closing time

My suitcase is halfway full, my box is in the mail, Kevin arrives in less than twenty-four hours (woohoo!), and still it doesn’t feel like I’m about to leave. If I think back on all the places I’ve seen and the projects I’ve done at UCC, it does feel like I’ve been here for a while, but I still can’t really see beyond the end of it. It feels a little…interminable, I guess, but with a more positive connotation. The internship and living on my own have been mind-bogglingly challenging at times, but I still feel like I could just keep rolling for another couple of months. I’m ready to head back now and send out more job applications and show up at interviews saying “why yes, I am awesome, would you like me on your team?”

(But before that, I am going to spend two and a half weeks being youthfully impetuous or impetuously youthful in seven European cities, drinking lots of red wine and eating lots of chocolate and probably taking entirely too many pictures. This time I really will take a picture of me in a phone booth.)

However, if I did have to stay here longer, I’d be moving to a new bloody apartment. Immersion tanks are great for saving energy, but not so helpful when you live with three other people and you’re the only one who showers at night and there are 2 switches and one dial to mess with depending on whether you’re using the kitchen sink or your bathroom. Plus, even though I’m on the top floor now, I’m still managing to discover whole menageries of wildlife tucked in corners. You’d think they’d get tired on their way up, or maybe they’d prefer the forested areas nearby, but no. We have a small family of spiders chilling on the ceiling, and during breakfast one morning I happened to glance down at the floor to see a largish dead beetle and a very much alive caterpillar scooting along the tile. I scooped up the caterpillar on a scrap of paper, and he latched on with his back (or front) end and waved the other end threateningly at me. I threw him out the window.

I do have a goal for these final two days, though. I need to work more on my customer service, because when students shuffle in saying “I guess I’m here for a meeting?” the appropriate response probably isn’t to laugh at – I mean, with – them.

london recap

Outside Selfridge's

Day one: up at 5:15, land in London at 8:45, shopping shopping shopping around Regents Street, afternoon tea at Selfridge’s.

Selfridge's. We had tea in that yellow cafe in the bottom.

Day two: to Portobello Road and Notting Hill, then out to central London to see the Houses of Parliament and the Eye. In the evening we had dinner at Wagamama’s and saw “The Woman in Black.”

Hey look, London in the sun! Hey look...a big ugly white tarp.

Rides in double-decker bus: at least 10
Rides in double-decker bus with Italian couple trying to work out the royal family: 1

Old-school bus. I thought they'd all been retired but we saw a few on the roads.

Aston Martins: 4
Bentleys: 4
Audi R8s: 2
Nissan GTRs: 1

From Harrods - vodka with a scorpion in it. There's a whole line of weird bug food, including curry worms and baked tarantulas.

On Sunday we ate lunch at UpMarket, which had a great assortment of ethnic food – Brazilian, Chinese, Ethiopian, and more, plus fresh-squeezed juices and crepes.

Paella

Handmade cupcakes

Curry etc

The Portobello Road market on Saturday had an amazing array of antiques – books, china, vintage clothes, old cameras, toys, telescopes, absolutely everything.

And finally, my purchases:

The earrings are from Monsoon, the necklace and dress are from the markets.

london calling, to the faraway town

Arg! I had to change apartments again. They found someone who’s moving into my room on Sunday. Not sure what’s wrong with the other four rooms, but oh well. I am in the same building, but:

-on the top floor
-with 3 guys
-whose kitchen shelves are full of empty booze bottles.

I have a pretty great view of the nearby church, and the first guy I met offered to help me with the moving, and there’s an elevator, so I guess it’s not that bad. It just wasn’t something I wanted to deal with (again), especially since the staff have known all summer that I was going to be here for longer than summer term.

But! Valerie and I are leaving at 6 in the morning for the 70-degree glory that is London. (The last time it was actually warm here was one day in early August when it got up to 73. I remember because I looked it up, it was so warm.) Our itinerary so far is a vague conglomeration of girly shopping (including the flagship Penneys, Portobello Market, and Harrods) and quirky Victorian landmarks. I’m not bringing my computer, so you’re going to have to wait patiently for the inevitable pictures of me in a red phone booth or (hopefully) a reunion with Madame Tussaud’s James Bond near the Eye.

Hope everyone has a good weekend!

fascinating part 2

I leave for London in a day and a half! Valerie and I have made a list of the London things we want to do – most of them involve shopping and quirky Victorian attractions. Oh, and we’re going to see a show called “The Woman In Black.” Valerie said it’s the only time she’s actually screamed in a theatre.

My quest for travel-sized toothpaste finally dragged me downtown, where I promptly found the correct size in the first pharmacy I tried. Well, after spending 1.70 to take the bus downtown in the rain, I wasn’t about to just go home, so I wound up in Penneys, which is sort of like Forever 21 only even cheaper.

