Day One in Scotland & Travelling

Love you guys!

This trip started out with my parents driving me to Chicago, which saved me a bunch of money. I'm so thankful for that, and that they could both be there to see me off. At my Chicago gate there were a lot of redheads waiting to board the plane to Dublin. One was a woman next to me who was flipping through a book about Australia. I asked her about it and she was very excited to tell me that it was her destination and how hot it was going to be there. Aer Lingus called the first 20 rows to board, and I was 14H. I struggled to pull all my stuff together and once I did I found that the hallway was packed with people waiting to board. The line didn't seem to be moving so I asked the people in front of me if they were in the first boarding group and they said no, so I went ahead. One thing about traveling alone that I really like is that you only have to account for yourself and there is only one decision maker. 

fancy charger!

The plane interior was green and the chairs seemed like they were tighter together than other planes I'd been on, but it was comforting somehow. The stewardesses greeted everyone with, "you are very welcome," and then told you where your seat was after looking at each boarding pass. I dragged my suitcase over to where they'd told me to go and found that my seat mate for the trip was already sitting and plugged in. He was wearing all black and had a clear, tan complexion with dark curly hair. #SoItalian. I smiled at him and put my stuff down on my seat while I tried to put my suitcase above. I realized that my spot was taken by somebody closer to the front, so I did the same thing they did and put my suitcase in someone else's spot. Whoops.

Walking to my gate in Dublin

I sat down in my seat and pushed my backpack under the seat in front of me. I had packed my purse into my backpack so they'd both count as one personal item, so at this point I took it out and got my phone, headset, gum, and charger cables out. The charger was in the tv screen which I thought was so cool. I offered gym to the guy sitting next to me and he was like yes thanks and brought out m&ms and chips ahoy cookies. He said in sort of broken English that I could have as many as I wanted and then that he'd put it down between us so I could get it at any point. I thought that was so funny and kind, one point later while we were flying he offered me a cookie and I took it, but that was all I took during the flight. He told me he was flying to Rome and that he was from Naples. Later I found out that he was in the US to do some research with a university in Madison, Wisconsin for 5 months. He told me that it was a "very tiny town" and when I asked if he'd ever go back he laughed and said no, that the people there were too close-minded. He seemed like a really polite, nice guy so I wondered what could have happened while he was in Madison, it made me feel sad but I didn't want to pry to find out what happened. He did say that he learned a lot about life while he was there. We navigated through the Dublin airport together when we landed and stood in front of a screen waiting for our gates to be called. His gate was announced first (he was flying into Fiumicino airport!), so we wished each other well and he left. It's so strange how you can know so much about someone and not know their name and know that you won't see them again. How strange would it be if I did?! He was a great seat mate for my first ever solo international flight. 

Chicken curry with rice, Caprese salad, bun,
plastic tub of water (??), and cream with chocolate and berries.

Backtracking a little to during the international flight: the food was great, I watched movies the entire time, and I had a fantastic wifi connection the entire time. I was happy to be in the front part of the plane as the back half's TVs were frozen. Yikes. The stewardesses all seemed stressed and angry about one thing or another. I didn't sleep on the plane due to nerves / excitement and all the entertainment. I saw a woman in front of me listening to a Billy Joel album for a while, she later switched it for a Kenny (oh gosh I can't remember that saxophone players last name right now) album. (Now I remember, Kenny G!!) I met a girl who's traveling with her military family from Utah to Europe for Christmas and the new year, she is a vegetarian trying to become vegan and the flight food was not veg friendly. We talked about dogs, my design company, and veganism while she waited to buy water and Pringles. When I landed, I went through immigration and the Irish guy there asked how long I would be visiting and if it was a vacation. After I answered he gave me a green stamp in my passport and I went on to find the departures with my Italian pal. The Dublin airport was pretty poppin' for it being so early - we landed at 5 am and my gate for my connection was announced at 6. When I made it to my gate there were already people there waiting. I was weirdly comforted to see a family I recognized from the Chicago airport. We'd been on the same planes the whole way through! I ended up sitting next to one of the daughters in their family on my connection. 

waiting for the flight in Dublin

The connection flight was pretty rough. First of all, I have never flown in a propeller plane before and was feeling cautious about that. My seat was right next to the propeller too so it was in sight the entire flight...yikers. Second off, it was rainy and windy which made for an awfully turbulent flight. I started the flight off reading a magazine and listening to music but as we were going I was scared so I took my headphones off and talked to the girl next to me. We had talked before because one of her family members shouted something about the propellers at her from a few rows behind us and I told her I was nervous about it too. During the flight I found out that she just graduated grad school in Nashville to be a Physicians Assistant, her boyfriend had gone as well and graduated with her (he was hired in a small town for a job that has to do with surgery but she wants to live in a city, she's looking for a job), that her parents were Scottish and moved to Tennessee for work, that she's extremely anxious about flying, and that her boyfriend is coming over on the 26th to spend time with her and her family in Scotland. They're staying mostly in Ayr and Kilmarnock but taking a few side trips to London and Ireland before they go back. The flight got so bumpy at multiple points that we held hands a few times as a knee jerk reaction. It was comforting and I was glad to sit next to her. The landing was really rough and I don't know what was happening in my body but everything went numb, I was really hot, and then I started shaking and everything tingled (like pins and needles, but somehow duller and more throbby) including my teeth. If we had taken another minute to land I'm sure I would have thrown up. But I didn't! 

A place called Soba where we met some of Darren's
friends, looks jUST like Target.

Darren's parents are awesome and picked me up from the Glasgow airport at 8 am (!!!!!!!). So thankful! They brought me back to the house and I fell asleep until about 4, when Darren came in. It's so so nice to be reunited. After we talked for a bit I realized I needed a shower and after I did that he gave me some birthday presents, the cutie. One of them was dark chocolate Tunnock tea cakes. They're Scottish and I l o v e them. We went out to meet some of his coworkers and walked around city center. When we got back (before 10 pm ha), we both went to sleep immediately. I woke up after two hours and have been awake for 5 more, aaaaah. I've listened to more than a few meditation tracks and TED talks to try to get back to sleep and I started reading The Great Gatsby. It's 11:30 pm at home but 5:30 am here, I am going to try to not nap today so I can sleep well tonight. ️️