Bad. Day.

Well, I'm here. My flights actually happened this time, and I'm here. Do I want to be here? Well...
It's hard to believe that everything I'm going to talk about right now happened in one day. It was one long-ass day.
We landed in Dublin around 8am (Ireland time) and went right to customs after getting off the plane. It had been a fairly rough ride, so I hadn't gotten much sleep at all. But I got myself through customs, grabbed my two large suitcases from the luggage belt, and headed out to find an ATM and a bagel. Well, unfortunately I found neither of those things before I found the University College Dublin booth, ready to get me to school and answer my questions. 
So I find an ATM, withdraw some quick cash, and head for the bus stop. I pay my 8 Euro and get on. I was amazed at how the driver knew where he was going. The roads around the airport seemed so confusing! No intersections, just yields and roundabouts and near-death experiences. Not to mention the fact that they drive on the other side of the road, which continues to boggle my mind and throw me off even after being surrounded by it all day. But, regardless, he dropped me off in Blackrock village.
This was where my day turned to shit. There I am, nineteen-year-old American, wandering around the main part of Blackrock with two huge suitcases, a duffel, and a backpack, just trying to find myself a cab to take me to the University. See, since I'm not staying on main campus, they made my life harder.
I end up wandering for about 15 minutes before a London tourist asks me if I need help. I'm wary to accept help from strangers, but at this point my arms are about to fall off. I let him wheel one of my bags for me, but don't think I didn't keep one eye on him the whole time. I think he was trying to flirt with me. 
He suggests we try the post office for advice for getting a cab, and I find that to be a pretty decent idea. They told me to just go to the street and wave one down. I mean, I didn't see any when I was out there, but I'm not a Dubliner (Dubliner?) so I decided to take her word for it. I left the London man at the airport and headed back out to the street. I didn't wait five minutes before I saw a cab. I threw my luggage in his trunk, and ask him to take me to Blackrock West Hall at UCD.
He doesn't know where that is.
.
I explain that I'm an American and this is my first day in the country, so I don't know either. I thought I saw the entrance to Blackrock College at some point on my bus ride, so I point him in that direction and decide to start there. Well that was totally wrong, but at least the guys who were there pointed us in the right direction. 
We finally find the UCD Blackrock campus, but it's pretty poorly signed, so I can't find where I'm supposed to go to check in. So he ends up dropping me off, and he didn't even discount my ride for his incompetence.
Idiot.
I pay him my ten Euro and set off, again, roaming with my huge bags, feeling like a total fool. Finally, when I'm close to tears, someone offers to let me leave my bags in an office and points me in the right direction of where I'm supposed to go.
I eventually make my way to the reception office, where I find out that I have another email account with vital pre-arrival information that I didn't know about. I thought I had everything done, but nope. The universe hates me.
But, eventually, after crying to my mother and sister, I got everything settled, got into my room (where I have no roommates :D), and just sort of took a moment to regroup.
The rest of the day did turn up from there. By this point, it was around 1 or 2pm, so I took a shower, unpacked enough to find something to wear, and then I ventured into the city. I walked back to the Blackrock village center to find something to eat, and I had a delicious ham and cheese panini for lunch (pictures to come). I then took a bus up to the main UCD campus, just to try to familiarize myself with it a bit before tomorrow. It's a pretty cool campus, reminding me a lot of the couple of state schools I visited when I was choosing a college. A lot of it is under construction, but with the help of a very kind Australian lady, I found what I was looking for. 
As the day went on, I was slowly realizing how tired I was, so I came back to my room and CRASHED. I slept a few hours, but I wanted to make sure I updated my readers on my crazy day. I did end up missing a reslife meet-and-greet for my dorm, but hey. Jet lag and all that. I'm still too tired to post all the AWESOME pictures I took, but no worries, I'll have them up for you tomorrow.
I won't lie, at this moment in time, I really miss BW and I want to go home. But it's only the first day, and I have to remember that the reason I want to go home is the exact reason I came here. To get thrown out of my comfort zone into a completely new situation to learn about the world and how I fit into it. I know things will look up, and I'm sure a good night's rest will help.