#i spent like $150 on six but they gave me extras god bless

[darkrootmushies]

The Frychain arrived!!

Hes just over 14 cms tall from the tip of the star to the bottom of the collar! Star holographics and ofc double sided. I wanna be able to sell them but idk how tf to set up an etsy store RAAH dm if ur interested tho tehehe!!

[natrohne]

Ya Win Some, Ya Lose Some

Ya win some, ya lose some. About eight weeks ago, I was pretty positive I had won something big. And I wasn’t wrong. I have been blessed by an amazing support group who have faithfully supported me and my adventurous spirit. I have been blessed with a father willing to leave home a few days a week so that I can travel for free, or almost free internationally. I have been blessed to meet and befriend people all over the world. This has come to me by the grace of God and the work ethic He placed in me to accomplish my dreams and go after my goals. Eight weeks ago I marched onto Lufthansa flight 447- service to Dusseldorf, Germany. The flight went without a hitch. I even made friends with the girl next to me, who was, ironically enough, also visiting her past German foreign exchange student. The weeklong visit with Franzi, my wonderful friend who lived with my family six years ago, and her wonderful boyfriend, Fabio, who was extremely friendly and hospitable, was awesome. They were perfect hosts and I was so incredibly blessed to finally see Franzi’s life and home. 

The next few days were spent south of Manchester, England with my good Triangle Y Ranch Camp counselor friend, Tim. We have talked for years about him giving me the grand tour of Sheffield and I was so blessed to finally partake in that tour. He took care of everything and was a gracious host and friend as always! I’ve been blessed with some real winner friends. Then the fire came. 

On the way to the Manchester Airport, Tim and I ran into some traffic and did not get to the airport nearly as early as I had hoped. Then once I tried to check into my flight at the front with RyanAir, they charged me extra fees for my bag (which I had already paid for once) and for my carryon (which I didn’t know was even a thing) and for printing out my boarding pass (just a few extra dollars, but still!) So after figuring all that out, I headed to security, thinking the hard part was over. Not so. 

Once at security, I pulled off my shoes and pulled out my small Ziploc of toiletries and laptop as I’ve done hundreds, if not thousands, of times. My bag got pulled to the side to be double-checked, behind about 20 other bags. I was starting to sweat at this point. They were going so slowly through each bag and I was wracking my brain for what else could be hidden in there I didn’t remember to check or pull out. When it was finally my turn for them to look through my bag, they took 20 minutes to find a tube of chapstick. Yup, my little tube of Burt’s Bees set it off. Once the threatening chapstick was removed they scanned my bag once again. And again, it rang red! So they had to pull out all the contents AND check through my other bag just in case, even though it had gone through without a hitch. Meanwhile, they pull me to the side and two different women patted me up and down, in addition to the two who had already patted me down. Finally, they gave me the all clear and barely said sorry as I flew off to the gate. With heaving breaths as I neared the gate, I saw the jetway pull away from the plane and the gate agent shut the jetway door. I had missed my flight. Something I had never, ever done before. I could not believe it. RyanAir does not believe in rolling a passenger over to the next flight (nor do they believe in anything being their fault) so they said they would either charge me €150 simply to roll me over to the next flight (not including the baggage cost, which I had officially paid for no reason at this point) or they would walk me back out to the front of the airport so I could list myself on a different flight. I started to ask about other airlines and ran off to Aer Lingus. After a few hours of arguing and frantically trying to figure out the Manchester Airport, all on only a few hours of sleep and 30 minutes of free wifi, I finally had myself listed on a different flight on a different airline with all new fees and a whole other security checkpoint. Of course, this security check went without a hitch. How typical is that! But hey, I got to Ireland and only a couple hours after I was supposed to. It could have been way worse, but I definitely lost that one. 

Dublin was a bit difficult to adjust to with such a rocky start. My roommates posed an interesting group of people to live with which has been both fun and insightful. After this trip, I think I will have officially covered all the bases when it comes to types of people to live with… But nevertheless, the first few days were stressful and frantic. I found myself not trusting anyone, not even myself. I have traveled. I should have known. I could have done better. But I did not transition well at all. As I wrote in my last blog, I packed my last semester as much as I possibly could! I was completely burnt out from the way I conducted my life but once I had some time to rest, I had no idea what to do with it. My motto on gap year two years (can you believe it’s been two years?!) was, “don’t waste it.” And I was determined to apply that to my stay in Dublin even though I was simply exhausted, and honestly, (as much as I hate to admit it) scared. 

