Picadilly line to COCKFOSTERS

Hello!

Usually, I keep a little sticky-note of things I want to blog about, but this week I didn't do that so we will see what I can remember. I will say that this blog will contain a fair amount of photographs. I have been remembering to bring my camera with me everywhere!
Please let me point out that I live on the PICADILLY Line (Manor House Stop) on the way to COCKFOSTERS. Enlarge the photo. You'll see what I mean. Yes, it gets me every time. Giggle, Giggle.

This is what the Picadilly train looks like at night. No straphangers were killed in the taking of this photograph (that I know of).

Okay, so it's been freezing cold, and I have had WAY too much hot chocolate. (Not, suities, that this is a bad thing ;) ) The problem with "freezing cold" here, is that it only ever rains/freezing rains, but never actually snows. SO, we get all the crappy parts of winter without any of the beauty!

Alright, so, you all have seen pictures of my room and my housemates, but you haven't really seen my neighborhood yet. I'll admit, it's super cute, but I can see myself eventually moving elsewhere because there just isn't that much going on in the way of a social life.
This is the High Street (Main Street) off which I live. It is called Green Lanes. It is predominantly Turkish establishments.

This is THE reason to live in my neighborhood: The famous Yasar Halim Bakery. They have THE best breads, desserts, and boreks on Earth. I may grow obese living here.

This is the street corner off which I live. My street is JUST to the left of this vegetable/fruit store.

This is my street! We have pretty red row-houses with front yards AND back gardens!

This is my house. 10 Salisbury Road. (Why does no one love me enough to send me things??)

Now onto work things...I got my contract for guaranteed supply last week!!! (Congratulations via commenting on the blog may ensue now...) Basically, this means that I am guaranteed work every day (that isn't a holiday) from now on. I still have to call up in the mornings, if I haven't gotten anything before-hand, but, it takes a lot of financial pressure off because what it means is that if they DON'T find work for me, they still have to pay me. Eamonn has also convinced me that it is due time I ask for a raise so I am psyching myself up to do that this week. (He gets paid 12 pounds a day more than me, and has been working only a couple weeks longer than I. He works for a different agency, but apparently, the going rate is the same...Now all I have to do is get the guts to do it. I hate talking about money!) Speaking of Eamonn it's due time for a photo and a caption:
Please note, this is intentionally a ridiculous photograph. This is Eamonn wearing the amazing Christmas cape he received from a mate for Christmas. He cuts his hair every 5-6 months. Clearly, he is due. He is a teacher and a friend and we've known each other for more than 5 months now. (Has it been that long already?) I like to introduce him as "the smartest Irish person I know." Which, by the way, is the complete and total truth. Eamonn and I are not dating. We are also not not-dating. When asked, which does happen, I say, "We are not dating," and he stands there like an awkward boy (who is not a boy because he is nearly 30). If you ever meet him, you can tell him about all of the horrible (and not so horrible) things you've read about him in this blog because the nature of our relationship is such that he knows his picture's been painted less-than-ideally here--he's just not allowed to read it. When we stop not not-dating it apparently won't matter because we were not-dating to begin with. And you can blog-quote me on that. ;)

This is Eamonn and Badger. They had an all-lads party last weekend. Apparently it's a 7 year tradition. Badger, incidentally, writes for the sports section of The Guardian. (His real name is Robin so you can look him up if you read it.) He may overtake Eamonn for "smarted Irish person I know" at some point soon.Speaking of shattered, this is what their house looked like after the weekend. (Girls just don't let the ridiculousness get to this level!) I spend a fair amount of time there, and on this particular day, I hid in the cleanest part of the house and read the Sunday paper, so as to avoid looking at/smelling the mess.

So, this week was crazy and fun, and I found myself comfortable and at home for the first time. I worked every single day, and hung out every single night. It is nice, socially, to finally know enough people, and feel comfortable enough with them, to go out and do stuff and not feel the pressure of having to "impress." I feel like when you first meet people it takes so much ENERGY, and now I just feel more relaxed, so hanging out is much more enjoyable and a lot less work!

On Tuesday I went Salsa dancing with Sadbh (Irish and pronounce Sive) and Jaz. It was a great lesson at a great club, and the people there were pretty friendly as well. There was even a live band to dance to afterwards! The class was kind of hard, but I felt like I learned more in one day than I have in a very long time. I've seen London salsa dancers at work in other places, and now I can understand why they are so good! On Wednesday Jaz and I went to see this really great musical in the West End. (I have definitely been seeing my fair amount of theatre these days. I guess I don't want to pass up the opportunities that I know I missed out on in NYC. To be surrounded by great theatre is a very rare, and wonderful thing!) We saw "Imagine This" which got very poor reviews. It was a musical about Jewish Ghettos in Poland during World War II. The musical was GREAT, I think the problem is that no one wants to go see a musical and then be horribly depressed afterwards! On Thursday Eamonn made dinner. He's been talking up his "super secret best ever pasta sauce" so it was due time I tried it out. Pretty good...but not as good as the Uccellos on Christmas Eve. On Friday I went out with Jill, Sadbh's housemate, and COMPLETELY coincidentally Eamonn's best friend's little sister. I am telling you...the Irish community here is crazy. We had an awesome night out on Liverpool Street (and I had the BEST cheap veggie burger of my entire life!) but unfortunately, one of the guys we were with got his laptop bag stolen. It is such a shame that in London's "fairly low crime-rate" there is such a HIGH concentration of thievery. It's SO common here to get things nicked when you are out having a good night, and it really puts a damper on things.

I woke up at an un-godly early hour on Saturday to play a hockey game in the freeeezing cold freeeezing rain. The game was miserable, we got our as**es kicked, and I think I pulled a muscle in my right lower a**. Seriously, watching me walk is a rather large source of entertainment today. Soren and I were supposed to go to the famous Camden Market to Christmas shop, but, I felt so crappy, I cancelled. I NEED to Christmas shop though!

However, it was our hockey club Christmas-Do last night, so after our EARLY game, everyone went home and napped and then we went to the club for the party. I should explain the West Hampstead Hockey Club to you now, I supposed. There are 6 girls teams and 7 guys teams (which is around 150-200 people). And, being sports enthusiasts (and predominantly English, Scottish, and Australian), they know how to throw a party. I'm excited to have such a large group of people to be able to meet, who all have the love of hockey in common. The girls in my division are all really kind, fun to hang out with, and have completely taken me under their wing.
This is the hockey club.

Most of you know how I feel about Karaoke. Well, you can see me standing in the back of my team, being embarrassed. Each team had to do a karaoke song at the Christmas-Do. We are pictured here singing "Uptown Girl."This is myself and one of the girls on my team, Helen. If you look closely you can see that I am covered in tinsel.

In other words, this week was all about being too social and not getting enough sleep. The pattern is just going to continue because tonight I'm going to see Jamie Lidell in South London. YES!

Finally, I am coming home from December 23rd-December 30th. If you are going to be around, let me know. I am going to be in London from December 31st-January 2nd, Dublin from the 2nd-4th, then Berlin (with Marisa!) from January 4th-January 9th, and then Finally back to London to re-start "real life."

