The first real, difficult thing

Hey everyone,

So, I need some advice about the first real, difficult thing, but first I'll update you on my amazing life. I'll try to make it short. ha. Please make it to the end of this (Or scroll down!) because I REALLY need some help.

First of all, apparently, I am now officially marathon training. For what marathon, and where I'll be, no clue, but, it's happening. I ran 6.5 miles on Monday. Down by the water. (I'll take pictures of it soon so you all can see the beautiful estuary and the pretty wildlife, but it's annoying to run with a camera!) I'd have run today as well, but I was dragged out of my house for disgusting amounts of pizza at lunch (thanks David!) and now I can't move. It was, however, an excuse for me to finally see the Village of Swords, which, as it turns out, is much closer to me than the Village of Malahide. It's cute, isn't it? Kind of New England-y? Is my love for this place a secret way of telling me that I actually want to live in New England??? And own a car? And have a picket fence? What?

I'm feeling unable to write chronologically today, I think because I feel frazzled about life decisions, but I'll try to go from Monday, where I left off from my last post. Have I bugged you all to get skype yet?? My social life now centers around it. Haha. Regina has skype AND a video camera thingy. Yea, hi my sexy friend.

Seriously though, I am lucky for many, many things in my life, and I won't even start to list them now (my gorgeous niece, my amazing friends, okay not listing. NOT LISTING!), but I am especially thankful, currently, for my innate ability to be social, and to make friends. I know it isn't natural to everyone, and I'm lucky to have this ability. Socially, things have been amaaazing here in Ireland. I went to one of those "meetup" things my mother has been nagging me about (love you mom!) and I actually met some great people, both Irish and otherwise. I met a girl, Mariel, who I super click with, you all would LOVE her, and last night we decided to see what the local music scene in Dublin had to offer. We went to this place called Whelan's which has, apparently, some of the best gigs in the city, and it did not disappoint. We went to see this band called "The Minutes." I think they just got signed and are destined for famousness. They are kind of bubble-gum rocky, but lots of fun. However, what stole the show was the opener, Ollie Cole. Check HIM out. (Myspace. Do it!) He was one of those rare instances when openers blow you away and make the headliners pale by comparison. In addition, he's totally sound, and I have been promised the meeting of fun people and more good music in the future. Yea, I totally chatted up a rockstar. No wait. He chatted ME up. Anyyyyway, It was, hands down, the MOST fun night I have had so far in Ireland. Well, most fun night I've had so far in Dublin. It wasn't blurred by staying out too late and being cranky in the morning.

Okay, NOW FOR THE REAL REASON I'M WRITING THIS BLOG TODAY:
I have adopted puffy-brushed curls. It's all the rage. I'm telling you. So, advice, what do you think??

Ha. Kidding. Here's the real deal: On a whim I sent my CV (resume) to a kind of prestigious agency that recruits teachers in ENGLAND. And, today they called me. We talked for awhile. And I have a very serious decision to make...do I try to get a job in England? It isn't something that I can "half-ass" because I have to apply for a "highly skilled migrant workers visa" which is a LOT of money. However, it is the easiest type of visa to get if you have your masters, and I would most likely be accepted for work in the UK. The problem in Ireland is that it is IMPOSSIBLE to get a work permit without having a job already to sponsor you. And, it is REALLY hard to get sponsored as a teacher. I ALSO have to wait approximately 4 months for my teaching certification to be processed here (Thank you LEHMAN COLLEGE. grrrrr.) before any schools will even consider me. In England, though, once I got that migrant visa, I would be wicked marketable AND legal AND I could just substitute teach if I wanted to.

SO, I don't know what to do. I know that I want to be in Ireland, however, I also am beginning to understand that, at least right now, that is not really a possibility for me. I definitely still plan on doing all my paperwork for my certification, but it is a slow process wherein I probably won't even be legal to teach here anyway, until NEXT school year. I also know that if I were in England teaching, I would have lots of holidays (9 bank holidays, plus christmas, and easter) where I could come to Ireland and hang out OR, better yet, travel to all of the places in Europe I have never been, and I will have the money to do it, because I will have a job. (Did I mention that after speaking with the woman in England, I PROBABLY wouldn't have a job in England util January so I may potentially be living in my parents' house in CT twiddling my thumbs? ha.)

