Oh the people you'll meet!

We have to begin with an enthusiastic shout out to HP Customer Service who in one week revived our sputtering computer back into its old useable self. That, combined with the internet connection we waited so many weeks for, has made us a wired flat once more. Hence the onslaught of new pics, which we were unable to upload due to the untranslatable blog directions on our Spanish roommates’ computer. Hooray for technology.

The past ten days have carried a theme that will likely ride out the rest of our month here in Dublin: work, play and the joy of visitors. Mer’s job became set in stone about a week ago and she’s been working quite a bit. She enjoys good tips and works most nights until 12:30 or 1:00, at which point she meets Al and friends at a nearby pub to catch up on that day’s happenings. Though our schedules are still as different as could be, we treasure our late nights and lazy mornings together, where we gossip for hours over cornflakes and vanilla yogurt.

We’re in the middle of a wave of visitors, each of whom bring us great entertainment. Last weekend we had Drew, a friend of Jen Wessel’s from college, meet up with us. He was a fascinating guy and great fun to have around. He and Al enjoyed a scrumptious meal of tapas and the three of us had two raucous evenings in the pubs, one of which included three Irish girls falling in love with Drew, announcing that Mer was their “new favorite American” and introducing us to several rounds of God-knows-what Irish drinks.

On Monday, Elek arrived, who was the first person we met in Dublin during our stay at the hostel way back in mid-June. Elek hails from L.A. and spent the past six weeks crisscrossing Europe. We were thrilled to have him back and hear his tales. He was equally thrilled to crash with some friendly faces, as travelling alone for so long can leave one feeling a bit lonely. In addition to some food, talks and wandering around the city, we also had an adventure trying to see Dark Knight with he and Tom, our friend from Australia. Upon arriving at the theater, we were shocked to see Adam Sandler and Rob Schneider had decided to throw their own party and have a highly dramatic premiere of their new movie Zohan. They had the nerve to block the entrance to our movie with a big obnoxious red carpet, lots of cameras, cheesy smiles and autographs. Maybe we were bitter that they prevented our entrance, but those dudes were not looking so hot. We settled on seeing Baby Mama at a different movie theater, but every slight downer for the rest of the night was blamed on “Damn Rob Schneider.” Perhaps you had to be there to sympathize with our agony.

Tomorrow Bergie arrives! She is one of Emily Wessel’s friends from NU who is now living in London and is coming to spend a three-day weekend with us. It should be epic. After that, Kevin Westerwick and Dustin Nirschel, two old friends from Mer’s high school days, will be hitting up Dublin for about a week. We can’t wait for all of these reunions!

Our new roommates are still awkward as ever. Pepe spends his days running computer programs on the patterns of survival for blackbirds while Sandra goes to English school. When they’re around the flat, they don’t say much of anything to us, in English or in Spanish. There is nothing offensive about them, so we’ve settled on a peaceful coexistence, albeit not a camaraderie. Makes us miss good ol’ Gionni.

It seems like every week we learn something new here. We learn how to file a tax form, or how Czech people of our generation view Slovaks. We learn how Austrians organize their school systems and how oranges from the market go rotten more quickly than oranges from the grocery store. It’s thrilling to live in such a stimulating culture. One thing that embellishes it most is the coming-and-going nature of Dublin. This city is full of wanderers like ourselves who are here for a year, a summer, a week. Every time you meet a new person, you assume they will be in your life for a limited amount of time. Very few people stay. Some of our peers find this frustrating, but we’ve decided it’s fascinating. People come and go in and out of our lives every week. Mer became close with a coworker from Brazil who one week later quit and flew away to Italy. When working at Dobbins, Al met a fabulously flamboyant man from London whose stay in Dublin expired a couple of weeks later. Our friend Ben is flying away on August 13^th and our friend Louise is going home to Holland on the 6^th. It’s tough to build lasting friendships in this whirlwind of travels so instead, you try to embrace each relationship while you have it and then hope that your paths cross again. Having both lived in basically the same place all through childhood, this is a different culture for us, but one that has certainly challenged and intrigued us.

Enough with the introspective nonsense. Here are loads of new pics to laugh and smile at. Rest assured that we’re in the right place and happy as can be. We miss you all and think about you often.

