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.

***

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.

***

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

mas picturas! our adventures in kerry! more to come later...

no pictures...just talk...

i'm currently sitting on the cozy couch of some really nice people i met a couple weeks ago. these people, the Currys, are from the states and have a cafe ministry in galway. i went to church with them this morning and they invited me back to their house along with two of the cafe employees for lunch, an extremely long and beautiful nap, and soon to have dinner. i believe kiesh (sp?) is on the menu. can't complain. i haven't really been spending too much time with these folks, though lovely they seem to be, but i surely am appreciating their generosity in many forms at the moment! the guest speaker in church today made me write in my journal, "sometimes we just need to SHUT UP!!" i walked out early. but that's another story entirely.

this little blog here will probably turn into a tireless ramble, so if you're reading this, you may want to abandon ship right now...ha...

the view from the couch i'm perching on right now is fantastic. perfect view of the bay with the the many passing clouds and the strong wind trembling the windows every once in a while...not such a bad deal. the sun just set to the west and just beyond what the bay window lets you see, but of course the clouds still reflect it. there's a fire crackling to the east...just the fireplace inside the house. quite peaceful i'd say. since in ireland, i've never seen so many clouds, fascinating clouds, and never so many rainbows in my life!! the whole leprechan and pot of gold thing is beginning to make a lot more sense now!

the mornings here are starting to get pretty chilly, especially on days that it's raining. the days warm up a good bit but when that wind is howling it gets in through every crack in every window and door and makes everything feel cold, even the lovely house i'm in right now. but despite the bitterness that cold brings, it also reminds me of the feeling of Christmas coming because it doesn't usually start the get this cold in good ole nc til it gets closer to Christmas. i woke up with a Christmas song in my head a couple mornings ago...kind of fun...

i do believe my friend Caitlin, from work, and i are planning a trip next weekend to do a two day tour of the ring of Kerry and the Dingle peninsula...these places will have no meaning to most of you but they're supposed to be fantastic coastlines. i think if i see any surf i will long for it and be really sad that i can't get in it. i dreamt about surfing the other night...it will happen before i leave ireland! i ran from galway to salthill yesterday to the mocha beans where jacob works (about a 30 minute walk). met him there to walk him home. we walked out by the bay and it was crazy windy...all this to say we saw some minimal waves in the bay that looked they might be rideable on a long board for a good 4 feet maybe. too bad i didn't bring my longboard...oh yeah...i don't have one of those.

i've been spending a good bit of my time, not stressing, but thinking of how i can remove myself from the emergency tax system which takes 40% of my paycheck from me. jerks! they do a fine job here of sending legal aliens on a wild goose chase to get to money that is due them and in the mean time making us pay them €100 (about $130!) just to keep from being arrested or charged more money. phew...needless to say i've got beef with the republic of ireland...i can't even imagine how hard it must be for kids who come to the states the work abroad! oh well. what are ya gonna do? i guess i should be eternally grateful for the opportunity to even be here, working, playing, and feeling secure. i'm reading Angela's Ashes right now...wow. it's been amazing so far. certainly brings things into perspective, although i find myself beginning to believe i'm part of the story. basically couldn't be farther from the truth, but the story is just that compelling. it's about a really poor irish family living in limerick during the early 1900s just after The Potato Famine here. so far 3 of their kids have died...talk about a downer...but not completely. i recommend it to anyone. there's a movie, but i imagine the book is probably 20 times better.

i think that's all i'm going to lay on y'all for now. hope you're not crying with boredom. if anyone actually reads this, you can leave me a comment if you wish, and i do believe i can comment you back.

and, mama...i'm sorry about standing on the edge of a cliff. i'm still alive, however, and i can say i stood on the edge of a HUGE cliff and didn't fall off. haha. i was actually sitting...not to worry.

love and best wishes to all of you who took time out of your busy day to read something probably not worth reading...

danielle

no pictures...just talk...

