Scotland and a New Car

I was just in Scotland two weeks ago for a retreat - and let me tell you, it was gorgeous! It has just the scenery that I love: High, barren mountains and empty, windswept countryside. Of course, we were surrounded by the Lochs, including the famous Loch Ness. Just like every other tourist on the planet, I searched for Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster, but sadly she didn't appear that day. But now I can say I've been there, done that. Kind of like going to the Louvre just to say you've seen the Mona Lisa. All in all, a lovely time. I spent time with dear old friends, and met great new ones. I was especially happy to meet Teresa, a American girl studying in Glasgow. She has two adorable ginger cats, and she also introduced me to embroidery, which has now officially become a weird obsession (no one warned me about this...). But that's a story for another blog entry.

Anyway, I rented a car for the trip, but made a friend of mine drive most of the time, because I always have this initial terror of driving on the left-hand side of the road. I finally got the courage toward the end of the trip, and neither killed nor maimed anyone in the process. I also rented a Sat Nav for the car, which turned out to be both useful and hillariously funny. For instance, when you took a wrong turn (in spite of what the thing told you), it would say - in a slightly resigned voice - "Take the fourth exit at the roundabout". In other words, "Go all the way around the roundabout you fool, because you've gone the wrong way and need to get back. Moron." We all swore that the navigator voice really did sound irritated when it had the re-calculate the route because we messed up.

And speaking of cars, I now have my own! The Sunday after I got back, one of the members of my church mentioned that he was selling his car. I trust him, so I said I was interested. And 4 days later, I was in possession. It's a 2001 black Ford Fiesta. It's actually been a bit "pimped", with added body mouldings and speakers and an amplifier. It's also been lowered. So it looks really like something a 19-year-old boy would drive. But I love it. It's also got a big engine for it's size, so it's got some oomph to it when you accelerate. This is needed in Ireland to avoid all the crazy/drunk drivers on the road (but that's for yet another blog entry!). I also bought a Tomtom Sat Nav, and let me tell you, it's been a lifesaver! For an American girl used to western roads that are wide and straight, the chaos that is the Dublin street system is really intimidating. Remember, I was terrified to drive in rural Scotland, where there was nothing but sheep to get in my way. But that sat nav got me through central Dublin at rush hour, and helped me find a gas station, and got me home. I'm hooked! I still need to take lessons, though. I'm lousy and parallel parking, never mind backing into a parking space. And the narrow streets still freak me out.

Now I'm just coming down from the euphoria of buying the car, and I'm in the what-have-I-done phase. That could be because I've had to spend a huge amount of money buying insurance (expensive in Ireland), AA road assistance membership, a few other gadgets, and spent 40€ filling up my tank!!!! But I'll get over that. I'm excited that I can now easily visit my friends, see more of Ireland, and most importantly, buy huge stockpiles of toilet paper!

Big Pink Balloons

Well, I've been informed by a friend that, since I haven't written a post in this blog for awhile, I'd better make some kind of an effort to do so. So, here I am. But what to write about? Ah yes, I just had a baby shower for a friend at my place. Everything went great, but the problem is the balloons. I hate it when balloons pop, so I tried to pawn them off on the kids, but unfortunately there are still a few left. And since I will never, ever pop a balloon myself, I will have these big, pink, "It's a Girl!" monstrosities wafting around my flat until all the air has leaked out and I can safely get rid of them. Who knows how long this will take???

On another note, I went to Belfast 2 weeks ago. It's actually a great city, much quieter than Dublin. We had a grand time, but there were parts of the trip that were weird. Of course, being here in Ireland, I've heard all the stories about the Troubles, but things have calmed down considerably since the Good Friday agreement. Also, the two main factions (DPU and Sinn Fein) are now sharing power in the devolved Northern Irish parliament. But...it's still very much a place where the Protestants live in their own sections of town, and the Catholics in others. We could tell when we were in the Protestant (or Unionist) parts, because their were Union Jack flags everywhere. One of my friends told me that it would still be dangerous for him to go into these parts of town. I also saw some of the famous paramilitary-type murals, and also the cemetery where a unionist opened fire on the funeral party of a Catholic family. Yikes.

