so the last we talked...

So the last we talked, or rather, the last I talked, I was on the couch of a stranger’s house. Although, if it’s true that a picture speaks a thousand words, then I spoke way too much with the last post I made, all about our adventures in Kerry. Hopefully the abundance of information was mildly enjoyable…sometimes I think my friends and family lie to make me feel better…

With that, I’m now sitting in what was a quiet café, but has turned into the cafeteria for middle and highschool students from the nearby schools…yikes! I’m struggling to hear my music over their highly intelligent banter. It has become nothing short of chaotic in here. Now I understand why lunchtime for my teachers was such a nightmare. Assigned seats was either the most brilliant or idiotic idea ever.

It’s Thursday, the day before my last day of work ever…in Ireland. Well, that is unless you consider street busking (performing music in the street) work, which I probably would on account of how I felt after my last busking experience. A couple Saturdays ago I took jacob’s guitar to an unoccupied (at least by other musicians) area of Shop. St. and proceeded to play some really sketchy songs on unstable knees. I was more nervous than I think I’ve ever been. I went into it expecting to be stoked if I made over 10 euro. Even better! I played for just two hours and brought home the bacon that afternoon…a whopping 34 euro all collected in my little hat! I was shocked and thrilled. Not only that, but I had a small boy strum my guitar and run underneath my propped up knee and finally had a lady come up and ask me if I did weddings. WHAT?! I think I was so surprised by her question that I became socially inept at that moment and thankfully (or not so thankfully now that I realize the awesomeness of that opportunity) the wedding isn’t until Dec. 29^th and I’ll be gone by then. Needless to say I haven’t any plans for this coming Saturday (except the arrival of Doyle!) so I plan to do a little more busking and hopefully get some extra spending cash for next week’s travels. Hopefully Doyle won’t mind.

Last weekend I travelled first to Dublin with Jacob to see Chris Thile in concert. Hmmm. Wow. That’s all. Wow. He’s a musical genius, and he remembers meeting me once and talking about Simple Shoes (everyone should own a pair!). then I hopped on a bus that took me to Lahinch where Christian Surfers Ireland was holding a lil conference. Actually, the bus I got on in Dublin took me to Limerick (also known as Stab City for obvious reasons) first where I had a 4 hour stop-over. Had I not read the book Angela’s Ashes, I probably would have ignored the opportunity to walk around the city where Frank McCourt spent his childhood. It turned out to be a really sweet adventure! With my big backpack (wetsuit enclosed) on my back, a bag full of books and other heavy and mildly unnecessary things around my right shoulder, and a sleeping bag looped around my left arm, I travelled around the crowded streets and recognized some street and shop names. Fascinating! I also happened to stumble upon some 12^th century buildings such as St. Mary’s Cathedral and King John’s Castle. I’m not sure if y’all noticed, but we don’t have buildings anywhere close to that old in the States! I walked for a good 3 hours, checked out some of the food, and then caught the bus that took me to Lahinch. Lahinch turned out to be a beautiful little coastal town with a total of 3 surfshops (of which I only saw one, and may remain the only surfshop I ever see in Ireland). John McCarthy has a surf school down there and we got to play around in the small, windy, frigid, surf on a few of the monster soft-top school surfboards…it was a great craic! Some might consider the cloudy, windy, rainy, cold conditions less than ideal…but I’m so glad I could appreciate every moment of our surf sessions! There were about 30 of us attending the conference and we shared the space of 3 small houses. It was truly a brilliant time and I learned a lot about…well…life to say the least. I roomed with a girl, Maura, who turned out to be just the person I needed to know that weekend. Maura O’Sullivan is her name and we had a blast getting to know each other in the span of 2 and half days.

There’s a lot of fun coming up in the near future. On Sunday Doyle, Jacob, and I are renting a car and driving up the west coast all the way to northern Ireland to stay with the CS Ireland directors, surf in even colder water, and tromp around on the Giants Causeway…how appropriate for a giant such as myself. We plan to return on the 22^nd, Wednesday I believe, and prepare for a huge Irish/Australian/Swedish/American Thanksgiving feast! I can’t decide which I’m more excited for. I cannot lie, food usually wins…but I really think the travels will prevail this time.

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Just a little timeout…the highschoolers in this café are now humming the Mario bros theme song and progressively humming faster and faster as Ronan, one of the servers, cleans off the tables and sweeps the floor at a quicker and quicker pace. I’m torn between mildly entertained and utterly annoyed. But now they’ve gone so I don’t have to decide anymore.

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Hopefully I’ll get to take Doyle to the Aran Islands before he leaves and hang him off the edge of some sea cliffs…he’ll like it. Then I’m in Galway for only a week more until my parents arrive and we head out on our own marvellous adventures. Much to look forward to. There’s a small chance I may even slip in a little stop in Spain…but that’s very iffy. Either way, the next month is going to fly…but I spose I can’t be thinking that way now…I just have to enjoy the little moments as they come and not anticipate the near end of it all.

That’s all folks. All I can muster up the energy for anyway. Leave a comment, enjoy the view, and take luck.

Talk to you soon.

d