Love you! (Comment!)

Sarah

PS: Happy Birthday Simone!

Washing Machine From Hades or This Week's Social Life

Helloooo Fans :)

Right now I am waiting for my *only* set of sheets to finish washing. Currently, they have been in the washing machine for 2 hours. I HATE European washing machines. Stupid front loaders. They LOCK so that you can't open them and spill water all over thing (nor can you get your clothes out when they have been in for a million years and the washing machine gods are playing some kind of evil trick on you)! PS: We don't have a dryer. No one does. And it is right annoying. Seriously, clothes don't dry in freezing cold countries where there is no sun, and yet, no dryers anywhere. Who came UP with this energy-saving idea??

News update: My sheets have finally finished washing. And guess what, my white duvet is now blue.

ANYWAY, back to blogging. It's been a good week. Great in fact. I have taken loads of cheesy London photos for you all to feast your eyes on: ICONIC London.

LOOK. It's Picadilly Circus. Yes, folks, this is Time Square's daddy. Bright and Scary.

A reminder on the street to all the idiot tourists. Don't look in the wrong directions like a stupid American and get yourself killed.

There are no pictures of the beautiful Soren because I promised him I wouldn't post the only photo of him I have...which is quite un-photogenic, to be honest, and doesn't do him any justice. We are going to have a blog photo shoot next time we hang out though, so no worries :) (And Eamonn thinks we should have a "who is hotter contest." I told him I'd have to collect a few more hot male friends, and then I would make it happen. ha.)

I don't think I can work this blog in any sort of chronological order today because my brain is feeling un-chronological. Let me start with the teaching/work stuff. I think I am in the middle of a great anthropological experiment: New York City's Eff-ed up educational system versus London's Eff-ed up educational system. I will tell you that this week's experience was a most pleasant one. I spent the whole week at one very well run school in Vauxhall. Basically, the students come from very similar backgrounds to our New York City students (poor, projects/council housing, broken families, etc.) BUT, this school that I was at this past week did a very good job at keeping all of those problems outside of the school. Inside the school was a very serious work environment, and for the most part, the students worked. They were kids, so, of course they didn't REALLY respect the substitute teacher (me) but, they got their work done for the most part. And, after seeing me for a few days, they started getting used to me, and I to them. I was actually quite sad to leave. I sent the head-teacher my CV and an email saying that if they ever needed an English teacher (though I'm not currently looking) they should think of me. The school itself was incredibly racially diverse, and all the students got along really well.

There were also a fair amount of Spanish speakers and Portuguese speakers, which is a bit of a rare thing in London. They had a high ESL population, and it made me feel at home more so than other schools I have been in. The teachers were surprised when I mentioned that their students seemed to be ahead of our (NYC) students in terms of reading/writing/maths skills. I worked in a year 11 class (kind of the sophomore equivalent) who were working on Of Mice and Men and Romeo and Juliet, and it made me feel like the confident teacher that I should be at this point! One thing that was really crazy to me is that one of the classes that I subbed for, a year 7 class (7th/8th grade equivalent) had an end-of-unit exam. Instead of taking the exam in the classroom, they were taken down to the assembly hall, and had to take their exam there as an entire grade. They had to enter the hall silently, leave their coats/bags at the back of the room, and stand SILENTLY behind their chairs until everyone arrived. Once there, the head teacher announced that they had one minute to sit down and get ready before the exam began. I thought it was a bit serious (and kind of scary!), but then I realized that maybe, if our students were taught how to properly take tests from 7th grade, they wouldn't be so shocked and disheartened when it came time to take the SATs. Right? Teacher thoughts? SO, that's my update on teaching life here.

Alright, so, in other news, I started falling in love with London this week. Mostly, it happened this weekend, but now that I'm falling in love with it, my edit button is in full effect, and I can't even remember the things that happened before. When we fall in love with people, we do the same thing. You stop noticing the things about a person that are negative, and all of a sudden, even though the negatives exist, you stop being able to point them out. That is how I am starting to feel with London.

On Friday I went to see Treasure Island with Jaz. She had free tickets, Lily Allen's dad Keith is in it, so we went. Free West End theatre (that's like Broadway for you New Yorkers) is not something you say no to. The production wasn't that great, but, that's not why Friday was awesome, anyway.
See, after getting out of the theatre, we walked through Leicester Square, which is kind of a bigger version of Union Square. People hang out, walk around, and often-times there is something culture and fun going on. Well, during Christmas time, apparently, there is an annual CARNIVAL! How cool is that?! In the middle of the city! Can you IMAGINE Union Square with a proper carnival??? With RIDES? I mean, this carnival alone gave London SO many brownie points. AND, there is a SNOW-making machine. (A clear downside to London is that it is SO cold in the winter...without the beauty of real snow. It kind of snow-rains here. I wouldn't even call it sleet.) There were serious city-livers acting like children running around everywhere. It made me giddy.
Did I mention there was carnival food? Oh yea!

So then, Saturday I had my first field hockey game with the team. The pitch (field) is about an hour away and I have never done the bus-ride in daylight because we practice in the evenings. It turns out, the bus-ride to the Brent Cross Pitches is absolutely stunning. I had heart squeezies the entire ride there. Honestly, it is just a giant expanse of green! (We all know I moved out of New York because, though Central Park exists, it's just one green spot. It turns out that London has giant green areas EVERYWHERE.) I will go back and take pictures at some point. It was just amazing because the green pops up in the middle of no-where. London is such an expansive city with so many different neighborhoods and so many different heartbeats. It's going to take a long time to get to know them all, but I'm really looking forward to it. (MAndrew, fancy walking in a park when you are here next month?? There are so many of them.) In addition to the parks on the way to the game, there were also so many cute little "New England Type" towns with little town centers lit up for Christmas. Little old couples were walking around hand-in-hand Christmas shopping, and it just seemed like such a LIVABLE place. Not like New York where everything is so fast-paced all of the time.

Now for the game. I LOVE playing field hockey! It's SO much fun. We tied, which isn't SO bad, but I definitely have high hopes for next week, and a win! I am in the lowest division, which makes me one of the top two players on the team. I am not sure if I like being in that position because it means that all-of-a-sudden I'm being looked to for advice and positioning, and things like that. We all know I don't know how to shut-up, and I just don't know if I'm looking for a leadership position on a team ALREADY. Another slight disadvantage is that I had to play the ENTIRE game without getting a sub because every time my teammates subbed people were like, "No, you stay in because you are better." And yea, it was flattering, but my body is D-Y-I-N-G right now. I mean, it actually even hurts to sit. (My butt muscles are KILLING me.) BUT, it really is great fun. And the girls on the team are great! I wanted to take an action shot for the blog, but I was on the field the whole time, so maybe next time...

