Dublin: First Impression

Hello All!
I've arrived!! After leaving my house at 11:00am Monday morning, I arrived here, in Dublin, Ireland last night (Tuesday) at about 8pm. Surprisingly, i think i've already adjusted to the time change. It's roughly 5 in the morning back home - and we all know i'd be incoherent if i wasn't adjusted. :) So... really cool story.... I bought an ipod before i left.. thinking it'd be a great investment so i could have all my music with me.... downloaded nearly one thousand songs from my computer the night before i left... and discovered, while stuck on an airplane for 10 hours, (next to a very smelly man, i might add) that it barely downloaded a third of the music it was supposed to! Err. Go figure... So slightly disappointed to say the least. I won't be singin along to any of the jams i was looking forward to. Haha.. Ahh well, such is life. But alas, I will somehow survive. :)
Another great little story (can't believe i'm going to share this - please dont use it against me)... well, about a week ago, i was talking with my friend jason about stuff to do while we were in Europe. He told me that he was excited to tour the Guinness Factory in Dublin... to which i replied with enthusiasm that i was equally excited to see where all the world records are. (To those who are not following: Guinness is a beer brand.) Ya... so after he finally stopped laughing and threatening to share my stupidity w/ our entire plane (to which he already did) i thought that would be the end of it. But no. There are stinking Guinness signs on EVERY corner here. I can't escape them! Ahh.. So left and right, i keep hearing - "Hey Mel, you should go see if there are any world records in there!" Gotta love it.
Well, Dublin is amazing so far. It's raining today. Guess mom was right about needing a raincoat. Oh well. Our hostel is great! It's four stories, with an adorable little garden outside.. tables, candles, flowers, vines all the way up the walls of the hostel.. so cute. The whole bathroom scene is as coed community as you can imagine... with a truly tragic shower situation... but for now, i'm still appreciating the adventure side of it all. Some of us went walking around downtown Dublin last night.... everywhere you walk there's music and lots of dancing. All the men call the girls "love" and "lovely"... it's rough. :) It's all lit up at night, with cobblestone streets, beautiful brick buildings, and hole in the wall irish pubs on every corner. Today, we had breakfast together at this sweet Irish lady's restaurant. She made the Irish special... eggs, bacon, sausage, cheese, and beans. Good times were had by all. It's wet, but wonderful outside. I'm sitting in a little internet cafe right now preparing for our first "school" meeting at the Dublin school of Business in a couple hours. So far, so good.I hope everyone is well back home. You are all missed. Please email me (Skrupples@aol.com) and catch me up on your lives. I'm sorry to ramble on in this email/blog... Well, maybe sorry isnt the right word as i undoubtedly will ramble in emails to come. :) But if you'd like to "unsubscribe" to my mass email list at anytime, just let me know :) hehe. Again, you're all missed and in my prayers. Please pray for the safety and protection of everyone here and that our stuff wouldnt get stolen. Thank you.
With Love Love Love, Melody