Looking back to when we first got here

Hi everyone,

As promised, I am cutting a pasting my early updates here - starting with January and then progressing. I will get them all in today (31 July) so that they will quickly be stored where only the adventurous or truly interested will find them (grin)

25, January 2006

I sit at our couch area, looking out to the rough surf on a fairly grey day. A large seagull just landed on the platform where kayaks tie up during classes. In the background, Margie is varnishing our new closet (built in wardrobe) and has RTE 1 on the radio while she works listening to a mixture of talk and music. Earlier this morning they extensively covered gay rights to cohabitation and it has been recommended that new legislation ensure partner rights by through a registration process.

I have just returned from town where errands went well. There is great satisfaction in finding which stores sell the things we need. For instance coffee beans can be found at Quay foods, a shop of about 300 square feet off of the town square. I was delighted to find out that Kinsale has its own coffee roaster – so fresh roasted coffee it is. The co-op has large bags of dog food – pay inside and drive around back to have them load it from the same place they would load pallets of feed for farm animals. The man at the hardware store and I spent 10 minutes sorting out the hose endings that we need to hook up Margie’s new power washer. Once it gets going she will be in heaven as she sprays down the patio, that has gotten a bit green over the summer. Finally, the grocery store had the ginger root she has been looking for ending the adventure as a satisfactory trip all around.

We came to Ireland needing an automobile and we proceeded to thoroughly investigate the issue. We purchased a small rag with cars for sale and marked the dealers in Cork. Then we asked our neighbors and it turned out that they all buy their cars in Bandon (a larger small town about 17 km away). Off we went and the matter was quickly solved. Tomorrow we pick up our 2003 Maroon Ford Fusion, complete with sunroof. Margie is on the internet figuring out our best moves for registration and insurance. We came to Ireland with international drivers licenses which allow us to put off our driving tests for 6-12 months – this is good as most folks here fail the driving tests, often multiple times. We have heard that it is so bad that gift stores will carry “Sorry you failed” cards along with their birthday selection.

Just before we left I called GlobEx our moving company and they anticipated arrival of our container into Cork harbor on Sat 21 January, 2006 and they gave me the name of Maquire International Movers as the local contact. Dutifully, I called yesterday am only to be told that Maquire wasn’t expecting our load until Feb 13^th. It is now back in the hands of the New Jersey office and we hope to know later today about when we can expect our furniture to arrive. It may work out rather well if the date is February as by then we will be completely settled and ready for the next upheaval. Either way, we sent about half of the furniture on to the apartment so we are now down to the essentials. With a couch, a couple of chairs, a dining room table with chairs and a bed we have all that we need.

Sunday there was a bit of excitement on the hill as hounds, horses and riders descended from the area with the 600 year old James Fort down to our beach and back out through the public car park, that borders the Castlepark property. They weren’t as loud or noisy as you might expect, but our black Labs certainly paid close attention. We had neighbors over for tea later that afternoon and they told us that likely this was not a fox hunt but rather a training exercise where they take a rag, covered with scent and drag it through the area first, setting up a course for hounds and horses to follow. Fox hunting will continue later in the season. Evidently animal activists have created quite a stir about fox hunting in England of late, but the fox seems to have a 50/50 chance that the hounds won’t catch up with them.

We went out Sunday to buy five different newspapers, not because we wanted to compare local coverage of the news, but rather for the goodies contained in each. We made quite a haul: 2 DVD’s, a CD and an international map (in English and in Irish) that maps the endangered species in the world. At the cost of between 1.10 and 1.8 Euro this is cheap entertainment indeed.

Our animals are happy as clams. Not only did they make it through the trip with no problems at all but they are now living in circumstances that match their wildest dreams. For the dogs, they sleep on warm floors and walk at least once a day on the hill above our house. While there are lease laws in Ireland (something we only just heard of) no one enforces them – dogs typically run free on the hill and ours are no exception. The cat has regressed 10 years and is playing with his mouse like a kitten. He also has a better relationship with our dogs than he has displayed before, perhaps because they all went through the trauma of the plane ride together. As we sat on the tarmac in Newark we saw them being loaded on to the front of the plane, the man loading them was speaking soothingly to Shadow while Stefan was barking his head off.

