i miss ireland.

slán éire!

(our route through ireland)

i am back home! i was supposed to start my new job today, but we got in last night and i felt TERRIBLE... so i am taking today to recuperate...

though i barely slept during the trip, the water was very hard (rough on the skin), and i often had a tough time finding things to eat... i loved ireland. i saw some beautiful sights, met a lot of great people and had a generally great time. all of roddy's friends and family were extremely kind, generous and fun, and i hope to see them all again sometime.

and london was awesome, as it always is... it was good to get better acquainted with east london, see some friends... and of course, see blur!!

i am so thankful i was able to take this trip and so thankful i (finally) have a job to come back to... and i can't wait to catch up with everyone...

oh, one last thing... check out these photos. beautiful country.

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!

ireland!

(6.25) Yesterday we flew out of a sunset and into a sunrise… after a rather uncomfortable red-eye Aer Lingus flight, I finally caught my first glimpses of Ireland around 6am. (Well actually I have flown over the country before, but this time was exceptionally exciting because we were actually landing.) I was practically jumping out of my seat with excitement at the first sight of seacoast… and the country has yet to disappoint. In fact, I love it. I really, really love it. We were picked up at the airport by Roddy’s dad and driven through the countryside about 45 minutes to a little seaside town called Lahinch. Each passing minute we were in the car was more beautiful then the last; the country side is positively breath-taking… the roads are seemingly narrow, with no shoulder… the grass and wild just grows right up against them… And they wind so that you cannot see what’s around the next corner… and every time a car came round on our right, I was momentarily startled, as it always takes me a bit to get used to traffic moving opposite.

So yes, anyway, it’s beautiful. For now, we are staying in the sweetest little house and I can see the sea from where I sit now… also it’s about 10:30pm and there is still daylight!

The best part about today… we went to the Cliffs of Moher… quite possibly the most beautiful natural thing I have ever seen. My photographs don’t even begin to do them justice… they stretch on and on and down and down… they are powerful, graceful and beautiful but quite dizzyingly ominous at the same time.

A few additional notes… there are lots of little flies around, but no mosquitoes… lots of white people and not a single black person… and the next door neighbor has a pony in the back yard to keep the grass down. (It’s a very pretty pony.)

Anyway. I love it here.