipping. We were quiet for long stretches while I just enjoyed looking out the window. It was gray outside so nothing got a particularly flattering light, but it was still fun to look at. The houses were cute. I noticed that his name was John Conroy. Partially because I felt bad for making him wait, because the silence was awkward and because I was genuinely curious I came up with questions to ask him. I asked him about the signs on the side of the road, the weather and the we talked about bikes. I also told him a little about what Oregon is like in comparison to Galway. He was nice about it all and seemed glad to talk to me whenever I came up with a question or a comment. His name was John Conroy. It made me smile in a wry sort of way every time we passed a business I'd see at home. I saw McDonald's, Texaco, Subway, a Best Western (or some big hotel chain like that. It might not've been that one in particular) and a movie theater with all American movies in it.

Mr Conroy took me all the way to Gort na Coiribe and even waited while I ran into the office to see if I was in the right place/if I could get a key to my apartment, which was more than he needed to do, particularly since I was two hours later than I was supposed to be (we got there at 10:45 am). The reception people were nice and helpful. They gave me a key and showed me where my apartment was. Mr Conroy helped me get my bags to the door before driving off. I dragged everything inside and went to my room. I was the first person there and my room is a double so I picked the bed and the desk by the window. I started unpacking just enough to take a shower, which was what I wanted most in the world at that point.

Not bad for my first time flying alone, eh? I made it all the way to Galway, even if it was only through pure luck at the end.