As I write this I’m sitting in Dublin International Airport, and its 5:35 am local time (12:35 EST). I’m resisting the urge to go into the bookstore I’m sitting right near, so I figured I’d whip out my computer and write this blog post because I’ve been remiss lately.

So packing was a nightmare which ended with both my parents having to help me so we could get out of the house on time. My checked bag (only 1!) weighed 66 pounds (30 kilos), and since the limit was 50 I had to pay $60 in fees. Sigh.

My family waited with me in the airport for a while and then I said goodbye and finally went through security and got on the plane. The ride wasn’t bad, but I had a little trouble understanding my seatmate for a while because of his accent. He is originally Italian but now lives here in Ireland, so try and imagine a combo accent of Italian and Irish with the Irish slightly winning. See my problem? He was very nice though and we had a fun conversation about how he used to work at CERN and lived in Geneva for 5 years.

I tried to sleep but succeeded only in small increments, so I’m quite tired right now. After disembarking the plane, I had to go through security again apparently just in case I managed to acquire explosives or sharp objects on the plane? After finally escaping I realized my plane for Geneva does not yet have a gate number, so here I wait.

I have yet to find coffee because it seems the Irish are very enthusiastic about cute boutiques but not food, though there is a champagne and wine bar ahead of me. Not quite what I want, but I’m getting closer.

Dublin International Airport also seems to be lacking WiFi unless I want to pay for it, so I’m writing this post in Microsoft Word and I will post it later today, maybe along with another blog post about arriving in Geneva. Hopefully that post will include me getting more sleep!