With all of this being said, I am trying to figure out if doing my TEFL certificate in Galway in September is a good idea. Should I spend all of that money on my certificate in Galway when I don't know if it is actually going to help me get a job here, or should I use that money for the visa in England. But I LOVE Galway and think it is amazing and beautiful and IRISH. I really should only do one, and I feel like choosing means giving up one plan for another. And, I am scared. So, I need advice. Bring it.

Loooooove Sarah

PS: For those of you that may give advice based on the "sarah is never coming back to the states" notion, please note that if I were in England, it would be for only a year or two, and then my work visa would run out and I would be returning to the US...plus, teachers get summers off, remember?

The land of sunshine and sundresses?

Hello everyone,

In case you live in Antarctica (or Ireland) and didn't know, it is summer. Welcome. Put on your tank tops, sundresses, flip flops, and winter jackets because we are hitting the beach. No really. What I have learned in my recent forays into Dublin night life (and day life!) is that the less you wear, the more Irish you are. I stick out like a sore thumb in my jeans, runners, and long sleeve shirts because girls here commonly go out in teeeeeeenie tiny cocktail dresses and giantess high heels. (Yes boys, I'll eventually remember to take my camera out and get a picture of this amazing phenomenon for you all to feast your hearts on.) And this, folks, is the major culture shock that I have subjected myself to as of late.

So, as I earlier mentioned, I'm heading to Galway in September, but, I would like the record to show that I am starting to have a wee crush on Dublin. On Friday I finally got to see my friend Sami (the one I went to Portugal with) who has been busy with studying for med school stuff. We went to dinner and I finally met his girlfriend. SHE is going to single handedly pull me out of my "no girl friends" funk. YES. Sami's girlfriend Hannah, is a 24 year old doctor. Yea, that's right. Because that is how they do it here. Graduate high school at 19 and go straight away to med school. How sweet is that?! Why didn't WE think of doing it that way? Anyhow, I went to a "New Doctors" party on Friday night, and well, it's definitely a different scene then I'm used to, but we had a great time. (Though I will say that these new doctors all seemed slightly self-absorbed...)

Saturday I wandered around Dublin and found the Saturday farmer's market.I was lured by the abundance of sunflowers. The market is right off Abbey Street and literally in the middle of a very populated shopping area. It was nice to see something so natural springing up in the midst of crazy commercialism. And the vegetables were cheap and wonderful! I went to the cinema and saw Batman (Go. Go right now if you haven't seen it. What is wrong with you?) I ended up with my *NEW* friend Katie at this bar that her flatmate works at called "Cafe en Seine." I had to whip out my fancy camera phone and take a picture for the blog because it was sooooo much more posh and gigantic than any place I have ever been to in NYC.
I wish this crappy photo did the place justice. What you can't tell is that that red thing is a fabulously elaborate candelabra...and that it LOOKS like we are outside, but we are actually INSIDE. Every bar/pub/restaurant/club in Ireland is just so BIG because there is actually SPACE. I like the feeling of not being crowded every second of the day. So after all of that fancy shmancy madness, Katie and I ended up at a house party with David in Donabate (little middle of no where town). I like that people can actually have house parties here, and that they are common. That is one of the things I always love about being home in CT and lamented in NY. House parties are a wonderful thing often overlooked for "going out" instead. However, we did end up at the local Malahide club last night, so I can now proudly say when any local asks that, "Yes. I have been to Tamangos." And you can be sure, it was very towny, and equally trashy. The night ended with us at some friend of a friends house with everyone playing guitar and singing real loud and completely rocking out. Did I mention I love house parties? However, the late night (6 am!!!) left me completely useless today.

