Canal Walk

The sun is shining and the weekend looks like it's going to be warm and beautiful. What perfect weather for a bank holiday weekend! If only I had money and plans...then again, I think I've done enough travelling around the country to last me a while.

There's a massive canal that runs through Dublin and fortunately for me, very close to where I live so I decided to go for a canal walk on Sunday afternoon. I walked for about an hour and got a great workout but learned two things about the canal: 1) it's full of trash and 2) the benches are occupied by homeless and very shady looking individuals. Not that I was nervous or scared, I just couldn't help notice the clientelle that surrounded the canal. The scenery was beautiful with ducks and swans floating by and huge trees and their branches overshadowing the canal. However, I was constantly aware of who I was approaching and if I was being followed. Not to sound like a worrier (moreso) but I've heard plenty of stories about the canals since I arrived. Apparently a severed body was found in one of the canals last year. Every time I mention to someone that I jog, I'm always reminded to not run near the canals. I never thought much of the warning before (people are constantly reminding me to look after myself as though I was I child), however after taking a leisurely stroll in the area, I couldn't help but agree with the advice.

Dublin is currently the middle of what's being called 'gangland wars'. The gangs are either Irish or foreign national, being Lithuania, Polish, etc. When my family was visiting I liked to remind them of this, kind of to just scare of them, but also to remind myself of where I'm living. There wasn't crime like this back home, but when I listen to the radio in the morning and hear about a shooting every other day, I can't help but be reminded that I'm not in Kansas anymore.

So, the bank holiday weekend is coming up. I love these. It's just an excuse for a day off and for

banks and businesses to shut. Not that bad of an idea, and it happens every other month. I've got my fingers crossed that the temperatures will go up as high as they've been predicted so I can put on my bathing suit and lay out in my backyard to get some sun. The girls over here like to wear self tanning lotion, but few have seemed to manage the art of blending so that they don't look dirty. I prefer the effect that only the sun's harmful rays can cause.

Update

Well, the family has continued on in their European travels and I'm back on my own in Dublin. I thought I'd be a bit more sad about their departure but I think I'm actually used to my solitary existence and kinda missed it when we were on the road. We managed to get a lot of travelling in. From Carlingford to Down Patrick, Belfast to Letterkenny, Donegal and Galway and all those little castles, parks and monastaries in between, we did a fair bit of travelling. It was fun but exhausting and I slept a lot in the car. The van Dad rented was a piece of garbage as the gear shift didn't work properly so everytime we had to back up, Dad had to use both hands and a lot of effort to shift it into reverse. Kinda frustrating and ultimately a little scary, depending on the traffic.

It was great to see my parents and sister again but I think next time we should have a sun filled vacation, maybe Italy or Spain. The two weeks of rain we encountered was a little monotenous and depressing after a while.

I'm now waiting to start my new week long temping job on Monday. I'm quite nervous about starting a new place again as I really liked the routine I had with the last office. It takes a while to get comfortable, get to know people, develop my own comfort zone and I don't really see that happening with one week. I'm been applying for full-time jobs like crazy but it seems that no one is willing to give a Canadian girl a break. Suspiciously familiar to my experiences back home job searching. I'm starting to develop a complex here. One of my former coworkers actually sited the fact that it was unfair I couldn't find full-time work considering most countries around the world, especially Canada and the US, took in many Irish over the years and that we should get a break too. Yeah! That's right! Give me a break and let me stay!

Hopefully something positive will occur very soon. Please keep your fingers crossed for me!

Travellin'

I have nine minutes left at this internet cafe in Letterkenny where I'm staying with my family for the night. We're travelling around the northern part of the republic and I think we're heading back to Donegal tomorrow. I know my sister is pumped to go to Galway so that's definitely on the agenda. We went to Belfast today and took a ride on a hop on hop off tour bus. It was very interesting, but really cold and rainy (surprise, surprise), so I'd love to go back on a nicer day.

My fabulous and very charming friend Andy was over from England for five fun filled days full of Dublin trivia, taxi rides and Guinness...lots and lots of Guinness. We must have hit at least six or seven different museums, galleries, and other historical sites. He was a great sport though, putting up with sleeping on a couch and having to listen to drunken me, rambling and crying about life. I swear next time I promise to take it easy and not be quite so boozy.

The family is around until Wednesday and we're on the road until Monday morning so that means sharing a room with my sister, again for the next few nights. Brings back memories of travelling with the fam when we were kids. Especially when she said she'd buy lunch for me yesterday at Newgrange and bought a sandwich and chocolate square to share between the two of us. Delicious.

Fingers crossed we all arrive back in Dublin without killing each other!

Dossin'

That's what I'm going to do for the next two days. It's the Irish word for being lazy at work and just not working I'm exhausted right now, sitting behind a desk in reception, putting on my fake smile anytime someone comes through, my eyes closed when it's empty. Today is the seventh day out of eight that I'm working and I feel like a gentle nudge would knock me over. I've spent the last seven days running around to get ready for my family's upcoming visit, had a job interview, worked over 12 hours straight, and also worked straight through my weekend. Come Wednesday morning though, I'll be snoring away in my bed, trying to get enough sleep to sustain me for the next two weeks cause I know I'll be running around like crazy!

For anyone who's never visited Ireland, there's a unique cultural phenomenon, called the scanger. For anyone who doesn't know, the scanger is very much like the Canadian skid or the female equivalent, the skank. It's just a derogatory term for people of a...how do I put this nicely...a lower social standing...yes, that should be PC enough. It's not so much that they're of a lower social standing, it's the manner in which the majority project themselves. They're the scary group of kids on the street in track suits, riding their bikes, the older women with the slicked back greasy hair in ponytails with baby carriages, screaming profanity at their children, waiting in line at the GPO for money...the list goes on. Better yet, check out this link that my good pal Cormac sent me. It pretty much says it all. This is what I witness and am surrounded by on a good day.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scanger

Frightening but true.

Cultural Expoo

I'm back at work today as Monday was a bank holiday. Bank holiday, you say? What's that? I'm not really sure the point of said bank holiday except that it means that it's an excuse for a day off work and for the banks to be closed. Here's the thing. Banks are just as unhelpful and useless over here as they are in most countries. There's still only two people on the counter at lunchtime when the line is out the door and they're still snooty and rude when you have genuine concerns that need to be adressed when an automated answer system just isn't doing the trick. What's that, you need to talk to an actual living, breathing employee? Someone who might actually have to do five minutes of work and talk to the lowly customer who may only have about €10 in her account? Madness!! There's no limit to the amount of sarcasm I can sling when it comes to banks. Anyhow, everything was closed yesterday so that meant another three day weekend in the span of two weeks.

I went to the National Concert Hall on Sunday evening to see the ballet. It was a mix of pieces of Tchaikovsky's ballets from Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake and The Nutcracker. It was very beautiful and inspiring. The costumes was so ornate and my seat was great so I was quite full of culture by the time I left. The place was packed but I didn't mind going on my own. Everyone needs a night of culture now and then. I even managed to get dressed up so I fit right in. I saw a mother with her daughters, all under the age of ten, in little dresses with Mary Jane shoes, drinking their bottles of Coca Cola. I couldn't help but imagine what it would be like to have daughters of my own and how much fun it would be to take them to the ballet.

I wish I had some amusing anecdote from the weekend with a smart Irish comment, but no such luck. Seems everyone around me this weekend was on their best behaviour. Oh well, there's always the train ride home today...