Then, last night, Soren took me out in Camden. Now, I've been around Camden but I hadn't actually spent time there with anyone who knows the area well. WELL, let's just say, I've found the neighborhood I want to live in. (I can't afford it, of course, but it is perfect.) There are parks close by, it is very alternative (think Alphabet City-esque), tons of great restaurants, culture, and bars, and everyone who hangs out there seems so laid back. I think I will start looking for a permanent job in that area when I start seriously looking for jobs, because I neeeeed an excuse to have a too-expensive apartment in that neighborhood.
This is a picture of the Camden Lock overpass. If you click on it, or just look closely, you can see two painted people who look like they are painting the sign. Those are graffiti by Banksy.
This is also graffiti by Banksy on the same street. Pretty cool. Basically, the neighborhood is teeming with cool art and fun stuff to do. Soren and I had pints at Amy Winehouse's favorite hangout, The Hawley Arms, before heading for a FREEZING cold walk in Primrose Hill. Seriously, this city is GORGEOUS.

All in all, what I'm trying to say is...I'm starting to like London. Like "Like it Like it." :)

Comment!

Love Sarah

PS: I got my first piece of mail yesterday. It was a thank-you note from Lisa. It made my day. But seriously, does no one else love me and want to send me fun things in the mail and then I will send you fun things back? Please, Please? Let's bring back snail-mail, one letter at a time :) (Nate and Evan and John Young, I was expecting better from you guys!)

Dearest Kirstin: a short blog on how to comment

If you are awesome and would like to comment on my blog:

1) Go down to the bottom of the post for that date and you will see something that says number of comments. (0 comments, 1 comment, 2 comments, etc.)
2) Click on it.
3) Write your comment in the box that says "Leave Comment"
3) Below the box that says "Leave Comment" look where it says "choose an identity."
4) Click on "Name"
5) Type in your name
6) Press "Publish your comment"
7) Periodically check back at the comments because I respond to them

:) Sarah

London Bridge is Falling Down

Hey everyone,

If you get through this blog, you win a pathetic plea for comments :)

Table of contents, by paragraph (you laugh, but I'm serious):

1. Introduction and Tea
2. Job Status
3. Job Status part two, with tears.
4. Literary Butcher Shop
5. Broken Muscles
6. Gay Clubbing/Britney Spears
7. Running and Tea
8. Conclusion (pathetic plea for comments)

I am sitting here with Louise and Jaz, drinking tea and writing this blog. It's nice to sit around with housemates. There are so many of them that it seems someone is pretty much always around to hang out with, but it's also perfectly acceptable to hole-up in my room alone. I'm digging it. (We finally had a house meeting about how compulsive people like myself cannot handle the gross-factor of the bathrooms...and we set up a "rota." So now everything is clean and lovely and I am happy.) :)

It's been a bit more than a week, but I haven't had a second to sit down and write because...I GOT A JOB!!! Basically, I already had a job, but I was frustrated because my agency wasn't getting me work. As it turns out...they were waiting for my FBI CRIMINAL RECORD...and now that they have it (All Clean, All Clean!), I have been able to get work every single day. In fact, I will be working at the same school this entire week. It is REALLY nice knowing that I have the security of a job for the whole week. I have been offered interviews for permanent English teacher jobs starting in January, but I am kind of avoiding them right now because I want the freedom of substitute teaching, and it is pretty much the same money. Job security is a frightening thing, though. (How 'bout this recession, eh?)

I don't even know where to start with this blog (pictureless again, sorry...) because so MUCH has happened lately. My first day of teaching was on Thanksgiving. Since I have just given you the happy side of work, I'll now tell you that it was the worst day of my teaching career. Remember how I was not talking to Eamonn? Well, I called him during lunch break of my first day, crying hysterically, because it was going so poorly and I didn't know what to do. He's the only teacher I know here, so it had to happen. (Needless to say, we are definitely not, not talking. Stories for later, of course.) Basically, I have never seen such disrespect--to myself, and also to each other. I mean, I couldn't even SCREAM over these high schoolers and be heard. And then OTHER teachers kept coming into the class and yelling at the kids. And the teachers would also occasionally yell at each other. It was, in Roland Rivers words (yes DHS, that's a shout out to you...), a "toxic" environment. And it made me lose all faith in humanity. "Where are the parents of these children?" I know, I know, teachers aren't supposed to say that, but seriously, where are they? (And yes, in my day from hell, I DID actually ask the kids that question in exasperation. Yes, day one on the job completely broke me, but hell, we all make mistakes, right?) Needless to say, it could only have gone up from there, and it did. London is an interesting, extremely diverse, place to work. I think I'm going to like it.

Also on Thanksgiving, I hung out with Xan and we went to a "literary butcher shop." For those of you writers (and/or aspiring writers, and/or academics and/or lovers of gin), it was this small theater in the round where people send in their short stories and then the audience edits/butchers them. It's a great thing for writers, because they get feedback and criticism on their work, and if you aren't a writer, well, there is a free gin open bar. Seriously though, it is half theater half entertainment half literary genius (i know, three halves...) and a complete blast! I ended up on stage, helping to edit a story, wearing a cowboy hat and holding a gun. How American is THAT on Thanksgiving??

What else, What else? Well, I'm playing on a field hockey team here. I haven't played since I was 18, so it's been an interesting experience. (Read: I am in SERIOUS PERMANENT AGONY. Muscles I forgot I had are SCREAMING at the TOP OF THEIR LUNGS.) Nonetheless, the girls are great, it's great exercise, we are positively horrible, and apparently, we have an amazing club house with cheap drinks. More to come on that front. My first game will be Saturday, and I'm psyched. It's great fun to be on a field again, though I will say, it is rainy and 30 degrees here every day...which is FAR too cold to be playing outside!

OH. My new really awesome South African friend Melissa, and I (and her boyfriend and all of their awesome Safo friends) went to the gayest of all gay clubs on Saturday night, for free, and Britney Spears was there. I didn't see her, but damn, the tabloids say she was there, and they have the paparazzi photos to prove it, so it must be true. I spent the remainder of the weekend watching football/soccer (Go Arsenal, HOMETEAM!), sitting on a couch in dirty clothes, eating amazing home-cooked meals (proper breakfast fry-up and an even more proper Irish roast...I didn't eat the meat...but the rest of it was divine...I'll challenge the English to beat the Irish in a roast-off anyday), and being an all-around lazy bum.

AND, after work today I went to another new friend's house, Soren, (ladies, please picture Soren as the steamy scandinavian man that he is. sigh. next time we hang out I will take a photo of him for you to drool over.), and went for one of those runs that is just the right length--short enough that you still have a ton of energy left. It was SO nice to have someone to run with, as I haven't really found that yet since I've been here. It's also important to add that running when it is FREEZING cold out means you get tea made for you afterwards. Yay for tea. I am LOVING the tea culture here. EVEN better than in Ireland...and even the non-British here have adopted it!

Alright, you made it! I have SO much more to say, but most people have died of old age at this point and the rest of you want to peacefully enjoy the autumn of your lives, so, goodbye :) And comment, will you?

LOVE,
Sarah

A week of crappy things

Hey everyone!

