Egypt

Tennille and I just got back last night from our trip to Egypt. Tennille's parents were here for the last few weeks and her poor mother had never been outside of Australia/New Zealand. We had to take her to Egypt to thaw out since she wasn't used to the weather here. Egypt was wonderful and warm and sunny. We had a good time but I think this is one of those vacations I'll do only once. As great as it was to be there, I'm happy to be back in Dublin. It was nice to see all the sights but on the flip side there were some annoyances:
1) The dust. I'm still blowing sand out of my nose.
2) People harassing us to buy their stuff.
3) People actually asking for tips constantly.
4) We all had stomach problems simultaneously.
We had a pretty jam packed tour seeing as we were only there for a week. We went with a tour company which turned out to be a gigantic blessing. It was only the four of us in the group so it was great and the tour guides were fabulous. We landed in Cairo and there we saw the Giza Pyramids and The Sphinx. We also did some looking around at the markets, the government gold shops, the perfumeries, etc. From there we took and incredibly uncomfortable 10 hour overnight train journey to Luxor. There we visited Hatshepsut Temple, The Temple of Luxor, and Karnac Temple. We also had some free time to spend at our hotel's pool and soak up some rays. From there we went to Hurghada which is more of a resort town and a bit more westernized. It was nice because we had a couple of days to relax. Tennille and I opted to go on a snorkeling excursion. It was pretty amazing. The Red Sea is absolutely gorgeous. We took a boat out to a few different reefs and saw all kinds of sea life. I could have spent the entire week there and been happy. From Hurghada we went back to Cairo were we finished up the tour with the Step Pyramids, a mosque, a temple, and a synagogue.
I was supposed to be back at work this morning but we all came down with some sort of tummy bug over the last few days. Not entirely sure what the culprit is. Nobody is too ill, it's just more of an inconvenience. I don't work again until friday so my GI system has plenty of time to recover.
Below is a link to all of my Egypt pictures on Facebook. Enjoy!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=146490&id=500040582&l=07a349d985

Lisdoonvarna

This weekend, Tennille & I both had days off and were looking for an adventure. Boy did we find one. We found a cheap last minute hotel deal and headed off to County Clare. We stayed in Ennis which is a beautiful little town. Our hotel was great and we spent our days in the pool, hot tub, steam room, and spa. Friday night we asked the friendly people at the front desk where we should head for and one of them chauffeured us into town. You wouldn’t get that in the States. We ended up having a great night at Knox’s in Ennis town. Saturday we decided to head to the near town of Lisdoonvarna for the annual Matchmaking Festival. Basically, the whole month of September is dedicated to matchmaking. Think Janine Garofalo in “The Matchmaker” and if you haven’t seen it, go out and rent it now. They have a matchmaker on duty during the day and then they pack the pubs at night. There were people from all over. It was the greatest people watching event ever...even better than being at the airport. The choice of men mostly consisted of ones over 50, ones missing one or more teeth, ones who still lived with their mothers, or some combination of one or more of the above. What makes this interesting is that there is a rule that you can’t say no if someone asks you to dance. My favorite partner was one who may or may not have still had a pulse (see pictures). Tennille & I spent a lot of the night dodging people that we weren’t interested in. It was fun and we actually had a great time two-stepping away. I would go back but maybe next time I might wear a fake wedding ring as a deterrent. There are pictures of our weekend under the “Clare” link.