Slainte,

Al and Mer

Travels with the Laitos Clan

We’re back from our Northern Ireland adventure with so much to talk about! The beautiful coast of N. Ireland was a great break from the city life of Dublin, and any homesickness we were feeling was quickly healed thanks to the company of Mer’s parents this past week.
Mark and Julie had been touring Ireland for a week when they arrived in Dublin and got a glimpse of our summer lives. The first stop was our Thomas Street flat. The high ceilings, funky decorations, and our roommate Gionathon won them over just as they did for us. Mer, Mark, and Julie went to the oldest pub in Ireland (established in 1198!), The Brazen Head, for dinner and storytelling, and then met up with Al at the Auld Dubliner for some traditional Irish music and pints of Guinness. While “the black stuff” was delicious that night, it didn’t come close to the fresh pints we received the next day while touring the Guinness Storehouse. At one time a functioning factory, the pint glass-shaped building now tells of the history, production, and distribution of Guinness as it winds up to the “Gravity Bar,” where every visitor gets a complimentary pint of Guinness and 360-degree views of the Dublin. With some batting of the eyelashes at various bartenders, we also received two huge stacks of Guinness coasters. A week later, Mark found a discarded Guinness pint glass on a dock which was in perfect shape. Apparently we’ve mastered this free souvenir thing!
Mer and her parents visited the famous Kilmanheim Jail and then coasted up to Belfast with Mark driving on the right side for the first time. Meanwhile, Al took a short bus ride (which felt like a lifetime due to the lack of AC) to Belfast, where she reunited with the Laitoses to begin the journey along the Antrim Coast of Northern Ireland. What a gorgeous area of the world! The windy drive took us to various scenic areas overlooking cliffs, crashing waves, Scotland, and lonely rock islands. The dramatic sights easily rivaled the Cliffs of Moher in beauty, and we began to understand why they call the Northern Ireland coast the 8th Wonder of the World. We took a hike down to a dramatic waterfall in the Antrim Mountains, and explored the areas of Torr Head, Murloch Bay, and Fair Head, which we got to by trekking through a private sheep farm!
No trip to Northern Ireland is complete without a trip to the Carrick-a-Reede Bridge and the Giant’s Causeway. The Carrick-a-Reede is a rope bridge connecting a cliff to a small island about 20 yards away. It was a really blustery day, and needless to say the bridge was a little scary to walk across! Mer got a good laugh at Al as she waddled her way across very slowly saying “Isn’t this scary? Don’t you think this is scary? It’s kinda windy. I’m a little scared. Are you scared? I’m a little scared” over and over again. The view from the island was worth the fear, and we spent an hour or so taking pictures and videos and napping on the plush grass. We probably wouldn’t have stayed as long, but an English soccer team arrived and further enhanced the view.
The Giant’s Causeway was next: an area of impressive rock formations said to be formed when the Irish giant, Finn McCool, built a road across the sea to fight his rival giant in Scotland. It resulted in interlocking hexagonal stones along the coast, rising in dramatic columns. After all the sightseeing, B&Bs in Carrickfergus and Coleraine provided great beds, cute atmosphere, and delicious breakfast for the tired travelers.
Our last stop before heading back to Dublin was the city of Derry, the only completely walled city left in the British Isles. What the four of us thought would be just a nice medieval town turned out to be the highlight of our whole Northern Ireland excursion! We took two walking tours to learn about all of the city’s rich history from the 105-day siege in the 1600s, which failed to penetrate the city’s walls (giving the city one of its many nicknames, “The Maiden City”), to the more recent Bloody Sunday in the 70s. Derry, or Londonderry if you’re a loyalist to the British Crown, also boasts cobblestone streets, great shopping, cute restaurants, and plenty of pubs. We were definitely sad to leave.
Before Mer and Al resumed their summers in Dublin and Mark and Julie returned to the States, we had one last night in Skerries, a seaside town near Dublin. We found great “craic” (pronounced “crack,” it’s basically Irish for a good time and fun environment) at a local pub/restaurant called “Stoop Your Head” and walked along the town’s beautiful quays. A great last night to our family vacation!