And I found this:

For 3 euro! It’ll probably fall apart in a couple months, but seeing as how I tend to jump on trend bandwagons at the end of their life cycles, it’s probably for the better.

I also saw three noteworthy people while I was out:
1) a little boy, about 5 years old, wearing his school uniform with his slacks and his little sweater. He was holding a little soccer ball and waving at the fire truck stopped at the light, yelling “Halloo fire brigade!”
2) a woman shopping with her friend while wearing tan Uggs, purple sweats with pink stripes, and a raincoat with pink flowers on it.
And the grand finale, my favorite sighting since Muttonchops Man, 3) an old man wearing a pink argyle sweater under his tweed jacket.

It’s pouring.

It’s not exactly cold, but it’s windy and pouring. As the ladies in the office phrase it, it’s “lashing.” Despite growing up in the Pacific Northwest and voluntarily accepting a post in the Great Britain-ish region, this rain thing is a surprise for me. I blame the very nice spring Oregon managed to cough up at the last second, thank you, OREGON.

Three staffers were out on holiday this week, so things in the office have been pretty quiet the last couple days. The decreased numbers plus the rain usually meant that lunch breaks ended with everyone staring at each other and saying “God, I could take a nap.” This coming Monday is a bank holiday, so everyone was especially looking forward to this Friday. I am particularly looking forward to the weekend because my boss delivered unto my desk a huge stack of movies, including 2 Agatha Christies, “Emma,” “Mansfield Park,” and “Monsoon Wedding.” I trudged home in the rain, practicing the strategic art of avoiding curbside puddles when the light is green, and plopped down with a mug of hot chocolate and the miniseries of “Jane Eyre.” (I’m halfway through and I’ve never read the book, so don’t spoil it!)

But I’m going to go out this weekend and take care of a few tourist things I haven’t gotten to yet, specifically the Cork City Gaol and the Vision Centre. If it’s not pouring, I may take the train out to Youghal, a beach resort town. The weather is supposed to be lousy, though, so I’m looking forward to curling up with my BBC adaptations and uh my two new boxes of herbal tea.

Youghal and Galway are my next two destinations, though. I’m still trying to decide if I want to overnight in Galway, since it takes a couple hours to get there, and I can’t really go to Galway without seeing the Cliffs of Moher. And I can’t really say I went to Ireland without going to Galway or the Cliffs of Moher.

At home, the Blue Angels take off in an hour and a half. And I think that makes me the most homesick I’ve been – I can barely remember a summer without the air show. You knew it was August when on a Thursday afternoon you heard a distant roar and looked up to see six black specks crossing the horizon.

There’s a totally ninja stray cat climbing through the bushes on the river.

And a kid is sitting at a table here in the common room eating an entire pizza.

In other news, having hit rock bottom (or at least a ledge down there somewhere), things ricocheted as they usually do. In the last 24 hours, I’ve:

-gotten reconnected to the internet and talked to my friends
-gotten my hot water back and taken a shower, praise be
-been surprised by a coworker who’s loaning me a spare DVD player!
-received a box from home full of 6 BOXES HOLY MOLEY of Annie’s mac & cheese, one of which has already been feasted upon, along with a packet of Costa Rican chocolate from my sister
-made my plan for the 3-day weekend, which consists of shopping on an unexplored street, spending as much time as I can stand in the UCC library reading about history, watching the 2 remaining BBC adaptations on aforementioned DVD player, and writing
-joked about swine flu, the Irish fondness for swearing, and “Coronation Street” with my coworkers
-set up my first official check-in meeting regarding my progress with the alumni project
-gotten a replacement flatmate, who I’ve yet to meet, but is (according to the manager) a “lovely guy” who’s studying for some kind of exams and presumably moved out of his previous apartment because it was too noisy. I’m optimistic.

This is going to be a huge catch-up entry, but there’s pictures, so hopefully it won’t be too painful. This was written Sunday night, I think:
The last couple days have been a rollercoaster. First, Friday was the last day of the summer school I’d been assisting with, and I got to come along to the farewell luncheon.

The lunch was at Hayfield Manor, Ireland's only 5-star hotel.

While there, I found a couple of the people I’d talked to on the field trips, and they invited me out with them that night! We ended up going to three different pubs, and by the end of it I’d managed to find people who would talk to me about both “Speed Racer” and “Mortal Kombat!” Geek status renewed.
Saturday I slept in a bit and caught the 11:45 bus to Kinsale, which has officially topped my list of favorite Ireland destinations. The town is incredible – small and tangled and full of colorful buildings and flowers and little crafty shops and cafes.

(Linnaea, it’s your destiny to visit this town.)

There's even a creepy abandoned house.

It's also home to the oldest church in Ireland, St. Multose, which was built around 1190.

The interior has been refurbished, but the exterior has been so well maintained you can hardly believe it’s eight hundred years old.

