Travelling...and more travelling

So, today was crazy, and by today I mean yesterday and half of the day before. I got back from Costa Rica late on the 12th, spent all day on the 13th washing clothes, unpacking clothes, and repacking clothes. That was tons of fun...not exactly. It was really nice to see my family and everyone again after Costa Rica..though I wish I would have had more than a day at home in between my "globe trotting", as Liz calls it.

 So at the Des Moines airport at 11 (with mom and grammy), which was pretty good for my family.. haha. Was on the plane out of Des Moines by 2 PM, which was ironically the same gate that we left from for Costa Rica. Got to Chicago at 4 ish or so. Spent some time chilling and getting some local pounds. That was a trip. I found my gate then asked directions to the nearest currency exchange place. One guy told me it was way back where I originally got off my plane, so I trudged back there with all my crap, only to find that it was actually right past my gate the whole time, so that was a little annoying. Once I got some pounds I got some oatmeal from McDonalds there in the airport, which was ironically pretty good for McDonalds. Then I got on the plane for the 7 hour flight to Manchester. I sat by this (clearly English) man, who sadly wasn't very talkative, but whatever. We got dinner and breakfast on this flight, which was alright with me. I had this chicken and rice mixture, with a salad and a caramel brownie..not bad for an airplane. I tried sleeping, but that didn't prove to work out very well. I only slept for an hour or two..  They played tv and movies throughout the flight-so i watched Eat, Pray, Love,, The Office, and 30 Rock. The flight felt like it took foooorever, which sucked a little. Got to Manchester then at 7:45 am their time, which was 2:45 am my time..so I was a little tired, to say the very least. At any rate, I got through customs no problem-my dude was really nice, which was awesome, cause I didn't have my acceptance letter from the University. I then got my luggage, which seemed to get heavier as the day went on, and waited in the airport until 11:30 or so. Jessica was supposed to meet me at 10, but she got hung up at something or another. I found Cherene, who was another girl coming over late, and since she was here last semester she knew what to do..thank goodness because I probably would have been in that airport all day if it weren't for her. We found the train station and bought tickets for 37 pounds..which is like 60 bucks, so that was a nice "welcome to the UK" gift. Rode the train for seriously 4 hours, with many connecting trains, so we had to lug our luggage around all day. It was awesome...not. Finally got to Bangor where we took a taxi to the University. They drive on the other side of the road here, which means the driver is on the other side of the car. It was sad because that threw me off for a second when we got in the taxi...I blame jet lag. Anyway get to the University and find my room-by this time it was 6 or so..it felt like 4 in the morning for me. I was basically up for 2 days straight. I met two of my flat mates-Jake and Ben, both English-both sound awesome :) some of the lingo they use here is hilarious, like "mental" means crazy/janky, and "kronk" which is kind of the same I suppose. They also say "bloomin' hell", which I find hilarious!

So unpacked a little..but honestly not a lot-I was beat. Went to Morrison's with Jessica and Cherene and got some groceries then came back and showered in my tiny bathroom and was in bed by 10. My phone died during the day, so Jake was kind enough to let me use his internet to call my parents to let them know I was alive, which is always good I think :)

So first day..though very un-according to plan, went well-all in all.