Back in Dublin, we hosted a going-away barbeque for Gionathon. Sadly he left for Italy for a month and is arriving back to our flat only two days after we’ll be back to the States! We’ll definitely miss Gion’s friendship, not to mention his authentic Italian cooking. The flat didn’t feel empty for long, though – two new roommates moved in the next night! Sandra and Pepe are from Valencia, Spain. Pepe will be working on PhD research while Sandra takes English classes (quite a challenge considering it’s a stretch to call what the Irish speak, English.) While we haven’t forged strong friendships with them yet, Al is at least being cured of her involuntary vegetarianism thanks to copious amounts of Spanish chorizo that Pepe brought from home.

A sunny streak of about 3 days have Mer and Al really excited about the coming weeks, which feature visits from Drew, Elek, and BERGIE!!!

Miss you all.
Slainte!
Al & Mer

Galavanting in Galway

We’ve returned from our adventure in Galway. The three-day-two-night excursion was the perfect break from our Dublin routine. It allowed us to meet lots of new people, see some breathtaking Irish countryside and add a handful of hilarious stories to our summer chronicle.

Immediately after work on Sunday, we sprinted to the Heuston train station carting our massive backpacks to make the 18:50 train. After a celebration of having hoodwinked the train company into selling us cheap Irish student tickets, we settled down for the picturesque three-hour ride to Galway. The scenery featured rolling green hills with small farms, which were divided by ancient stone hedges and held sheep, cows and horses. There were also occasional castles and medieval towers scattered between the small villages along the way.

Upon arriving in Galway, we checked into our Kinlay Hostel which was far superior to Dublin’s Kinlay and located conveniently in the center of town, only two minutes from the train station. As we set down our bags, our new roommates introduced themselves and we were shocked to discover they came from Niwot, a small town next to Mer’s! The number of mutual acquaintances was almost creepy and epitomized the sentiment we’ve felt several times this trip: It’s a small world after all. We spent the evening with these guys and heard stories of their trip around the world, which started in Beijing and was concluding in Galway. What fate to meet them!

On Monday morning, we hopped on a bus to the Cliffs of Moher. The tour included the 1.5-hour bus trip there, 2 hours exploring the cliffs, and 1.5-hour bus trip back. That may sound like a lot of time in a vehicle, but the bus proved to be an equally enjoyable part of the trip. The driver sped along winding roads along the coast which were framed by high stone walls and hedges, stopping often to let cars squeeze by on the impossibly narrow passageways. We also stopped once to watch a little Irish boy frantically scream at his cow to shoo it off the road so traffic could pass.

The Cliffs were a truly spectacular sight. The walkway stretched a couple of miles along the coast, allowing for excellent viewpoints. We were blessed with sunny weather which made the hike much more enjoyable, though the gale force winds made us a little nervous to get too close to the edge. (We later met a guy who told us that on his last trip to the Cliffs a little dog had been chasing seagulls around and had chased them right off the cliff into oblivion. What a way to go!) Two hours of strolling and watching waves crash was the perfect amount and by 3:30 we were ready for the scenic ride back to Galway.

That evening began with a delectable dinner out (only our second since we’ve been in Ireland) in which Al had Guinness stew, Mer had grilled aubergine and butternut squash, and we split a bottle of Savignon Blanc from Australia. (We can be such classy broads if we try.) Back at the hostel, we met two new roommates whose impossible names led us to refer to them as simply, “Finland.” They were blonde, blue-eyed and completely nuts, but their English was solid enough to make for an excellent night out. We began at Taffe’s for some traditional Irish music, then traveled to King’s Head for an acoustic guitar duo whose singing got significantly better each time they ordered another Guinness from the bar. There we met two guys from Chicago, one of which works on David Street in Evanston! They were on vacation in Ireland and it was great to talk about Goose Island, the Cubs, and Lake Michigan, things we’re started to miss. So while Mer chatted with the Chicagoans, Al experienced an intense dancing session with Finland which included Matrix-style backbends and numerous enthusiastic spins. We danced at Central Park, or “CPs,” allegedly the best dance club in Ireland. Monday nights are probably not the best showing, but we certainly had a great time.

We began our last day in Galway with a walk along the beach. Again we were blessed with perfect weather, so we climbed on the rocks and experimented with how close we could get to the swans without getting attacked …pretty darn close. We did some shopping to build our Eurofabulous wardrobes and ate an early dinner at Coach Patatas, a baked potato restaurant that features a menu of over 40 varieties of baked potatoes. Delicious.