I found some great, handmade, genuinely Irish souvenirs there, although I did cave in and get a sticker for my car:

That's what the road signs look like.

Kinsale is also home to Charles Fort, which perches forbiddingly on the tip of a peninsula:

…but as you can see, it’s a decent distance away, and my feet were already sore. I made it about a quarter of the way, reminding myself that every step I took was a step I’d have to take back, and after enjoying the view (and the modern houses which see that view every day), I turned back.
The other sight I didn’t get to see – the thing I’d expressly gone to Kinsale to find – was the street called The World’s End. How awesome is that? But, appropriately, it’s far away from the city center, and after a few minutes following a deserted road with houses on one side and the water on the other, I gave up. Maybe another weekend I’ll return with my padded insoles and hike.

I sort of trudged back to the apartment, eyes down, feeling my thighs start to cramp, but at an intersection I happened to look across the street and see one of the girls I’d gone out with Friday night! She ran across the street and hugged me and explained that she’d spent the day mostly alone because the girl who was going to share the hostel room with her had ditched her for an Irish male companion. It was her last night in town, and my big plans for the evening were to eat leftover tortellini and blog, so we went to Eddie Rocket’s, which is a pretty stereotypical 50s diner (complete with jukeboxes and refill cups for the milkshakes). It’s a little weird to think that I’ll probably never see her again, but hey, we had a fun night out and I got to hang out with people my age two nights in a row!

Then on Monday I got to hang out with a reader! She’s here in Cork now – actually, we just chatted a few seconds ago – and we went to Abrakebabra, which is actually pretty dreadful unless you’re desperate for fast food. But we had fun exploring the city and evaluating the continuously dreadful fashion choices of Irish youth, including but not limited to belts that look like elastic back-support bandages and a shocking assortment of mullets.

Also:

yum.

probably it’s culture shock time

+London is officially booked!
-I haven’t had Internet in the apartment for 3 days.#
-I’m beginning to think the problem is with my laptop, not the network.*
-I also haven’t had hot water for 2 days.
+I went to Kinsale on Saturday and it was beautiful.
+I spent Sunday afternoon/evening watching “Firefly” and writing.
+I got to hang out with the summer school kids Friday and Saturday night, and I met a reader yesterday!
-Did I mention I don’t have hot water or Internet?

*Someone out there has to know something about wireless networks, and maybe they can help me. The only internet access I have is the wireless in the common room. It flat-out stopped working Saturday night. The receptionist said someone came to look at it yesterday, but I still couldn’t connect. This is what happens every time I boot up: The little bubble appears in the corner saying “wireless networks available, click this bubble for more info.” I click the bubble. Two networks are listed, the one I use and a locked one belonging to someone else. I click the one I usually use. It tells me there’s already a profile set up for this network – I can click Back and choose a different network, or click Next and replace the profile. I click Next and it gives me a “connect” button. I click this button and nothing happens. If I click on the wireless button in the Start bar (the one that looks like a radioactive computer), it says no networks are available, and I could press “refresh” until Judgment Day and nothing would show up. Incidentally, if I click “back” on the first screen, it also loses all traces of networks.

I would send all this to Dell customer support, but in keeping with my stretch of bad karma, I left all my computer info at the apartment.

and his money he was counting

The moving mystery has been resolved. Apparently there was a vacancy after all, but one of staff was out of the loop, and he filled the room without checking with the two women who have been helping me. But they found another possibility, and theoretically I’ll be able to move on Monday. Hopefully. They’re also arranging a movie night in the common room (kleptomaniac Italian kids not included) so the people who are staying long-term can actually meet each other.

(Did I tell that story? The Italian kids ran off with the life ring from the river.)

Last night I went with Valerie and Kelly to see “Harry Potter!” I was pleased with it overall (with the exception of a couple plot holes and a VERY significant exclusion from the book) and it was nice to actually go out. Plus, you can get ice cream at the theater – Haagen Dasz with one free topping. One thing I wasn’t expecting: there were more advertisements than movie previews.

The theater we went to is attached to a huge shopping mall on the edge of town. It’s shiny and new (and probably suffering like the rest of the retail establishments) and we killed time before the show by exploring Debenhams.

Okay, when it comes to girls and shopping, I think there are types. There are Shoe Girls and Purse Girls and Scarf Girls and so forth. I have decided I’m a Coat Girl. Pretty much every year, I fall in love with a very expensive winter coat, and apparently this isn’t restricted to proper coat season…

The worst part is that Debenhams is a British store, which means that their prices are higher in Ireland than they are in the UK. Marks & Spencer does the same thing. That means that this coat costs £120, as opposed to the €186 I’d have to pay here.

Valerie helpfully suggested that I wait until we go to London. I have decided to wait until I have a paycheck.

by the sea

Well, I haven’t moved yet, but I should be able to this week. Turns out my roommate is also leaving for a 2-month construction job in Cameroon, so…there’s that.

