Brian - Dublin, Ireland - Fall 2009

Well, it’s 6:03pm here in Dublin, and (apart from the hour nap I just took to ward off the last remnants of jet lag) I’ve been up for 34 or 35 hours. But hour long power naps make all the difference.

The flight into Dublin was great (except for the landing, which I’ll get to in a moment). We (my girlfriend and I) were in and out of customs at O’Hare in a flash, and didn’t encounter any incidental fees. I read and listened to music practically the whole way to Dublin (pausing only when the stewardesses served food and drink). If I didn’t do that, I could have watched any number of television shows or movies that Aer Lingus had on the menu.

The only negative part of the flight was the decent to Dublin Airport. The pilot descended too fast – my right ear canal swelled shut, causing me to not be able to adjust to the changing cabin pressure. The 10 minute descent was filled with excruciating head pain. Ill affects of this incident lasted all morning. It took several hours for my ear canal to “un-swell” as it were, and get back to normal. I spent all morning only being able to hear out of my left ear (which was especially annoying, as all the people that chose to talk to me seemed to try and do so from my right).

It was partly cloudy when we arrived (8am Dublin time, 2am Chicago time), but as per usually, it only took a short while for it to start raining – a moderately strong rain that’s lasted up until just a short while ago.

There’s lots of rugby on the telly, and my roommates and I enjoy watching it (so do the girls down the way a bit – my girlfriend and her roomies - so that’s a plus).

It’s Wednesday, and classes don’t start until Monday, so I’m out of things to discuss until then.