Ok, that's all I can come up with for now. Will be heading off to London next weekend for a conference, and I can't wait to hit the museums. Nerdy, I know, but I am a museum freak. Ah well!

Irish A&E

Last week, I ended up in the St. James Hospital emergency room (known in Ireland/UK as the "A&E"). I had a worrying illness that wasn't going away, and since I hadn't bothered to register with a doctor (locally know as a "GP", or general practitioner), I didn't have access to the night doctor service. So it was off to the A&E for me. All I can say is that this emergency room made the old, run-down public hospital in Las Vegas look like a five star hotel. Concrete floors, flourescent lighting, beige walls - Feng Shui evidently hasn't hit the Irish medical establishment yet. And the drunks! Ambulance after ambulance drove in with drunks whose main problem was, basically, being too drunk. And they all sat next to me and tried to chat. Charming. And see, once they figured out that I wasn't dying of whatever it was I had, the made me the lowest category, which meant that I spent 7 HOURS chatting with vomitting drunks until I was finally seen. And it was darn cold!!! In all fairness, the actual care from the nurse and doctor was great. It was just that third world atmosphere...Anyway, the crumbling health care system is a big issue in the upcoming election, so I'm praying lots that whoever's elected will actually do something about this. Praying is all I can do, 'cause of course, I can't vote, I'm a bleedin' furriner!

Politics - now that's an interesting topic here. I'm still not quite sure which political party stands for what. And they all seem to have these Gaelic names. The one I do recognize, of course, is Sinn Fein. As an American, I associate this group with the IRA, Patriot Games, guns, and so on. You get the idea. They're not super popular in the Republic, only 10% of the vote it seems. But imagine my shock when I found that a friend of mine actually supports them. Evidently, the violent past is behind them, and they have quite a few socially aware policies (quite left wing, actually), but I keep hearing disturbing stories about threats and intimidation toward their enemies. Hmmmm... At least Northern Ireland now has a devolved government, and now hopefully they can focus more on practicals like schools and health, and less on killing each other.

My other peeve is the situation with Madeleine, the poor 4 year old who was abducted in Portugal. Of course, I feel horribly for her and her family, but what disturbs me is how many other children have been abducted/killed and don't get this kind of attention. I was talking to a lady at the doctors' waiting room, and we both agreed that if she wasn't a cute blond girl with upper middle class parents, would this kind of attention be applied by the media? I hope that when she's found, the family of the girl and her supporters will donate some money to helping to find other children.

Boy, I'm grim this post! Well, my birthday is coming up (21 yet again...), so I'm sure I'll have happier news of a fun party!!

Easter in Germany and a New Camera

Well, in 2 days I'm off to Germany yet again. I do quite miss it, especially fresh German bread, clean streets, and transport that runs on time (yes, I know all you Irish, this is called beating a dead horse). I'll have the immense joy of having to be at the airport at 4am to catch my 6am flight. Ryanair. Nuff said. Easter in Germany is quite fun, though. Especially the "Easter Trees", which are basically the Easter version of Christmas trees - but decorated with egg-type things instead of regular ornaments. It's a big deal, and everything consequently shuts down from Good Friday thru to Easter Monday - with a brief opening time on Saturday morning, when you can battle every housewife in the land buying stuff at the store for the Sunday dinner.

I'll be spending most of the weekend in Wolfsburg again, and I'm hoping to finally visit the Autostadt if it's open. And of course, for the short time I'm in Berlin, I'll be able to hang out with my friend Pearl and hear the latest gossip - she's the greatest at that!

