I also had my first blood donation about a month and a half ago. One of the sororities at my college was having "Heart Week" and I decided I might as well participate in the blood donation part of it. It was sort of funny. I didn't realize how long the process took, so I had to wind up getting the paperwork done and have my iron checked, then rush out to go to class. After class I had to quickly return and do the actual donation process. I'm pretty good with needles, so I had no problems there. However, having to constantly squeeze wasn't the most comfortable thing. After all that, I had to go to another class about 20 minutes later, not before getting a bunch of snacks, of course! But yeah, having to speak German and feeling like I could faint any moment was pretty interesting. I'm glad to say I didn't, so it's all good!