I have a whole queue of posts lined up (from bakes to books to the rest of Cleveland…), but I’ll start with something more recent: Ireland. Today marks a week in Northern Ireland, a week into our year abroad! It’s kind of crazy how long it took to get here, the planning, the debating, the eliminating options and possibilities, the packing, and now suddenly we’re here and it’s been a week!
We haven’t done much yet in terms of travel (which is more than fine!) but we’ve come a long way in terms of settling in. This is what our days have looked like so far:
- 22 June: We faced our first hiccup before we even made it to the airport in Chicago. I logged into my email to print our boarding passes, only to discover I had an email from Jean, my relative we are staying with (she’s my maternal grandmother’s cousin). She had just tested positive for COVID! But being the sweet and thoughtful (and well-connected!) woman she is, she arranged for a taxi to pick us up at the bus station and a B&B for us to stay at until she was no longer contagious.
- 23 June: We arrived in Dublin around 10:30-11 AM (Irish time: GMT +1 – that’s five hours ahead of home). After the immigration officer kept us chatting, and then we had to look up the bus schedule (I didn’t want to book a bus ahead of time in case the flight was delayed), we just missed the first bus to Armagh City, NI. I looked up the next bus, which wasn’t until around 3:30, but I wasn’t able to book a seat, so we figured we’d pay cash when it arrived. It arrived late and was full. We were finally able to book seats for the 6:30 bus and made it to Armagh at about 8 PM. Whew! What a day!
- 24-26 June: We stayed at the B&B these days. Kathleen, the owner, was a wonderful and attentive woman (though sometimes too attentive – she supervised our sandwich making 😅) and filled us up with full Irish breakfasts each morning! While at the B&B we probably shared 6-9 pots of tea between us! I showed Tim around town, so now he can manage the place by himself. I was also pleased with how well the map had remained in my mind after 3.5 years!
videnda (n): “what is to be observed”; the things that should be seen or visited, especially if they mark the character of a person or place
- 27 June: In the afternoon, we resettled at Jean’s since the recommended five days had passed. Jean was still worried we’d catch it since she was still testing positive (though when I had it back in November, I tested positive for several days after my symptoms were gone and after the recommended 10 days), so she insisted Tim take a test (she only had the one left) after a couple of days here, and he’s negative. Nothing to worry about there!
- We’re walking 3-5 miles a day and are looking forward to an increase.
- We watched a Gaelic football match on TV, which was very exciting and fast-paced. It was a sort of mix between soccer and American football with a bit of hockey-esque fighting thrown in.
- We’ve done plenty of shopping already! Tim has impressed Jean with home-cooked dinners. It took us a minute to find zucchini – they’re called courgette here. And I’ve indulgently purchased some chocolate-covered digestives and chocolate bars (Cadbury is so much better here!).
- We’ve been to the pub for dinner and had plenty of mashed potatoes. On the menu, it was called champ – mashed potatoes mixed with chopped scallions, butter, and milk. I was also able to finally get a bottle of Orchard Thieves cider again (in my opinion it’s the BEST cider), which you can’t get in the States.
Catholic cathedral
- I’ve made bread! I started making bread when I was studying abroad, so it was lovely to be making it here again. Ingredients for the bread were under £3 (granted, Jean already had the oats, butter, and salt), but yeast was only 65p for six packets – I can get six loaves out of that!
- Tim has found himself a job. He’ll be doing some cleaning at the cathedral for about eight hours each week.
Maybe he’ll get to go in the organ loft though…?
- And, of course, there’s the adjustment to the culture here. It’s harder for Tim than it is for me since I’ve done it before. People will just drop by for a short visit without calling ahead first. Drivers honk all the time, not for any driving/safety concern or annoyance but to get the attention of a friend who’s on the sidewalk. And of course, people drive on the left and the road signs are different. The hot water isn’t permanently on (it saves energy) so you have to have a bit of foresight if you’re planning to wash dishes. “Supper” is a bedtime snack. Summer here is 50-60°F and partly cloudy with intermittent rain. I’m struggling to think of other things Tim has pointed out, since many of them are “normal” to me, and I don’t really give them a second thought.
That’s about it for now. We’re off to Dublin next week! I’m anxious to revisit the place I had called home for so long!
The Logophile's Bookshelf 