i'm currently sitting on the cozy couch of some really nice people i met a couple weeks ago. these people, the Currys, are from the states and have a cafe ministry in galway. i went to church with them this morning and they invited me back to their house along with two of the cafe employees for lunch, an extremely long and beautiful nap, and soon to have dinner. i believe kiesh (sp?) is on the menu. can't complain. i haven't really been spending too much time with these folks, though lovely they seem to be, but i surely am appreciating their generosity in many forms at the moment! the guest speaker in church today made me write in my journal, "sometimes we just need to SHUT UP!!" i walked out early. but that's another story entirely.

this little blog here will probably turn into a tireless ramble, so if you're reading this, you may want to abandon ship right now...ha...

the view from the couch i'm perching on right now is fantastic. perfect view of the bay with the the many passing clouds and the strong wind trembling the windows every once in a while...not such a bad deal. the sun just set to the west and just beyond what the bay window lets you see, but of course the clouds still reflect it. there's a fire crackling to the east...just the fireplace inside the house. quite peaceful i'd say. since in ireland, i've never seen so many clouds, fascinating clouds, and never so many rainbows in my life!! the whole leprechan and pot of gold thing is beginning to make a lot more sense now!

the mornings here are starting to get pretty chilly, especially on days that it's raining. the days warm up a good bit but when that wind is howling it gets in through every crack in every window and door and makes everything feel cold, even the lovely house i'm in right now. but despite the bitterness that cold brings, it also reminds me of the feeling of Christmas coming because it doesn't usually start the get this cold in good ole nc til it gets closer to Christmas. i woke up with a Christmas song in my head a couple mornings ago...kind of fun...

i do believe my friend Caitlin, from work, and i are planning a trip next weekend to do a two day tour of the ring of Kerry and the Dingle peninsula...these places will have no meaning to most of you but they're supposed to be fantastic coastlines. i think if i see any surf i will long for it and be really sad that i can't get in it. i dreamt about surfing the other night...it will happen before i leave ireland! i ran from galway to salthill yesterday to the mocha beans where jacob works (about a 30 minute walk). met him there to walk him home. we walked out by the bay and it was crazy windy...all this to say we saw some minimal waves in the bay that looked they might be rideable on a long board for a good 4 feet maybe. too bad i didn't bring my longboard...oh yeah...i don't have one of those.

i've been spending a good bit of my time, not stressing, but thinking of how i can remove myself from the emergency tax system which takes 40% of my paycheck from me. jerks! they do a fine job here of sending legal aliens on a wild goose chase to get to money that is due them and in the mean time making us pay them €100 (about $130!) just to keep from being arrested or charged more money. phew...needless to say i've got beef with the republic of ireland...i can't even imagine how hard it must be for kids who come to the states the work abroad! oh well. what are ya gonna do? i guess i should be eternally grateful for the opportunity to even be here, working, playing, and feeling secure. i'm reading Angela's Ashes right now...wow. it's been amazing so far. certainly brings things into perspective, although i find myself beginning to believe i'm part of the story. basically couldn't be farther from the truth, but the story is just that compelling. it's about a really poor irish family living in limerick during the early 1900s just after The Potato Famine here. so far 3 of their kids have died...talk about a downer...but not completely. i recommend it to anyone. there's a movie, but i imagine the book is probably 20 times better.

i think that's all i'm going to lay on y'all for now. hope you're not crying with boredom. if anyone actually reads this, you can leave me a comment if you wish, and i do believe i can comment you back.

and, mama...i'm sorry about standing on the edge of a cliff. i'm still alive, however, and i can say i stood on the edge of a HUGE cliff and didn't fall off. haha. i was actually sitting...not to worry.

love and best wishes to all of you who took time out of your busy day to read something probably not worth reading...

danielle

a friendly lil update...

these are some pics from my adventures with april. they were grand adventures, truly grand.

we'll start from the bottom...

