a beautiful day

I missed you today, my dear Chicago. I missed your changeable weather, your steady hum of traffic, people, electricity, and crisp, lake breeze. I missed you, and you will always be mine, but today... today, I belonged to Lahinch.

Lahinch reminds me of the Ireland I dreamt of. Well, except for the surfing. People SURF here. There were cliffs and rocky beaches. There was dancing and hiking. There was a waterfall surrounded by brightly-painted homes that set a scene for the movie in my head. But it isn't a movie anymore. It's now a memory, and an experience that I won't be able to describe in this entry. It was magical.

I did things today that I have never done in Chicago, and that isn't to say I can't do them in Chicago, it's simply that it never occurred to me to do them at home. I learned how set dancing works. It's amazing. I can't actually dance, because, like most forms of dancing, a sense of rhythm is required. Ah, well. 7-4 time? What IS that?

The rocky beaches of Lahinch rekindled a dormant sense of adventure. I hopped, stepped, slid ankle-deep into wave pools, but I also got to see mussels, barnacles, shells and stuff that I never noticed existing on the shores of Lake Michigan. Are there any of these weird little ecosystems back home, I wonder?

I climbed up a near-vertical rock-face, simply because it was there. I had fun doing it, and I loved the sense of danger. I play it too safe in Chicago. Climbing is fun. So are tours.

Tours are amazing! I plan on taking every single Chicago tour I can, when I return. We were shown The Burren, which is a plot of land that looks like the Earth got angry and shoved limestone platforms up to the surface, as if to say, "I'm tougher than you think." I didn't know our planet could do that.

I didn't know our planet could have such magnificent caves. I figured everything had been discovered by now, and therefore lose its magnificence. Apparently not. I thought bats would be more frightening. I thought guided tours were lame. I thought I would get tired of the landscape in Ireland. I thought I might be able to dance. I thought I knew things, but I learned today that there is always something else to be amazed by. Thank you, Lahinch. It has been a beautiful day.

i'm a lame-ass.

i don't go out as much as everyone else does.

the status on my facebook page said, "Shama is studying." to which i received an array of concern from people asking if i was sick or if everything was okay, because it IS friday night, and who studies on a friday night? i tell you who -- lame-asses like me.

i actually managed to shame myself into going out tonight at the last-minute.

this might prove to be a bad idea since tomorrow is the trip to lahinch and that means being at the bus stop at 7:45am. then again, i AM in ireland. when in rome...

food, glorious food

it's hard to eat here. i can't tell if my nutrition is suffering because this is college or because i'm in a foreign country.

i eat like crap here. it has to stop.

my daily intake of vitamins and minerals tend to come from the following: a box of chips (potato wedges), a capri-sonne juice pouch or two, and a sandwich of cheese and... more cheese.

i'm having people over for meatloaf on wednesday. correction, i'm having some IRISH people over for meatloaf on wednesday, namely because they said, "Meatloaf? What's that? We've only heard of it on 'The Simpsons.'" no kidding. this will be my third attempt to make one, and i'm not sure how it's going to play out. i can't seem to find the ingredients that i normally keep, and i am instead finding all kind of ingredients i never thought i would have use for. foods like: beets. they are fresh from the garden, but i don't think i actually LIKE beets.

god, i'm starving. i'm not saying i can't eat, i'm saying that i don't really enjoy food right now. it's there to provide some sustenance.

note: the KFC here does not sell mashed potatoes. so much disappointment.

while the getting is good

i am making plans to travel.

i am making plans to travel outside of Ireland. this involves a certain amount of familiarity with Ryanair, and other 'airbus' companies. i have no such knowledge, and am therefore 'winging it,' to be punny.

first destination: Barcelona.

Barcelona promises to be a city of culture, class, and architecture. it also scares the living shit out of me. i spent the day reading reviews of hostels and travel blogs. getting robbed? no thank you. bed bugs? NO THANK YOU.

i'm scared now. i don't want to get robbed. or infested.

i booked a hostel that is located just outside of the city centre because i'm honestly frightened of what could happen in the city itself.

regardless, i'm going, and it has made me stop to think about what else i could see while i'm here.

i'm going to Venice, Italy. i want to see this city before it sinks. when i think of Venice, i consider the fact that i never got to see New Orleans before Katrina hit it, and i will always and forever regret that. I also considered Iceland because of the fact that its economy collapsed in on itself, like a lawn chair. i wonder what the country looks like now. and then, there is Greenland.

Greenland is a curiosity simply because i want to see glaciers while i still can. i watched parts of "Planet Earth" and it rekindled my love for my planet and every corner of it. i love the idea of Greenland. so does this guy. hit track 6 and have a good time.

television

among all the observations and experiences i have had since i arrived, the most constantly surprising thing is...

television.

man, if only Uncle Milty could get a load of this.



this is the spoiler/teaser for "Home and Away" which is a terrible title for a terrible show. when i say 'terrible show' i mean, 'highly addictive, stupid soap opera.' seriously. it's great. and awful.

i found out that everyone here watches a lot of American television, too... from 5 years ago. since i've been here, i have caught myself up on "Scrubs," "Smallville," and "One Tree Hill" only to find that i'm watching storylines that i know the endings to. oddly enough, i think "One Tree Hill" and "Smallville" might be suspiciously good shows. (i KNOW "Scrubs" is good). don't quote me on that, but from what i'm watching here, combined with my observations from 'teaser' commercials i saw before i left, i think that my scorn and pessimism may have been wrong.

"Home and Away" is still terrible, though.

so is "Gilmore Girls," which i always suspected of being a cardboard version of "My So-Called Life." by the way, it is, but that doesn't stop anyone from watching the rapidly-delivered-dialogue-posing-as-realistic-conversation. it's baaad. yet, everyone here watches and loves it. go figure.

i do love the commercials here. there's one that never fails to crack me up.



and then there's one that will give me nightmares for the rest of my life.



on saturdays, i get reruns of Nickelodeon shows like "Drake and Josh" and "iCarly," both of which make me wonder if i am actually stupid enough to enjoy these shows or if i'm just homesick.

luckily, i can still keep up with "Battlestar Galactica," but i'm way behind on "The Office" and "Gossip Girl." yeah, i follow "Gossip Girl." don't you dare judge me -- you just watched a "Home and Away" clip.

observation #299

house parties work the same way in Ireland as they do in America.

there is a lot of beer, booze, and the ever-present "Mystery Punch." things get broken, and there are white Christmas lights strung up across the ceiling that provide just enough light to make everyone look good. there is plenty of comfortable seating and more things get broken. people you have never met before and will possibly never see again will tell you things they might not even tell their therapist.

and of course, the late-night snack-and-cigarette run. heh. it was fun.

this weekend

i wish i'd gone to tipperary with maureen and andrea, but the bronchitis isn't gonna go away if i keep giving it a reason to stay, now will it?

here's where i DIDN'T go this weekend. oh well.