The Unthinkable

I've done it!!! Today, I QUIT the crap job at Sleepzone, and my ticket has been rescheduled for the 14th of July- 2 weeks from now, friends, I will return home to you. Not because Ireland blows, because in most aspects Ireland is infinitely preferable to the good old US of A. But if I were to continue working here I'd have only 8 days off and be working this boring job for the next 40 days. You know what I say? F that.

I'd like to thank all the people who made this possible. Most of all Janet, poor beleaguered Janet, who I nagged time and time again about flights. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! Also Dad, Mom, Owen, Dena and Hannah, who helped convince me that I wasn't in Ireland to work my ass off at something I hated. I'm here to travel! To explore! To see new things and meet new people!

So as of Saturday morning, I'm headed off to Dingle with Hannah! We'll explore the Ring of Kerry together, and then I may crash with her for a few days before I travel across the midlands- mostly Meath, because I want to go to Loughcrew and Newgrange- on my way to Dublin. I'll stay with Todd for a few days, play some Ultimate, and then take a bus back to Galway for one night. Sleepzone took my leaving very well, and they offered me a room for free for the night before my flight. They also offered to keep my giant bag here for me, so I don't have to cart that freaking thing all over the Emerald Isle.

I am SO HAPPY. I haven't been able to stop smiling all day! Quitting is so liberating- I never quit a job before- and I'm on top of the world.

Also, dear friends, there's even better news. I will be home in time to play in everyone's favorite summer ultimate tournament: WILDWOOD!!! HELL YES!!!

I can't wait for Friday!!!

Love,

Annie "happiest person alive at this very second" Mc

New Resolutions

Okay. I've now been in Ireland for exactly one month, and it's time for a change. As of last night, I resolved not to buy drinks at bars anymore. Drinking will be done sparingly, if at all, unless it's a special occasion. And no, nothing particularly special happened last night to influence this decision, unless you count reading my bank statement and dying a little inside.

The job is finally (mostly) error-free, though it's unsatisfying and most of the time fairly boring. The time passes very slowly, and I have zero time off, and it's difficult to make friends. I find myself hoping they'll fire me, though I have no idea why they would or what I'd do if they did. Actually, that's not true... I'd go to Dublin and stay there for a while and play some Ultimate. And since I've never been fired before, my exit would have to be dramatic and explosive.

I went to the Roisin Dubh to see a band called No Banjo. It's the second time I've seen a band play there- the first was the Ben Taylor Band and they were so relaxed and funny. They had this one song where this guy loves this girl, but he hears her boyfriend's "a really nice guy". He's so tortured over how much he loves this girl. And then he hangs out with her boyfriend and he seems really cool. And it doesn't hurt anymore, because her boyfriend's "a really cute guy". Anyway, last night embodied everything I like best about the Irish pub atmosphere. Everyone was clearly enjoying the band, but those who were seated could see and those who were standing could dance without bumping into each other. It was very chill and the lead singer was dressed like Charlie Chaplin in his early days. Unfortunately, it was also Dena's last night in Galway. I stayed up till sunrise talking online, so I slept through her departure, but she left me a note. I'm going to miss her!

Another thing I've noticed while here is how fantastic the Irish are with children. I went to the farmer's market again the other day, and a little girl approached the cheese salesman and told him he had funny eyebrows, and the next thing you know they were chattering along like best friends. It was adorable- he instantly involved himself in her world and didn't judge, and he played along as if everything was very serious. I've seen this happen so many times in the square... adults playing football (soccer) with little kids they don't even know. The best part is that no one thinks it's suspicious or creepy.

Also, just a shoutout- Happy Birthday Janet!

Doolin and the Burren

I had planned to write an entire novel on my trip to the Burren, but for some reason I'm not feeling chatty, though I know you all deserve updates. So here's the short version of the awesomeness of my visit to the Burren.

1) Played cards in the hostel- gin rummy. CHECK OUT THIS HAND. I kicked BUTT.

2) Got attacked by a very territorial swan, who wasn't a fan of me photographing its baby. Did you know swans hiss? And also that they have teeth and move very quickly?

3) Walked 6.5 miles along the edge of a cliff to get a view of the Cliffs of Moher, also known as the Cliffs of Insanity from The Princess Bride. The water was so beautiful and clear, you almost wanted to climb down and go swimming. Smalls, it was the perfect place for a Pocahontas dive!

4) Stayed in the small town of Doolin. It was 16 euro to stay in the hostel, so I slept in the car. Sleeping in a car is a bad idea for several reasons. It's really really really really cold. It's also REALLY cold. On the plus side, yay saving money!

5) Ate a delicious breakfast of cheese on barm brack- btw, barm brack is a type of Irish bread. It's kind of hard and studded with raisins or fruit.

6) Hopped on a Galway Tour Company bus- I ride for free with the GTC- and left behind Signe, Dena, and Signe's sister Kirsten. Rode to the cliffs and this time saw them from the tourist POV. The tourist POV SUCKS. Check out the massive security failure.

7) Arrived back in Galway, exhausted and ticked off because I couldn't sleep on the bus- there was a really loud kid behind me.

OVERALL: What an awesome trip. The cliffs are so amazing... but don't sleep in cars.

Galway Girl

Hi all!

So you know how everyone knows all the pub songs in Ireland, and everyone sings them in all the bars? Well, it turns out that I've got a pub song of my very own! It's not an Irish song, it's written by Steve Earle, but it's been playing non-stop since I arrived, and since I've been here it's happened seven times... people see me and they shout out the song and ask me to dance with them. Therefore: the day before yesterday, I finally claimed it as my own. It's catchy... Charlie likes it, but it's a little bit too country for me.

Love,

Annie

P.S. I'm at work and clearly shouldn't be blogging right now.

