Arriving in Ireland

Flashback to...4/6/2010

I’m exhausted, after lots of walking with a heavy pack.  I’m still waiting to get kicked out of the country for not having proper paperwork.  The entire computer system of the immigration department was down today, so I couldn’t officially be processed upon my arrival.  I have been given a month to take care of it, and I may have to take a trip back to Cork to do so, unless there’s something I can do from the island or a nearby town.  I tried to find out if the computers might be up and running by tomorrow, so that I could spend the night in Cork and get things sorted straight away.  But I didn’t want to try that without any certainty, especially being unable to get in touch with the marine station owner to inform him of the situation. 

In spite of this situation, I feel relatively at ease in Ireland.  It has a homey feeling and the people are rather friendly, just going about living their lives.  Not to mention, immigration and the exhaustion that I caused myself in trying to sort it have really been the only bumps in the road, so far.  I haven’t felt anxious, which I believe has helped to keep problems at bay, or at least, from becoming out of hand. 

I now have two hours to wait for the bus to Baltimore.  I already bought the ticket and it will arrive before the last ferry leaves.  I haven’t been able to access the internet, so that I can check for correspondence from the marine station.  So, I’m still not sure what I will do once I get to Sherkin Island.