I stayed busy at work today, but I was glad to be out of there. I woke up with a thicker cough than usual. This country makes me sick…literally! It’s mostly just the weather. I thoroughly enjoyed myself yesterday. If everyday were like that I wouldn’t mind Ireland at all. A combination of rain with cold wind and having to walk everywhere is what gets me, but I’m still fighting!
I can see white caps out on the bay from my apartment. Today is another rainy one. I took a 20 minute power nap, and all I could hear was the harsh rain while I was resting, so I felt certain I wouldn’t have to go to work for Eddie Rockets. I was wrong. It cleared up about 11:30 just as I had to get ready. Zach and I decided to go and see if it stayed clear.
It actually did till 2pm when a huge gray cloud blew in fast from the West straight off the Atlantic carrying heavy rain, wind and not surprisingly hail. We ducked under a ledge of one of the businesses on Shop Street and tried to make ourselves as thin as possible. We were mostly sheltered, but a sudden change in wind direction and we’d be soaked. It was as if someone had a bucket they were dumping out. Drops of rain could not be distinguished for a solid 10 minutes.
The flooding has gotten worse in Ireland. They have not had this much rain in decades. Many villages outside of center city are road blocked because the Shannon River has flooded. The sand bags are there, but the wind pushes the water over them. It stays to damp in Ireland that even when the sun comes out it can’t dry up much. It isn’t the best feeling. When I got to bed I can feel the dampness sometimes unless I’ve left the heater on for awhile. Towels don’t really dry completely overnight. I’m still wondering why people settled here.
We seem to have some kind of run in with someone ever since October. Today it was a crotchety old man who told Zach to “get the f**k out of my f**kn way” and then barreled past us. I just laugh in surprise and Zach seemed well offended. There had been a crowd of people passing on one side and I was holding back as so: l l l l l l l l (Zach)
(me) l l(man)
Sure they use those words here like it’s “hello”, but this man seemed malicious and he kept grumbling and looking back after he had shouldered Zach to get by.
I realized today I haven’t been in a car since August except that one time “hitchhiking” back from Conemara with the Americans. It is going to be weird to drive again, but I miss Eddie (my car) a lot.
When we got off work, we hurried home to get ready for the party. I had cider to make, cookies to bake and a place to rearrange.
Here is a little side note about icing: When it is hard, especially royal icing that has been used to glue gingerbread, it will not move easily. It is just as dangerous as a knife. Some had hardened to a plate and I tried to slide it off with my finger, It sliced the side of my finger open. Yes, it started bleeding and I had to go into First Aid mode...yes, I seem to be accident prone. But beware!
Paula, Demelsa Roberto and Isabel came over around 6:30. Demelsa and Roberto stayed to help, but Paula and Isabel had to work.
Everything was ready in time. Monica brought a thick chocolate cake. Julie brought a thin hazelnut cake. Charlotte, a French girl from Brittany, brought a delicious quiche Lorraine. I was sure to get the recipe, and she asked for me peanut butter ball recipe in exchange! She was new to the group, but a very funny and outgoing character.
Overall we had three Canadians (Laura, Kristyn, Julie), one Austrian (Julie), two French (Clara and Charlotte), one Norwegian (Monica), one Swede (Beatrice), five Italians (Roberto, Jacopo, Samuele, Michaele, Luca), three Americans (me, Zach and Abbey) and one Spaniard (Demelsa). I was very pleased with the party and it’s turn out. Everyone mingled and nothing was broken (well except for a plate that I actually broke earlier in the night when I pulled some down, but they were part of an assortment from the thrift store).
The party was actually started off with a game of ….don’t know the name. But everyone writes down a famous person/character and tapes it to someone else’s forehead. So, you don’t know who you are but everyone else can see. You get to ask a yes/no question and if the answer is yes you get to ask another till you guess who you are. If the answer is no, it is the next person’s turn.
See if you can guess who I was. Here are my clues:
Male
Not alive
Cartoon
Strong
Had a job-task
Has a Girlfriend
Has a pet, but not a dog
Eats vegetables
Created in the 1980s
Not a Disney character
Middle aged
I was having a hard time with this one. I will go ahead and say it isn’t Popeye (which I got with the 1980 bit), but I could think of nothing else but his character. Good Luck… I will post the answer soon.
It was 3am before the last people left. Zach and I agreed to leave the clean up for Sunday and I went straight to bed!
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