Allie
This is alot of pressure, the first blog post of my new experience.
Elizabeth and I arrived on yesterday morning at 5am and were immediately whisked on a three hour drive to Bundoran, where we will spend the next three months. We were given beds in the hostel and slept quite soundly for about 2 and half hours; or so they tell me. To tell the truth I don’t remember much of this, seeing as I was half asleep the whole time. What I do remember of the drive: I saw a small cottage with vines crawling up the stone walls and window boxes filled with beautiful flowers and to top it off there was smoke coming out of the chimney. At about 8:30, I began to see children and teenagers in their school uniforms out at the curb side waiting for the bus to take them to school; some of the older ones looked like your typical cynical teenagers smoking cigaretts under their phohawks.
Once we woke up and became somewhat conscious Niamh took us around the small town, told us what pubs to stay clear of and what was what. We were dropped off at the grocery store and got the essentials, there weren’t many hitches besides the fact that we couldn’t get a cart at the cheapo store because we didn’t have the right coin, it sucked and we didn’t get nearly enough stuff because of it. Oh well, many more trips await…
We got to our apartment to find it cozy and generally great (it has an ocean view!), however there are some problem: the heaters don’t work, (or at least we don’t know how to get the working) the refridgerator was moldy, (we cleaned it this morning, it was NASTY) the walls are paper thin and you can hear everything, the doors slam uncontolably, the beds have springs that decide that ones back is the best place to be, the TV only has two channels, RTE one and RTE two, and from what we understand from the programming they only play soaps! At about 2 in the morning a girl in our building got into a fight with some guy and proceeded to scream “get out of my house” at the top of her lungs, it was a wonderful thing to wake up to! Overall its home and over the next week we will proceed to make it homey. Note: neither of us have tried the shower yet, dreading that adventure!
The people are nice and friendly, but there are differences. Just some advice if you ever come here: don’t say “thanks for the ride” or “can I get a ride” cause that means “thanks for the sex” or “gimme some big boy.” So the thing to say is “thanks for the lift.” The question is if I can remember this! Another thing is that “crack” means “fun” so “got any crack?” doesn’t mean that they want drugs, it means they want fun. Speaking of fun, this weekend there is a music festival right out side our window. I am very excited about this personally!
I miss everyone terribly and homsickness is the most common ailment at the moment, but I expect that to change as I get in my grove and more time passes. I will try to write as often as I can, but I expect to be fairly busy as the weeks progress. If you have any personal questions feel free to email me at alliebeez@comcast.net.
Love to all,
Allie
Ireland Adventure
Soon all will be surf-rific
Where are my Oreos?
Allie Dear
We are so happy to have your e-mails. You re really having a wonderful time getting acquainted with the weather, the sounds, the spoken language, and even some people—already! How nice (Great!) that you two are sharing this experience—from the yucky refrigerator to the scene—a green wonderland.
You can assume that these ever loving grandparents are fine, coping appropriately with aging and enjoying life—the symphony tonight and tomorrow night an apparently raucous cabaret at our Adobe Community Theater. Most of the time we enjoy each other.
For the next three months we’ll love have your exciting, jovial accounts of your adventures.
Be well, be happy and build rich memories.
PS: Keep a journal.
I shall abandon the Haiku, my poetic comfort zone, for a more appropriate form:
I’ll tell you about two girls from Boulder
Just girls once, but traveling now that they’re older
They wonder if craic
rymes with “rake” or “Barac”
and if they had ever been colder
My dear Allie…I am just tuning into your excellent blog. I just love it!!
Thank you for doing it and allowing a Nanna to know what you are experiencing.
Your apartment is the bomb. The view is a double bomb! Perhaps when you move ouit, I can move in!!!
Loving that you are there and growing in such remarkable ways.
Dear, dear Allie,
How happy you have made me as I read your blog late last night. You describe what happened when you and the little girl connected non verbally. You showed evidence of a very important family gene—the good listener (GF note: I do not accept responsibility for this genetic predisposition of the women in the family). Or the Trust and Confidence gene (this gets better). Your parents have it (seen more clearly in women [this is GM talking now]). Grandfather will testify that I have it (GF: in spades). Debbie has it—invaluable for a social worker and Deb is a first class Social Worker. Joanie has it. Just ask Derek.
You may have heard me sound off on the subject of “building effective relationships.” I believe one can learn to do this even though one may not be born with that gene as you are. I have successfully taught many nursing leaders how to begin to acquire these skills to help them build effective relationships. This skill is so important to patients and clients and to their families. And so important to all human beings. The results enrich one’s life.
So, Allie dear, you are blessed. Your candidate for the presidency, Mr. Obama is too. Today (I wrote this several days ago) he leaves the campaign trail to visit his 85 year old grandmother, who has been seriously ill and is now apparently near the ned of her life. Little did she know that in parenting Barack and “pouring herself into him” as he remembers, she was making a better world. She has given rise to an acknowledged world leader who happens to be a remarkable human being.
We will celebrate Thanksgiving, weather permitting, in Gallina and in Albuquerque if the forecast is uncertain. Joanie and Derek and some friends will join us as well as two friends of Derek and Joanie, whom we look forward to meeting.
We will celebrate Thanksgiving, weather permitting, in Gallina and in Albuquerque if the forecast is uncertain. Joanie and Derek and some friends will join us as well as two friends of Derek and Joanie, whom we look forward to meeting.
However, Thanksgiving gives us an opportunity to count our blessings. And you dear Allie are certainly one of our blessings.
We are looking forward to Christmas with all our loved ones here to share it. Stay well, be happy, and learn a lot—even more than water skills. You are well on your way.
Much love. GM
PS: I am sure you guessed who typed this. I don’t know how much you can carry, but bring some of that good Guiness with you. Love—-GF