Lessons in Translation

I thought I was prepared for the Irish accent before I moved to Dublin. I'd travelled here before for vacation, seen enough movies and thought the accent was very sexy. I quickly learned that there are substantial layers to the Irish accent, one of which is extremely rough and somewhat incoherent. I actually work with a girl who, 75% of the time, I have no idea what she's saying. It's as if she's too lazy to form a complete word, dropping letters and sounds. She actually told me yesterday that she's, "Afta getin' me 'air coorled". I'm pretty sure she's getting her hair curled, but I've learned to just nod and smile when I don't understand someone. It's just easier that way. Of course that means a lot of the time I'm mistaken for being a little 'slow' but I just make excuses, saying I'm just Canadian and a girl and manage to get away with it.

There's this great website my friend Sarah told me about, www.overheardindublin.com It's a site where people randomly write in with amusing things they've overheard people say on the bus, at pubs, shopping, etc. Some days my stomach actually hurts from laughing at the things people say over here. Don't get me wrong, I love living here and the people are great, but sometimes, some people can be complete charactures of what some think are your stereotypical Irish.

I finished work yesterday at 5:00pm and hopped on the Luas train at Heuston Station, heading to my stop at Abbey Street. I was pretty tired and just kind of let my mind wander until I heard a kid screaming. There was a woman, in her 40s, with a little girl with blond pigtails. The kid had to be about 5 and she wouldn't get in her stroller or hold onto the hand rail. She seemed pretty upset about not being able to see out the windows so she started screaming. Her mother managed to calm her down, however as the train pulled up to the Jervis Street stop, primarily a shopping area, everyone in the car overheard the little one screaming at the top of her lungs, "Give me ma munnnnie! Give me ma munnnnnie! Maaaa munnnnnie!" and so on. God, it was funny! Just when I had started to despair that my days of telling amusing anecdotes about Ireland were over, this little girl kicks off and gives me the perfect excuse to start writing again!

Tonight I'm off to the Guiness Brewery for a work party at the Gravity Bar. I'm looking forward to it, there's a three course meal and dancing. Should be a good time, hopefully I'll have some amusing footnotes from the evening.

I pledge alleigance...to kick your ass!

If one more person calls me American today, I'm gonna threaten them with MY axis of evil! Irish people hate being called English, so how hard is it to take few seconds and consider that maybe not everyone with this accent is a card carrying Republican! Ok, so maybe I'm overreacting just a bit. I can take being confused for an American, laugh it off and move on, but when someone has the nuts to claim that because I'm from North America, that it's the same thing as being American, then I want to just bitch slap the person and coat them with a shamrock shake. Which, if anyone remembers, tastes like liquid toothpaste. I rediscovered the shamrock shake at the Dublin Airport just before Paddy's Day after 20 years of bitching about them not being offered in Canada anymore. What a disappointment!

It seems like everyone I know has a blog, and not wanting to fall behind, thought I'd start one as well. I don't have a digital camera, so pictures will be few and far between. What do I want to say with this blog? I have no idea. Part of me wants to write something profund and meaningful, the other part wants to be clever, yet insightful. Who knows what'll come of this.

Here's who I am:

Female
27 Years Old
Addicted to dill pickles and chocolate (eaten separately of course)
Living in Dublin, Ireland
Hooked on Eastenders (phenomenal storylines)

Dislikes:
Pushy people on public transport
Being called American
Eating melon of ANY kind
Having my heart broken

Likes:
Reading
Travelling
Kilkenny Beer
Back rubs
Meeting new people

I wish my life were more exciting at the moment, but sadly I think it's on the downward slope to mundane, at least for the next month or so. Hopefully I'll have more exciting info to post in the near future.