My internship while in Dublin consists of me working for our in-country supervisor (basically our Dublin Mom) Ms. Olwyn Mannix. She is an independent travel agent aspiring to start, or continue to pursue her own travel company. She needed help to boost her Internet presence, so, with my blogging and general computer experience (which is limited to be fair), she hired me for the semester. Two weeks in, Olwyn paid for me to attend a workshop across town where I would acquire beginner and intermediate knowledge about Wordpress, a commonly used blogging and website design site. The workshop was incredible and I am now nearly fully capable of building a website all on my own, which I am hoping to do for small businesses or charities back home. On the way home, I was taking a train I used for the first time that day called the LUAS. It runs from the North to the South side of Dublin and I rode it the entire way, getting on at the farthest south stop and getting off at the farthest north stop. On my return trip, however, I apparently did not correctly scan my student charge card to pay for my ride. I know this because only two stops into the ride back, a large man with a heavy, non-Irish accent with a bright orange vest approached asking to see my ticket. I presented my card for him to scan but he began to write me a ticket saying I had not paid to be on the train but I definitely thought I had. It had been raining at the stop and there was no awning so I rushed to make it on the train before the door closed and I guess I didn’t wait for the card to scan long enough to fully pay for the ride. So now I was in trouble with the Irish law and had a ticket looming over my head. I tried to appeal it but there was no sympathy for the rushed, stupid American. I definitely lost that one! 

Two nights later, I was with two of my roommates and another friend trying to blow off some steam at a live local concert at the famous Dublin venue, Whelans. I was leaning against the railing overlooking the unique and cool venue, my jacket along with my roommates on the chair right behind me. One minute it was there, the next we were relocating and my jacket was completely gone. My roommates’ was there but mine was taken. Thankfully there was nothing in it but it was the only nice jacket I owned and it was stolen. I called a few times in the days to follow but got nowhere. I lost that one for sure. 

I’m intrigued by the art of travel. Don’t you just see and experience the most random and interesting situations and people at airports or when in other cultures? If you have ever sat in an airport for more than 30 minutes and simply watched what was happening around you, you probably saw a person running to catch a flight. You have no idea where they are going or where they came from or why they are running. They desperately run past you and are out of your life forever. You’ll never know their name or if that day was really as rough as it seemed in that single shared moment. Have compassion on those poor people. No one I ran past in the Manchester Airport had any idea that I was about to live alone in a foreign country I had never been to for four months. No one had any idea what January 25 was supposed to look like for me. I lost that day. I had a terrible attitude and I let it affect the first few weeks of my disgruntled and disjointed trip. Things just got weirder and harder as the time went on in Dublin. Life is expensive. Mistakes are expensive. Expenses are stressful. Stress is torment to an injured brain and good for absolutely no one. 

But as I sit here, sipping on a delicious margarita given to me by a random flight attendant, I am reminded of what I have won. Today has been one of the smoothest, cheapest, and easiest travel days of my life, even though based on the destinations; it should have been very stressful. Today should have been WAY harder than that one-hour flight to Dublin nine weeks ago but here we are, an easy couple flights, a free margarita, and an excellent Spotify playlist to make for an incredible day. It’s the incredible days that are the most forgettable. Why is that? As humans we remember the days that sucked beyond all compare. We remember when we got screwed over or scammed. We remember the stuff that went wrong. We remember the times we lost. 

But here’s a cheers (or slainte) to appreciating this time among many that I have won! I am blessed by the life I have. I am blessed by the people in it- JC, for being the home I have always wanted, Rachel, for being my best friend no matter how many times I leave and what country I end up in, Katja and Isaac, for emailing me and including me in their lives, my parents for letting me take advantage of Dad’s job so much ;), Kelly, for being a stellar direct roommate, and Madison for being an incredible other roommate ;). You girls are the highlight of Dublin. Along with the very random St. Patrick’s Day parades and pub outtings, and day trip excursions, this journey has been incredible. There are so many others but I just wanted to thank you. We have all won some and lost some. I hope all of you win some today!