Which brings me to this:
Meet my room. It is big. And it has a window. A DOUBLE window! That goes down to the floor like a door! Need I say more?!?! What you don't see is the shelf around the left corner, which I have already quite sufficiently broken, and the two giant holes in the plaster where the shelf used to be. Whoops!

And this.Meet Markus. Flatmate extraordinaire. He is a diver, so tonight, in my waste of space couch sitting extravaganza, we watched a documentary about shark sex. It's actually pretty cool. And Markus is actually pretty cool. Despite his outrageous German accent spiked with Irishisms and the fact that he looks like a complete idiot in this photo. And yes. He is sitting on a leather couch that reclines. Because that is indicative of the life I am currently leading. (I win!)

On that note, goodnight!
LEAVE ME COMMENTS :)

Much love,
Sarah

A little post script: On the job front...I sent out some applications today to, gasp, schools in England. Because, they seem to be hiring American teachers much more readily in the UK. Not sure if I would actually do it (if they even wanted me) but I figured, why not at least give it a whirl? Oh, and one in Portugal. THAT would be a shift!

PHOTO LINK

Hey Everyone,

I've made a snapfish account just for my photos. So in addition to random photos on the blog, you can see ALL the photos on snapfish.

1) Go to www.snapfish.com
2) Type in email address: sarahinireland@yahoo.com
3) Type in password: ireland123

I'll let people know via email as I add more photos.

Cheers :)
Sarah

Ireland, Week 1

Hey everyone,

Note: Leave me comments. hehe. They make me smile!

So I have officially survived my first week "living" in Ireland. And what an interesting week it has been. I don't exactly know where to start. I guess I'll start by saying that I think I will carry my camera around with me all the time now, so that I can properly illustrate this blog with photographs. (Like, I really wish I had a photo of the asian food market that I'll get to later on...)

For starters, this has been a "getting to know what it's like living in the suburbs" week. And it is a certainty that I do not, nor ever will, like living in the suburbs. At the very least without a car. It takes foooreeeevverrrr to get anywhere from Paddy's house in Malahide. You have to catch a train and a bus or a bus and a train or walk walk walk walk until your legs fall off. But, I now count my walking in city blocks, so it is a bit entertaining. For example, I imagine that from the nearest bus stop to home it is from 79th street to my apartment on 98th. "Oh yea, about now I'm passing George Keeley's. Yep, and now I'm finally at Dive Bar!" Notice, landmarks are inevitably watering holes. If other people walked here, it would be less excruciating, but I swear I'm the only one....well....me and all the little kids walking to their friends' houses to play.

I realized yesterday as I was walking around Dublin (shopping for that perfect gray hoodie to replace the one I lost in the airport--RIP Marisa's gray hoodie I stole..., going to the post office, the bookstore, the ticketmaster outlet to buy ticket to Cois Fharraige-another music festival in Sept.) that I could certainly get a job here under the table. I was worried that if that was something I wanted to do, I wouldn't be able to do it. However, yesterday I realized, for better or worse, that I CAN do it, and I don't WANT to do it. I don't love Dublin enough to settle for a job I don't love in a place I don't love. Dublin isn't where I ever intended on staying, so it seems silly to be looking for "desperation" work here. And come on, I get paid until September so I'm certainly not desperate. That being said, I'm going to Galway.

On August 31st I am going to Galway for a month. I am going to take a TEFL course there. I think taking the course will benefit me on a variety of levels: 1) I will meet people in a more organic manner, 2) I will be certified to teach ESL in Ireland and abroad, and 3) If I decide NOT to work and stay in Ireland, it will look great on my CV should I decide to continue teaching in The States. Galway is probably my favorite place in Ireland, and if nothing else, this is an excuse to get me there and doing something productive. I was looking for an apartment but could not find one that would have me for just a month. I found a hostel that will give me a cheap weekly rate, so I am going to be rotting away in a hostel for a MONTH. Not quite sure how I feel about that...seeing as I'm really getting to enjoy my "Hammer Time (ha)" but I think it will be an interesting experience to say the least.

