Christmas in Ireland

When it comes to travelling abroad alone, I seem to have the utmost of adventures. I was scheduled to leave for Dublin Dec. 23rd and the night before there was a snowstorm in Paris. I tossed and turned all night, worrying whether or not my flight would be cancelled and after just 4 hours of sleep I got up and headed to the airport. I arrived at the Beauvais aeroport by 7:15 and spent the next two hours waiting in lines. My flight was scheduled to depart at 9:25 but of course they didn't even start boarding passengers until nearly 10:00. After I finally made it on the plane, I began to relax and fell into a nice slumber only to be woken up by the flight attendant announcing that there was too much snow at the Dublin airport and we'd need to land in Cork instead. They told everyone that there would be buses waiting to take us to the Dublin airport and that it'd only take 3 hours. With no phone or internet, I had no way of letting my friend know that I would be arriving much later and on a bus none-the-less. Thankfully the woman I sat next to on the bus let me borrow her phone and I called Sinead's mom to tell her I was on my way. The "3 hour" bus ride turned out to be a 5 1/2 hour ride but it didn't matter when I finally got to meet up with Sinead at the arrivals gate. We found the bus to take to her town, which normally is around an hour trip but because of the snow it ended up taking 3 1/2 hours. Needless to say by the time we made it to her house, we were both exhausted. 

It was freezing, the rolling hills blanketed in white and the narrow streets barely drivable. The first few days were spent inside in effort to keep warm. Christmas was unlike any other I'd celebrated. I attended my first (and last) Catholic mass where we sang "Happy Birthday dear Jesus" and I couldn't help but laugh. I sat quietly and observed the service, surprised by the amount of standing up and sitting down that is done along with all the praying. Afterwards, like true Irish Catholics, the families got together and began drinking at noon. There was something wrong if you didn't have a glass in your hand and a buzz on the way. That evening was Christmas dinner with Sinead and her family which reminded me of home. There was turkey, mashed potatoes, fried potatoes, brussel sprouts and beef. Great food. Great company. After dinner, everyone went to Gaga's (Sinead's grandpa's) and drank some more and sang and danced. The most memorable Christmas in my life and I'm grateful I had the experience to share it with such fun people.

The following days were blessed with rain, which helped melt all the snow. As the white disappeared, green took its place and it looked like all the pictures I'd seen. It's a beautiful country and I look forward to going back and discovering more.