Little Caroline Travels The Big World: Day of Hell

Today was a very stressful day.

Today was my last day at my apartment, that meant that I had to pack. Now, I had started to back before my sister came over. I was really proud of this because in Hungary, I didn't know my final schedule until the last minute, that meant that studying and packing had to be done all at once. I didn't want to leave anything to the last minute this time. But it didn't go quite the way I had planned.

In the morning, Catherine and I went to the Omni Shopping Center to get something to eat. We ended up at O'Brien's and I tried to get her to have the amazing ham and cheese toastie, but she got a Caesar salad instead.

After our brunch, we headed back to the apartment. The previous day we had gone to the post office to get boxes. In Hungary we were stuck with using very small boxes and I was hoping that this time I would be able to get larger boxes, but that wasn't the case. Again, we were stuck with small boxes.

The next challenged was to figure out how to ship the duffel/suitcase that I had. Yesterday, the people at the post office said to just wrap it in a garbage bag with the address tapped on. Ghetto, I thought.

After getting something to eat, we went back to the apartment. I put everything into the boxes that I had and the duffel. My sister and I took the stuff to the post office in the shopping center.

I had to buy another box and I wanted to make sure that we were going to ship the duffel bag properly. They said the same thing as the day before and that it had to fit through the window.

I asked if they had any tape that I could purchase and they said that I had to go next door in order to purchase some. So, I went next door and got some.

Catherine and I stationed ourselves outside the post office to get everything in order. This again brought memories of Hungary where we took over the post office to get everything packed.

After finishing our packing, we stood in line to finally mail everything. I was so concerned that the duffel bag wouldn't fit through the window, but luckily it did!

But our job wasn't done. When we got up to pay, we had to pay in cash. To ship the duffel is was going to be 90 Euros alone! And the girl was bringing each purchase up separately. What an idiot! So I had to run to the ATM to get more money out while Catherine dealt with the worker.

The whole process took way longer that I thought! I believed that it took around 2 hours!

It did not put me in a good mood and more work had to be done. I had to pack the rest of my stuff and finish cleaning the apartment. I had washed my clothes yesterday and they were still wet! I was so mad! I wanted to wash them earlier, but my roommates and I had lost the keys to the laundry room. I had to contact the apartment handy man, Jim, for help. Finally I was able to enter. Last time I did laundry the machine was able to dry them properly, but of course this time I wasn't lucky. I had to pack my wet clothes.

The day was long and I was stressed about getting to our hostel. I really didn't clean too much. My roommates barely cleaned and I wasn't going to do all the work this time.

By the early evening I was finally ready to leave the apartment. This was bitter sweet for me. I was sad to leave the apartment because it was signaling that my time in Ireland was coming to an end and a new chapter in my life was about to begin. But I was ready to start the new chapter.

Catherine and I walked out of my apartment, and apartment complex, for the last time. We went by the bus stop to catch a cab. It took us a couple of minutes to find one. One pulled over and he asked if we needed a ride, but he already had someone. The other person got out and we got into the cab. I was confused.

As we started to drive, a drunk man in the middle of the road approached the cab. The cab driver told him to take it easy. That is one thing I am going to miss about Ireland, random people talking to each other like they have known each other their whole lives.

Our cab driver was nice and talkative. But what cab driver in Ireland is silent? It seems that they always have a story or advice to give and that is why I have loved my cab rides in Ireland.

Our hostel was the 4 Courts Hostel. We checked in; got our room situation figured out; got my medicine covered and headed to our room. We are going to be with 14 other girls. This is going to be interesting.

We figured out where we were sleeping and where to put our luggage. We both had top bunks and there was barely any room for our suitcases, but we made due.

We then went to Burger King to get something to eat. We wanted something quick and with a long day of packing, I didn't want to think of where to eat.

After eating, we went back to the hostel and now we are just chilling in the common area. I am really happy to be closer to the center of Dublin. This is going to make it easier to get around town and I am happy that I finally get to show Catherine the city!