Grueling Pace, Meager Rations

Grueling Pace, Meager Rations

(Cheers to Carly, by the way, for that catchy title)

….and the good times keep rollin’. We write to you now from our lovely kitchen table in our bright, high-ceilinged, gorgeous little apartment. We moved in last night and have already fallen in love with our location and our fabulous Italian roommate, Gionothon. He is currently skyping his family in some rapid-fire Italian as we snack on feta cheese and marinated olives. What a life.

We can describe our day yesterday in one word: productive. We moved out of our hostel and spent a few hours editing our CVs, printing them out and applying to jobs online. Then, with a stack of 20 CVs in hand, we took Dublin by storm. We trekked up and down the cobblestone streets and walked into every coffee shop, bagel store, restaurant and pub we could find. We must have performed our routine in 60 places, but only 20 were hiring. It went something like this:

Mer (with a ridiculously cheesy smile): Hi! We’re just wondering if you’re still looking for more help for this summer?

Always-friendly Irish worker: Ay, sure. Just leave your CVs ‘ere and we’ll give ‘em a look.

Al (with an enthusiastic grin): Great! Just so you know, we both have tons of experience. We’re here all summer and we can start right away!

Irish dude: Cheers.

And now we wait. There is a load of government paperwork yet to be done, not to mention plenty of sights to see, so we will have no trouble staying busy.

In addition to the miles of job-search walking, we also took time to explore Trinity College and take a tour of Dublin Castle. We also checked out the Spire, a huge metal sculpture that soars above O’Connell Street, which is north of the River Liffey. Needless to say, our feet were dead sore. We relaxed on Saint Stephen’s Green, a beautiful park in City Centre with very inviting lawns, and recouped. Having survived on the “poverty diet” that day, which consisted of free toast, a shared slice of leftover pizza and a free smoothie we got from a coupon, we were also ready to chow down. That’s when we discovered the Happy Hour special at a little Italian café: salad, pasta and wine for 8 Euro!

To top off our happiness from feeling full for the first time since we arrived, we then received a call from Gionothon that he was ready for us to move in! In obnoxious American style, we strapped on our huge backpacks and trailed our Moby-sized suitcases six blocks away from our beloved Kinlay House hostel. We would have been skipping and singing “Zip-i-de-doo-da” if not for the 100 pounds of crap we were lugging around. Upon arrival, the apartment was every bit as charming and bright as we hoped it would be. Time to celebrate!

First stop: The Foggy Dew (which we had trouble finding because we could have sworn the Irish dude who suggested it to us pronounced it “Faggy Jew”) What a great pub. Lots of people, great music and very classic Irish atmosphere with low wooden ceilings and barstools everywhere.

Next stop: Temple Bar, the original pub in this now highly-touristy area. Here we met up with Georgi, Flo and Ben, our new friends from Bulgaria, Austria and California, respectively. Just like us, these gents are spending the summer looking for work and a place to live. It’s great to have someone to commiserate with, not to mention they are highly entertaining and friendly.

Next stop: Gionothon picked our crew up and led us to his favorite pub, the Sinead, just north of the Liffey. There were two stories of great dancing to such Irish classics as Johnny Cash, Lionel Richie and ACDC. I guess we just have to accept that the nightlife soundtrack around here is akin to that of a bar mitzvah.

We had a jolly walk home as we recounted on our accomplishments: In just three short days, we found a place to live, figured out this fantastic city and even made a handful of friends. We’ve successfully completed our first grocery trip and have a fridge stocked full of fruit from the market and a random assortment of semi-questionable-but-dammit-they’re-cheap European goods.

And now it’s time for a dinner with Gionothon. Send some good vibes across the sea that we find jobs, and take heart that we are blissfully happy!

Sending you love and luck,

Al and Mer