Just to give everyone a heads up, before I go to Galway I am meeting up with Tiana in Zagreb, Croatia and then we are heading to the beach in Herzeg Novi, Montenegro. I will be spending almost two fabulous weeks reminding my body what the sun feels like, thank you very much. Then there is a small chance that I will be heading to England to have a fantastic love affair. (Don't worry Mom and Dad, I am just kidding about the love affair part...mostly.) Seriously though, if anyone has holiday and wants to go to England, I've never been, and may be going around the likes of Aug. 20-30th-ish. And Kim and Justine have given me FABULOUS ideas about what to do while I'm there. (Thanks suities!) I may be meeting up with Tiana again, who is soon to be my favorite travel buddy!

Now to abruptly end this blog, I am going to list all of the things that I DON'T like about Ireland, because that is what you do when you finally settle into a place and realize it isn't perfect:
1. You can only get tofu in asian food markets (which, by the way, are the most spectacular little pieces of heaven in the middle of Dublin. amaaaaazing food. and cheap!)
2. There are no black beans in this entire country (I had to make Andrew's Black Bean Burrito Bake with KIDNEY beans...but Markus still enjoyed it. Europeans wouldn't know crappy Mexican from good Mexican anyway.)
3. Bus stops do not have numbers or routes. How am I ever supposed to figure out where I'm going???

And that's it. So really, this is a pretty grand country, isn't it?

Cheers :)
Sarah

Belgium, Italy and the return to Ireland

Hellooooooo,

Many people from different parts of my life have been requesting that I send out a blog to a) let them know what is up in my life or b) to let them know that I'm not dead. SO, if you are of the latter group, I'm alive, you can stop reading now :)

I'll update when I can, which will probably be often since I don't have a job, but we will get to that. This update, as it is the first, may be long and boring (the not-so-boring amendments will have to be read between the lines), so try to stick with it.

I arrived on July 2nd in Dublin and was promptly whisked away, half comatose due to sleep deprivation, by Paddy and David. They were kind enough to pick me up at the airport at 7am and wait until my luggage (the last of the plane) was finally ready. We headed for Paddy's house in Malahide, which is where I'm staying right now, and where I will be until September 1st. (Unless I get kicked out before then, which is a serious possibility.) Paddy's house in Malahide is amazing, and I'm actually "tenant-sitting" for him right now because he is in Canada for three weeks. (He has a lovely flatmate Marcus who also lives here.) Enjoy the parentheses. I revel in them. I live really close to Malahide Castle and the water, so I have some amazingly picturesque places to run around. The running has now become a necessity since all I have eaten in the past three weeks are fries, belgian waffles, pizza, pasta, mayo (on EVERYTHING), gelato, and cheese sandwiches. One can only IMAGINE what all the dairy is doing to this body of mine. MALAHIDE CASTLE!

After "napping" at Paddy's and missing my bus to the airport, I made it just in time for my flight with strangers who I'd never met before (the amazing Eimear and Mark), and we headed to Brussels where we met up with Joe and David for five days of craic, camping, and music at Rock Werchter. The bands were amazing (Radiohead, Sigur Ros, Kate Nash-love her!, 2manydjs, Beck...to name a few) and camping was a blast. It was crazy because it was so hot during the day, and SO COLD at night that I had trouble sleeping. Also, we ended up with a fair amount of rain, and I now have my very own pair of festival-fit wellingtons (wellies!) to traipse around Dublin in. (So embarassing, I know!)
EIMEAR AND I ARE "FESTIVAL-FIT"

After Belgium I met up with my former Principal, Scott, and his soccer team of 18 men in Italy. A PARTIAL CREW OF KICKERS

That was an experience for the books. I will tell you all this, men of all ages and all nationalities are all the same. This is not cynicism, but it is the truth. haha. (Alright boys, fight me on this. I WILL win!) Firenze (Florence) was so so so beautiful, if not entirely over touristed by Americans. (There is an ex-pat community of 40,000 N.Americans in Firenze!) The Duomo was seriously a sight to see, the views were spectacular looking down upon the city, and David really IS as jaw-dropping as people say. And his....hands....are HUGE! Yes, traveling with males has made me immature to the core. And yes, I blame them. Was I like this before?? :) VIEW FROM THE DUOMO

The Kickers won their game outside Firenze, and that was good fun to watch. I took a million photos on one of the team-members professional cameras, so eventually I should have some spectacular photos of the guys in action.

