Tropical Ireland

Yes, the rainfall in Ireland could probably create quite the tropical environment if the temperatures were right, but what I was actually referring to were the palm trees. I remember it being a point of surprise the first time I was in Ireland that there are palm trees everywhere. I was just looking through some old pics of mine and found this one of the big tree at my friend Darragh's house. There really are loads of them all over Ireland - people line their drives with them and hotels have them pouring our of the landscaping. Slightly surprising but kind of cool. It's a bit of a reminder that it's not always so dreary and rainy here. Sometimes - like today - you get those really warm and sunny days and the palm trees help it seem that much better!

Another nice-weather thing that isn't often associated with Ireland is the miles of long white sand beaches that stretch along the coasts here. You know the beach scenes from Private Ryan? They were actually filmed about 30 minutes from my house at a beach called Curracloe. This is the beach in not-so-sunny weather (June at mid-day, believe it or not) but it's actually really nice on summer days when it's warm enough to lay out. Most evenings you'll see families or couples at the beach- it's a big belief that walking along the ocean and getting some of that 'good, salty, Irish Sea air' into your lungs can do a world of good for your health. It may very well be true. I can say from personal experience it's a great way to end the day and destress a bit.

So as much as I wouldn't suggest leaving extra space in your luggage for beach towels if you ever make it over this way, don't completely rule out the beaches and 'tropical' aspects of Ireland.

It's Friday and it's getting late here and I'm looking forward to leaving and heading to soccer training. Did I mention I'm playing soccer now? Ireland is probably the only country outside the U.S. where you'll hear it widely referred to as 'soccer' - only because of 'Gaelic Football' and the confusion it causes. As a testament to the awesome work hours in Ireland - I can't imagine having time to play ONE sport, let alone TWO while working the hours I was at home. LOVE it! Have a good weekend. I'll be sure to have a great pint of Guinness for you! ;-)

Who would have thought I'd miss Target?

It's raining again, but I looked up the weather forecast at home and the week ahead doesn't look much better there, so I'm not quite as disappointed as I might be. It held off long enough for us to get a 'friendly' (aka scrimmage) in against another Gaelic Football team last night. I somehow got in for most of the second half and didn't do horribly. I missed a shot on goal (actually wasn't 'on goal') but set up the only two points of the second half. Like an assist, if they have assists in Gaelic. I play 'full forward' which is center forward on a field of 15 players. I'm tall and can catch a ball so it's a good spot for me as the ball gets shot high and long up the field to that position. Or, as my coach once so delicately put it, I 'make a big target'. Thanks, Coach.

Since the topic of shopping at Target has come up twice in the past two weeks I thought I'd touch on shopping, in general. Mainly because I miss Target and wish there was a store just like it over here. Everything is mom and pop, which is great for customer service - when I go into certain stores people know me by name and if I can't find something they'll tell me if a store up the street carries it or if they can special order it. What's not good is that all of those stores close at 5:30pm, which is the exact time I get out of work. That leaves Saturday for doing any shopping that needs to be done.

Having Saturday to shop wouldn't be so bad except that everything here seems to be scheduled on Saturdays, so time tends to run low for running errands. A typical Saturday shopping for towels, sugar, a hairdryer, and muffin tins would go a bit like this:

Spend 15 minutes looking for a parking space. Find one way off Main Street and walk a couple of blocks to get there. Go to the 'department store' to get towels, since it's the only place in town that carries them. Head across the street to the grocery store to buy sugar. Head down the street to the electronics store to buy a hairdyer, and then double check at the 'home store' for muffin tins before heading to the other end of town where you eventually find them at the cake making store. That's 2 hours, 5 different stores, and 4 different checkout lines to pick up what would have taken 10 minutes in Target.

I have to admit, it IS part of Ireland's small town charm that there aren't huge chain stores like Target - but you really miss them when you're in a rush, moving into a new place, or trying to throw a party. However, I have to say my bank account doesn't really miss Target. How many times have you walked into one of those stores to pick up one or two things and somehow walk out with a few shopping bags BRIMMING with stuff? I don't think that's happened in a single store since I've moved here...