GALWAY GIRL by STEVE EARLE

Well, I took a stroll on the old long walk
Of a day -I-ay-I-ay
I met a little girl and we stopped to talk
Of a fine soft day -I-ay-I-ay
And I ask you, friend, what's a fella to do
'Cause her hair was black and her eyes were blue
And I knew right then I'd be takin' a whirl
'Round the Salthill Prom with a Galway girl

We were halfway there when the rain came down
Of a day -I-ay-I-ay
And she asked me up to her flat downtown
Of a fine soft day -I-ay-I-ay
And I ask you, friend, what's a fella to do
'Cause her hair was black and her eyes were blue
So I took her hand and I gave her a twirl
And I lost my heart to a Galway girl

When I woke up I was all alone
With a broken heart and a ticket home
And I ask you now, tell me what would you do
If her hair was black and her eyes were blue
I've traveled around I've been all over this world
Boys I ain't never seen nothin' like a Galway girl

Skype

Dear Loyal Followers:

It's come to my attention that I have been writing far too much in this blog for you to keep up with. My apologies for that.

There is another way to get updates: Skype. For those who don't know, it's a program you can download for free, and talk to anyone who has Skype, anywhere, for free. We can also video chat if you've got a video camera.

My Skype name is AnnieMc21. Search for me, and you'll be able to see when I'm online, which is almost every night.

Love,

Annie

You Know Those Days?

You know those days where everything goes right, and life couldn't possibly be better, and you go to bed with a big smile on your face? That was all day yesterday.

WHOLESOME FUN
Yesterday was the Farmer's Market. I took my shopping bag and went down there and got organic strawberries and lettuce and oranges and eggs and cheese and bread and even a sushi roll for lunch, and it was all very cheap because they were eager to haggle and it turns out I'm an excellent haggler. I felt so great, because I'm supporting local farmers AND being healthy! Right now, I'm eating eggs on toasted barm brack with melted cheddar on it. Mmmm... I love Ireland. It's delicious. It was a beautiful sunny day and there were tons of street performers along High Street, but it was crowded so I went down to the river to feed the swans with some bread that the bread guy gave me for them. I ended up also feeding every seagull and duck and pigeon for miles. I felt like the Bird Woman in Mary Poppins. "Tuppence a bag!' There was an woman next to me with leathery skin, and she was feeding them brownies with her son, and speaking only in Irish- they don't call it Gaelic here- which was beautiful just to sit back and listen to.

WORK
Then of course I had to run back to the hostel for work at 3, and immediately made some slightly stupid mistakes- forgetting to charge a deposit for an adaptor, accidentally charging a key deposit as a voucher- little things. And then at some point we went to put a couple in an apartment only to find that we had no keys to that apartment, and couldn't figure out how it had happened. Usually there are two keys- a master and a guest copy- but in this case they were both gone. We had to have checked someone into there but couldn't figure out who or how or who had done it- so naturally it had to have been my mistake, checking someone into the wrong apartment, because I had mocked fate by writing in my blog yesterday that I'd made no mistakes. So this angry couple sat around for HOURS, waiting for us to get into the apartment and figure out who was there... and no one was answering when we knocked. My bosses were going nuts, not at me but in general, and trying to figure out who'd been misplaced. And all the time I was stewing with guilt, knowing it was all my fault but not remembering what I'd done.

Near the end of the day, it turned out it hadn't been my fault at all- a couple had accidentally booked a reservation for two days from now and shown up today, and Trav had checked them in and put them in the room without noticing. I can't even tell you the relief... how fantastic it is to realize you're not as big of an idiot as you thought.

My glorious moment didn't last long, though, because a giant stag group arrived and promptly violated the house rules all over the place- drinking, smoking, and generally being loud and annoying. Trav and I were scrambling after them, trying to keep them under control, and then a funny thing happened.

IDIOTS
There was a massive group of guys in the common room, and a few girls dispersed throughout, working on laptops or reading or watching TV or playing cards... I was sitting at a table, eating dinner. As I watched, this huge group of guys sent out delegates to every remotely pretty girl in the room and hit on them. Dena gave me the details later- "Want to come up to my room?" "No, thanks, I'm comfortable here." "You'll like it there." "Why, what's to see?" "A lot of things." "No, still okay, thanks." Any time one guy was perceived to have failed in convincing the girl to come back to the room, or to come out with them, he was switched out and another took his place. It was great to be an outsider watching all of this and admiring their persistence. Then eventually they all went out to the bars and the girls in the room breathed a collective sigh of relief.

I felt bad for the night porter, Damien, who's such a nice guy and who had to deal with these idiots when they came back in at 3 am... but that didn't turn out to be a problem, because Damien brought extra security with him- a beefy guy who looked kind of like Steve from the Jerry Springer show, and whose name, oddly, was Steve. Come to think of it, it might have been Steve from the Jerry Springer show...

AGENDAS
The appearance of those guys led Dena and I into a conversation about their agenda, and how obvious it was what they came here for- and then the hidden agendas of all the people who come into the hostel. Most of the people traveling in groups are fairly open and obvious about why they're here, just to travel and be with friends. But the people traveling alone are fascinating. There's a group of girls we've deemed the P.S. I Love You crowd.

If you haven't seen P.S. I Love You, the main gist is this: Hilary Swank goes to Ireland and falls in love with a romantic, musical, funny, handsome Irishman in a pub, and he marries her and they go back to NYC and live together until he dies of cancer. She kinda sorta starts a relationship with a bartender but he's lame, and she goes back to Ireland and falls in love with ANOTHER romantic, musical, funny, handsome Irishman in a pub. Then she brings her mother to Ireland and guess what? Her MOTHER falls in love with a... well, he's a farmer, so I don't know how musical he is. But in any case, the point of the movie was, "go to Ireland to meet your soulmate, because all Irishmen are perfect." And none of them will admit it, but the truth is that SO many of the girls who come through the hostel are here looking for their true love in bars and pubs and all the wrong places. It's sad, because they think they're being subtle about it, but they're so clearly desperate and they ask me where they can find traditional Irish music playing, but they're only interested in the guys playing that music. And a lot of the girls will bring back to the hostel what Damien tactfully calls 'domestic lads', who more often than not are the jerks who hang out at tourist bars waiting for a desperate American to bang them.

