Housewarming Party/NKOTB

We (finally) had a housewarming party last weekend. It kind of served a triple purpose, Roisin’s B-day was earlier in the month and Tennille’s b-day is the end of this month. We had some people from work over, some other people from the apartment, and other friends from various places. I even convinced Cathal to come down for the weekend (Jen’s boyfriend is also from Donegal so they kept each other entertained). We had food, drinks, and cake. About 15 or so people showed up, it was good. We had lots of cleaning up to do on Sunday but it was well worth it.
When I heard that the New Kids On The Block were coming to the O2 (new arena just outside of the city center) I knew I had to go. The tickets came out right around Chandra’s b-day so I bought two and bam, there’s birthday shopping done. Luckily she loves them as much as me. The concert was actually really good. They played for about two hours (and no, they weren’t even out of breath). We had amazing seats and could see everything. The whole thing took us back to about 1990. They pretty much look the same. Jordan, my bro, was definitely named after the right New Kid, he has still got it. Chandra’s alliance changed from Joey to Donny but to each their own. Ireland was loving them, probably partially due to the Irish/American/Boston connection. When they came out in their Celtic jerseys and with an Irish flag the crowd went nuts. There were actually quite a few Polish folks representing in the crowd as well...who knew. Overall, well worth the money. I hope they’re back together for good.

An Apple A Day...

I’m pretty impressed with myself for going 9 months without needing to go to the doctor. I could’ve gone longer but I needed a prescription refilled. I wasn’t really sure how to choose a GP (general practitioner) for myself so I went for sheer convenience. There is a “surgery” just across the street from the hospital and close enough to the apartment. I don’t know why clinics are called surgeries here. There are no actual surgeries performed there. This one, much like most surgeries, is a house converted into a clinic. My new GP, Diarmud O’Connell, is like a million years old and limps. I can’t be too mad because he basically just did what I told him to do. He said he figured he should probably check me out as long as I was there. My “check up” consisted of a blood pressure check and a urinalysis...that’s it. He said I should have the same done yearly. The whole urine dipstick test thing seems to be an Irish medical system phenomenon. Every admission we get at work gets one, no matter what they are admitted for. Apparently it’s the same in adult care. I’m not sure what the point is...is there really a high incidence of asymptomatic UTIs here?! The dipstick doesn’t even really tell you anything exciting. The main reason for my visit was to get my Hepatitis A Vaccine booster. He didn’t have any at the office so he wrote me a prescription which the “chemist” next door filled for me. He told me just to come back with it and he would administer it to me. I think I’ll save some cash and have somebody at work do it. The visit cost me 50 euros (I’m telling you...universal health care doesn’t mean free health care). It’s alright for healthy people who only have to go to the doctor a couple times a year, it’s cheaper than paying monthly for health insurance. I imagine it’s not great for people with chronic illnesses. Between work and my GP visit, I don’t know that I’ll ever get used to the healthcare system here.

Christmas with Colin & The Script!

I opted to work over the Christmas holidays this year since I was so far away from home and I didn’t want to get homesick. I couldn’t have really asked for a better day. It was looking like it was going to be painfully boring (only 5 patients, 2 of whom we sent home for the day, and 2 nurses plus a student). We had one Muslim patient and one patient whose family wasn’t really interested in doing anything but sleeping so we set up a nice Christmas dinner table for the last family. The Script (Irish band) showed up to deliver gifts, visit patients, and sing a couple of songs. We, luckily, had a super cute patient that we dressed up like christmas pudding that was attracting all the fame (see above picture, unfortunately she was looking away). The Christmas dinner at work was actually pretty good. In the afternoon we got word that Colin Farrell was in the building. We stationed ourselves with Hannah (cute patient) by the front door of the ward as bait. He eventually showed up but looked exhausted. He passed out some gifts and chatted for a short while. I touched him. It was over too quick. I posted some pics (see link above). I also posted some pics from my ward night out. Also notice my hideously ugly scrub top for which I payed 40 euros.

