New Apartment and New Friends

After my first week in Carlow I could not be any happier with my current situation and the year that stands in front of me.  Jess and I have gotten along perfectly, and we are having a blast getting our new apartment situated.  I have grown up a great deal this week.  I am slightly embarrassed to say I made my first trips to the grocery store and learned what the basic essentials are for living.  On top of exploring our town and the sights, we got to meet some international students in our building and trained with our respective college teams.   Training went well and all the guys were welcoming.   I was struck by the varying ages on the team.  In the past everyone on the team was about the same age give or take 3 years.  On my new team in Carlow, ages range from 19 to 33.  I am curious to see how a team with varying maturity levels will come together.  In the past it has been easy working with my teammates because they were my friends, the same age, and had experienced many of the same things. Now the dynamic is totally different. For example, the 30 year old could have a bad day with the kids and wife while the 19 year old could be hung up on some pretty girl from one of his classes. 

 

The town of Carlow is a nice quaint little town one hour south of Dublin.  The apartment I am staying at is right in between the town and the University.  I am also on the top floor with a balcony overlooking the town.  Also, the Riverbank apartments are located right along a tributary leading up to the Carlow Castle that is over 800 years old.  Kojack (Martin Conroy) has also has done a great deal in helping us set up our bank accounts and making the initial steps towards my visa.  He also introduced me to a few pub owners so I could perhaps play one night. 

 

In summary Carlow is “Sound”, “GRAND”, ‘BRILLIANT.”