Here is a little more catch up for those of you out there wondering where I’ve been and what I have been up too:
After leaving Nicaragua, I-Squad traveled to Boston for less then 24 hours……We arrived around 1am at the ariport and proceeded to check into the Hilton Airport Hotel. I spent the next day running around Boston with a few peeps taking care of some random errands. We went to the Apple Store (which is apparently the largest one in the WORLD!), REI to get some gear that we realized we needed, and a supermarket. While at REI the Apple store contacted me to tell me that my computer was not repairable unless I wanted to pay $800 and leave it with them for 48 hours. I said, no thank you, I don’t have that kind of money and I fly out in like 5 hours. I hung up the phone and started crying by the sleeping bags in REi. It was awesome. The people with me really were super amazing friends that day and tried so hard to cheer me up. I had to walk back to the Apple store in the rain to get my computer. They told me that it could totally die on me in 3 days or 1 year…..so, I took a risk and chose to bring my computer with me and pray for the 1 year thing. After 2 days in Ireland I started to regret that decision and after 1 day in Romania my computer was completey dundies….but more on that in a later blog……
It was a little weird to be back in the USA, particularly back in Boston but it really wasn’t as weird as I had anticipated. Things I enjoyed about being back in the states- flushing toliet paper in the toliet again, being able to drink the water and use it to brush my teeth without fear of a parasite, and realizing that I actually understand what everyone is saying. I also was able to see my parents which was something else that was not as weird as I thought it would be. They came to the hotel we stayed at and watched me pack for a little while. It was really good to see them but it didn’t feel like it had been 2 months since I had last seen them; it felt like it was two weeks ago when I left. I don’t think they felt that way though!
Our flight left Boston at 7pm, putting us in Dublin, Ireland around 6am the next day. I did not sleep at all on the flight but I did get to watch 3 movies! This was seriously the nicest flight of my life. Each person had their own tv with like 15 movie choices, episdoes of a few tv shows, and other fun things. We also had dinner on the plane and it was actually really really good food. Why would I want to sleep when I had all that? Once we all had arrived in Dublin (minus one group that got stuck in Boston for a few days) we boarded a bus that took us to Galway, where we had our squad debrief for 5 days. Right now I can’t remember if the bus ride was 1 hour or 3.5 hours but it somewhere in that range. It was on the bus to Galway that I realized, “wow, I am really on the World Race. Month 3 is here. I no longer feel like I am just on a summer’s missions trip to Latin America.” I’m not sure why it took until that bus ride to Galway for that to click. I think it was the first time I had to just sit and think since leaving Niacaragua. I had no movies distracting me, just my ipod and the Irish countryside flashing by.
Honestly, I have much more I could say about Ireland but since I already posted a couple of blogs today I think I will hold off and just give you a couple of pictures of Ireland. More to come about Ireland and Romania!
Top: Marissa, Kristin, Myself, and Matt waiting for a bus, check out facebook for about 12 more pictures from this photo shot
Bottom: Galway city center area