Anyway, we were talking about different agendas for being here, and there's the P.S. I Love You crowd, but then there are also people who are running away from something, the people who are testing the depth of their commitment to someone, and the people who have been trapped all their lives and are exploding into the world- usually those are the ones who are starting in Ireland and working through Europe.

A VISIT
This morning, I checked my Ithaca e-mail for the first time in a while, because I had to change my password, and saw an e-mail I didn't recognize that for some reason hadn't been forwarded to my gmail, and which couldn't be spam- so I opened it, and it turned out to be from my brother's former roommate, Todd, who was arriving in Galway and would only be here one night. Good timing, Ithaca password expiration warning! I almost missed the e-mail altogether! So he came to the hostel and we went out and tossed a disc around for a while. It was SO NICE to throw again! Apparently no one else in his group is an Ultimate player, and they're not into throwing around.

A group of people asked to throw with us, but they were awful, simply awful, darling... though they didn't lack for enthusiasm. They kept calling us experts, saying that we should be on the Irish Olympic Frisbee team. It was hilarious, especially when the girls in 4 inch stilettos (or silhouettos, Gordy) tried to throw. They actually did better than some of the guys. Then we went pub-hopping... the King's Head, Taaffes, etc. They were all really crowded, though, so we went down to the docks and talked about the Tuatha de Danaan- he's studying Irish Lit- and about my brother and how he's doing. (Secondhand is the only way I find out anything about my brother!) Then, across the river, we heard a chorus of "Happy Birthday", and decided to go investigate.

WHAT A GREAT IDEA!
It turned out to be the 21st birthday of a guy named Lorcan, who was wonderfully funny and great to talk to. We wished him a happy birthday and met all of his friends, who were all our age, and not sketchy or overly aggressive like most of the other guys I've met in town. They were accepting of us and happy to talk to us, and asked us to come with them to the Róisín Dubh, a pub that plays a lot of traditional music and apparently breaks more glasses than any other bar in Galway. While Todd and I were there, we must have heard 30 glasses shatter! One of the guys in particular, Oisin, dragged us to each room and introduced us to everyone, and led us in a rousing chorus of "Don't Stop Believing" to which he knew only those three words. These guys are also living in town, and so now I think I'll be at the Róisín Dubh ALL the time! We hung out and talked with them for a long while, and also met some beautiful girls from Amsterdam and two guys from the States, with whom I talked comics for a while until Todd's eyes started to glaze over. We'd spent an hour in the smoking area, and it was killing my lungs, so I excused myself and went downstairs, where I ran into a guy named Noel. He spent most of his life in South America and was really interesting, and had some great stories.

At that point, it was 3 am and I started to feel a little sick. You all know me, I don't handle alcohol all that well, and apparently I'd had enough to feel sick but not enough so that I didn't care that I was feeling sick. So I asked Todd if it was okay to call it a night, but since he'd been yawning for an hour, I don't think he was too miffed about it. We went back to the hostel and had some food, to settle my stomach, and then he had to go. He's staying in Dublin, though, so now hopefully I'll have a couch (or piece of carpet) to sleep on when I play in Ultimate tournaments over there! He's such a cool guy. Good choice of roomie, Frank!

OVERALL
It was an amazing, incredible day. I love Ireland... just walking around and feeling like Galway loves me as much as I love it! I curled up in bed, deliriously happy and more at home than I've been in a while.

CELTIC TALES
I realized that I told you I was going to see a Celtic Tales performance but didn't actually tell you how it went. It was great- he told the story of the Children of Lir, and the Tuatha de Danaan who turned into swans and faeries to keep from having to leave Ireland when the Celts arrived, and another story of three brothers and a great storm in Galway Bay, and another Scottish story of a boy who gets stolen away by a monster called a... I don't know how to spell it and wasn't able to find it online, but it's pronounced "Greer-gog", with the first R rolled once. He ended on a modern- and partially true- murder tale, of a couple who hated their neighbor and decided to scare him by setting up misleading lights on the road, and he ran his car into a tree and died. They enjoyed it, but couldn't do it again because then they had a daughter and all their energy was focused on her... but once she went to college, they decided to do it again. This time they killed three men and a hitchhiker, but the hitchhiker was still alive and a bloody mess when they went to look at the bodies and they whacked her on the head and buried her in a ditch. Three weeks later, a girl walked into a police station and told the cops that she'd like to turn in her parents for murder. She said they'd whacked her on the head and buried her. The cops asked how she escaped. She said, "I didn't. I'm still there," and vanished. The cops showed up at the house and told the parents they'd killed their own daughter by mistake. It was a really creepy way to end, but luckily it was only 10pm when the stories were over and it was still light out and not too scary to walk home.

Not to Tempt Fate, But...

...I managed to not make mistakes at work today. As far as I know, which is good enough for me.

It's a Friday night and I'm staying in and chatting with friends, which after the disaster of last night strikes me as an eminently sensible idea. What happened last night? you ask. That is an excellent question, and what follows is an excellent story.

Last night at 9pm, I was working and Hannah came in, breathless and a self-described "tipsy", telling me that she'd just met these two fantastic Irish guys, who were "SO funny" and "mediocre looking, but SO funny!" She'd mentioned me to them, and their first question was, naturally, "What does she look like?" "Is she a supermodel?" "How's her rack?" Prize guys, these ones. I'm surprised I didn't marry one right away. Hannah promised them we'd meet them at a bar, and begged me to come along after work.