Now to my camera. I have been using my mobile phone as my camera for forever, but I miss taking real pictures, so I finally forked over a large sum of money for a digital SLR camera. I love it! It takes fantastic pictures!! The only downside is that, like all SLRs, it's big. That kind of discreet quickie picture just doesn't work when you've got this great honking thing hanging around your neck. It just screams Tourist!. I want it to scream "Artistic Photographer", but I still look like too much of a dork to get away with that yet. Perhaps a beret...

That's it. No real update on life in Ireland...evidently there's an election coming up, but I can't vote because I'm an immigrant, and there doesn't seem to be much difference between the political parties. At least, their Irish names sound so similar that I never know which politician belongs to which party. As long as they keep taxes low, keep the drunks from bothering people and try not to have a health service that kills people, I'll be happy. Jeez, I sound like a grumpy old git (I'm really neither old nor a git, I can assure you, but I do sound like one).

St. Patrick's Day!

I just celebrated my first St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland. I went to the parade in Dublin with friends, and a great time was had by all, if you could ignore the 500,000 other people who were standing in front of you, blocking the view. Now, I’m not too familiar with the St. Patrick story, evidently he brought Christianity to Ireland. Which is why, I’m sure, the Irish celebrate him by getting roaring drunk and causing havoc. Though, to be fair, most real Irish people seem to stay home and out of the way of the foreign hoards, most of whom have flown in for the weekend on Ryanair. But hey, any excuse for a holiday, and we got a day off from work, so I ain’t complainin’!

Super Bowl Shuffle

It's almost here! Sunday night, round about 11pm, the highlight of my spectacularly pathetic sporting life arrives - the Super Bowl!! Now, I got to experience the World Cup in Germany first hand last year (which I enjoyed tremendously), but nothing, absolutely nothing compares with the American Football finals. Why exactly? Couldn't tell ya. Maybe for me it has something to do with tradition. All those years sharing a fun- and chicken-wing-filled afternoon with friends and family as we all scream ourselves hoarse for whatever team...it's just a grand time, and I thoroughly miss it. Also, of course, I love the game. As any girl who grew up with a dad and brothers who watched obsessively can tell you, you can't help but get into it, try as you might not to. You might even remember my previous posts lamenting the inevitable losses of my beloved Cleveland Browns.

Since moving to Europe, I've had to give up the party aspect, but I have religiously watched the thing every year, from midnight to 4am (love the time difference), usually all by my lonesome (even my nearest and dearest run screaming in the other direction when I try and get them to stay up with me).

This year, however, I have 2 problems. One, the channel that will broadcast the thing in Ireland is not included in my current digital cable package, and I refuse to fork over 25€ per month for the privilege of watching 1 show. And two, I have to leave the house at 5am the next morning (around the time the game will be over) to catch a flight to Paris for business trip. I could, theoretically, just stay up all night and watch it, but that brings us back to problem one, and besides I need to be half-way awake for the Monday training session. So it looks like this year will be a wash. Bummer.

But a week in Paris should ease the pain. I may have a vaguely un-feminine delight in football, but I'm as happy as the next girl to hit Galeries Lafayette with a credit card!!! And after that, a dear friend from the UK will come visit, then I shall spend another weekend with friends at the end of the month. And after that, I shall sleep until summer. No more trips for me, except possibly a jaunt to Edinburgh for a recharge in one of the prettiest cities around.

And, just for the record, I'm for the Chicago Bear to win the Super Bowl. Mainly because I want to hear an updated version of the Super Bowl Shuffle.

Irish Weather

I know I'm not the first to say this, but there's a reason why Ireland is so green. Rain. Rain, rain, rain. And not just any rain. Miserable rain. You see, in winter here it doesn't get cold enough to snow. So precipitation comes down here as very cold rain. I was walking home last night from church, and it hit. High winds, cold weather and rain combined to create a very soaked me. I trudged home last night bent forward double, holding my hood on my head. Didn't bother with an umbrella because the wind whips the strongest one inside out, or you end up doing a Mary Poppins imitation. Sigh. I'm hoping to buy one of those log thingys for my fireplace tonight, but how I'm going to get it home without it being totally drenched is beyond me...