Slán Agat USA!

Hello ILE Families and Friends! Just a quick update on our very long travel day to Ireland. Monday, the 27th, marked the departure of the 2011 Irish Life Experience. It was an exciting time! The day began around 10:30 AM, when Levi-our wonderful ILE Counselor, met Alyssa and Molly coming in from Chicago on their connecting flight. Shortly thereafter, a few more students started arriving from California, Florida, Kentucky, Puerto Rico, and Washington. Since our Aer Lingus flight didn't depart until 9:40 PM, students had plenty of time for introductions and to explore and become familiar with Terminal 4 at JFK International Airport. A few of them listened to their iPods, played card games, and read their books. Many of them checked out Duty Free and got any last minute essentials they might have forgotten to pack. They also got their fill on the American comfort food of Kentucky Fried Chicken, McDonald's, and S'Barro, before they would enjoy the delicious Irish cuisine..., of potatoes:). Levi said it was a very long day, but ran smoothly. In fact, it was probably the easiest departure day we have ever had from JFK in the history of the ILE. Sallie, coming from Montana, was the only flight delay. However, she arrived with quite a lot of time to spare. It was her first time on a plane, and she said she loved the experience. She said it wasn't as bad as she thought. Local students and families started to arrive around 5-6 PM. They were met by Andrew, Levi, and Taryn, where they signed-in with the Irish Life Experience, received their T-Shirts and Tourism Ireland goodie bags. A quick shout out to Andrew from Tenon Tours, who was kind enough to volunteer his time to help meet students from their connecting flights. We all wished you could have joined us in Ireland. Maybe next summer. We eventually were allowed to check-in with Aer Lingus and before we knew it, it was time to go through Security and board our plane to the Emerald Isle. Parents asked last minute questions and said their final good-byes, before we were able to capture a picture of the group. No tears were shed and students were filled with a lot of excitement about the adventure they were about to embark upon. Kelly said it was fun to meet everyone. Jenny added it was similar to the terrifying exhilaration you get when you are on a roller coaster-a big ball of nerves. We breezed through Security and boarded EI 108, direct to Dublin. The ILE occupied the back of the plane, got settled in their seats, and relaxed with a great selection of movies for the six hour journey across the pond. Students were exhausted from their travel day, so quite a few of them got some much needed shut eye. Molly said her favorite part of the day was flying into Ireland and noticing all of the different shades of green. We finally arrived Dublin Airport at 9:40 AM on Wednesday morning. As we were waiting in the Customs line, Taryn was the FIRST to notice the band LMFAO. She was very proud of herself, as she felt very hip with her knowledge of pop culture. Their latest song is Party Rock Anthem, so be sure to check it out on iTunes. She managed to get Fiona, Sallie, and Zoe to strike a quick pose with two of the members of the band. A quick claim to fame. We then proceeded to collect our luggage and were happy to find out that no bags were lost in the process. We exited the terminal and were greeted with warm welcomes from Dan and Edel. It was an overwhelming day, but we are all happy to be in Ireland! Mary Clare said, it's nice to be home.

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