Speaking of shopping bags - you know how you drive down the road and see the white plastic ones hanging out in the shrubs or caught up in trees? It was getting a bit out of control over here so the government passed a law that required a 15 cent charge on alplastic bags. It removed 90% of the 2.1 BILLION bags that were being distributed and raised almost €10 million that went into and environmental fund to help organize further efforts. People protested at first but it wasn't hard to get used to using the re-usable bags (they only cost a € or two anyway) and how cool is that for the environment? If it had that big of an effect with such a small area, can you imagine the difference it would make in America? ;-)

Flashback to College

I could have sworn I was back in college this past weekend. That happens every now and again over here. People from age 18 to 80 all partying like they're expecting the Apocalypse any day now... Don't get me wrong - it's great fun. Until you wake up the next day, or night as it sometimes happens, wondering what you were thinking and swearing that you'll never drink again if that hangover would just leave you alone!

Yep - it was one of those weekends. It started off well and good. Went to watch an under 10's soccer match with a friend of mine early Saturday, checked out the Arklow Rugby match, and headed to the pub. Baz and I even got off to a late start, which is usually a GOOD sign. The night probably wouldn't have been quite as wild if I hadn't run into some co-workers at a local pub. Another co-worker of ours plays in a band - they do a lot of covers of fun rock and heavy metal stuff... AC/DC, Metallica, etc... And they were good. People were up dancing and having crazy air guitar contests and ordering drinks by the armload. I thought it would be nice if I bought a beer for one of the guys I work for and his wife. He apparently agreed and returned the favor with a double vodka. Hey - I thought this was a one-for-one round?? Vodka and Red Bull is a bad idea in the first place, but doubles? Come on now. Who can be responsible for themselves when doubles become involved?

We ended up back at another pub where I ran into some girlfriends of mine. One of my friends and her fiance (Dianne and Billy) are notorious for throwing kick-ass after hours parties at their place. I'd been to a few and the vodka in my system reasoned that it would be good fun to attend another. There's always a good amount of music, dancing, people, and the infamous giant bottle of vodka. This thing is HUGE. It's so big that you can't really pour it, so Billy got creative and found a ketchup pump to stick in the top. Uh-huh. Pumpable vodka. I think he was saying it holds about 6 or 7 liters. A few handles worth anyhow. I found this pic of it: that's Billy with the bottle. Not an illusion. It's really that big!

So after the usual banter, drama, and fun of an after-hours party it was time to go home... And as I walked out the door what to my wondering eyes should appear? Nope - not Santa. Daylight. Oh boy. Bad sign. Watch check: 8am. Uh-oh. This one's going to hurt. And it did. After finally making our way home I crashed hard and slept through until 8pm, with a few minor breaks that had me wishing I were dead or comatose. I haven't had a night out like that in a LONG time - nor do I plan on repeating it anytime soon. Well, not until some of you guys get your act together and come over to visit... Wouldn't want you to think the nightlife here is boring... ;-)

TGIF

Ahhh.... Friday. I love Fridays. I especially love Fridays at my current job, since I get out an hour earlier. This weekend is looking to be a fun one - birthday parties, my friend/coworker's band has a gig in town, and the weather is due to finally clear up for it all.

On another happy note for Friday - it just occurred to me to check and I discovered that the World Series is on while I will be back home in America. It will be my first trip home in 6 months and I'm excited about it. There's a wedding that's bound to be fun by virtue of the bride, groom, and guest list. My best friend is having her 2nd baby the week before (and no, she won't be late - it's a c-section), I get to see most of my friends and family, do some shopping, and now I've discovered that even though I had to miss most of the season, I will get to see the World Series.

Now, I'm not normally a huge baseball fan - I didn't grow up watching a lot of the games. When I moved out toward Boston and moved in with a few die-hard Sox fans, I started watching more and more games and even though I'm not gung-ho about the sport, I do enjoy watching the games and hanging out with friends rooting for the Sox, or against the Yankees depending on which game is playing. It really is a sport that evokes thoughts of sunshine and summer and good times.

Speaking of baseball - somebody really needs to start exporting some Sox stuff to Ireland. It's a city with a true Irish background, so why not? All you ever see over here are NYY hats, t-shirts, warm-ups, etc... It's enough to make a Boston fan sick. The Yankees are about the only American sports team I've seen stuff for over here - with the exception of a few Longhorns hats from Texas.

Actually, that's not entirely true. There IS the naked 'It takes balls to play rugby' t-shirt with the Worcester, MA rugby team on it. They sell it on Grafton Street in Dublin. My mom (of all people) found it while she was over this summer. I lived in Worcester for about 4 years, finally move halfway around the world, and what do I find within two months of being here? Half the rugby team naked on a t-shirt. It was derived from the poster to the right, which was a huge hit with moms and grandmothers when it came out. It's now a big hit with quite a few people, judging by the amount of rugby supply sights you can purchase it from...