So I think this week has been colored with a lot of kind of bummer-ish things...and I wonder if this is this stuff that blogs are made of, would anybody still read? But, my reality has been less than stellar this week, so I'm gonna write about it anyway. I will, however, sandwich the bad with the good, the way any decent teacher can.

Good news number 1: I found, after much looking, a cheap ticket back to London after Christmas. 289 dollars! That is AMAZING (considering that up until this point, one-way tickets were upwards of 800 dollars!)

Bad news number 1: The only cheap tickets I could find were for BEFORE the new year, so unfortunately, I will not be spending New Years in New York.

Good news number 2: My Irish friends will all be making it over to London for New Years. YAY. So, I will have people I love around me for New Years anyway...though it won't be any of you awesome people. THEN, we are going back to Ireland (FINALLY!) on January 2nd to see 2manydjs and to celebrate my friend Eimear's birthday. I will be leaving from Ireland direct to Berlin to hang out with Marisa for a few days before returning to reality in London. Wow, when put like this, my life doesn't seem so bad, afterall :) Vacation from a vacation? Sweet! And THEN Andrew Mugler will be in London hanging out, right after Berlin!! I know, I know, this chunk of info was way more than "Good News Number 2", but I thought this was all kind of related.

Bad news number 2: I haven't been able to start working yet, and therefore I am quite broke. (Yes, I know what you are thinking, I don't know how I'm going to fund a week in Berlin either. A miracle?) There was a problem with my police check, but it is all cleared up, and now I am just waiting, impatiently. If I don't get work soon...well you know the drill...helloooooo Connecticut. haha.

Good news number 3: I am starting to really, genuinely like London. I've met great people (mostly through my friend Adam, from Ireland) and I have been having a total blast. If you look hard enough, there are, like New York, tons of free/cheap cool things to do in this city. I went to a "totally awesome" photo exhibit called "London Through a Lens" at a famous photo gallery here (Gedde Images) and it was mind-blowing. It was tons of photos from London through the ages. Did you know that the ORIGINAL SoHo (in London) got it's name because SoHo! is a hunting saying that hunters say to their dogs? Apparently, people used to hunt through the streets of SoHo screaming at their dogs, and that is how it got it's name. Pretty cool, huh? (Or totally dorky, depending on how you look at it, I guess.)

Bad news number 3: I kind of got my identity stolen. Yea, I totally wasn't going to blog about this cause I didn't want the parents to freak out...but uhhh, I'm feeling really crappy today, and I just thought, what the hell, lets be honest here. Basically, the day I got here I used my credit card to buy some bed linens, and every since, someone from that store, apparently, has been using my credit card information to buy lots of things online. Don't worry, I've caught it, cancelled it, and I'm getting my money back in my next statement. HOWEVER, it TOTALLY sucks, and it made me not want to trust people here. Not that it can't happen anywhere, just that it happened to me, here, the day I arrived. I'm not dwelling though. No use in that.

Good news number 4: Unlike Dublin, there IS good Mexican food here. And I have found it! And you know what, it was FULL of Americans. Which made me laugh. Oh, Americans and their need for good Mexican food. Oh Americans, and their need to talk about Obama, everyday, all the time. Mexican Food and Obama--Warming my London-town heart, one burrito and one newspaper article at a time.

Bad news number 4: And now for the kicker. Though I have already created for myself quite a social life here (and I'm joining a field hockey team tomorrow!!! so I'll let you all know how THAT goes), as of today, I am not going to see a certain boy whose name may have been read between many blog lines as "some guy I was seeing." For the sake of blog-honesty, myself and said "guy I was seeing" are not seeing each other, anymore. Literally. No seeing of any kind. No hanging out. Nothing. And, I mean, it was my call, because hearts are a fragile thing, and I could tell mine was bound to take a beating in this particular instance. But, as we all know with hearts, the definitely right decision still hurts.

I hate to end on a bad note...so I'll say that I got the Not For Tourists book for FREE on Friday night (and free beer too!!) and it IS as awesome as expected. I then went to a GREAT birthday party (Adam's housemate) and there was lots of dance-partying. Which is ALWAYS a good time. London definitely has some amaaaazing places to go out and have a good time.

This was a picture-less blog, but I promise, there are pictures in the future :)

Cheers!

Sarah

New Room, New Roomies

Hey everyone!

Thanks to all the well-wishers who have been sending kind words my way. It's been really nice to hear all of your positivity especially because, unlike with Ireland, I have been feeling slightly tortured by this decision to come to London. I mean...another big city?...another lack of green-ness near me?...not knowing hardly ANYONE?...This is scary stuff!

But, true to form, I am slowly but surely settling in and beginning to make this my home. (I even re-arranged the furniture in our lounge to make it more liveable...the lounge is REALLY small...but don't worry, it has more than enough space for all of you future visitors!)

Here are some pictures of my amazing room. Yes, I am COMPLETELY obsessed with it. Best. Room. Ever:
View from the doorway...

My two wardrobes and dresser...

My desk...look how huuuuuge my room is! Big enough for a dance party!

Now here, meet the housemates....


This is Jaz. She's great because she is quirky and really open in a way that many Brits are not. I have confided in her all of my boy drama, of course. (She's heard about pretty much every ridiculous text exchange I've had since I've been here.) She's that kind of girl. She told me that all my talk of running inspired her to start taking dance lessons (even before I got here!) so that she could become a healthier person. Isn't that awesome? I went with her to a "Ceroc" class a couple days ago...and it was SUCH a blast. It's kind of like "jive" or "the jitterbug" but to modern hip-hop instead of 50's do-wop. I am still searching for a salsa class, but this is also super fun.

This is Ed.:Ed is a suuuuper intense vegan, which is a little bit intimidating. I mean, he eats barley like normal people eat pasta and rice. And he makes EVERYTHING from scratch. Eamonn and I made curry the other night for dinner. And, Ed was like, "Did you make it from paste, powder, or did you actually make it yourself?" And I'm like, "Well we used powder." Seriously, who takes the time to make curry powder from SCRATCH when it exists at the store so cheap! BUT, he's also really interesting, and a lovely hippie who is going to make our garden actually GROW stuff, and he loves to bike, so he's pretty much awesome. And he stayed out WAY too late with Eamonn and I at our "Local" the other night, going pint for pint. (And the Irish wins again...with the English as a close second...and me falling far, far behind.)

This is Juliet:She's pretty quiet, but she is obsesssssssed with chocolate, which makes her automatically cool. She made the BEST hot chocolate I have ever had in my life the other night. I am not even joking. It was with that really kick-ass organic dark chocolate that has orange peel in it? Yum. Oh, and she plays the cello, my favorite stringed instrument. I went to see her orchestra perform on Saturday. I was an usher so I got in for free! (Couldn't afford it otherwise!)

And this is Tim:
Tim is great, but he is a work-a-holic so I don't see him that much. He helped me put my bike together, and came to pick me up at the airport. He listens to good music and makes his free time about going to gigs. Which I am super into. He is going to New York at the beginning of the new year, so if anyone wants to offer a couch, he's a sound guy.