Let me just point one small thing out about myself. I am in no way, ever, even in the slightest interested in a guy, even an Irish one, who views all women as a walking pair of boobs. But Hannah begged and begged, until finally, just so that I could finish the cash up, I agreed. She practically skipped out the door and pressed the wrong button to open the door and broke the door. Dave and I spent 20 minutes trying to figure out how to disassemble and reassemble the alarm system. So, after work, I swapped my work shirt for a sweater and scarf and went out to meet Hannah.

One of the guys was relatively sober, the one set aside for Hannah, and though he was nice at first, he turned out to be a terrible and frighteningly aggressive dancer, and very handsy. Also, he had a tendency to call me a "useless c**t", and somehow I found it difficult to not get offended by that.The other one was so drunk he couldn't stand up on his own, nor could he lift his head to talk to my face, and so he ended up having a full, if slurred, conversation with my chest until he passed out over the table. They were charming lads, simply charming. I tried to escape several times, but Hannah begged me to stay because we were going to meet more of their friends. If their friends were anything like them, I had no interest, but my attempt to escape led in my bleeding from a cut finger... she wears sharp rings. Anyway, we met up with their friends, who were less drunk than them and nicer, though all were still uncomfortably touchy-feely, and hung out with them until 1am, at which point I was absolutely fed up and couldn't take one more second of them, and headed back to the hostel and talked to Owen until I practically passed out at my computer.

As for tonight, my week has been absolutely MADE by Moose and Charlie, who I skyped with tonight while they drank and sang and danced to music. They're going to make their own podcast, Drinking Time with Moose and Charlie, or Drunk Afterthoughts, or something similar. It was so great catching up with them!!! Way to be awesome, guys. Also, VICTORY!!! I am now officially at the top of Moose's "To-Do" list! After a year of nagging and demanding to have my rightful place, I'm on the "To-Do" list near Rachel McAdams. It's not that I want to do Moose... I have never made a "To-Do" list and don't know who would be in it if I did- (cough- Ryan Reynolds-) but damn it, if you're not on Moose's "To-Do" list you must be either hideously ugly or really crazy- and even the crazy part is debatable. So when I get back I'll be throwing a celebration party, and you're all invited!

Writing: I'm working on a new screenplay idea, which is very hush-hush right now, but at least you know that I'm working. It's not too hard finding time, but harder finding ideas. (Sigh...) i wish I was 7 people and was my own brainstorm session.

Goodnight all!

Two Embarrassing Failures and a Revelation

If you're not interested in bitter rages at myself, skip to the bottom!

Remember how I was pissed at that tourist lady in my last entry? I'm as dumb as she is. I'm a fatally optimistic person. I figure that if I don't ask for specifics when receiving information, if I assume that everything will turn out okay, I'll usually end up fine... and sometimes that's true. It doesn't seem to be the case here, however, because apparently in travel detail is everything. To that end I have made two huge and embarrassing mistakes that have gotten Sleepzone in trouble... and it's killing me, not because I actually care about the hostel but because I hate being an idiot.

Firstly, there was a couple that came in, and I told them their room number and how long they'd be staying and gave them a key. They looked surprised and asked if they were in the same room the entire time. I didn't search for other reservations under their name, because usually there's no need- most of the time people make only one booking and then go. So I looked at this one reservation and said yes, they were in the same room. They looked grateful and left, and I felt good about accomplishing something, though I had no idea why they were so happy. Then I went on my four-day break, and when I came back there was a FURIOUS e-mail on the door of Michelle's office from the couple, who had had to move rooms 3 days into their stay and hadn't known it, because I didn't know (and didn't tell them) that they were staying another night in a different room. They were livid, and demanded a full refund and that we call another B&B for them, which Travor did and apparently handled very well. So they went away and the e-mail on the door stayed, to mock my stupidity.

Then yesterday, an Indian man came in, asking to know whether the tour company could drop him off in Recess, at the Ben Lettrey hostel. I called up Declan and asked if they passed through Recess, and he said they did, and could drop off the guy. No problems.

Then this morning, not five minutes ago, Declan came in and said the Indian guy had disrupted the whole tour and messed up everyone's day by getting all pissed off that Declan wouldn't drop him off in front of the hostel. Turns out that Recess, the town, takes 45 minutes to span, and the guy wanted to be dropped off 25 minutes outside of Recess, and Declan said no. The guy was furious and demanded his money back, which Declan did, but once again it's all my fault because I didn't look up where this freaking hostel is. (Declan was very nice about it and didn't blame me.) And so now I'm nervous that the Indian guy is going to come back in here and yell at Anja, who's currently on duty and had nothing to do with his greivance, and there'll be ANOTHER angry e-mail up on the board for me to try to ignore. I hate this job!

And now for the less bitter part... remember how I hated high school, and middle school, and was overall a very depressed and messed-up kid? I would always think of myself in the future, and what I'd look like and what people would think of me, and it was always a very optimistic view, which I needed at the time. In any case, I was walking past a mirror the other day and I looked at myself and realized that I am now everything that I wished I would be, minus the telekinesis. (Still working on that.) If my younger self knew I'd end up like this, I think I would have breathed a little easier... not because I'm perfect, because I'm nowhere near, but because I'm happy. I'd been feeling down because I'm traveling alone, and because I'm messing up at work and honestly, because I just read Dorian Gray and now the thought of growing old depresses me immeasurably, but it made me feel better to realize how blessed I am to have the family I have, and the friends, who helped me shoo the storm clouds away. I wondered what I'd have turned out like without you? And it's a dark picture, so I'm not going to think about it. So I just wanted to say thanks to everyone. You know who you are.