Wow! Got off on a bit of a tangent there... I hope you all have a good weekend. Feel free to leave some comments!! They make me feel missed! ;-)

Has anybody seen Noah?

I think I may need to borrow his Ark. It's another day of 'real Irish weather' and it's making me happy that my office sits way up on a hill at the back of campus (considering the walk up the hill to get here, it's about the ONLY time I'm happy it's way up here).

Of all of the good reasons to move to Ireland, I would say that the weather would not be one of them. I was fortunate enough to have the nicest summer in over a decade as a bit of a 'Welcome to Ireland' gift. It was sunny and in the 70's for most of the summer and even broke into the 80's a couple of times. For all of the complaining people do about the weather over here, you would have thought they would be happy to see the heat and sunshine. Not so. They moaned and groaned about the heat and wanted to know when it was going to cool down. I had to smile, knowing that in a month's time they would be moaning and groaning about the cold and rain and wondering aloud when it would warm up. :-)

I suppose everyone has to have something to complain about and, to be fair, it's one of the few things the Irish bother about. Rightly so in the winter. It's dreary and cloudy and cold even when it's not actually raining. I'm going to miss winter in New England. Not the icy roads and winter driving conditions, but the snow when it sparkles in the sun after a fresh fall and the warm, sunny days on the slopes. Then again I'm close enough I may just have to plan a ski weekend in the Alps to get away from the rain. (Close proximity to great vacation spots is one of those things that outweigh the weather here!)

Another bonus to the rainy weather is the rainbows. I have seen more rainbows in the 5 months that I've been here than I did my entire life at home. Full rainbows, double rainbows, bright rianbows... not the barely there, 'was that really a rainbow?' sitings from home. The weather here changes quickly. It can be sunny when you get up and head to work, look like you're in the middle of a hurricane by 10am tea, and then feel like a sunny day in late August by lunch time (which is at 1pm over here, by the way). It makes for a lot of sunshowers - perfect weather for rainbows. Yes, I know I sound like a little kid going on about rainbows but they're impressive when they're so bright and fill the entire sky!

Unfortunately, the quick-changing weather also makes it very hard to predict an accurate forecast. I had to laugh when I first came over and listened to the morning radio shows giving the weather forecast. They wouldn't even predict the whole day. They'd forecast to lunch. If you go to the local version of weather.com you can get about a 3 day outlook. That's stretching it for accuracy, although they've been pretty good lately. It's not like living in the Northeast where you can get a 10-day outlook or watch the doppler online to see when a storm is going to hit or when it's about to head out. You just have to suck it up and never leave home without an umbrella and/or rainjacket.

But seriously - has anybody seen Noah??? ;-)

The GAA

In my last post I mentioned the sports of Hurling and Gaelic Football. Unless you're familiar with Aussie rules football, there's really nothing quite like them.

Gaelic Football is a lot like soccer, but you can use your hands and kick through crossbars. I know, I know... How can it be like soccer if the core rule in soccer is that you can't use your hands? It just is. The ball is slightly different (paneled almost like a volleyball) and the play is a bit more contact-oriented. Well, a LOT more contact oriented. The play in the pic to the right is about normal for the game and the odds that a whistle was blown are pretty slim. The rules are easy enough to catch onto and playing is a lot of fun. I've been playing with the Arklow Geraldines (pronounced Geral-dine, not Geral-deen) Ballymoney for a little over a month now and it didn't take long to understand how to play. That said, I must also add that 'solo-ing' a ball is the hardest 'basic skill' I have ever had to learn. In simple terms: it's dropping the ball to your foot and kicking it back up to your hands. Sounds easy enough, right? Try doing it while sprinting at full speed with somebody chasing you and trying to punch the ball out of your control. You can only take 4 steps between each solo, so it's a necessity - like dribbling the ball in soccer or basketball. I've had to get used to playing with a size 4 ball again (slightly smaller than a regular soccer ball) but having played so many sports in the past has been really helpful. There's an element from all of them in there basketball (you can bounce the ball between solos), soccer (there's a decent amount of kicking involved), and rugby (there's quite a bit of contact).

As much fun as Gaelic is, I don't think I've ever been on a team where I've felt so old and out of shape. The next level down is the Under-14's, so we've got everyone from age 15 to 30+ on our team. Do you remember the amount of energy and speed you had when you were 16? Would you want to pit your current self against that 16 year old now?? Didn't think so. I'm holding my own though and slowly getting fit again. It's a fun way to keep busy, meet new people, and get my tired, old-feeling self back in shape again!

