Job Hunting: Day One

I found my black socks this morning and knew it would be a good day. Let me explain. We have been sharing a hostel room with 3 French people who speak no english (bummer, we were hoping to make friends). Erin and I woke up really early to start our job search and the roomies were still asleep (of course, the ONE day they sleep in is the day we get up early). As we were getting ready in the pitch black room, I realized that I hadn't set out my black dress socks the night before (yes, we got dressed up- gotta make a good first impression, right?). I reached into my suit case and, miraculously, happened to pull out my black socks. Even Erin, who was REALLY nervous, knew that was a good sign.

We ate our breakfast and tried to mentally prepare for a day of rejection, and rejection was what we got- at least for the first hour. But, to our surprise, everyone was soooo nice! Even as they rejected us, they all smiled and wished us luck in our search or made small talk about our travels! Then came the most exciting part of the day- ERIN GOT AN INTERVIEW! At about 11am, when our feet were forming blisters and our spirits were starting to sink, Erin walked into a women's clothing boutique (Kris- think New Prospects). The woman behind the counter greeted her enthusiastically and asked if she was available for an interview. She went back that afternoon and was told that her interview was "stellar." The lady says as soon as she gets the green light from her higher-ups, she'll hire Erin! She happened to be wearing my black dress socks...

Job hunting wasn't the only thing on our plates today. This afternoon, we started calling around for apartments. We looked at several, but none of them were very nice, and trust me, our standards are not high. We looked at one yesterday that we're both in LOVE with, but it's a little pricey and out in the suburbs, so we'd have to take a bus to work. After seeing the quality of some apartments in this town, that bus ride isn't seeming so bad.

Tomorrow we're planning on hitting the other side of the river. There are a lot of restaurants over there we can apply at. We're also going to a bar with our friend Sheila (who went to Res and is studying abroad here) to a bar to see live Irish music tomorrow night.

Our 6euro/day budget has been successful so far, except for the 10 euro taxi ride we had to take today. We ate frozen pizza again last night (Kelly- it was chicken pesto with red pepper- you're a genius! Grazi's needs this on the menu... and one without chicken for me), cereal for breakfast, PB sandwich for lunch, and now we're eating pasta for dinner. It's a bland diet, but cheap! We might splurge on the candy machine tonight. The Snickers talks to me every time I walk by.
We've met a few people from Chicago over the last few days. The guy at the hostel desk moved here from Chi-town 7 years ago, a girl working at one of the restaurants I applied at was from the Southside, and a girl at the bar on Saturday was from Western Springs and goes to U of I! Small world, huh?

Well, I guess that's it for now. We would tell you about how great the weather is in Galway, but we heard it was 60 degrees in Illinois! We love you all and miss you TONS.

-Katie