Then finally there is Louise. She just moved in today so no picture yet. However, I just spent about two hours chatting with her and a couple of her friends, and she seems awesome!

All-in-all, it's been a great first week. I'm still nervous about meeting people, but my housemates are a great resource for that, of course. And I went to a pub night that my teaching agency had on Friday, and met a couple cool South Africans. There were lots of people there, so I think that I'll meet more people at future social events. AND I hung out with Alex afterwards. We danced the night away with his co-workers.) AND Adam, who is a friend of my Irish friends, took me to a housewarming party of some of his Irish-London friends last night. It was GREAT craic. Crazy because the Irish community is SO tight knit that I actually met Eamonn's best friend who he is in a band with. I've heard so much about him, and then he was at this party because his sister was one of the girls in the house! I have a sneaking feeling I am going to become part of the extensive Irish community here, even though I'm not Irish. I'm honorary :)

OH, and I went to sign up for my FREE health insurance. Yea, that's right. And free prescriptions to boot. Screw YOU United States!

(Now all I have to do is wait until the British Police approve me for working with children, and then I'll be good to go!)

Comment, Comment, Comment!

Love, Sarah

My New Address

SEND ME THINGS...and I'll send you things back!

Sarah Hammer
10 Salisbury Road
Manor House, London N4 1JZ
UK

On my way to England!

Hey everyone,

*NOTE: I changed the title of the blog AND the web address!*

It's been awhile (and you know the drill...I'll attempt to keep it short. HA.)

*NOTE 2: While being back in the states for a month+, I discovered that many of you DO actually read the blog. I would be telling a story and various people would say, "Yea. I know already. I read the blog!" Ha, I never would have guessed. I changed the comment section of the blog so that you don't have to sign-up or anything. However, please make sure you leave your name!

I'm leaving my parents' house in Connecticut today, stopping by NYC to pick up my beloved bicycle, and then heading to Newark to fly (finally) to London. So for those of you who may be out of the loop--I got my visa, I have a house to live in, I have a job (for the most part), and I'm all packed and ready to go. The only problem is that I can't shake being horribly sick...which seems to be the theme lately. My immune system has gone to hell (in a handbasket. har har.)

How am I feeling about the move, you ask? Well, I'm anxious, for one. I'm ready to start this new chapter. I'm ready to be settled in a place. (My house lease is for a year, so I guess I plan on staying at LEAST that long, unless of course Ireland decides to give me a visa.) And, I'm excited. I'm excited mostly, to finally meet my new roommates who I have been talking with for 2 months, but have yet to meet. I REALLY hope they are chill, cool (clean!) people. I have high hopes for them because for starters, a couple of them (Tim and Jaz) are coming to pick me up at the airport and help me lug all of my stuff home. How sweet is that? In addition, Tim and I have already admitted our pseudo-dorkiness to each other, and we have plans to go to the NOT FOR TOURISTS release party (yes, they are releasing their first edition of London!) AND we are going to a Last.FM gig, because that is who he works for. I have at least one housemate, then, that will go to cool music gigs with me!

And of course, I am (probably unduly) nervous. (Is that how you spell unduly? It looks funny.) I'm nervous about making friends. I know, I know. "Sarah, you are, like, the most social person, EVER." I know, but still, I only know a couple people in England, and I am getting a little tired of making new friends. But I know Alex (of Montenegro fame, and a lovely friend of Tiana's), Xan (from New York with whom I will be celebrating Thanksgiving!), Adam (a friend of my friends in Ireland who I met at Cois Fharrage), and Eamonn (who doesn't really need parentheses). I also have five housemates. In other words, "There's nothing to worry about." But still, I'm feeling lots of love towards all of you, and making new friends doesn't make me miss the old ones any less.

Right-O. I'll be starting up the blog again (clearly), so you all can expect to see pictures of my amazing new house sometime in the up-coming week.

I love you all and I'm going to miss you TONS, but I'll be back for Christmas! (And those of you that I won't see over Christmas...start planning your Europe trip...Andrew Mugler is going to be the first. YAY.)

Love, Sarah

Goodbye Ireland, For Now

Hey Everyone,

I don't exactly know where to start this blog because it really is a mix of about a million thoughts I have. I guess I'll start with the fact that the reason I haven't posted in so long is that it seems I have "misplaced" my camera. It has awesome Fringe Festival photos on it and I was hoping for it to reappear, but alas, it is apparently gone for good. So no more photos from Ireland, at least from MY (deceased) camera.

Right. So. Working at the Fringe was awesome. I got to see a ton of free plays, music, cabaret, etc. And, I met some really awesome people. If I were staying around longer, they would definitely be people I would become friends with, but oh well. There is this guy called "Duke Special" who you music lovers should check out. He is a "kind of hippie" rockstar from Belfast, and he ROCKS. AND, if any of you ever get the opportunity to see La Clique (it's a human circus), it is increeeedible. Unfortunately, it rained every single day that I worked...outside for 5 hours...and now I am sick again.

Tonight my friends and I are going out on the town for a night of ridiculousness. I'm ignoring the sickness because you only have one "last weekend night in Ireland" right? (haha. I feel that I will have many more last nights in Ireland before my life is over. Probably before this year is over, even. I'm secretly, not so secretly, trying to plan New Years here...)

As for what the future holds...yes, I'll be posting pictures of tonight's ridiculousness, courtesy of Mariel's iphone. No, seriously. The future as it currently stands:

1. I am coming home on Thursday September 25th at approximately 1pm. I am staying the night at Marisa's and eating at Charm and remembering why I love NYC and Ethnic food.
2. I am going to my parents' house in CT, going to a wedding (ON MY BIRTHDAY!), and staying until PROBABLY November 4th or 5th and substitute teaching in gasp, my old high school. gasp.
3. I am throwing a fabulous birthday party at Fontana's in Manhattan on October 3rd, and you all are cordially invited.
4. I am HOPEFULLY getting a letter from the "UK department of Visas and other fun things" that says that YES, I can come and teach in England! With this lovely letter, I will move to London in early November, live in a house in the beautiful Archway district with a bunch of crunchy vegetarians, substitute teach, and travel around Europe...with many visits to my beloved Land of Ire.
5. If the "UK department of Visas and other fun things" rejects me, I will stick around the states, location to be disclosed when my brain has come to grips with the fact that it will not be residing in Europe, and maybe move to Hawaii with Sarah Caufield in September 2009. Cause, honestly, why the hell not live where there is sunshine and surfing and hot, scantily clad men.
   

Who knows what the future holds?

I have learned many, many things while living in Ireland (about myself, about the world, about why Ireland rocks as much as I thought it did.), and I definitely have not given up on coming back to live at some point in the hopefully not-so-distant future.

And don't worry, I will do my best to keep you all posted ;)

Love, Sarah

Chemical Brothers?!

Hello!

I just clicked "send" on my UK Visa to the government, complete with a SICK amount of money. Immediately, the Chemical Brothers' song started playing in my head:

Oh my god what have I done,
All I wanted was a little fun,
Got a brain like bubblegum,
Blowing up my cranium.
(DO IT AGAIN!)

