IHS Europe 2016

Well, the good news is that things are going well so far!

The bad news is that I appear to have a power cord issue.  Luckily Gus has his laptop as well, so I can blog from it.  This morning, though, I do not have time for a photo post because we are off to a castle!  But here's a recap:

After getting through security, we were able to relax quite a bit in Eugene as our flight to San Francisco was delayed.  But we were starting to get to know one another, and we made the most of it.  After a brief layover in San Francisco (we did still have time to grab some food), we got on a 747 to London.  Unfortunately no personalized entertainment systems, but since I saw kids reading and even doing their homework for my class, I can't complain.  One of the movies they showed was The Great Gatsby, on which students will do their IB orals junior year.  See, the lit teacher in me can't quite take the day off, even on an airplane.  Noah somehow ended up between a couple, and we are pretty sure they wanted to adopt him.  They all got a bit of sleep, and then it was off through the bowels of the London airport--and a

A few of us got some extra security screening, but we arrived in London happy and tired.  Heathrow's terminal 2 holds at least two or three entire Eugene airports, so we were glad to have an hour or so to explore, get some breakfast, and relax before boarding an AerLingus flight to Shannon!  David, our guide, met us at the airport, and he and Joe (the coach driver) whisked us off to the hotel, where we had dinner.  Then we walked over to the grocery store to grab healthy (mostly!) snacks and lunch and just to see where Irish people shop for food.  My favorite comment was that it was "the same, but different."  Then we crashed hard!

This morning we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and laughed at the loose goat and horses across the street.  We are about to board the bus for the short ride to Bunratty Castle, where we will spend the next few hours exploring.  Then we will meet up with the other group and head off to the Ring of Kerry.

So far everyone has been happy and well behaved.  They are smiling, enjoying the company of one another, and having the full travel experience--everyone is noticing different things.

And now I need to go meet them in the lobby.  I will hopefully have pictures (rest assured I am taking many) to share tonight!