Ireland Days 58/59/60 - A Lot Of Things

I have a lot of reasons for being behind. I was busy the past few days. Friday I went into town and met up with Dave. We were at The Cellar briefly before heading to Eoin's new place! He's not too far away from town, still very easy to walk to at night! It's not as "two minutes away" close as his last place was, but the new place is nicer so that's good for him and his roommates. ANYWAY. 25 and Pyramids were played. Drinks were had in rapid succession (thanks to Roger). Apparently a few clubs were visited. Then my alarm clock didn't go off.

Yesterday I went straight from work to a rugby match where I met up with Dave, James and Roger. I generally don't care to watch sports but rugby is interesting. After the match in Dublin and the guys mentioning this match that happened yesterday, I actually wanted to go. Connacht won, which is a good thing! The weather was nice and the match was impressive. Wish I knew the rules a bit better, the calls would have made more sense to me. I'll add it to my list of things to do for while I'm back in the States for a bit. That way when I come back to Ireland I'll be good and learned. After the match we went to Tara's. Tara is super cool and nice! And with a neat apartment right in town. I met new people but for some reason I wasn't feeling particularly social. It's like the conversationalist in me was out for the night, so that was a bit of a bummer. Next time! We went to the Roisin Dubh and stayed pretty late, then most of us went to a place called Apache Pizza. That is good pizza. It was 3 am though. I should try it during the day and see how I feel.

Today I remembered to pay rent to Steve, so that's good. The day was dark, overcast and almost a bit sinister. Brisk, cool. I ate leftover pizza on the bus ride. Classy, no? On my lunch break I wandered around and observed the sky some more. Still sinister, not very many people on the streets. I visited Geraldine at work and she invited me to have dinner with her and Owen! :3 That perked me up considerably and I meandered back to work smiling while the rain started.

After closing up the studio I went back to where Geraldine works. She asked me if I liked pasta, which made me laugh inwardly because I love the crap out of pasta. She didn't know that so I'm glad I didn't laugh out loud, that would have been rude! Their roommate Marionne (spelling?) was home and cooking, it was nice to see her and chat for a bit. So many friendly people here! Owen came along before too long and we watched the Jedward reality show. So. Funny. And oh so terrible. It's a lot of things. Fortunately, one of those things is highly entertaining. Geraldine made dinner and we ate and chatted while also watching X Factor. That would be Ireland's American Idol.

Waiting at the bus stop rather foolishly.

A very fun night indeed. I hope to repeat it again soon. Geraldine asked me what I would miss about the States once I return to Ireland for a full year. At first I couldn't think of specifics, but then a tiny list started to grow: gardetto's, munchies, Olive Garden, Best Buy, and good gummie candy. Geraldine has actually eaten at an Olive Garden before while she was in New York and she was very enthusiastic while recounting how much she liked it. Mmm, Olive Garden xD

I started to talk to them about the things that they all say that I find interesting and/or like. At first they sounded strange to me, but now they just make sense. They seem like better ways to say things that I already say. FOR INSTANCE! Off the top of my head I can't recall hearing anyone here say me, you, him or her. They say myself, yourself, himself and herself. It seemed too proper at first, and then the more I thought about it I decided that it was polite. Suddenly saying me, you, him or her sounds... blunt and rude. So abrupt, almost like poking your finger into someone's chest when you address them as opposed to politely gesturing toward them.

They also say 'your man' as an almost catch all for any person ever. I don't know that I can really explain it properly, but it's certainly interesting. Whereas I would maybe say, "You know that one guy blahblah", they would say, "Your man blahblah". The funniest thing is that everyone always knows who "your man" is. I love it.

The third biggest thing in my mind is the word dodgy. I am familiar with the word but no one ever really uses it. People here use it all the time! I recall Dave saying something was dodgy and I made a comment that no one around me ever used that word. He asked me what I would describe the situation as and I had to stop and think for a minute. I threw a bunch of suggestions out to him and he didn't particularly like them, they were too long or too many words or not quite descriptive enough. The more I've thought about it, the more I realize that dodgy is a great word. It's so... parsimonious.

I looked at the bus schedule wrong when leaving Geraldine and Owen's place. Today is Sunday, which means the last bus is at 7:45. I was attempting to catch an 8:15. See where the disconnect is? I sat at the bus stop for 20 minutes before realizing my mistake. So I heaved myself to the bank and hopped in a taxi. I had a very amiable driver and it was only 10 euro. I felt pretty silly about reading the schedule wrong, but all in all I think it ended up OK.

The evening has turned blustery. The wind is up. It reminds me of Grinch Night. I don't work tomorrow, so I'd like to appreciate the slightly stormy weather and listen to some music. It started to rain a bit but it has stopped, I'd like it to start up again so it can add to the music. Tomorrow I will sleep in. I will savor it.

In my very first plan for Ireland, I would have left today. I'm so glad that I have another 24 days.

-MJ