My Arrival in Dublin

      So after eleven hours of travel,  I have finally made it into Dublin.   After leaving from North Carolina to the Atlanta airport I am now in Dublin's city center.   The flight was not bad at all.  I was fortunate enough to sit beside a cute little old woman that was from Missouri, but was originally born in Ireland.   She was a big help on getting around the Dublin airport and what to expect.
      I was a bit nervous as I went through immigration and still half asleep, but I was lucky enough to get the nicest of Irish  immigration officers.   So in Ireland, I don't have to have a visa to be here, but I was told by Boston University that I would have to register with the police when I got here.   I told the officer that I was here until May 17th and he said he could not stamp my passport for a visit for more than three months.    However, as he got talking to me more he said he would let it slide and stamped my passport for the entire stay.   He said he would save me the 150 euros and for me to go have a couple of pints of Guinness to celebrate.   I couldn't have asked for a better beginning to my months here in Ireland.
      After a short nap and a shower, I walked around the city with Derek as he showed me some of the main sites.  I will add some of the pictures of the city tomorrow.            

Preparation for Ireland

     It seems surreal that in 10 days I will begin my journey to Ireland.   As you can see in the picture below, I am not the most expert packer.   I intend on cutting the amount of things I am taking with me to roughly half of what it is right now.   I keep telling myself that all I really need is my passport and money, everything else I can get there.

     My goal is to blog every day about my experiences I have while in Dublin and around Europe.   Within the next ten days I have many tasks to get done in preparation for my time in Dublin, but I am very excited to spend the next five months living and learning in Dublin.