I miss you all, but if it seems like I'd rather be at home than in Ireland, I'm giving the wrong impression in this blog. I love Ireland and I'm so glad I'm here... I just want you all to get on a plane and come visit so we can enjoy this together.

Clare Island, Hitchhiking, and Karaoke

See this? It's a sewer grate that I noticed in Galway. Turns out they all have this symbol on it. Look familiar?

Crap. But it's also on tons of jewelry and t-shirts, so at least I know I didn't get myself a tattoo of a symbol that means "sewage".

I had four days off this week- SCORE- and used them to go island-hopping. I decided to set out on my own, and head up to Clare Island in Mayo, the home of Granuaile (Grace O'Malley), Ireland's pirate queen and Bevin's personal hero. It didn't sound too difficult... Mayo is the county right above Galway, not too far away, and I'd already looked up ferry schedules and prices. I'd take the 9:30 bus from Galway to Westport, take the 10:50 bus from Westport to Louisburg, and walk the 5km to Roonagh Pier and take the 12pm ferry to Clare Island. I'd spend the day on Clare Island and sleep at a hostel in Westport overnight. Great plan! What could possibly go wrong?

ALL of it. Apparently, when I travel alone, I travel stupid- either that, or things just go wrong. In all my extensive planning, I didn't take into account the evil tourist lady at the evil tourist booth. She told me that buses for Westport left every 2 hours, starting at 7:30 am, and offered to sell me a 9:30 ticket. Turns out that she was completely wrong, and Bus Eireann runs an 8:30 and a 12pm bus. Thank god I didn't buy the ticket. In any case, by the time I got to Westport it was 2pm, because for some reason a 70-minute bus ride takes longer in Ireland, and the next bus to Louisburg was at 4pm. So I walked around Westport. For the capital of Mayo, it's not the most thrilling of places... very quiet, and a lot of old people staring me down. Did I mention it was 85 degrees out?

I went for a walk a few miles around town, down to Westport Quay, where I saw Croagh Patrick, Ireland's holy mountain, an intimidating but beautiful granite colossus that would overshadow the rest of the trip. Then I walked back and while I waited for the bus, I bought a copy of "Dorian Gray". I knew the story but had never read the book, which turned out to have been an excellent idea on my part, because the book was dull as sidewalk-flavored ice cream. The bus finally arrived, and once off it I walked for 10 minutes in entirely the wrong direction before a friendly pedestrian informed me that some vandal had switched the signs leading to the pier and I'd better hurry, or I'd miss the last ferry of the day.

I jogged about a kilometer when I ran into a really cool taxi driver named Will, who as it turned out was going to Roonagh and was happy to give me a lift. Once at the pier, I asked the girl who sold tickets if there was a cheap hostel on the island, because if not I would just stay in Westport and check out Clare early in the morning. She said there was a B&B that ran 30 euro a night, and she'd call and set it up for me. That she did, and I bought a ticket. The ferry was empty except for me and some very awkward fishermen, but the view more than made up for it. I was hoping to see dolphins, but no luck again. I am doomed to never see a dolphin.

Clare Island has 140 inhabitants, who grow up together and go to school together and know everything about one another, from their shoe size to their mother's favorite color. Those who attend high school do so on the mainland. So I got to the island and was picked up by a boy from the B&B, who drove me across the island. One thing about Clare Island- sheep. There's an entire chorus of sheep wherever you go, everywhere sheep of all types and colors (they paint them to mark them.) The island was stunning and quiet (minus the sheep and donkeys) with an incredible view of the other islands, Achill Island, Inis Turk, and numerous other small islands. Once I realized that I was going to be stuck on the island for a while, the only thing that made me feel better about that was the fact that if you're going to be stuck somewhere, Clare Island wasn't a bad place to be.

There was another woman staying at the B&B, who had this incredibly eerie effect of making me very uncomfortable no matter what I was doing, and making me feel awkward about the clattering of my knife and fork. The owner offered me dinner of crab claws (which now, I realize, I should have guessed wasn't included in the whole "B&B" deal, but as I said, on my own I'm a stupid traveler.) Crab claws are very cold and slimy, so I dumped salt on them and felt much better. Sodium cures all ills.

Then I decided it'd be a great idea to go for a walk, which was my best idea of the day. I walked the 3 miles to the Abbey, where Granuaile is supposedly buried, and photographed it, but unfortunately the guy with the key wasn't home, so I couldn't ask him to let me in so that I could see the megalithic paintings inside. DAMMIT. The graves were interesting, though... an entire graveyard of O'Malleys. A woman was putting flowers on a grave, and it turns out that she, too, was an O'Malley, and a descendant of Granuaile. Cool!

There was only one other place that the guy with the key would be, because it wasn't exactly a big island, so I walked another 2 miles to check out the pub. He wasn't there either- apparently he'd been in one of the cars that had passed me on the way over. I wasn't in the mood for a pint, and it's remarkable how awkward islanders can make outsiders, so I left pretty quickly.

I saw Granuaile's castle, which wasn't so much a castle as a two-room stone tower- simple and cozy, I think we would have gotten along- and took some pictures and a video or two. I'll post those on facebook.

I then turned around and walked all the way back. At one point I thought it'd be a great plan to hop the fence and climb up to an outcropping of rock on a hill, thinking that I could get a panoramic picture... and Jenny, you'd be so proud of me, I got all the way to the top and back down without falling down! Of course, there was another fence at the very bottom, which I hopped with ease, and took a step into the grass- and fell on my face. Grass is untrustworthy in Ireland- the only thing you can trust to stand on is the rocks. You never know what grass might have below it- more grass? Empty air? A giant ditch? In this case, a giant ditch. Ow. I then freaked out because I thought there was a snake next to my face, and then realized I was being stupid for two reasons- one, no snakes in Ireland, and two, it was CLEARLY a stick.

