Arrived - 2018

I arrived yesterday evening after what felt like an unending day. Getting up at 3am I got an email from KLM telling me that my flight from Dublin had been cancelled but that they could accommodate me on a later flight with Aer Lingus (to Amsterdam) at 6.15am (instead of 5.55am). That was fine except for the fact that the email was in French and I wasn't entirel sure of everything in it. Anyway, I had no choice. Then, at 3.45am, I received another email from KLM telling me that my flight would now be at 2pm - this was worrying as my connecting flight from Amsterdam to Panama was due to depart at 1pm.
As it happens, the Aer Lingus staff were great and put me on the earlier flight and I arrived to Amsterdam where I had a 4 and a half hour wait for my next flight.
This flight was to last 10 hours and 50 minutes and was absolutely packed with people - it's a long time since I have seen a totally full flight going anywhere! The plane was comfortable but it was a bit of a squeeze - let's just say that the lady beside me was a similar size to myself - when we arrived in Panama we were absolutely wrecked.
I was met at the airport by the Rector of the seminary who told me that they have quite a few things lined up for me - more of that another day; and by the time we got to the seminary I was only fit for the bed.
This morning I was up at 5am for Mass and got a lovely welcome back from the seminarians. It was great to see so many familiar faces and I'm looking forward to getting down to business but I have no lectures today (the first time I didn't have class on my first morning) which is great as I am still a bit washed out after the journey yesterday.
I met some of the Augustinian students this morning. They have 16 in the first year of the pre-novitiate. They seem to vary in age but are a really lovely group. I expect I'll get to know them a bit better over the coming weeks.
I'm off now to unpack and get the room organised. This year I have been given a very nice room - a bedroom and a study, which makes things much more comfortable than in former years - and thank God for air conditioning.
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