Dublin Troublin' and Mutton Bustin'

I'm not even sure where to start so I guess I will start at the beginning....

We left Oakhurst for Burbank Tuesday morning with my father-in-law. It was a relaxing drive down to Hollyweird. Our hotel was really nice and we grabbed what might have been the last Mexican food for a while. It might have been that we knew it was our last American dinner, but that was the best Mexican I've had in a while. If you're in Burbank head over to Salsa and Beer! 

In the morning we met up with our sister Amber and her husband Chris to have breakfast before our flight left. It was great to see them one last time. Our short flight to San Fran in the tiniest plane I've ever boarded was pleasant enough. Our flight from San Fran to Dublin was actually not too bad, a little over 9 hours. It included meals and snacks and a personal touchscreen tv with a ton of stuff (Justin watched the new Captain America while I indulged in some True Detective-boo ya!)

Once we landed in Dublin it was 11am the next day.... but our brains were still on 3am time. We got to our hosts house by bus from the airport in a suburban town called Santry halfway between the airport and the city center. We spent the afternoon and evening in Santry.

Back yard of our hosts house -pretty sure they filmed part of Shawn of the Dead back here....

The next morning, after some much desired sleep, we took the bus into Dublin and spent the day exploring the city. Justin got his first taste of fresh Guinness, genuine fish and chips from his first chipper, and a relaxing walk through Saint Stephens Green. 

Justin overlooking the pond in St. Stephens Green

The next day we met up with one of our fellow DTSrs and hopped the train out to the opposite coastline to Sligo, our final destination. The train was nothing short of magical (you guys wild horses- or at least they looked wild, like Shadowfax status guys! -ran alongside the train as we passed through the countryside) Also the sun was shining, which was weird, but so so nice.

Our arrival at the base was met with a warm welcome from the rest of the students and staff. We are staying at the White House Hostel here in town, a cozy little old place that overlooks the river. So far we have done a bit of exploring of the town of Sligo, getting to know our fellow DTSrs, and today was our first offical day of orientation!  Currently we are taking bets on who will do some actual mutton bustin' (riding sheep for as long as you can -for you non-hillbilly people) My bets are on a student named Ruby 😉 Life is so so different now, but so so good. 

I am feeling great pregnancy-wise. 17 weeks on Wednesday. Still no discernable movement but in the next week or so we will hopefully find out if its baby boy Barigian or baby girl Barigian! Taking votes now! Still waiting for this second trimester energy to kick in but all signs point to soon. Still no crazy cravings, or aversions really, I just have a preference for salty and savory and not so much sweet. 

Prayer requests-

We still need to raise about 3,500 for the outreach portion of our DTS. So finances and also  safety while we are in Morocco. 

That we would  be effective in our minstries here, and a good influence on our fellow DTSrs.

For teachability and a curious heart.

Last but not least...thank you. To everyone of you who have supported us through prayer  and finances to get us to this point. To every person who wished us well, encouraged us, even liked a photo on Facebook, you're all our heroes. 

Until next week- The Barigians 

For old times sake....some lingo for ya:

"Like" always goes at the end

In America - "That sheep is, like, really fat."

In Ireland- "That sheep is really fat, like."