I have come to a conclusion. Never ever, for the life of you, ever have me as a partner on The Amazing Race, should that be in your aspirations. HA…like I would actually be a prospect.
Day Two could not have begun any worse, though it was a bit deceiving in the early morning.
I woke up at a reasonable hour, I think. It was about 8:15 a.m. I just did a little quiet time before getting ready. Breakfast was decent. Talked to a few girls going in and out of the lounge/kitchen area, and decided that I wanted to walk to City Centre for the next part of our orientation. Laura had mentioned walking there, and that seemed like a fantastic idea. She went with all the others on the bus at the end. I didn’t want to pressure her into coming with me, but I’m running short on money (did not withdraw enough) and wouldn’t mind walking around the town.
Laura is, obviously, the smarter of us. She said she was a bit nervous about not being able to get there. Well, I got there, sure enough. At 12:10 p.m. instead of 11 a.m.
Actually, no. I got there at 11 a.m. I just wandered past it…four times. I also walked to the other end of it about three times, walked down the other Parnell Street two to three times. I had given up and was heading back when my stubborn self decided that I would not go back until I found it so I can at least tell my director that I found it too late. To be fair, I wasn’t too prideful as to not ask for directions. I asked around a lot. They simply pointed me in sorts of directions or had no idea what I was talking about.
I suck at life. Or at directions, at least. I just kept thinking “19 Parnell Square.” WHY DOES IT GO FROM 16 to 30?! When I walked to the other ends of the streets, numbers decreased, and then they increased. There was no even or odd system on one side of the road like they usually have in the States, so I just became incredibly confused and wandered a bit. It was tempting to go in and buy a phone so I could make a phone call, but HA. I DON’T HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO PURCHASE ONE!
Lovely.
The reason I found it was I finally walked into a Tesco, and the girls told me that Parnell Square was “that little square by the hospital around the corner.” Ohhh…yes yes. I did that. Multiple times.
That was the time I almost gave up, when, as I was walking down Dorset Street, it dawned on me that there just might be a little square. I turned around, again for the umpteenth time.
And yes, there it was. 19 Parnell Square, Irish Writer’s Center. Of course, no one was in there.
Funny thing was, when I was talking to Mary, she told me about the timing and getting there.
“You can ask the others about it,” she said, then looking at me. “Or…are you trying to be independent?”
I assured her I wasn’t. But I suppose I had a last-minute desire to be spontaneous and brave. Or, rather, I was just afraid of going in a big group. After all, I had thought about asking people if I could go with them, but the thought of walking was too tempting, especially since I’ve been such a vegetable. So…had a good…probably 7-mile walk in circles. It was a nice day, so it wasn’t bad. I would not have minded it so much being by myself had it not been for the fact that I needed to be somewhere, and that they are probably worried that I got kidnapped or killed.
Needless to say, it’s been a rough beginning. I have a knack for getting those. It usually takes me a few months to really warm up to a place, which is actually fine and dandy, if I actually had a few years. I can’t afford that this time. I need to either learn how to get around myself, or I’ll need to fess up and make friends, be brave. It might be tougher after this fiasco, as I will be terribly embarrassed being the only one who had not made it out today added to being 1.5 hours late yesterday, as well as missing out on either Tesco or the pub.
Ohh…add to that the fact that I’m STILL sitting out in the hallway charging my computer because the outlets in our flat are STILL dead.
I could use a Guinness right about now.