*this is the view from my apartment that's right in the middle of the city center, about 10 steps away from my job and a gift shop called Tribes, and basically on a roof.
*these are some men pulling a net off a large fishing boat at a dock where the ferries leave for the Aran Islands.
*this looks to be an abandoned church building that april and i stumbled upon at the beginning of our looooong bike ride around Inishmor (largest island of the 3 Aran Islands).
*this is my dear friend april staring out at the stone fences and the bit of atlantic ocean that seperates the inishmor fromt he mainland.
*the next seven photos are just different views of Dun Aengus, the fort at the highest elevation on inishmor. breathtaking!
*this AWESOME photo is of a far off crazy looking water spout that i don't know how i spotted as april and i were riding bikes. kinda wish it was closer but then again i'm kinda glad it wasn't!
*this is me with a fat frog. this picture is dedicated solely to katey dowd!
*this is the ferry dock on inishmor where april and i departed from the next morning.
*the next two photos are of me and april on a beach on galway bay about a 30 minute walk from where jacob and i live. jacob works at a mocha beans coffee shop/sandwich bar just across the street a few steps away.
*the last two photos are of april and i and then my friend jess at Oconnor's Famous Pub that is full of crazy antique stuff hanging and resting on every surface! pretty sweet place not far from where jacob works, so it's a bit of a hike at night.

can't believe we've been here a month! things are going wonderfully! hopefully we'll get to do some traveling again this coming weekend. maybe down to co. clare to see the cliffs of moher and possibly get to surf a little!

anyone is welcome to come visit!

love!

ok.....so...this picture here, on the left, is doyle in 15 years after he takes piping lessons from my bro. it's a little blurry, but i mean, come on. there's no mistaking it. this guy is pretty great as you're passing by, but when he's playing all night not even half a block from your apartment, you can imagine it gets a little annoying. oh well.

the four pictures above old man doyle are of the quay just past the city center during low and high tide. amazing difference! sometimes it floods here during high tide, but thankfully we haven't been having too much rain.

the two pictures at the top are of our adventure to Connemara and Kylemore Abbey. we took a day tour of the area and it was beautiful and magical.


just a couple more updates of what's been going on with us. jacob is now working full-time for a coffee/sandwich shop called Mocha Beans. he's bringing home the bread, so that's good. i've turned down two jobs in restaurants (one of which was Mocha Beans) and am currently on the prowl for a part-time job in retail. i have some pretty promising prospects, so i'm hopeful that work will begin this week. either way, i'm not really worried yet. we have some great roommates in an apartment right on the main street (shop street) so if anyone wants to come visit, you'll have a free place to stay. we've had some good times and gotten to hear some good trad irish music and we also got to see State Radio, a band started by one of the former members of Dispatch (look them up on myspace, bro!), for FREE in a really sweet venue about a 5 minute walk from our apartment. all is well and beautiful. not too much rain yet until today really. life is good. April comes to visit this week, so that's very exciting. hopefully we'll get to have some amazing adventures together in the motherland!

love to all!

just some pics!

in order from top left...

piper in galway
largest dread of my life!!!
johnny and me at the b&b we stayed in the first night
downtown galway
dublin street performer
dublin from a bridge
4 leaf clover! (i don't think these really exist)

the city we've been waiting for...

we arrived in Galway last night so today begins the job search and everything else! wooo! PRAY PRAY PRAY that we find an apt. or house soon...we've heard it's really tough around galway to find a place. shouldn't be a problem finding jobs as there are places all over galway with staff wanted signs up. praise the Lord for that.

galway is beautiful and seems really fun and exciting. i can see that i'll be feeling right at home in the very near future...that is if we find a home. there is much to be done. right now we're just camping out in a hostel that's right by the bus station and the city square. i'm so glad we chose galway, even if it will be difficult to find a place, it's seems so wonderful and full of character and heeps more impressive than dublin was. we almost had to stay in dublin 2 days longer and i wanted to fall over when we were working through that. but everything worked out, we got here yesterday evening and today it's chilly and cloudy but great.

also! we got a phone!!! you can call us and it's no charge for us! yay! the only thing is that it would be ridiculously expensive for us to call you...so we'll just have to get a calling card or something whenever we want to do that. oh well. so the number is 086-239-9017. you'll have to look up the country code and all that good stuff, but feel free to call whenever. right now we only have one phone for the both of us and it's a pay-as-you-go. we'll get a second one if it gets to be to complicated. but i think it'll be alright for now. so that's about all the news i have the time to give you now.

woop woop! pray for things to work out smoothly, especially the living situation. i'm already starting to get anxious about it and we haven't even begun our search. ha!

paz y amor,
danielle