In Which I Move to a Township Called "Scalp"

So here I am in Ireland! I would have liked to have written something sooner, but there are many things that have been coming up, including but not limited to: lost internet connections, cats prancing around the front door but then refusing to go out, gas stoves ceasing to work, hot water ceasing to work, etc.

I'll try and recount things from the start.

When I arrived in the Gatwick airport, I was overjoyed to see the healthy snack food haven I had fallen in love with last time I was in England, Marks and Spencer! Alas, I had to pass it by in order to check myself into my connecting flight, and in airports, you never know if you will see these same chains on the other side of customs... So once I got to the other side and learned that I had a bit of time to kill before my next flight, I eagerly started looking around the food court there for another M & S! However there wasn't one, damn! But wait! There's a Pret! My other beloved food chain from England! So I bought myself a lovely chestnut mushroom soup and fresh orange juice and wandered off to my flight area to see how much I could eat before getting on the plane. The whole thing, it turns out. Soooo good and healthy and better than plane food.

As the flight descended down into Dublin, I found myself getting rather choked up, as this is the first time I've been back to my homeland in 28 years. As I disembarked, I suddenly realized how many of my family's names (first, middle, and last) are actually Irish, which just made me more choked up, but ahem, enough about me and my emotions.

So I wandered out of the airport in search of the "Citylink" bus I've already paid for online ahead of time. I found it, but it was the "Express" (which doesn't stop where I need to), and the "Commuter" hadn't yet arrived. So I sat down at the bus stop to wait, but the bus driver came over and found me, telling me it would be there in about 15 mins, but I should really just wait on his bus until the other one got there, it was so cold and windy out. Which was true, it was very cold and windy, but it was nice that he cared. A very good first impression of Irish people.

So Brendan picked me up and brought me to what will be my new home for the next 3 months! It is very charming, this house, and VERY rustic. I thought there were 2 houses at first, but one is a shed. It's essentially a little cabin in the woods. There's a woodstove in the living room, and smaller ones in the music room and bedroom. Luckily there are electric heaters too, for in case of the woodstove not working. Crazy thing: we can, and do, keep milk on the counter in the kitchen, as opposed to in the fridge. Why, you ask? The answer is twofold. One, because the kitchen is cold enough to keep the milk cold. Two, because the fridge is about 1/8th of the size of a normal fridge!

The fridge is the one on top.

There is a shower in the bathroom, which is new; previously it had only been a tub. The first day I tried to use it, however, (yesterday), it wasn't working, so I decided to just have a bath instead. I figured anything was cleaner than me having been travelling for 2 days. So everything was fine, I was running my bath (the water here is a bit yellow, which isn't the most desireable, but oh well). But then, pretty close to the time when I was going to get in, it started seeming a bit darker than light yellow, and then I noticed that the water coming out of the cold tap was darkening quickly, resulting in pure dirt water coming out of the tap. Awesome! I'm going to be so clean after this! I didn't know how to fix this, and so just got in and had a bath anyway! Most of the pure dirt water was at the end opposite to my head, so I just worked around it. Judge me if you will. Cleanliness is NOT next to Godliness; if it is, why would He have created dirt?

So, soon after this we went into town, the town being Gort. I ended up at a health food store called "Open Sesame" which was Amazing. Here I am, in small town rustic Ireland, and guess what, fellow health nuts? I can buy mesquite and maca powder here!! And fake cheese and almond milk and RAW chocolate with superfoods in it! Going back to the cheese for a minute, there were 2 kinds, spreadable "Sheese" and one called "Cheezly" which is one of my new official favourite words. Then I popped over to the Super Valu, and they had a whole bunch of gluten-free pasta, breads and cookies there, too.

So pretty much, food in Ireland will not be a problem! I don't have to eat nothing but potatoes every day! I have had some soda bread and lentil and spinach soup, which was amazing and very Irish-seeming. Also, last night we went to a restaurant called The Gallery, which is very arts-friendly, meaning there was live music, art of the walls, and one of the tables was straight from an old hair salon from the 60's, pink and complete with those weird electric hair helmet things! And on Sundays they have a special where you get a Sunday Roast dinner followed by a "Vintage Classic Movie". They are also friendly to vegetarians! Vegans, even. I had a salad that was greens, quinoa, bee pollen, sea veg, roasted beets, and pomegranate relish. With a honey apple-cider vinegar to boot. (Ok, not quite vegan.)

Today has been a bit of a write off, as I slept till a quarter to 3 pm (After dismissing Brendan's questions about whether I might still have jet lag), and have developed a cold so am just trying to stay warm and have tea. I attempted to get outside before the sun went down, but only got about 5 minutes of it, so may attempt that again on Sunday, as I believe we are going into Galway tomorrow.