We tried ordering our food online, not that we won’t keep most of our shopping in town, but our neighbors suggested it as a means to ensure we don’t have to go out much, especially on weekends, in the summer. It seems that frequently the traffic on our road is so bad as to inhibit locals from getting into town. Margie ordered online while we watched TV on Monday. What was delivered today was a bit of a shock – the great deal we thought we were getting on a bottle of wine turned out to be a bottle big enough for one glass and the almonds turned out to be ground fine for cooking. The delivery man would not accept a tip – it is a matter of some pride for the Irish that they are well paid and sure “it isn’t necessary” means just that.

I went for my first swim in the bay on Sunday. While I was here in September I found that one three mil wetsuit made it as comfortable as swimming in a pool. Therefore more mils would be necessary at this time of year. To that end we purchased a shorty wetsuit to go over the full bodied one and a hood with torso suit to go over that. These add up to 9 mils over my core, 6 on my head, upper arms and thighs. While getting in was a shock, from which I had to remind myself to breathe, I found this coverage completely adequate and when I got out after 20 minutes it was more because I had done my bit for exercise than because I was so cold I could no longer stand it. Next I will work on my music selection and will try again tomorrow or Thursday. My goal is to swim at least 30 minutes at least 3 times a week.

As I finish writing this first bit of Irish diary I confess that I am learning once again what relaxation feels like. Margie and I regularly remind ourselves that we are not on holiday – that we will not have to return after three weeks as has been the case in the past. As long as we move a bit ahead each day on the multiple strands of tasks: 1) apartment remodel, 2) life at #8 and 3) work required by Jones International University or the Web Based Professional Development Project, then this amount of work seems satisfactory. There are two of us doing these tasks and they seem to unfold naturally.

My diary from the same time says:

We are truly blessed. In fact I cannot imagine that many who have taken the risks involved in moving have found themselves so well ensconced as they landed in their new homes. It is true that we have a minimum amount of furniture left in Castlepark, but we have all we need to be completely comfortable.

The pine dining table serves double duty as our table for eating and as my desk for work. The different contexts for its use are signaled by its placement in the room. It may be snuggled in next to the corner, with cushions on benches on two sides and pine chairs on the other signaling its appropriate use as a table for eating. On the other hand it may be, as it is now, slid far out away from the corner and the cushions so that it almost reaches the kitchen. When it is in this placement I sit at the short end and can turn my head to the right to see the bay.

As I write this it is almost 8am and today should be partially sunny for a while – Margie and I will go swimming while the sun shines. Last night we got started watching the tutorial for the card game Magic: The Gathering. We have several new games with us and jigsaw puzzles will arrive with the container. TV is never a constantly good entertainment so games will give us relaxation in the evenings.

Evenings are longer here – starting about 5pm at this time of year and lasting until just 8am. I find it soothing to have my days cut short. If I can keep my work days to about 5-6 hours (as I was able to do yesterday) then I believe I can keep up this gentle mixture of work and relaxation. This is easier now that it was in the States as I don’t have six people calling me and adding their requests on to my day. I am appreciating this half hermit lifestyle and with it I get to revel in the joy of hanging out with Margie.

She has fixed up the loft to suit her – which suits me as well, so she takes care of much of her business from there. She has taken on the tasks such as updating insurances and paying off utilities on the apartment, registering the car, etc. She also has time to cook, and as we explore the Core foods from the Weight watchers list I am eating better, with more satisfaction, at the same time I am losing a few pounds. If I can just keep the exercise up my body will naturally trim to a healthy weight.

We had our first dinner party the night before last as our friend Louise Tobin came to join us. Margie and I had spent the afternoon out and about picking up the car and returning the rental and arrived home at 5:30 needing to prepare for a 7pm dinner. I have never enjoyed cooking with someone else in the kitchen as it has always before lead to getting in each others way – not so with this kitchen. We can each take a side for most of our work and when tools we need are on the other one’s side it becomes a dance – not a boxing match! A lot can be said for extra counter space and an easy nook into which the sink sits, allowing Margie to face slightly at a different angle to the kitchen so our butts don’t bump as we move around.

The table was set with many loving gestures from our friends. My sister’s candle sticks, plates and bowels from our friends Alice and Maggie, our water pitcher from our friend Sunniva, candles from Louise who was our guest and flowers from Louise who is by oldest friend from Denver. Everything we set out not only looked well together but was a symbol of people who care for us – again we are blessed to have some of these things available during the time that we settle in. I imagine that in most cases these treasures come much later and that the first few days of settling in are made due with things in furnished apartments or hotel suites.

The reinvention process at that time was going well (big grin).
Alana