First Day in Dublin

After one wedding, three flights and (several) tissues from the kind Sacramento airport security team, I managed to arrive safely in Dublin today! 

The last leg of my flight landed about 3pm local time (fyi, it's 5 hrs different from East Coast time...) and the best part of all was that my bags were the first two off the baggage carousel. THE FIRST TWO! That never happens to me, so needless to say, I was stoked.  I hauled my 2 roller bags, duffel and computer backpack out to the taxi queue and was greeted by the tiniest cab driver ever. We are talking leprechaun-size, put-him-in-your-pocket-and-forget-he's-there miniature. I thought about offering to wait for the next cab but, afraid of insulting his manliness, hesitantly turned over my bags to be lifted into his trunk. The poor man (pushing 60, fyi) smiled and only let out one little groan while shoving the ridiculously overpacked bags into the trunk. I sunk guiltily into the backseat hoping I wasn't furthering the selfish/spoiled American image. 

Now usually the Irish cab drivers are my soulmates, having also been given the gift of gab. My kindred jabberwockys, I adore them and we usually talk each others ears off and I am actually sad when the ride comes to a stop. I learn more from these fellows than anyone else I've ever met in Dublin; they can yap for hours about global warming, politics, Irish history and even their own genetics (don't ask...that was a loooooooong and awkward cab ride last March). But this one didn't have anything to say except that "we're almost there!" whenever traffic brought us to a dead stop. I was a little disappointed but rest assured that his more colorful counterparts will find me eventually over the next few weeks.  Moreso, having already suffered enough physical exertion for one day, I was willing to give him a break and didn't chat much either. 

We made it to Google without a hitch and he even waited outside while I checked out my apartment keys from the security desk. I think his motivation lay more in the fact that my fare was 19.80 and I only had either a 20 euro note or a 50, he didn't have change and we both knew I wasn't giving him the 50 :) So, low and behold, I got some change from security, got my keys and said sayonara (or whatever the Gaelic equivalent is) and hauled my bags down the alley between our 2 Google buildings to The Clayton apartments.

 

My first adventure was finding the right door...the security folks told me my apt was on the 1st floor. Definitely not so since it only went from #1-5 and I am in #20. I spent a good deal of time running back and forth between doors, up flights of stairs, moving my suitcases one by one through the abismally small doorways until I finally found #20...which was where it should have been...up on the 4th floor. 

I'm trying to attach pics here of the apt - disclaimer, I am not a good photographer of anything but especially not the interiors of homes so bear with me. Also, I'm not sure if these will come through the email feed. If not, go to http://AnneAndTheIrish.blogspot.com. 

It's small but nice and I'm excited to have the bedroom with attached bath rather than the other bedroom whose bathroom is in the hall. Please note in the first picture that the kind Irish folks before me left a few beers in the otherwise empty fridge. I guess they didn't want me to have to wait a minute before embracing the culture? 

Anyhow, there was no one here when I arrived so I dropped off my stuff, found my computer and headed out the door to the office.

First packing mistake (I'm sure there will be more)....I brought the computer cord meant for Asian plugs. Thankfully the GOOG is pretty generous and the tech stop guys hooked me up with one that would work in European circuits. Spent the next few hours working (that's boring, I won't blog on that) and then decided 830 was a good time to go and walked down the street to the SPAR market for some food to make dinner.

I want to preface this next segment by saying I haven't eaten much while traveling and I was/am a bit out of sorts still. And, I didn't know what I wanted for dinner. So, while I ended up with a good little bag (lettuce, tomato, cucumber, rice, chicken, hummus, frozen veggies, wine & hand soap)....it took me over an hour to get through the store which is about the size of 1/4 a football field. NOT LARGE. I made about 18 laps, was one of maybe 5 people there, and royally confused the stock guy by asking where I could find salsa. Do you know how to explain salsa? B/c I ended up getting directed towards spicy Indian sauces for rice dishes. Yes, they had tomatoes in them and yes, they had spices and you could probably dip chips in them (mistake #2, I forget that chips here = french fries NOT baked tortillas), but not exactly what I was looking for. If you re-read shopping list above, you will notice that I gave up. I will work on finding salsa for my salads another day. 

But the best part of the story was my encounter with the checkout guy. He was really nice, didn't comment on how they all watched me take my 18 laps and couldn't figure out why I was still there, and he didn't even charge me for my tomato (somehow I messed up and was supposed to have weighed it like you do at the meat counter. sigh.....). But then came the kicker..."are you from Brazil?" UMM WHAT?!?!? I happen to think I am the most white-washed, average-looking American girl you can come by. Everyone tells me I look like "someone they know" (a nice way of saying there's nothing special about your looks haha) and I was wearing blue jeans, sneakers and a black Gap t-shirt. Nothing about me screams, or even hints for that matter, Brazilian. Anyhow, the fact that I wasn't from Brazil didn't seem to deter the guy and he ended up awkwardly keeping me at the till for about 5 extra minutes commenting on how much he's loved Brazil since he was younger and really wants to go back. I didn't have much to say (but please note my use of the word till =) I'm like, totally euro already!). 

So, a bit bewildered and still not sure what I was having for dinner, I walked back to my new apt and met my roommate for the week. Joanne is from our Krakow office and is only here until Friday morning. Her Dublin friend, Magda, was over and I chatted with them for a bit. Then went to prepare my dinner (I decided on a salad) and started, of course, by pouring a glass of wine. Which, 5 mins later, ended up all over the counter and the edge of Magda's cloth bag before I even had a sip. Not my best first impression but she laughed at my over-apologizing and said she thought it would survive. 

So, folks, not the most exciting first day but that was it. I promise to work on livening things up a bit so that you have some entertainment. Oh, and since everyone keeps asking, the weather here was great today. A bit gloomy as always but the temp was nice and cool. I didn't even need to wear a coat on my late night grocery store excursion. Although I did hear that yesterday was a little brutal so maybe it won't stay this way. Keep your fingers crossed!