As for hurling - I really don't even know what to say about it. The people who play it are crazy. They would have to be. The equipment is much like a field hockey stick (hurley) and a baseball with inside-out seams (sliothar). If you were to witness a game you would wonder if there were any rules and how every single player didn't leave the field with broken bones. Only in the last few years have helmets really become a standard item and some people still play without them. It's been called 'one of the fastest games on the planet' and with good reason. These guys are fit, strong, and fast. The speed and strength they swing their hurleys with is scary and I cringe every time I see a game. Check out the last link on this page for a clip from a game.

The other odd thing about both games is the way score is kept. It's not your typical 'Sox won 4 to 3' score. You can score with a goal (3 points) or a point through the crossbars (1 point) and they keep score that way. So the score of a game might be 3-10 to 3-2. And they show it with the dash included. You can see it on some of the videos from my earlier link. Whatever the score though, there's nothing like watching a good game in the stands or in your local pub over here. Anywhere you can find fans you'll find good craic, good pints, and good friends. ;-)

County Pride

I'm in an unusual position in Ireland. The first county a person lives in is usually the one they support until the end. I, on the other hand, have been wavering between two counties: Wicklow and Wexford. This may seem like a silly little thing to some people, but if you spent a week in Ireland you'd get the picture. There's no such thing as supporting TWO counties. It would be like saying you were a Red Sox and Yankees fan at the same time. It just isn't done.

To get an idea of the the whole county system over here, I found a handy little map (see left) that not only breaks the country into counties, but into Provinces as well. There are 26 counties in the Republic of Ireland (as well as another 6 counties in Northern Ireland). These counties are broken into 4 provinces (Leinster, Munster, Ulster, Connacht). Counties are a basically like states at home. There's a national government and then the counties have their own government and the towns/cities below that. All of this seems to exist for one real reason - the GAA. The two major GAA summer sports are Hurling and Gaelic Football. I'll explain more about them in a later post. Briefly: Hurling is a bit of a cross between lacrosse and field hockey. Football is a sort of cross between soccer, rugby, and basketball. At any rate, they are INSANELY popular over here.

To get an idea of just how popular - they are right up there with the NFL or NBA. Jerseys, flags, car decorations.. you name it - they've got it. And it's not like at home where my uncle can get away with being a Broncos fan in NY. It just wouldn't happen over here. If you live in Cork, you're a Cork fan. If you're team is not playing or they've already been eliminated, you can root for another team, but that's about as far as it goes. They've even got the parades. They don't break out the Duck Boats like the Sox, but they gather by the thousands (over 10,000 fans at the All-Ireland Football welcome home parade in Kerry last night), businesses close, and the entire county is out for the day.

Every weekend it seems like 'the BIG game' is on. There are county finals and province finals and then the provinces play each other and there's the all Ireland finals, which proves the greatest county in the country for that sport. I think it's a cleverly organised way for the Irish to ensure that they've always got an excuse to be at the pub. Not that they really need one, but it helps. I remember one weekend I was out on a Friday night and the normal chat and banter was going on when somebody realised there wasn't a game on that Saturday. Everybody stopped. 'Oh. But what are we going to do tomorrow?' I don't know - wait until 6pm instead of noon to go to the pub? But that would be crazy!!! :-)

Which leaves me wondering who to cheer for and what colors to wear on the weekends. I live in Wexford (purple and gold) but work and play Gaelic Football in Wicklow (blue and gold). Wexford occasionally wins things, Wicklow - not so much. I may just have to break my lease or quit my job to settle this... ;-)

Surviving a Hag Party

I've managed to survive my first-ever 'Hag Party'. Apparently, that's the result when you combine a 'hen party' and a 'stag party'. A hen party would be the Irish version of a bachelorette party and a stag party would be the bachelor party. I can't say that they differ much from the usual American pre-wedding night out, except that strip clubs in Ireland seem to be a little less accessible so the parties tend to revolve around straight pub crawls.

This seems to lead to one of two things - a very well behaved party or a trip to a far away town. To get an idea of what life in small town Ireland is like, picture Pleasantville or Leave It to Beaver. Everybody knows everybody else. If they don't know you to say hi, they know somebody who does. This leaves little room for the usual debauchery and ridiculousness that accompanies most hen or stag nights. I'm not talking about downright cheating or misbehaving in that way, but the odds of running into your boss or coworkers while you've got a penis straw in your drink or a superhero costume consisting of tights and a cape (after having your drinks spiked with Viagra) are much greater in a small town. And I have seen both scenarios over here! It makes leaving the area look better by them moment.