Malahide

Bridget, Tennille, and I took another small day trip today to Malahide Castle. It was home to the Talbot family who were a sort of royal family for nearly 800 years. The weather cooperated a little better, it was mostly sunny and only misted on and off for a little while. The town is really cute and the castle was pretty impressive. We were then going to go to the model railroad museum/children’s museum but it was closed (despite the fact that the sign on the door stated it should’ve been open, that’s Ireland for you).

Bru na Boinne, County Meath

Today Bridget, Tennille, and I decided to do a day trip to The Boyne Valley despite the extremely poor weather. On the way out to Meath, we stopped in Drogheda to see St. Oliver Plunkett’s head which is encased in a shrine in St. Peter’s Church. We then made our way to the Hill of Slane which is where St. Patrick lit the first paschal fire in direct defiance of the pagan kings at nearby Tara. Next stop was Newgrange. Newgrange is the best known Irish passage tomb said to be older than both the pyramids and Stonehenge. The tomb contains a cross shaped passage that is illuminated by the rising sun during the winter solstice. The rocks in and around the tomb contain various carvings including the tri-spiral which is one of the more recognizable Irish symbols. On the way home we stopped at The Hill of Tara which was the seat of the High King of Ireland and an ancient sacred site. The weather was total crap the whole day. It was pouring and super windy. We all came back soaking wet and muddy and with wind burn. We were all glad we went though. They were all pretty impressive sites, especially Newgrange.

Nizlopi

I dragged Tennille with me to go see Nizlopi at Whelans. I partially just wanted to go to a gig at Whelans so I could see the room where P.S. I Love You was filmed. They are a duo out of the UK and are amazing. Check them out on myspace or i-tunes.

Tommy Keeney

Cathal’s brother’s funeral was today. I have officially survived my first Irish wake and funeral. For unknown reasons, Tommy drove his jeep off of the pier in Killybegs on Sunday at high speeds. There were witnesses at the scene but the water is deep, dark, and extremely cold. Divers recovered his body about a half hour later and then they had to use a crane to remove the jeep which was then sent to be scrapped. He was pronounced dead at the scene. There was no indication that this was going to happen and nobody had any idea that anything was wrong. I think that is the hardest part for everyone right now, no one knows why. Irish wakes and funerals are pretty different from anything I’ve been to. Tommy was removed from the hospital where the post mortem was performed and taken home. He stayed there Monday and Tuesday where the wake was happening. I went up on Tuesday and went down to the house in the early evening. Cathal urged me to go say hello to his mom, Kathleen. Unbeknownst to me, Tommy’s body was in the same room. I got a little bit of a shock. They had cleared out the back bedroom and Tommy’s coffin was there against the wall. The rest of the room was lined with chairs where various family members were sitting. It was weird to me to think that he just stays in the house for two days and nights. Like if you woke up to get a glass of water, there he would be. Now, it’s not quite like that. There were a load of people that were there all night. Someone is always with the body. Another thing about Irish people is that they think everything can be made better with tea. I must’ve been asked over a hundred times if I would like a “cuppa”. They also had little silver trays of candy and cigarettes (yes, cigarettes) in various places around the house. Everyone just hangs out there for hours, I was there for five hours myself. They then have a rosary at 10 p.m. I snuck out before that. The body was then removed from the house to the church on Wednesday morning. The service was packed and there was a crowd of people outside as well. In a bit of comic relief, Tommy’s nearly 3 year old son Oisin called the priest a f!@*ing bastard when he tried to take a toy tractor out of his hands to put in the casket. Luckily everyone just kind of ignored it. Oh, did I forget to mention the amount of alcohol that was consumed on each night after the wake and funeral. Irish people must think someone’s chances of getting into heaven are directly proportional to how much alcohol you drink during their wake/funeral. So, it was pretty much totally stereotypical I guess. It’s going to be a hard winter for the Keeney’s. Christmas time is also the anniversary of Cathal’s cousin’s death. He went missing a couple of Christmases ago and was found drowned in a river. Then Oisin’s birthday is in early January and the three sisters all have babies due in January/February. Please keep the Keeney’s in your thoughts.