You all know the song. Great to dance to. Not so great to play on repeat in your head when you are freaking out about life changing decisions. But I've done it. It is done. I have my appointment in Hartford for the "crazy-scary-united states-nazi eye-scan" to prove I am a productive member of society, and then it's go-go-gadget-Hammer-in-England!"

In other England news, I found a girl on "gumtree" (which is Craigslist for England) who I really want to live with. She's trying to start a "veggie-house" in the Archway part of London, which is the most lovely part, and close to the amazing Hempstead-Heath park. Now all I have to do is convince her that I should be one of the members of the house, even though I probably can't head over to London and meet her before I'm back to the States. Then you all could come and visit my crunchy granola vegetarian house with a vegetable garden. Wouldn't that be amazing? NOT that I'm getting my hopes up.

Alright, I'm off to "work" at the Fringe (which I'll post on later with photos...) Best. Volunteer Job. Ever!

Love,
Sarah

I heart Ireland. I do. I really do.

Hello!

I missed all your comments last time I wrote, folks. Hinty McHintsalot.

Anyway, last week was pretty uneventful so I decided it wasn't worth a blog. Ireland was a blast, as usual, but it was just normal life stuff. This past weekend however, I went to Kilkee, out West about 6 hours from Dublin, to a music/surf festival. I came back sad today because even though I wanted to kill half of the lads by the end of the trip, I am going to miss living here so, so, so much. THIS is the lads eating my famous Chocolate Chip Pancakes, BEFORE I hate them ;)

I feel like nearly three months has been enough time to set up a life here, with regularity. I have my friends, my routines, the places I go, and I'm not ready to leave. With New York, it was time, but I already feel like I'm being stripped away from here, and it makes me really, really sad.

That being said, Cois Fharraige (pronounce Crush Far-gah, Irish for "the by sea") was a great "end of summer" festival. Every SINGLE person that I have met in Ireland, except Mariel, KT, and Eamonn, were there. EVERYONE. It was a blast. There were three houses full of people, plus the Australians (who throw a GREAT party, I might add). It was actually nice to NOT be a huge fan of all the bands that were playing over the three days of music, because it took the pressure off of needing to be somewhere all the time. It was nice to relax and soak in the sun and beauty. (YES, apparently sun DOES exist in Ireland.)
THIS is what the west looks like! Did I MENTION I love the West?
THIS is Joe and I being soaked. Oh Irish weather, how I love to loathe you.

On our first day, we got soaked, of course, but after that it was beautiful. In fact, a bunch of us ACTUALLY went for a swim in the Arctic Irish waters. (We are talking, colder than Maine water, and air temperatures of about 73 degrees.) It was great though, and I think I am developing the weather capabilities of a true Irish person.

Darragh, of South America fame, was there, and I haven't seen him in four years. It was truly amazing to see him. I wasn't sure how we were going to take to each other, but it took about 30 seconds of awkwardness and then we were unstoppable the entire weekend. WHEN I come back to Ireland, he is going to teach me to windsurf. That's his job, and the reason why he lives out West a million miles away from everyone else. He lives in the Gaeltech where everyone speaks Irish (which, by the way, is SO beautiful sounding when spoken properly)!

So, about the concert. Karma thinks I'm a good person because, long story short, I apparently lost my ticket and couldn't get into the concert. I showed the "man in charge" my receipt but he was having none of it. I left the concert and cried in front of the Irish boys for the first time. (They probably had no idea what to do with "sad crying girl" who lost a VERY expensive ticket and is USUALLY sickishly cheerful.) Anyway, they convinced me to go back and try again. In the meantime, someone had GIVEN a guard a ticket, and the guard had gone looking for me to give it to me so that I could go back in. And THIS is because I am a good person, and sometimes good things happen to good people.

There were three highlights that really stand out for me. Saturday night was mental because everyone in all of the houses, by some divine providence, ended up in the same part of the giant Marquee (which holds probably about 8 thousand people) together for Supergrass. I've never seen a more lively, dancing group of crazies. THIS is Travis.

On Sunday night, Travis played. Now, I'm not a fan really, but, they got the crowd going like nothing I've ever seen, and when the lead singer said that "It was the best concert they'd ever played" it was the first time I actually believed a band when they say that. He meant it. However, what stole the show was the rooftop concert we went to on SUNNY Sunday afternoon. There was a concert on the rooftop of an architect in the tiny little town we were all staying in. One of the bands that played on Saturday night, a band called 28 Costumes--check them out!) played on this roof. Ciaran's (also of South America fame) house was next door, so we were "invited" up to the roof for this concert. It was, hands down, the most beautiful venue for a band I have ever seen.
THIS is 28 Costumes on a roof, complete with Pirate flag!

I felt like I was in Empire Records, only instead of city in the background, it was the ocean. All I really have to say is that I hope I am as cool a parent as this guy who owns this house is. I mean, he invited a band from a festival up to his roof to play a concert, and then he invited people back to his roof. And his youngest kid couldn't have been more than five years old.

All in all, the weekend was brilliant. Life is going to keep getting even better (as if that were possible) because I am volunteering in the Spiegeltent at the Dublin Fringe Festival for 6 days, starting on Wednesday. They must have liked me a ton because the Spiegeltent is the best possible place I could have been placed. (Sugar Hill Gang is playing. How cool is that?!!) I'll keep you all posted on that.

Love you,

Sarah

I didn't fall in love with England

But, I'm moving there anyway. I did like it, a lot. And actually, it was refreshing to know that I don't fall in love with EVERY place I go, just most places. I think London will be a place that grows on me. And yes, despite my fascination with the countryside, I just can't do it right now. Not after New York City. I love the green and rolling hills, but I can't do the lack of culture. Which means I will probably end up in some place like Denver (yay Kirstin) or Seattle or Portland or San Francisco or one of a million places I've never been but hear are a delightful combination of green and independent movie theaters :)

Another excuse to move to London, for starters, (and islington to be specific), is because I know two and a half people. The two being Alex and Xan (who will be looking for a new apartment around the time I plan on moving here!! How convenient if I can convince her to live with me!) and the half being the Irish-London guy who I may or may not have ended up spending too many hours with while I was in England, despite the fact that yes, it was a bad idea.

SO, London. I stayed at Alex's in Acton with Tiana. He has SUCH an amazing house with a wonderful garden which made me realize that my standard of living includes a window in my bedroom, and a back garden. Am I asking for too much? (The back garden!)

While Tiana was here we ate fabulous food, went to Hempstead Heath park (near where I want to live because it is the prettiest park everrrrr with un-mowed grass that gives it that non-urban feel), and went to the Notting Hill Carnival. It is London's answer to the West Indian parade only about a thousand times better. Lots of good food and good music and people dressed up in costume...and lots of drinking in the streets. What is a good parade, exactly, without lots of legal drinking in the streets? It makes for some seriously entertaining people-watching. Here I am doing cartwheels in the grass at Hempstead Heath. Yay!

