Miss. M. This is the first time that I’ve been able to spend an extended amount of time with Miss. M. Our home life has been so nice this past week. Sometimes we make dinner in, sometimes we go out, but everyday, we hug and kiss each other goodnight and laugh about how crazy the day has been. With all the work, boy and mid-life-crisis dramas that we go through, we are never with a lack of content to talk about. Life is a real comedy when you’re around people who can laugh just as easily as you do.
The doors. Dublin homes have beautiful doors. Not like the doors in Marrackech. These doors are bright yellow, green, red or blue and often-times ornately decorated in stained glass. Legend has it that this was done on purpose so that men, when stumbling home drunk in the middle of the night, could find their way to the right house! Ha. Go figure! Considering the Irish drink like fish, I am apt to believe this tale.
Irish Food. I’ve been coming to Dublin every quarter for the past 1.5 years and each time I’ve been here, the food has never disappointed me. Yesterday, we went to Avoca Cafe for brunch and it was exquisite. I had coconut crusted sea bream with sweet chilli sauce and a mango passion fruit smoothie for dessert. The Irish know how to make good food. I wonder if it has to do with the fact that the Fall and Winter months are so dark and dreary that much of the social culture centres around pubs and restaurants. I like to think this is true. It gives me a cozy feeling inside.
Gaelic TV shows. I have never heard such gibberish in my life. Sometimes a word will be recognizable to me and then I’ll plunge back into complete ignorance. Languages are fascinating. You would think that over time, for efficiency’s sake, we would all end up speaking the same language. I wonder how many hundreds of years it will take for that to happen. They actually say that Spanish will soon be the #1 spoken language in the US. This is why I am on a mission to learn it!
St. Patrick’s Day. It’s a total fluke that I’m here for St. Patty’s Day. I hadn’t planned on it but what a cool experience to be here during a national holiday! Isn’t that funny?! St. Patty’s Day is a holiday here. Lots of green, lots of alcohol. What more is there to be said?
Cobblestone streets. They’re everywhere and walking these dark streets on quiet warm nights feels like travelling back in time. Old cobblestones, the shiny, rounded kinds, make me feel so far away from North America.
The Sea. There is something very melancholy about the Irish Sea. It’s a different colour: a muted green/grey but this weekend, the tide was in and it wasn’t cold along the shore. We went for a long walk after brunch, watching dogs and babies and little kids playing near the water. I can understand why people who’ve grown up by the sea long to be near it all the time. There’s a freedom in the ocean, the promise of a different land just beyond the horizon.
International friends. Being in the G office here in Dublin is like being in an international college. This is where our European Operations headquarters is, which means that all of our country support teams are here. I’ve been hanging around the Greeks, the Turks, the Arabs, the Dutch etc etc etc. I’m constantly swimming in a sea of different languages and when I do speak with people in English, I am amused by all the different accents! If you have an accent fetish, move to Europe.
Sundays on Grafton Street. This weekend, everyone was out and about in the city centre. There were bands playing in the streets, face painting for little kids, flower merchants and dancers. So festive!
An early Spring. Cherry blossoms are everywhere this month. I think they’re early! The weather this past week has been amazing and because of it, I’ve seen Dublin in a completely different light. Every other time that I’ve been here it has been pouring rain. When dry, the city is very charming: red brick mansions, stone fences, old tall trees. Even London is getting gorgeous weather. I think we’re in for a great summer!
