Remember that time that I really thought I had updated this more than I actually had?
Yeah…. sorry about that (again).
Since we last spoke two months have FLOWN by and I am literally one month away from leaving Ireland. I have a funny feeling I’ll be back at some point in the future, but plans can change as we all know. I really should have kept up with this more because I know I am going to be missing some things so let’s just go by the highlights of February and March:
February:
- Landed in Dublin without any issues with my flights or luggage #praise
- Settled into my apartment: cannot be more grateful for my location/accommodation/situation
- Got my car and a driving lesson: obviously asked for an automatic. Only minor mishaps have occurred thus far *knocks on wood*
- Working lots (but it’s what I’m here to do so obviously)
- Work night out with the girls and lads
- Hanging out with friends from past visits
- Joined an Expat Networking Group that I should probably interact with more…
March:
- Pancake Tuesday: instead of Fat Tuesday they have Pancake Tuesday and they eat pancakes and crepes all day! It’s wonderful and I think this should happen on a monthly basis 🙂
- St. Patrick’s Day: I sadly had to work that day so by the time I got home all of the parades were over and most people had already been day drinking enough to pass out so that night was actually pretty quiet. Totally did see piles of vomit everywhere #typicalIrishday
- Nights out with the girls
- Got my first Thai massage: very different than the normal Swedish massage of which I am accustomed. Instead of the normal rubbing movement in circles they just like push the area in one direction. It was less relaxing during the actual massage, but the after affects were better than my normal Swedish one. Also – you can’t beat 40 euro for an hour.
- Ate ALL the Indian food: My apartment happens to be right around the corner from one of my favorite Indian places from my previous visits: Diwali. UGH SO GOOD. I seriously went 3x one week…. twice. Please refrain from judgement.
- Hung out with friends
- Went shopping: Hello, VAT Tax 😉
- Hiked on Dublin Mountain the first good weather day I had (somehow subsequently got lost while still following the trail)
- Hurt my foot out dancing (or potentially from the hike)
- Saw Beauty and the Beast, 50 Shades Darker, and Logan.
April will be a little more coherent because all of those events happened not too long ago so I can still remember them.
These past two months have been amazing and I relish getting out of my comfort zone, but at the same time that is not without growing pains. I am an extrovert and I love being around people (not to say that I don’t enjoy alone time, but I digress). It is very difficult for me to try to be a tourist without also having someone here for activities. I probably would have utilized my weekends better in the beginning had I realized that was going to be such a big challenge for me. I am starting to accept it and force myself to still try new things even though I am alone. In April I did have some friends come see me and I easily packed more into those weeks that the rest of the time exponentially. There have been many #solobrunching experiences and lots of lonely walks around Dublin. When I am at home in Texas I am also usually alone, but I don’t really need to explore things there so I generally don’t think about the loneliness. I guess what I’m saying is that I don’t travel well alone. You would think that I should know this by now, but it is still a weekly challenge for me during this period of time. Now that the weather is finally nice on weekends I am really trying to get it together to go do the rest of the activities on my list.
Side note: I think all of my family have been lying about our non-Irish heritage this whole time.
Look at the names on these pubs! BOTH SIDES REPRESENTED
I promise the April update won’t take as long to reach you as this post has 🙂
Happy Reading!
-Savvy