After Firenze we went to Vernazza, in Cinque Terra, at the beach. This was my favorite part of Italy. It was SO quiet (I think the Kickers doubled the town's size), and we just got to relax by the beach for three days. VERNAZA...THE WHOLE TOWN!

We stayed in these great little apartments and I got to fully experience what being a Kicker was all about. (Hint--it involves lots of talk about ladies too young/too hot for them, and lots of inappropriate bathroom jokes. haha.) We also went for this great hike that no tourists ever go on because one of the guys on the team, Slover, has a girlfriend, Dawn, who lived in Vernazza for years and took us around. We walked up to this church that apparently housed the last priest that performed exorcism in Italy before he died. Our last night in Vernazza, there was this crazy outdoor party on the beach with DJ's and music and crazy, crazy dancing. (Photo op, pre-dancing madness. Amazing lighting.)

We all stayed up way too late and were seriously hurting on the train the next day. SO worth it! We spent our last night in Italy in Milan, which by the way, I was shocked to find I loved instantly. It has the right amount of loud/quiet, grit/beauty. Not to mention the fact that they had happy hours with FULL FOOD BUFFETS. Amazing. MILAN--AND THEN THERE WERE 13

Before I finish blogging about Italy, I should note that the best part of the trip, besides Kicker entertainment, was the food. Slover is a Sommelier (fancy-shmancy French word for a person who buys wine for a living_) so we drank amaaaaazing (read EXPENSIVE) bottles of the best wine in Italy for 8 days straight. So bougie, and SO worth it!

Now, for Ireland. I slept for two days straight, pretty much, when I finally got back to Paddy's, and I have since recovered, and already become sleep deprived again. The good news is, it is still true that I love this country and it's people and I am SO glad I came. The bad news is that I'm finding it hard to find a job. I mean, people who are IRISH are finding it hard to find a job with the economy the way it is right now, so for me, well, I don't have a work permit, for starters. It has been a pretty depressing realization, but, I haven't given up hope and I'm going to keep looking. I have also recently decided that I am going to take a TESOL course in teaching English to Language Learners. I figure, if it doesn't help me get a job here, it will certainly help me get a job anywhere else in the world, and it will look good on my resume in the states. I'm going to be doing that in Galway (in the south west of Ireland) so I'm going to be living there for a month in September. I don't know anyone there, but it is the Ireland of Ireland (in terms of green beauty), so I'm really psyched to be going there. It was my favorite place when I visited a couple years ago. Currently I am looking for a place to live for that month. It would be cool to rent a room in a flat...we will see.

In other Irish news, I'm so lucky to know David, Patty, and the lot of them, because they have totally been taking care of me. David and I and a bunch of his friends went to this music festival (first ever!) called Rock the Riverbank in the North this weekend, in County Monaghan. I got to see Ciaran (after nearly four years!), and meet his lovely girlfriend. It was beautiful (if not unbelievably cold!) and I met some really cool people, including some awesome girls who live in the Dublin area and a really cool guy who unfortunately lives in London and was just home visiting. I love that everyone I'm surrounded by loves music as much as I do.
Rock the Riverbank--Me, Sonya, Sandra

I will say, that I'm sorely missing my girlfriends at home, especially after being surrounded by only men for nearly three weeks. I think, though, that if nothing else, this is a learning experience for me. I am learning to be alone, learning to take chances, and learning that it is completely okay to try and not succeed.

I know that this is terribly long, and it won't happen again. If you made it to the end....I love you and miss you.

Love Hammer

PS: Craic (pronounced CRACK) is the Irish word for nearly everything, but in this case, it means "fun and crazy times."