At this point, I was exhausted and had walked a total of "a lot" of miles. I headed back to the B&B, and was at one time chased by a donkey, but otherwise got the rest of the way back unscathed. That is, of course, until I reached the B&B and the woman charged me 50 euro. Turns out the room was 40 euro- 30 only if two people share a room- and the dinner was 10. I mentioned that the girl at the dock had said something different, and it was as if her eyes had suddenly turned to ice cubes. The temperature of the room dropped 40 degrees. She made it very clear in no uncertain terms that I would be paying her prices, regardless of what the dumb ferry girl had said. As soon as I'd paid, she was all smiles and warmth again. Freaky crazy B&B lady. I went to bed with worms eating away at my stomach... I hate spending money.

The next morning, I hopped on the early morning ferry out of there, having seen all I wanted to see of the island. I hitched a ride direct to Westport, and caught the bus from there back to Galway. Hitchhiking now seems to me the ONLY sensible way to travel- that and couchsurfing- because otherwise you end up paying exorbitant bus fares. The rest of the day was fairly uneventful, except that Hannah, Steph and I went out to a karaoke bar and earned another bottle of free champagne and some of the weakest Sex on the Beaches we've ever had. I swear that after I drank those I was MORE sober. Good thing, too, because I had work in the morning and didn't really feel like partying. Steph and her friends wanted to go out to another bar, or something similar, but Hannah and I were both tired so we went back to our respective hostels. I am SO glad that that weekend is over! I need a long work break before I go through the stress of that again... and hopefully next time Hannah will be with me.

Trips I want to take:
Horseback tour of Dingle Peninsula
Hitchhike to megalithic sites- namely, the Mountain of the Witch, Loughcrew. It looks SO COOL.
Cliffs of Moher. This I do free, which is nice.
An Ultimate tournament in Dublin (or two!) It's a 5 euro bus ride to Dublin, which is awesome, and I can couchsurf once I'm there, so hopefully it'll be fairly cheap.

Tonight is the Celtic Tales performance at a pub nearby, which I get to see for free, and Hannah's coming with me, which is good. It's basically an old Irish storyteller recounting myths and legends. Then work for another week, and then two days off. I wonder what I'll do for those two days?

I also asked to reschedule my ticket to leave a little earlier, because at some point I'll have worked more than I'll have explored, and I want to save a little money to start off with next year. So I'll be leaving somewhere between the 6-12 of August... but I miss all of you, and almost wish it was sooner. I'm having a fantastic time, and Ireland is so beautiful, but people should come visit me. Just saying.

On a Boat... to Inis Mor!

For a week and a half, I've been spouting off to tourists about how the Aran Islands are so great, as is part of my job description, but I hadn't actually had the chance to go and visit them. Rectified that today, and let me tell you one thing- my directions to them about how to catch the bus were horrifically vague. I'm shocked none of them came back to yell at me- if they managed to catch a bus back. In any case, Hannah and I did manage to get on the bus to Ros a Mhil, where we caught the ferry to Inis Mor, the biggest of the Aran Islands.


First of all, the ferry was freezing, and my decision to let my hair fly free was sadly not the best one I ever made, because by the time we got off the boat I looked not so much like a human as a sunburnt pillar of salt wearing a seaweed wig. We were hoping to see dolphins, but they were not feeling particularly friendly that day, so we made it to the Islands without seeing a single one. We did, however, see a seal, who I have named Georges (pronounced zhorj). We also met a bull, who I named Grumpy, a horse, who I named Charles, a puffy bird who I named Moose (sorry, Moose!), and a three goats who I named Billy, Goat, and Gruff. Oh, Irish wildlife.

Anyway, that part's not important. We were assaulted right off the boat by guys haggling bikes and tours and even sweaters... jeez!!! It was like a gauntlet of advertising. We rented bikes and biked along the high road, visited the lighthouse at the highest point on the island, and then biked down a massive hill through a sudden rainstorm. It was awesome, but unfortunately Hannah slowed down to make sure she could see, and I didn't. I stopped at a beach at the bottom and waited for her, but she was GONE. I asked like 10 different people if they'd seen a dummy in a pink slicker, and no one had. I retraced my steps and finally decided screw it, I'll just go to Dun Aonghosa, our destination. I figured I'd wait for her there.

I got myself a slice of cake and was calmly eating it when I ran into two girls we'd met on the boat. They said, "Your friend's up at the castle." As Hannah would say, "What the crap?" I jogged up the ten-minute, all-the-way-uphill, jagged limestone path to the old fort and promptly told Hannah in no uncertain terms that she was an idiot. This she took with dignity and said something rude about my mother. In any case, once I'd gotten over that (and the height dizziness), Dun Aonghosa became the undisputed highlight of our trip. The cliffs! The clouds! The roaring ocean! The bossy Asian tourists with video cameras! It was stunning. Even the Asians. More pictures on FB! Dun Aonghosa is a fort, said to be the castle of Aengus, King of the Tuatha de Danann, the fairy people who lived in Ireland before the Celts. Cool, ey?

When I finally tore myself away from it, we hopped back on our bikes to go see the seal colony, which consisted of like 4 seals lazing happily about. The rest of the bike ride was fairly quiet, but beautiful, with several Iron Age forts and some 15th century churches. We went to a pub where there was live music and some really delicious brownie cake. Hannah stopped in the Aran Sweater Shop, where all of the sweaters are hand-knit with Aran wool, beautiful and guaranteed to stand up to wind, water, sleet and snow, but they're also crazy expensive. Each of the knots meant something different- diamonds, for example, meant luck.

We got back on the ferry, completely exhausted, and passed out the whole way back. There were so many people struggling and shoving to get on the bus to Galway that we missed not only the first but also the second bus. They sent a third to collect us- but by that time I was royally pissed at the Lally Tour Company, let me tell you.