We spent the final couple of hours in the sun in Eyre Square, (also known as the Kennedy Memorial Garden in honor of JFK who was a Galway frequenter) reading, journaling and napping. On the train ride home we sat by a ridiculously good-looking veterinarian from Kildare who entertained us with stories of hedgehogs named Pignug, ducks with malfunctioning quacks and dogs jumping off of cliffs. The three hours breezed by.

We’re back home again, looking forward to a couple of days in Dublin before the itch to travel sinks in again, at which point we’ll begin our trek across Northern Ireland with Mark and Julie. Ah, what a life.

In the words of Queen, in a song that is totally overplayed here, “Don’t stop me now, I’m having a ball. Don’t stop me now, ‘cuz I’m having a good time and I don’t wanna stop at all.”

And some pictures, too.

Campiones! Campiones! Ole! Ole! Ole!
Espana wins EuroCup 2008, which we watched at the Porterhouse

Our original crew from the Kinlay House who've ended up being our closest buds.
Georgi, from Bulgaria, is on the left and Flo from Austria is on the right.

Part of the Oscar Wilde Statue in Merrion Square

Happy Birthday, America

July 5, 2008

Okay, okay, you can quite your badgering. To those of you impatiently requesting more posts, we apologize. Unfortunately, we still don’t have internet in the flat, so it’s difficult to upload. There’s loads of internet cafes in which you can use their computers, but only one café with wireless in which we can use our own laptop. Our frequent visits to Café Notto are becoming a bit conspicuous…

Things are finally warming up around here. We’ve had a week of lovely weather, with only one rainy day. We took advantage of the sun on Friday to explore Dublin Zoo in the middle of Phoenix Park. The price was a bit steep, but it was great to see some animals and eavesdrop on the funny things Irish people say to their children, such as, “That rhino could topple a car,” and “Mind your head, Colum, and be sure to step out properly.” Silly foreigners. We found it especially ironic to eat our lunches at the African Safari exhibit – Dublin isn’t exactly ideal weather for giraffes, zebras and ostriches.

We’ve had a couple fun nights out with friends. Al made some real Irish friends! Her coworkers at Dobbins are college-age Dubliners and they took us around to some less-touristy spots. It was great to get out of Temple Bar and travel with locals. In addition to fun dancing and conversation, our new friend Keith became determined to teach us how to speak like Irish girls. In these parts, French fries are “chips” and chips are “crisps,” which we find to be an unnecessarily tongue-tying word. But Keith wouldn’t hear our protests. He made Al declare to the River Liffey that “I love myself and I love my crisps” in her best Irish accent, until he was convinced she meant it. It took several tries before he was satisfied with her Irish drawl.

Last night was Independence Day and it was slightly disturbing to see how celebrated it was over here. Foreigners know the tune to our national anthem, the words to our Pledge of Allegiance and even the candidates for our upcoming election. The DJs announced the holiday in between songs like “Born in the USA” and “American Boy.” What other country in the world spreads its culture so far and so wide? We can’t recite the Spanish National Athem, nor could we tell you France’s Independence Day. It was interesting to see the US’s influence, and it was embarrassing to see the gross tourists from LA clad in “I (heart) the USA” t-shirts and red white and blue face-paint. No wonder Europeans find us obnoxious.

Al has the next few days off, so we’re traveling west to Galway for a couple of nights. We just purchased our bus tickets and hostel stays, and the rest will fall into place when we get there. Galway is the biggest city on the west coast and unlike Dublin, it takes advantage of its coast, earning its notoriety for the beaches and the boats. It should be a lovely little trip! We’ll write again when we return.

Slainte, luck and love,

Al and Mer

The Overworked; The Underworked

July 2, 2008

It’s only been a few days since our last post, but everything has turned topsy-turvy. In that report, we were both sitting pretty at the height of the Dublin Adventure, but we’ve since drifted to opposite ends of the spectrum, neither of which is particularly pleasant. Al finds herself a bit overworked and Mer is shocked to be unemployed.

We’ll start with Al’s story. Things at the Body Shop are going well. She’s learning more about eye cream and Vitamin E products than one could ever hope to know. Best of all, she is in a store that features a great soundtrack including sweet tracks from Estelle, Feist and Kanye. She gets “free samples,” but they’re a bit too puny to celebrate.