They actually have packages for hen and stag nights - prearranged weekends on the town with all sorts of perks. Kilkenny is a popular one for Irish crowds, while you see quite a few groups from the UK in Temple Bar (the pub/party part of town) in Dublin. They get quite a lot of 'bang for their buck' in Ireland. The British £ to the € (euro) is a lot like the American $ used to be to the Canadian $.

The Hag Party I was at on Friday was meant to be a work function for one of the ladies in the office, so we kept it local. I think there were probably 25 or 30 of us at one point in the night. The bosses ever-so-generously set up a tab at a great pub to get us sufficiently bubbly, chatty, and itching to dance. I hardly knew anyone starting out the night, since I only started with the company a few weeks ago and have been out on site ever since. Being the small town that it is, it didn't take long to find out one of my co-workers is the son of the guy who helps out with my Gaelic Football team and another lives around the corner from me in Gorey. Instant connections. I've only been in the country a few months - imagine having grown up here.

After running out the tab at the first pub, we worked our way across the street to the local 'nightclub'. I put that in quotation marks because if any of you have ever been to a nightclub in Boston, NYC, or even Albany - you are probably picturing an entirely different scene. From what I can gather, a nightclub over here refers to anyplace with a dancefloor and a DJ. For those of you who went to school in Potsdam, picture Backstreets - for those of you who ever lived or visited Worcester, think Lietrim Pub. Or maybe if you put a DJ in the back of Stoney's... Most of you should get the idea. NOT a nightclub by U.S. means. More of a bar with dancing. Don't get me wrong - they can be a lot of fun. I just remember expecting something a whole lot different when I walked into my first nightclub over here.

The place was PACKED since the only other nightclub in town was shut down the week before due to fire regulations. We still managed a good amount of dancing and drinking into the wee hours of the morning. It's amazing how much you learn about the people you work with when you see them out with members of the opposite sex. Entirely new personalities come out. Guys who are loud and outgoing at work become suddenly shy. The shy guy you've never seen speak becomes Casanova with the ladies in the office. I managed to make it out with minimal drinks spilled on me, no embarrassing drunken moments, and even woke up the next morning hangover free! I'm looking forward to more nights out with work and maybe a few more hen/hag nights! ;-)

Intro to Ireland

Okay - so I finally started a blog from Ireland. I figure it's the best way to keep in touch with all of those people I absolutely PROMISE to keep in touch with, yet never quite seem to have enough time to write to individually. Kind of like killing 60 birds with 1 stone. I figure it will start a chain reaction of sorts: I let people know what life over here is like, they decide they MUST come visit, I get everybody over here all at once, I throw a big party, we hit the town, and then we all show the Irish how to REALLY drink!

I've been here since May 2nd and it's been an adventure so far. I've met a lot of cool people, found a home, found a job, found a new sport to play, found some people to come visit me.... Still haven't found Kraft Mac and Cheese, Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum, Crystal Light, reasonably priced clothing, or a company that provides broadband service as far out as I am in the country.

It's a beautiful place to live. The kind of place where you're driving along and you want to stop to take a picture because the view is breathtaking and you're certain you won't see anything like it again for a very long time and then you get around the next bend and realize it's an even better view. The photo above was taken about 3 miles from where I work - about 35 minutes from my house.

If you look on the map to the right, you'll see a little town called 'Gorey' about halfway down the east coast of Ireland, below Dublin. It's about an hour from Dublin and 15 minutes from Arklow. Although I live in Gorey, I spend a lot of time up in Arklow - I've got a lot of friends there, my company's main office is there, and I play Gaelic Football with their women's team. Both are great Irish towns with loads of shops, pubs, and people. It doesn't look very big, but the roads are windy and narrow so it takes a while to get from place to place. They're working on the road system, but there's still a lot to be done. All in all, it takes about 3 hours to get from Gorey to Shannon (cross the country east to west) and it probably (I haven't done it yet) takes about 6 hours from Cork to Lifford. If you had something like I-95 you could cut those in half.

Anyhow - that's a quick introduction to Ireland to give you something to do besides work on a Friday afternoon. I'm 5 hours ahead of most of you, so it's about time for me to wrap up and head home. I've got to get ready for a Hag Party. More on what that is on Monday. Have a good weekend!! ;-)