I'm back at the hostel, eating dinner... but today's lesson is in why the Irish believe in magic and superstition. When you're standing on Inis Mor, you can see the other islands shrouded in mist in the distance, and it's not hard to believe that spirits live on one of them. Ireland is just so magical.

Writing Once More

It has occurred to me, in recent months, that I'm a pretty awful screenwriting major, as I have created nothing of value that I can use or sell. To rectify this travesty of a failure on my part, I have decided not only to fix up my old screenplay, but to write an entirely new one, while here in Ireland. The only difficulty in doing that is that I can't charge my laptop in my room, and while in the common room people love to bother me and ask where they can rent towels- even when I'm not wearing my Sleepzone shirt. It's a slow and arduous process, but we persevere! I'm on my fifth cup of tea.

I'd also like to point out, for posterity's sake, how difficult it is to rewrite a screenplay that was already re-written six times. I may just scrap the whole thing and start from scratch- though I think I already did that once or twice.

As always, someone should come and visit me.

A Lot of Work and Particle Physics

Hi all! Sorry I haven't written in a while, but honestly there's been little to nothing to report. I've been moved from room to room, so I've basically been living out of a shopping bag, and by this point I've checked in at least 100 people into this hostel. The work is complicated but not all that interesting, and I'm trying to have fun but I can't wait to plan my next trip! I have mostly night shifts, but I'm working on switching some with Anja, the other intern, who is German and has dreadlocks and eats chocolate pudding on toast and is therefore AWESOME.

LAST NIGHT
Last night, I thought it'd be a great idea to sign onto Skype and start talking to a certain argumentative boy. Bad decision, as I wasn't wearing my wrist brace and we ended up debating religion and particle physics for three hours. Since neither of us was likely to concede the point, it just kept going until it was 2:30 am and I was exhausted and hurting like crazy. Didn't matter- it was so much fun. The best part is that we can manage to flirt while debating scientific proof for the existence of God. ;)

TONIGHT
I went out to a club tonight, because they were offering free admission and free drinks, but now my ears are ringing. It was so loud because the DJ was from LA and doesn't understand the concept of 'eardrums'. And there were a lot of weird guys there, and as I hadn't been drinking they weren't the least bit attractive. I came home early because Hannah was very drunk and kept yelling in my ear about her new Irish friends that she found. She's been trying to become a regular at a local pub, and it seems to be working, as she was seven drinks in tonight when I found her. In a little while I'll walk her home- she's nervous about walking alone at night- and probably sleep over at her Travelodge so I don't have to walk home alone.

POSTCARDS
I sent the postcards in a letter to my mom, so they won't have an Ireland stamp when they reach you. Sorry! It's 87c to send a postcard here, which is a good $1.20 USD, and with 30 people to send postcards to, it was just cheaper to send an 87c letter to my mom. On the upside, my mom rocks for sending all those postcards.

COMIC NEWS
Other updates outside of Ireland: My mom got me in touch with a neighbor down the street, whose daughter previously worked at DC Comics and wants to set me up with the VP, to talk to her. Score! I sent her an e-mail but she hasn't responded yet. Fingers crossed!

PS there are no comics in Ireland, and also no Ultimate OR Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Why did I want to come here again?

A REASSURANCE
To reassure all family members and unknowing friends: "Drunk Fun Captain" is a title, meaning that I am in charge of all events that are drunk and fun- not necessarily that I myself am consistently drunk. Just clearing that up, as there was some worry over that. I'm already training a replacement for when I graduate next year. OH GOD I graduate next year.

MORE IRELAND
I have four days off, starting Saturday, so I'm thinking that on Sat I'll go to the Aran Islands, and on Sunday I'll head up to Clare Island and stay in a hostel in Mayo. Tuesday I'll head out to the Cliffs of Moher. Next time I have four days off I want to go kayaking around the Dingle peninsula- either that or I'll rent a bike and explore that way. I'm talking to people behind the receptionist's desk to see what deals they can get me. Supposedly Dingle is fantastically beautiful. Yes, immature former freshmen and Ricky, it's "dingle". That doesn't mean it's sexual.

Then on Wednesday there's a Celtic Tales performance at a local pub, where a seanachai (storyteller) will recant myths and legends, and because I work at Sleepzone I can go for free! Score! I'm really excited for that, as it should be incredible. But mainly in between the time moves slowly, because the work is dull and the hours are long. I can't wait to get out there and explore more! I want to see as much of the southwest as I can, so I might do two bike tours... and luckily I'm not working much during the Galway Arts Gestival... and of course explore the southeast at some point... and then just before I leave for home I'll check out Dublin.

Hannah just showed up- gotta go! If I haven't said it enough, I miss all of you! Hope to talk to you soon!

Love,

Annie Mc

It Feels Like Forever

I took a look at a calendar today and I can't believe it's only been 6 days. It feels like I've been here three weeks already. I settled in so fast to the city!

Hannah and I are still hanging out a lot. The night before last night Hannah convinced me to go out for a quick drink at Fibber Magee's- who advertise "The best beer in Galway", but I get the feeling they're lying- and the next thing I knew the owner was offering us a full bottle of champagne if we would sing "Don't Stop Believin'". Six highly embarrassing and tone-deaf minutes later, we were toasting to our good fortune with some of the most delicious champagne I've ever had. I ended up returning to the hostel several drinks in, and having a conversation about accents, Harry Potter, and drivers licenses with three British girls staying in our room.

