Drunken Lullabies

Hello, friends. I haven't updated in a couple of days because I didn't want to without new pictures. However, I'm bloody lazy and haven't taken my camera out in a few days. To keep the interest of you, my followers, I thought I should let you know that I'm not dead in an Irish ditch somewhere.

I went into Dublin with Maria, her mum, and her mum's friend Deirdre, on Friday because I fully expected to get my Garda stuff settled, work on my resume, get my PPS (Irish equivalent of a SIN...you know, the 8th, not nearly as deadly one). Part of that happened. The resume bit. I got to the immigration office to find a queue of about 100 people with an additional 100 sitting down, so I said "feck it" and worked on my resume.

I didn't want to apply for any jobs dressed the way I was, so I wandered around Dublin for about two hours before decided on lunch and a cinematic adventure. I went to a pub called Maddigans's, which would have been the oldest pub I've ever seen if I hadn't been to the Brazen Head, had lunch, and ventured to the theatre to kill some time before Maria got off work. Of course, me being as magnetic as I am, I attracted a crazy dude with long hair and no teeth who was on and on about the north etc etc. Do I produce a special chemical that brings crazy people to me? I'd wager yes.

I went to see Alice in Wonderland at a theatre called Savoy. It was pretty nifty. I managed to get into the theatre where they do a bunch of premieres and things. It was HUGE, with red curtains and everything. Definitely wasn't designed for some Cineplex-loving Canadian tourist.

Maria and I caught the bus home with her younger brother Greg (who is a year older than me), and watched a movie called the Magdelene Sisters when we got home. It was a true story based on the Magdelene Asylums in Ireland in the 60s where young, unmarried, pregnant girls were sent.

We spent the day today relaxing, for the most part. Hung some laundry to dry, made some dinner (fettucine alfredo..yes, I'm that good), and watched Titanic over a couple of bottles of wine. I'll be back in Dublin on Monday to actually get my Garda stuff sorted, and then I may be making a trip down to Cork to see what life there is like. Why not, right?

I'll be sure to keep you posted as my trip progresses, but be sure to keep me updated because I miss Canada like mad.

Pog Mo Thoin

Rain, rain, go away, come again when I'm not hungover.
Well, folks, there are two things I have learned about the Irish life on this, the 18th of March. First, although this is the only day I've had the pleasure of experiencing it, Irish rain is as dreadfully cold and incessant as I was led to believe. Second, while the locals definitely know how to party it up in celebration of their patron saint, you should never, under any circumstance, allow these locals to talk you into "just one more". Maria and I spent the day at her mum's place and walked down to the parade in Arklow rather than risking the Dublin crowd. Of course, this included a pint in the "beer gardens", which is actually just what they call an outdoor patio behind a pub. We followed this with a bottle of wine with her family (yes, a bottle each) and chicken "kebabs". While I was expecting chicken on a stick, I was pleasantly surprised by a chicken pita with purple and green cabbage and a delicious semi-spicy sauce. Super tasty.

We headed out to a bar called D'Arcy McGees to start (4 pints in), and walked to a busier Sally O'Briens (I lost count of the pints we had there). Both of us were pretty locked, but we still managed to chat up some local firemen. Maybe that was just me. After we closed the bar down, we walked to the place with the kebabs--strictly because it was on the way home, of course. Poor Maria had to be up at 6 this morning to go to work. After how much we drank last night, I honestly don't know how she did it. Being unemployed sure has its perks the day after a bank holiday.

Don't worry, I'll be looking for a job tomorrow. And maybe a Tim Horton's. They're here somewhere. I'm pretty convinced that if I follow the rainbow, I will find it at the end since it's basically the pot of gold for me. I miss good coffee. *sigh*

Guinness--er, business--as usual.

Well, I've managed to get a bit more settled into Maria's place here in Arklow, and I figured I should work on a blog to keep everyone updated on my drunken shenanigans (and, well, the sober ones too).

The 9 hour flight was brutal, mostly because I hate planes, but Maria took me for my very first Irish beer in my very first Irish pub. Perfect welcome to the country, I'd say. For the record, Guinness over here is actually good. And no, they didn't serve it to me warm. Must be a... British thing?

I had to get up early Monday to go to my SWAP orientation. Maria works in Dublin, so she leaves early to get there. Luckily for me, the place I had to go was within walking distance of her office, so I had some coffee (NOT Tim Horton's...yikes) and went on my way. My orientation wasn't until 11, and I was in Dublin by 7:30, so I walked around the Temple Bar area (a cool little shopping centre with cobbly streets), and I hit up a Guinness store and a place to get some postcards. I was unfortunately the only person in the orientation. I was hoping to meet some fellow travelers, but the girl did say they had socials and things periodically, so I'm sure I'll get to meet some eventually. After the orientation, I did manage to make my way to The Brazen Head Pub, which is the oldest pub in Ireland. It was pretty nifty. Definitely a good way to kill an hour or two.

I went to bed super early last night to try and get over my jet lag... I slept for a pretty solid 17 hours. Maria and Mark both had to work today, so I had the house to myself. I walked down to the Tesco, which is a big store (sort of like Superstore, but not r-tardedly busy). I decided I'd make some Nanaimo bars for them, since they're bloody delicious and something not a lot of Irish people know about.

I've only had a few issues, mostly with the damned Irish appliances. I couldn't get the shower to run on Monday (you'd think a start/stop button would be enough...but noooo), then trying to cook my fettucine alfredo tonight, I couldn't get the stove to work. Who has an on/off switch for the stove located BEHIND the stove? Really? Doors here are a bit strange too... some kid on a scooter definitely saw me struggling to lock it. Don't judge me!

Alright kiddies, that's it for now. I have very important preparation (sleep) to do for tomorrow's adventures. Maria's taking me into Dublin in the morning for the St.Patty's day parade, and then drink, drank, drunk!