First 2 Days in Dublin

My first impression of Dublin when I walked out of the airport was that it reminded me of Minnesota, with all the green grass, trees, bushes, overcast sky, and mild fall temperatures. It continued to remind me of Minnesota as we drove through the suburbs where the houses and buildings are similar to what you see in the older parts of St. Paul. We spent most of our first day in the suburbs with a short trip into the city center at night. We were so jet lagged we turned in early. We slept until about 2:30 AM and laid awake until about 7:00 and then slept a few more hours. It was hard to get up but we were in store for a busy day of waiting in lines at the social welfare office to get a tax ID number and then the immigration office to register. There are peoples of all different nations immigrating to Ireland. Often times I cannot even begin to guess where some of the people look to be from. It feels weird to be immigrating to another country when the US is the best country on earth (woops, did I say that outloud?). Anyway, then we met Matt's new boss for tea. She was very nice and helpful. It turns out she owns a two bedroom apartment in a nice area of town that she offered to rent to us at a decent price. We are going to look at it tomorrow. After tea we walked around the city c enter for the rest of the night. The suburbs may feel like Minnesota but the city center is as city as it gets with the beautiful European architecture. It is full of people, noise, shopping, pubs, history and awesome looking buildings (to see some pics go to Matt's blog). We are now back at our hotel for the evening and will look for a place to live tomorrow. So far the weather has been nice and we have seen the sun each day for at least a little while and have not yet had any rain. Some of the people here are very nice. I can't wait to make some friends and get an apartment.

I miss you all very, very much!!!