Last night, we met a bunch of tech guys from Boston U spending their semester in Germany and their break in Ireland. We went bar-hopping with them, which was the most fun I've had since I've been here because there's just something about clubbing with guys, I don't know what it is, that makes it infinitely more fun than just going out with Hannah. No, not like that- they all had girlfriends and I wasn't interested. We went to three bars and a club, and I went drink-for-drink with one of them- a bad plan, as it turned out, because his tolerance was slightly higher than mine and he'd eaten more. Also, I had work at 8am, and before I knew it it was 3am and I was still riding a mechanical bull in a hilariously American-themed bar. I staggered home with Hannah and the guys and passed out on my bed. I woke up still drunk, and tried to log in to the staff computer by poking it with my finger. It's not a touch screen. Steph and Ricky, you would be so proud of me!!!

Before any of you judge me, bear this in mind- I DO NOT GET PAID. So as long as the job gets done right, I can be drunk (and then viciously hung over) at work. Besides, they're treating me like a slave- see below. But I'm taking a few days off from drinking to let my wallet recover.

I started work yesterday. It's so complicated- everything has to be noted and marked and added up and every single penny is accounted for, and it's nowhere near even remotely kinda even a little bit a fun job. I have discovered several bad things about work, but also several good things. I haven't made a pro-con list yet, but let's do it here.

"AW, DAMN"
1. I work A LOT. The same as people who actually get paid, and I don't have that much time off to explore.
2. My hours are crap. I almost inevitably have the evening shift, just when people are hanging out at pubs or in the park, so it cuts down on my socializing potential, and also makes organizing Ultimate near-impossible. I will be working 3-10:45 most nights. Luckily it's still light out at 10:45.
3. I share a room with 9 people- but that's just for now. Tomorrow I'll have to check out of my room and into another one. They have me moving from room to room once a week! >=( WTF? I know it's hard because so many beds are booked, but seriously, if it's that big of a deal, just give me a single so you don't have to worry about groups who want to privatize a 10-person room. Assholes! I shouldn't have to unpack and repack all the freaking time!
4. Nobody plays Ultimate! Rrr...

"SCORE!"
1. The people are nice. They'll take some getting used to, but so far they've been nothing but helpful and fun.
2. I get to go on trips to all sorts of places for free. So far I've only gone to Connemara, the land of the killer sheep, but I'm also going to the Aran Islands and the Cliffs of Moher for free- and I get discounted rates on travel to Dublin, Killarney, Limerick, and other places.
3. Free food and laundry. Neither of these was supposed to be included, but people leave food behind and I've become an excellent scavenger. OMG so much pasta. I have two gigantic bowls of pasta waiting in the staff fridge. And I can just swipe laundry tokens from the register.
4. I'm in Ireland. And the best place to have a crappy job is Ireland.
5. I can always just leave early to explore all these other cities. It's not like they're paying me.

I think the fact that no one plays Ultimate outweighs almost everything else on this list- except being in Ireland. I wish someone was here with me... I keep reaching for my cell phone to call or text somebody and I can't, and I miss that connection so much! Please please please please go online and talk to me!='(

Love,

Annie "drinking eases loneliness but oh god I need to sleep" Mc

Connemara Tour

I spent the day on a bus touring Connemara... that was the main problem, that I spent almost the entire day on a bus, instead of out in the sunshine biking around. My parents are right, the best way to see Ireland is not by doing the touristy-crap that they foist on foreigners. But I had to take this tour for two reasons: firstly, it was free, and secondly, they want me to be able to recommend it to people who come into the hostel. Same with the Aran Islands tour (which is supposed to be infinitely better) and the Cliffs of Moher. I have no argument with free sightseeing! Especially when those sights include a cow licking its own butt. I did not know that cows could bend that way, seriously. Cows in Ireland are very bendy. Speaking of which, photos from Connemara are already up on facebook, so feel free to stop by and comment!

I start work tomorrow, which means I'll spend tonight doing some light drinking at a pub with the staff.

Love,

Drunk Fun Cap'n Annie Mc

A Lucky Day

Last night I went out to the pubs. All of them. It literally feels like I walked all over Galway last night drinking, and I have never had such a ridiculous and amazingly spinny time. The Irish really do have the gift of gab, with flattery, insults, jokes and wordplay. It was a joy just listening to them talk! And we heard live music at several pubs. At around 1am we went to a club called Cuba, and danced like crazy people until my shoe broke and we hobbled back to the hostel. It's a flip flop, so I'll try and duct tape it back together. The things you learn in college!

We got back at 2:30am, and I was so drunk that I thought it'd be a great idea to go online and write a blog post. Luckily I proofread it before I posted it and realized that I was in no state to proofread either, so I deleted it and went to bed. Now I wish I'd saved it.

I couldn't sleep, partially because I kept having odd dreams about a girl named Susan with an abusive father who ran away but was chased down and she changed her name to Harriet, but also because the fricking sun rose an hour and a half after I went to bed!!! In any case, I woke up this morning still drunk, and had missed my ferry to the Aran Islands, so I'm going to go another time. I ran down to the grocery store for Advil, and on the way I found a 10 euro note just sitting on the sidewalk! Then I went to meet Hannah at Eyre Square and found a 2 euro piece in the grass! My lucky day, I'm telling you. Even though it's a billion freaking degrees out.

Tomorrow I'm off to Connemara for the day, and Wednesday I start working at the reception desk. My work looks like it'll be hectic but not all that complicated. I'll just be at reception from 8 to 3, or from 3 to 7, or from 7-10:45. And it's practically still light out at 10:45!

As for food, things are going well- people leave a lot of food at the hostel, so a lot of the time as long as I'm not tempted to eat out I can eat for free. So far I've only eaten out once, and it was a bagel, so no biggie. Mostly I eat salads and sandwiches, because the peanut butter, jelly, and salad dressing are free.

I'm in love with this city and these people! Just saying, you should all come and visit me. Just saying. My biggest worry is still making friends, but the longer I hang out here the more I'll get the hang of it. Still no Ultimate responses... =( But we persevere!!!

Love,

No Longer Drunk But Still Fun Annie Mc