Polly speaks!

Yea! Polly here! Okay, a week now, but we don't have reliable internet service at home yet. And I've been busy sleeping 'til noon and watching Mad About You and such (one of my favorite shows - on for 2 hours during the day here - nice!). I'm at the local internet cafe - in the video store about 10 minutes walk from home. It is a gorgeous day - has been for the last three actually.

So obviously I've got a lot of catching up to do. I won't do it all today - my fingers will get too tired as they aren't used to all of that work anymore. And, we have to go to the Garda station today. That's the police - foreigners have to register with the local office. My plan is to give a list of things that I like so far - here is one of them, I'm not an "alien" here, I will be (after our visit to the Garda, fingers crossed) a resident, non-citizen. Much nicer term than in the states I think.

To get to the story of getting here! Everything went smoothly from Seattle to Newark (barring waking Caroline up). I left between 3 and 4 in the morning for the airport - checked bags, took cat to off-site cargo office, came back for what I thought would be my last Starbuck's latte for a while, boarded, watched "Mrs. Henderson Presents" (cute movie), uneventful flight until the landing - very bumpy due to wind, but a great view of the Statue of Liberty. As we were waiting for the doors to open, I actually saw them taking Pixie out of the cargo hold and could see her looking out the front of her crate. Things were good...

I had just over four hours in Newark. I made some phone calls - including one to my sis-in-law where we discussed horrible people who steal. Then decided I wanted to sit down for dinner - no trying to drag my bags whilst balancing a tray of food - and of course I would not leave my bag unattended. I found just one sit-down restaurant, and it happened to have the worst service ever. I waited around 10 minutes for a seat without any of the staff so much as looking in the general direction of the line of people wanting a seat. Finally I went for a seat in the bar. It was crowded, and the only place for my bag was behind me. I ordered a so-so grilled chicken salad - after making a bit of a scene as the bartender again ignored me over people who came up afterwards - seriously, this place was terrible! Checked my bag once during the meal, then headed towards my gate to check in.

I was told in Seattle that I would again have to present my ID in Newark. I never have a problem with airport procedures (they are for our safety, right - more on that later), so went to pull out my passport and... I cannot describe the sheer terror that categorizes the next hour. I ran all over looking for the passport, staff made announcements throughout the terminal, I retraced my steps several times, nothing. I really didn't know at the time if I had left it somewhere or if it was stolen. I had seen it while in the Newark airport, so I knew I had it there. But it was gone. I dumped the entire contents of my carry across the floor of the gate. I ran down employees trying to leave begging them to check the lost and found box. Finally my flight was boarding, and I knew I was out of luck. They pulled my bag, and I screeched at them about getting the cat off. For those of you that haven't heard the long story, one of the MANY requirements for importing a pet to Ireland is that they have to be accompanied. I don't know what they would have done if she had shown up here alone. Also, I wanted my cat!!!

I was in complete hysterics - I'm sure the Continental staff thought I was a full on nutcase. What they didn't understand of course was that I was watching a couple years of planning wash down the drain - that is how it felt anyway. I worked my £(* off that last couple weeks especially. Plus of course, the three nights before had involved a total of about 12 hours sleep, about 15 minutes of that the night before the flight.

Finally defeated I headed down to baggage claim. I saw my bags, but needed a cart, as they were huge. That took a while, then I was in desperate need of a bathroom, then as I came back for the bags, they were gone! So, more tears and begging and tracking down and "I just saw them on the carousel" and finally I had them. Then off to the cargo office for the cat. I walk in one door and am told that I need to go to the other door for pick-up. I explain at the other door - guess what, I was at the right door in the first place. Back to that office - I can now see the cat and all I want is to get her. But for some reason they are just milling around. At one point I say, "just give me my cat!" And the answer is, why can't you have your cat? I don't know, she is right there, give her to me! I'm not kidding!

But finally I find the true hero of this story - her name is Roz, and she works at Continental Cargo. She got me the cat and listened to my horrible story. She then found the number for the emergency passport service in NYC, explained how I got there, walked around the airport with me (with the cat, I needed two carts), helped me get a hotel that took cats (one night on Continental's tab with food vouchers - which came at the price of another employee admonishing me for not having my phone number in the passport - so helpful - snort), took me out to the taxi stand, made another person in line help me with my carts and gave me her cell phone number to call if I got lost in New York. An angel if there ever was one.

$20 taxi ride later, and I was at the Howard Johnson's across the highway from the airport (yes, I said $20). I waited up for a few hours to call David - no point in waking him in the middle of the night - anything he could do would be done better with a proper night's sleep. Then kitty and I settled in for a few hours rest.

That is probably enough for one day! The moral of this story is that when I choose Continental because of the cat, I made a great decision. The cargo people were truly wonderful and helped me more than anybody else there. I'm now a believer in Continental!

So here is what I like so far about Ireland:
Grocery carts - our local grocery advertises that they have seven types of trolleys (as they are called here). Seven! Really, I don't know what you'd need all of those for, but I love that I have so many choices. And on the ones that I have tried, the wheels turn all ways. So, you can push the trolley sideways - great for tight spaces (and everything here is tight spaces). And you pay a Euro to use it - well rent really, because you get the coin back when you return it. That part I don't really like or dislike, I just think it is interesting.

Here is what I don't like:
No Gilmore Girls. I'm going through withdrawals - somebody please, catch me up (I won't name names as I know you don't want to admit that you watch it).

Off to the Garda station with my brand new passport - I'm not giving anything away, you know I had to have one to get here, but it is still a pretty amazing story. Twenty years from now it will be pretty funny actually, but it will take that long!