After Tiana left I ended up staying with Alex for the rest of the time, which was fun. Alex had to work though, so I spent a lot of time sight-seeing on my own and doing typical London things. I spent most of Monday and part of Tuesday with Eamonn, and we had a total blast, which is a shame considering he sucks, remember? ha. But anyway, we went to the British Museum (Cleopatra is there, and so is the Rosetta Stone...so cool, though really it's just a museum of stolen stuff that doesn't actually belong to the British) and to the Tate Modern. We also walked around pretty much the whole city, which has it's redeeming qualities (cobble stone streets, picturesque architecture) to be sure. I also got my dance on that night, and I can tell you that London definitely knows how to party, in a way that Dublin certainly does not.
(Look. Big Ben!)

Tuesday I went to a meeting/interview (they can't OFFICIALLY interview me because I don't have a visa yet) with a teacher recruitment agency and they answered all of my 1 billion questions about teaching in England. It made me feel much more secure and actually excited about the prospect of being in England for a while. I hadn't actually slept before the meeting, so I completely missed a day of sight-seeing because I was too tired. Alex and I did watch "When Harry Met Sally" because I was the only American on Earth who had never seen it before. It's one of those always quoted movies that I just had to smile and nod about and pretend I knew what everyone was talking about.

Yesterday was my final day of sightseeing and I went to the London Eye and got great (cloudy!) views of the city. (London Eye)

I also went into Westminster Abbey. I love cathedrals and churches and stained glass and history. Lots of awesome people are buried there, too. (Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth!!)

Anyway, I'm back in Malahide now ready to begin my last month as a jobless foreigner. I've got to head up the apples and pears because I'm feeling a bit pony after my lack of sleep holiday.

Love, Sarah

PS: I just had to throw that last line in there. I learned some cockney rhyming slang when I was in London and it is the best secret/not so secret language I have ever encountered. (Apples and Pears=Stairs, Pony and Trap=Crap, Trouble and Strife=Wife, and so on.)

Why I love Shannon Flanagan

Hey Sarah!

Thanks again for letting me babysit your bike. I actually rode it all the way to work today and I'm at a Site down on Wall St. Don't worry I have a Kryptonite lock, and I am chaining both tires and the bike. I also got a chain for the seat. Hope you are loving life!

Enjoy London!!

-shan

Irish Dinner Party

Get excited...This blog is ACTUALLY going to be short :) I'm heading to London tomorrow and haven't even thought about laundry or packing or running, so I have a bunch of things to do before then.

I threw a dinner party last night, my first since 788 Amsterdam, and a blast, though I missed many of you! We had 13 people over, I made vegetarian lasagna (and artichoke dip and really garlicky guacamole and brownies!) and at first, the meat-loving Irish were skeptical, but dinner got rave reviews and everyone went home stuffed. The lovely thing about throwing a dinner party here, is that we have a dining room table! Imagine it, my NYC friendlies, a dinner party with a real live TABLE to sit around. Fancy! We had the perfect weather, so people sat around the dining room table, and the garden table outside in back. I was outside last night, with a short-sleeve shirt on...which NEVER happens in Ireland. Lucky us!Ooooh, check this out, I get to go to England now...I have new passport pages and now can travel legally! A security guard at the embassy offered to marry me for citizenship. Tempting.

And now, for the part of the blog I know you all look forward to ;), things I've learned this week, and stuff like that:
1) Whoever said there was no crying in sports, clearly never watched the olympics. It's so emotional!
2) Boxing is the new sexiest sport ever. (Have you all SEEN Kenny Egan? O. M. G.)
3) I've been watching too much olympics.
4) People in Ireland do not know what an artichoke is, Irish people don't use ricotta cheese in their lasagna, and even Mexican restaurants don't have black beans.
5) Crunchie Bite Dairy Milk and Smarties are the most amazing Cadbury Candies on earth!
6) I do not get heat rash or chafe when I run in Irish weather. Thank God!
7) I'm reading my fifth book of the summer right now (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close), and I think it's my favorite so far. I've been quite disappointed about the modern Irish authors I've read, and I think I may stop reading them all together!
8) I've been feeling kind of non-productive, so I am going to be volunteering for the Dublin Fringe Festival in the upcoming weeks, and hopefully I'll get some free tickets. To help me decide what I should check out, go here: http://www.fringefest.com/
9) I have finished writing my UK visa application, and now I will wait until I visit there to actually send it in.
10) Sept. 25th is the date I am returning to the United States.

See you all soon. Comment Comment Comment! :)

Love Sarah

There are no secrets in the Balkans

Look Look! Tiana and Sarah are Tan!

Well the subject line was our motto, and I'm sticking to it. Sorry (especially to mom) it's been so long, but I've been in Croatia/Montenegro with Tiana and company, and haven't had a free moment to write. After the month straight of rain we've had here in Ireland, the beach was much more tempting than the front of a computer screen :) I've written this blog in the airport in Zadar, Croatia out of pure boredom for my delayed Dublin flight. It seems there are two loopholes in having a blog instead of a journal: 1) no paper to write on, ever and 2) I don't actually get to write down the "full truth", because this is public. However, I've decided to write slightly more of the "full truth" because I know that only people who really love me actually get to the bottom of these epic blogs :) So read on; this might be juicy.

My holiday from my holiday started out rocky. I couldn't money out of the ATM in Croatia (This is a very familiar pattern. Screw you Chase bank.) and I got there too late to exchange money. Hence, I was left at the airport with no money for a bus into town to meet Tiana and her brother Stefan. Luckily, a very kind soul, his name is Niall, paid my way for me. I think he is an angel. We are actually sitting next to each other getting ready to board the plane right now because, as it turns out, we are also on the same flight back home. I finally met up with Tiana and Stefan in Zadar, Croatia. Most people pass through without stopping, but we were here for 2 days and it really is spectacular. We did a lot of beaching and walking around old architecture. We took a day boat trip (complete with all you can eat, all you can drink!) through a thousand islands in a National Park off the coast of Zadar. Amazing!
This is Tiana and Stefan and the amazingly clear green of the Adriatic Sea in Zadar.

I was surprised, however, about how much blatant racism towards Serbians goes on in Croatia. I guess the war only ended ten years ago, but, people could tell that Tiana and Stefan were Serbs as soon as they spoke, and people, at times were very mean to us. (Wrong directions, Yelling, Threats!) We did, of course, also meet some wonderful Croats. Also, the Balkans have a surprising number of Nazi skinheads. I actually walked into a jewelry store that had a swastika necklace! I wanted to take a photo for the blog...but I decided that would have been unwise.

While in Zadar we sat outside a Kultur Shock concert. (They are from Seattle...and sitting outside concerts loud enough to hear is all the rage, apparently.) It was pretty wild. I met this guy Anton, who has matching pencil wounds with me! How people find these things out about each other, especially with a language-barrier, is always a shocker.