This weekend was very pleasant. After exploring Gougane Barra from the last post, we saw a play, “Tom Crean: Antarctic Explorer.” Crean went on three expeditions to Antarctica in hopes of being the first Irishman at the South Pole, but all of them, including Shackleton’s infamous expedition, were near disasters. It’s a one-man show performed by Aiden Dooley, who created the show six years ago. It’s won a few awards and it was deserving of all of them – it’s a brilliant performance, set up as if Crean was telling his life story to some visitors to his pub.

On Saturday, I made the trek up to Shandon, on the north side of the river. Lonely Planet let me down this time – it called Shandon Cork’s Latin quarter, but really, there’s not much up there. The bell tower was magnificent, but not really worth a 20-minute walk across town.

Shandon bells!

I've been taking pictures of doors, and this is one of my favorites so far.

On Sunday I did a test run of the train system. I barely made it onto the train to Cobh, because the walk to the station ended up taking over half an hour. I also needed to stop and help an elderly German couple who needed to find the bus station. (Why do old German people look to me for guidance? This is the second time I’ve been asked for directions in this corner of the world.) At any rate, I caught the train, and in less time that it had taken me to walk to the station, I arrived in Cobh, last stop of the “Titanic” and landing zone for the survivors of the “Lusitania.”

We arrive onto the main street…

…and look across the street…

…and walk a little further and look up the hill.

I got a sandwich and just sat on a bench to eat and enjoy the view.

Check out those palm trees! Southern France called, they want their...everything back.

This cathedral was actually started in 1868, and finished around 1915.

Towards the end of the day, this kid and his band arrived at the grandstand. They set up and tweaked their instruments and amps for a while, and eventually the singer came to the mic. “We’re nothing if not persistent,” he said. “Our guitar amp has failed, our bass amp has failed, our guitarist has failed…at life…” But they rocked on all the same, and they actually weren’t bad.

Today’s achievement: using the Celsius oven with no discernible symbols and only burning my chicken a very tiny and perfectly acceptable bit.

Other huge and exciting news for today: Valerie invited me to come to LONDON with her for a weekend!!! She was just in Dublin and will be in Edinburgh in a couple weeks, but she found us 4.99-euro plane tickets on an airline that isn’t sketchy, and she knows the hotel we’ll be staying at. She’s spent a lot of time in London and we’ll do all the awesome London shopping – Harrod’s, Portobello Market, all the vintage shops she knows of, the flagship Penney’s…and of course a couple hours of British Museum. I have tried to avoid caps in this very mature, very grown-up blog, but OMG LONDON I AM SO SO SO EXCITED. Phew. Okay.

Back to week 3

Here’s a photo post to catch up on the last few adventures.

This seal is over the archway in the main tower you always seen photographed. Originally the school was called “Queen’s College,” and naturally this did not go over well during the civil war. A couple students leaned out a window and started chipping away the seal, hence the damage on the left. Recently there was talk of replacing it, but it sounds like it’ll stay as is.

And this is the statue of Queen Victoria that used to stand on the roof. It’s unusual both because it depicts young Queen Victoria, and because she’s wearing medieval clothing. They took the statue down during the civil war and buried it on the grounds, then excavated it in (I think) 1997. There was such an uproar over it that the statue had to be displayed behind bulletproof glass. And under no circumstances were the Irish going to put a statue of an English queen back on their roof, so now she lives in a staff lounge, and a statue of St. Finbarr has taken her place on the roof. (I don’t know how clear the picture is, but we theorize that there used to be a wooden scepter in her right hand. I haven’t gotten to confirm yet.)

The high crosses at Ahenny.

The ruins of the monastery at Athassel.

The first Irish toilets! Woohoo!

The Rock of Cashel, taken awkwardly from under my umbrella.

I know there’s at least one future visitor to Ireland reading, so here’s some advice: take the most gorgeous day possible to visit Cashel, because if there’s bad weather where you are, it’s guaranteed to be five times worse on top of that hill…

…but it’ll still be stunning.

Inside the original church. Note the Romanesque arches! Ooh, ahh.

I may sound facetious, but honestly this church was one of the coolest things I’ve seen.

Detail on a sarcophagus in the back of the church.

Remnants of paint on the ceiling, and carved faces. Lots of people were taking photos with flash, which seems like an awful idea.

Close-up on a face in the ceiling.

The old church, on the left, was so significant that they built the new cathedral inches away from it in order to keep it.

Griffins! For Brittneigh.

On to Gougane Barra!

I tried to get a good picture of the woods, because I’ve never seen anything like it – the trees grew almost exactly evenly spaced, and the whole forest floor was covered in moss and clover.

The church on the lake. The sun returned just before we went in for dinner, so I got a couple good pictures.