Waitressing at Dobbins is decent, as the friendships are blossoming and the work is consistent. Though the labor is good and the pay is pleasing, Al finds herself a bit overworked, putting in double shifts multiple times a week and getting few nights off. A 10-hour day yesterday paired with a 13-hour day today may prove to be a cramp on her style. Perhaps she’ll cut back at one Dobbins to free up some more evenings. (She certainly will have no trouble parting with the hideous man-tie and the uncomfortable ankle-length apron they make her wear.) What a joy to have the “burden” of too many job offers!

Then there’s Mer. Things at La Med were going splendidly… until it was time to get paid. Mer received a call for Goretti, the unpleasant Irish woman who takes care of the finances and is also married to the owner, a Frenchman. When Goretti discovered Mer was without a work permit, she flipped her viscous Irish lid and entered an angry rant about the EU, the Office of Immigration and the ignorance of Americans. When Mer tried to explain that a) The Irish Consulate in Chicago told her explicitly that Americans can work in Dublin sans permit for 3 months and that b) her friend was working two jobs and had not run into this problem, Goretti went berserk. It didn’t take too long for Mer to realize her defeat with this woman. She’d have to find a permit. Sigh.

The next day she trekked around the Irish bureaucracy. The Office of Immigration said she had to leave the country for 48 hours. They sent her to the Office of Industry and Trade who told her permits are only issued for careers of 6 months or more. The cab driver’s two cents was that restaurateurs should never require permits. The Office of Industry sent her back to the Department of Justice at which point it became obvious that the bureaucratic sectors in this country have not communicated since the Easter Rising in 1916.

Just when it seemed hope was lost, the Prodigal Son entered the scene in the form of a senior Northwestern, Kevin Carey. Mer and Kevin met for drinks and discovered that Kevin had just experienced the exact situation: misinformation from the US led him to enter the country with improper paperwork and his employer was at a loss. He told Mer the loophole: A magical place called USIT, an American-run haven who works around the bureaucracy to assist pathetic foreigners.

The next morning was spent at USIT, ordering transcripts from Northwestern and completing stacks of paperwork. These miracle-workers promised to produce the permit in two weeks, so Mer skipped over to La Med to tell Eric (the French dude, the husband of crazy Goretti) the good news.

Alas, Eric was unable to remove the large stick from his ass. Though he seemed pleased about the permit, he still refused to let Mer work until it came, by which time La Med may not even have a job for her. Was this really happening? Everything had seemed so set, and she had done the necessary work to appease Crazy Goretti, so what was the problem? Oi vey.

As it stands now, Mer is jobless until the permit comes through. Though the Frenchman seemed pessimistic, Javier, the manager, remained positive and indicated La Med will gladly take her back. Javier, a 5’3”, 30-year-old Spaniard who is in charge of the hiring at La Med has shown nothing but kindness, so Mer remains optimistic. After all, she always was better with the Latinos than with the French.

To put the icing on the cake, Al’s PPS number arrived in the mail. Upon calling the PPS office, Mer discovered hers had been lost in the mail. Lovely.

The whole mess is resulting in two outcomes. First, we are going to start a novel entitled, “Learning to be Irish: A guide to moving to Dublin.” It will include the ridiculous twists of the bureaucracy and lay out the truths that seem impossible to find online or in the States. Second, Mer is newly inspired to take advantage of this waiting period. Through the next ten days, we hope to do day trips to various seaports, attend a Hurling game courtesy of our Irish friend we met at the Foggy Dew, visit the James Joyce Museum and maybe even get some Euro-fabulous haircuts. As Al said, "I'm so over feeling bad for myself. Let's just go have fun."

We love to find the silver lining and even this week has some: We spent a lovely day in Merrion Square and St. Stephen’s Green, two luscious green parks, with our German friend Anne. In Merrion Square, we found a fascinating sculpture of Oscar Wilde that stood beside two marble pillars inscribed with his best-known quotes. Mer also meandered around the halls of the Irish Museum of Modern Art, finding exhibits that ranged from thought-provoking to just plain weird. And of course, we couldn’t be more excited about the nearing arrival of our guests: Mamma and Daddy Laitos come to Dublin Thursday! We can’t wait to show them around.

Paul Simon sang, “I should be depressed, my life’s mess, but I’m having a good time. I’m loving and loving and loving. I’m exhausted from loving so well. I should go to bed, but a voice in my head says, ‘What the hell. Have a good time.’”

Amen, Paul. Amen.