Then, Tiana and I took an 8 hour bus ride to Dubrovnik. I definitely will go back there when I have a chance because it is gorgeous and I needed more time there than just one day.
This is us crossing the Croatia/Montenegro border on foot. I will just say that how we crossed was not exactly legal, but the crazy Montenegran bus man left us no other choice. To make matters even better, Montenegro stamped directly over my Irish visa because, gasp, I have no more pages left in my passport. (Yes, you worry-warts, I am going to the embassy tomorrow to see what they can do for me. Ireland didn't bother to stamp my passport upon return. I think they just thought I was crazy to keep coming back in the rain and gray, and they took pity on me.)

We spent the rest of our trip in Herceg Novi, Montenegro where we stayed with Tiana's cousin Mila and her boyfriend Ivan.
This is Alex, Ivan, Mila, Tiana and Myself. Pretty much the Montenegro crew, plus or minus some people every day. Alex is Tiana's London friend, who many of you have met at various "Dress Like You Mean It" parties over the years. I am staying with him next week in London.

Montenegro was a BLAST because Ivan's family owns a house there and 1/2 of Belgrade was vacationing so "we" knew many, many people and it was a giant beach party every day and every night. I actually saw the majority of Montenegro b/c it is so small and one day we rented cars and drove through many seaside/mountain towns and went out to Ivan's friend's bar in Budvar. I think the Adriatic is quickly becoming my favorite body of water. It miraculously remains perfectly cool when it is a blazing 102 degrees every single day. I wish I could remember all of the teeny towns' names, but, because everyone else spoke some sort of Croatian/Serbian/Montenegran, I never really had to know where we were going. It was great to just be led around and not have to do any thinking. Knowing people is the best way to travel, by far.
This is a view of Herceg Novi from a boat, complete with Fortress, Mountains, and Adriatic.

Now for the realizations/confessions part of the blog. The things I've decided this holiday are as follows:
1) I'm not doing the TEFL class in Galway. (Because, damnit!, I already HAVE my Masters in Education, and, as Marisa so eloquently put it: "It's like going back to paralegal school when you've already passed the bar!")
2) I'm going to hang out in Dublin/Malahide until late September and try to dome some volunteering since I can't get a job. I will then be coming back to the states for an unspecified amount of time. There will be a NYC birthday party. Details to come soon :)
3) I am applying for my UK Visa so I can teach there. I have devised a mostly legal way to begin my paperwork before I get back to the states. I probably shouldn't write down details about that on the interweb ;)
4) I'm going to England on Saturday for a week and hanging out with Tiana and Alex. I will not be seeing Eamonn because he totally sucks! (Here's the juicy part...) Eamonn, in case you hadn't gathered, is an Irish guy who may have forced me into having a crush on him even though I have been really trying NOT to because it is highly impractical. He may or may not have invited me to stay with him in London. He may or may not have planned for us to go to Oxford together. And, he may or may not have a girlfriend/exgirlfriend (who really knows?) or something in between. So, needless to say, someone please remind me that next time I decide to think someone is too good to be true, they are. Thanks :)

See, if you made it to the end, you got the good stuff! (Thanks for the comments and for the lovely response emails. Keep em coming!)

Love you all,
Sarah

Fitting In

Hey everyone,

I hope life is treating everyone as well as it seems to be treating me here. Thanks to everyone who sent me advice about what I should do about a job. Just kidding! Thanks to Hanne, because, apparently she is the only one that loves me. hehe. sorry. Did I mention you all should leave me comments? Shameless plug. Oooookaaaay.

I'll be quick. I swear. (Do my epic blogs ALWAYS start like this?)

This last half week of life in Dublin has been amazing. I would go so far as to say that I am becoming comfortable here, and, I actually had an "I love Dublin" moment when I was walking down the street earlier in the week. The moment scared me, because I'm not ready to leave, and, thank you United States Government, I have to. Also special thanks to whoever at the hospital in Puerto Rico decided to make my mother's birth certificate, real age, and real birthday cease to exist sometime around the time she was born. It makes for a very difficult visa request process.

I went salsa dancing on Thursday night with my friend Katie and her flatmate Kristin. It was SUCH a blast. It is amazing how unpretentious the salsa dancers in this city are. (And they are SO good!) I actually ended up staying long after my friends were gone, just to dance...which is something I never had the confidence to do in NY. The downside is that I wore heels and now I can't walk properly because my feet are so cut up. Why in the WORLD did some man invent these awful things women wear on their feet to make them look tall, slim, and sexy? I am sure this is an age, old question dating back to some Medieval torture device. I came home after dancing and fell into the couch, and then spent three hours talking with Markus about life into the wee hours. It was really nice to have some roomie bonding time, but I will admit that he doesn't make ice cream or brownies appear the way James does. And he doesn't cook. Ever.

On Friday I went to the gym with Markus and rediscovered swimming. How awesome a sport is that? Why didn't anyone make me do it when I had a broken foot last year? (Oh wait, many people tried and I was too stubborn to listen. right-o.) Friday night I finally got to experience what the towney bar is like. Oh yea, it's towny. All the moms, dads, grams, gramps, teens, tweens, and twenty-somethings congregate there. And you know what? It's SUPER fun.
This is Finney and David taking the piss. Or something. Finney is the first Irish person I've met that doesn't have blue eyes. Turns out he's actually half British. (Did you know that Ireland is one of the most inbred countries in the world? Hmmm...)

Saturday I learned what Irish weather is really all about. I got all my running gear on, and then it pissed rain for about an hour. Sheets and sheets of it the way that you can't even see your hands if you hold them out in front of you. And then, lo and behold, it got bright and sunny and HOT. What? So, I went for an 8 mile run and I discovered SWANS. Yes, there are swans on the other side of the estuary I've been running at. It is astonishingly beautiful. There were dads fishing with their kids, grandparents going for walks, and it felt like home. I swear I'm going to take a picture of it eventually. It's just so far to WALK to take a photo.

I went into Dublin for a quick, early hang-out with Mariel (my super cool new music loving friend from Boston cum Rochester!) and got on the bus to come home at a reasonable hour because I had to wake up this morning at 7am. I accidentally met up with David and company at Gibneys (towny pub), we accidentally went back to Rory's house to listen to people play guitar, and I accidentally got home this morning in time to change into sneakers to go hiking. I was wrecked all day, but it was worth it.
This is Rory's dog and Fin. We are taking the dog for a run tomorrow morning! (Didn't I always say my dream was to come to Ireland and get a dog? Well this is a start.) Anyway, tomorrow is a "bank holiday" so after my run I plan on crawling back into bed and sleeping for a long, long time. And then maybe figuring out what I'm doing with my life. And then I'm going to Montenegro.

So, on Regina's suggestion, I went to Glendalough today, with Mariel. It is in the Wicklow mountains ("Ireland's Garden" is what it is fondly called by the Irish) and it was spectacular. So peaceful and green and quiet. Wicklow is where Braveheart was filmed, and now I need to go from being the one American who hasn't seen that movie, to being someone who finally has. I am inspired. We also went to Kilkenny, which is a quaint little New England-town in County Clare. It was a great day, though now I am so tired I could die.
This is my obligatory jumping in elysian fields photo. :)

I love you all and miss you dearly. Leave me comments because I feel like no one actually reads this.

Cheers :)
Sarah