Today started with cleaning the house and packing up all of our final items before heading out for Dublin. Little did we know how crazy of a day we had ahead of us. Katherine was late picking us up for the train, so we had a little bit of a rush there. To top it off, when she was saying goodbye she teared up and ran out the door of the train station before I could truly say goodbye and tell her how much we appreciate her kindness and hospitality. After this blog I will be typing that e-mail. Although I only knew her for a month, the impression she made on me will be with me throughout life. What a blessing she was to us.
We did the train thing for about 4 hours doing two separate layovers and hauling our stuff all over the place we were so excited to just get to our home in Dublin. We got of the train and tried to catch the 19N bus directly like we were told to by our landlords, but it turned out that we had to take the trolley a main street, walk a half a mile, and then catch the bus from there. The bus driver had never heard of the street that our house was on. Neither had anyone else we asked, for that matter. We finally caught the 19, and then we arrived about 20 minutes later at a random corner with no idea how to get to our house. We asked a local man if he knew where the house was located, and he said that he also had never heard of the street. He said that we were in Dublin 11 when we were supposed to be in Dublin 9. By this point we were all feeling so tired, sore, stressed and frustrated. We went into 2 different places and asked to use the phone so that we could call a taxi, but no one would let us use the phone nor would they call a taxi for us. I stood on a corner and tried to flag down every taxi that drove by, but none were available and we had no luck. As a last resort I went into the pharmacy on that same street and talked to a kind lady who said the street was just down the road and that the random man didn't know what he was talking about. We walked about 5 minutes, knocked on the wrong door, and the FINALLY found the house. We knocked, and were greeted by a man with bright red eyelids with huge black rings around his eyes. After speaking a couple of sentences to him it was clear that he wasn't "all there" and he was on something. We were feeling really uncomfortable but we came in anyway to see the house which didn't help matters. It was grungy, the lighting was dim, and the whole house reeked of smoke. The man who was supposed to show up and give us our keys was at least 20 minutes late and we were just sitting in the living room waiting for him when we had a private discussion and decided that there was no way we could possibly stay there. We prayed together that God would give us peace and strength and just clear heads to get us through this mess and find a place to stay. We left very awkwardly and then went back to the pharmacy where the kind lady gave us a hotel recommendation and called a taxi for us.
After paying 11 euros for the taxi, and close to 12 euros total for the trolley/bus and then another 50 euros for just one night in this little hotel room, where we are all sharing a king size bed, we are a lot more broke and without a place to stay for the month. None of us feel worried though. After you read this though, please say a prayer that we will sort out accommodation this evening. At least this hotel has really good chicken wings and high speed internet!
Needless to say, I am exhausted and so ready to go to bed. I just wanted to finish this blog before falling asleep so that I don't leave out any of the miserable details. At least Jared, Chelsea, and I have each other. <3
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