dublin!

i am looking at the ireland photos i have posted so far and noticing that they all pretty much involve the sky and/or the sea... i guess you probably get the point by now... ireland has beautiful skies and seas... especially when the weather is nice, which lucky for me, it has been. so, for the remainder of my time here, i am going to make an effort to take photos of more than just the sky and the sea... which should be easier now that i am out of the country side and into dublin.

we drove from way west to dublin yesterday... i say way west because i am not even sure what town we were staying in. the drive took about three and a half hours and the countryside from there to here, while ridiculously green, was not overly interesting.

we are staying in the city center with a friend of roddy's who has a great apartment. (and a great music collection...) i wish i could transfer this apartment to gramercy and call it my own...





last night we went to dinner overlooking the bay (first photo)... we had indian and it wasn't very good, which surprised me because indian is almost always good. again, the food here hasn't been quite my cup of tea. it seems to be a very starchy, meaty place... not that i am surprised, but i really had no idea that it would be so hard to find healthy options at times. i have been able to eat a lot of fruits and veggies, which is good, but i can't survive on that alone. and jelly babies don't count... actually, i should stop eating so many of them... it's getting gross. at least i have been running/working out a bit since i got here...

anyway... hmmm what else can i say? oh. something i found interesting... in the west of ireland, children are required to learn irish... and from what i can tell, it's a tough language. it doesn't quite make sense to my tongue and ears... all the signs and official stuff are/is written in english and irish, but everyone speaks english.

also, as i mentioned before, there seems to be no black people in the west of ireland. for 6 days i didn't see a single black person... then we went to galway and saw 24 in one day. yes, we counted. and i was asked several times about my skin tone and hair (not in galway). now that we are in dublin, i can see things are a little more diverse.

apparently though, dublin is a dangerous city. well, more dangerous than new york anyway. i have been told by a number of people, a number of different times, to watch my back and to not walk around (alone) after dark on this side of the city.

similarly, on the subject of warnings against areas of ireland, roddy's parents warned me against northern ireland. apparently, due to it's cruel history, things are not quite as friendly as they could be. so although it is beautiful (roddy's mom says the protestants got the best part of the country), it can be quite hostile, dangerous and very, very racist. i would love to see the country up there... (giant's causway!)

anyway, i think i've rambled on for far too long... bottom line, despite the food and the lack of diversity in some areas, i do love it here. i have been lucky to stay in beautiful homes/apartments everywhere we have gone... i have seen amazing sights and i have loved every single person i have met... it's beautiful. it's great. i will miss it when i have to leave.

we are going to london tomorrow for a couple of days for the blur concert (!!!!!), but will be back in dublin after that.

OH, i almost forgot. i had an interview the day i left... literally an hour before we had to go to the airport... i very, very much wanted the job and they called me a couple of hours later offering it to me! i start the day after i get back... the position involves a little bit of everything at a yoga studio in queens called bamboomoves. i am very excited and very nervous. it feels like it is going to be major.

and one last thing... it's been a crazy last couple of weeks for birthdays... so happy birthday to kristin... to sarah... to kate bond... to paul and today, to kyla! happy birthday lovelies, let's celebrate when i get back!