Mal's Spring Break

I sent Mallory off back to Iowa this morning (sad). We had a great time (see above picture). We rented a car which was great. I didn’t want to return it. I forgot how great it was to have one. We started out in Donegal for a long Patty’s Day weekend. We saw a few country parades. The first one was on Saturday in Carrick. After that, we watched Ireland beat Scotland in Rugby and then had an early night due to Mal’s jet lag. Sunday we slept in (that sleeping pill I gave Mal worked all too well). We hit up the parade in Ardara. We gave first float prize to the one that re-enacted the Hudson Plane Disaster. Pretty good. We hung out with the locals that night in the pubs. Mal worked on understanding the country accent. We went over to the Keeney’s house after bar time for some tea and toasties. A few friends joined us and we talked politics amongst other things. Monday we saw some local sites including the waterfall, sea cliffs, the churches, beaches, etc. Tuesday was the big Paddy’s Day Celebration. We went to the parade in Glencolumbkille and then they had a reception at the town hall with music and dancing. Tara (the daughter of the family that runs the B&B I stay at...my Irish family) is a hard core Irish dancer. She was so cute! After the reception everyone headed to the pubs where the singing, dancing, and music continued. Even Cathal’s brother amused us with a song. We broke up the celebrating with some dinner at the chipper and then headed back. The highlight of the night was at the end when only the strong were still standing and everyone was taking turns singing songs. We met some people from La Crosse. The girl was from Wausau and her dad is the plant manager at Nueskes (best sausages ever!). We also met a crazy guy from town who has been living in Milwaukee for 12 years. Turns out all of them were on Mal’s flight. Small world indeed! Wednesday we spent the morning at the Keeney’s and saw some of the new babies. Then we headed back to Dublin. Thursday we took a day tour to Northern Ireland. “The Troubles” are starting to brew again so I wasn’t really comfortable driving around that part of the country on our own. We started in Belfast and had a quick tour of the city. Highlight: the Belfast branch of Unisys! Then we headed to Derry for a tour of the city. We saw the Bloody Sunday site (cue U2 music) and the murals. After that it was off to Dunluce Castle for a quick photo stop and then the Giants Causeway. It was amazing. It’s definitely a natural wonder. We climbed around the rocks for a while and took lots of pics. The day ended at the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. I wouldn’t say I conquered my fear of heights but I felt like I had to do it. Mal really helped by shaking the bridge behind me. Anyways, it’s done and I never have to do it again...just like the Blarney Stone. The weather was fabulous the whole day. We ended the day back in Belfast and then heading back to Dublin. Friday and Saturday we did Dublin. We saw the GAA museum in Croke Park. It was pretty impressive considering. The players aren’t paid which is also impressive. Eventually I’d like to see a match there. It’s no Lambeau though! We ended the day with some shopping and dinner. Saturday we went to the Botanic Gardens which were beautiful...and free. After that we drove through Phoenix Park and saw the deer park and the US Ambassador’s Residence and the polo grounds. We had lunch at the highest pub in Ireland, Johnnie Fox’s. It was a good atmosphere and great food. We did some more shopping after that (including buying Jordan’s b-day pressies) and got some Chinese take away (it’s actually different here). Sunday we did another day tour to the Wicklow Mountains (same one I took Niki on). We had another great weather day. We had a great meal that evening at Gallagher’s Boxty House (Rachel Ray’s recommendation). We met some Fed Ex pilots from The States. Sounds like a pretty sweet gig. We finished the week this morning with an Irish Breakfast and then we had to say our goodbyes. My only consolation is that I’ll be home in a month! Back to the grind tomorrow night :(.

Barcelona

Tennille’s friend was here from Australia for a couple of weeks (Mel). We love her! Anyways, we decided to head to Barcelona for a weekend for Tennille’s 30th b-day. I love living here because it’s so easy and cheap to fly to the rest of Europe. We did the city bus tour to get all the important sites in. I posted pictures in the picture section. We ate a lot of tapas, drank a lot of sangria, and saw a lot of flamenco. It’s a beautiful, clean, friendly city. The highlight of the sites was definitely The Sagrada De Familia. Gorgeous, gorgeous church! We loved Spain so much that we’re planning to go back and see Grenada towards the end of the summer.

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.

Introducing...Alannah Frances Cannon

Little Alannah finally made her way into the world today. She weighed 8 lbs 4 oz. The middle name is in honor of Dermot’s Dad Francis. I’m very proud of Alisha, she was a trooper through the long, long labor. She also survived the Irish healthcare system, so...props to her. Everybody is happy and healthy and as you can see, she is absolutely perfect.

Kilkenny

Tennille, Bridget and I went to Kilkenny last weekend just to get out of the city. It’s about a two hour bus trip south westish from here. Tennille and I went down on Saturday while Bridget nursed a migraine and caught up on her sleep. Friday night we stayed at Foulksrath Castle, a 16th century castle turned hostel. It’s also said to be haunted. It is about a 20 euro taxi journey from the city center but it was well worth it. I didn’t get any ghost vibes or anything and there aren’t any odd shadows in our photos. We went out to a couple of places that were recommended to us by people from work. Kilkenny is a popular place for hen and stag parties so the nightlife on the weekends is super good. The highlight of the night was Langtons, a hotel/nightclub. They had a live band for the first part of the night and a d.j. after that. It was a blast. Sunday we met up with Bridget and had some brunch at the Marble City Tea Room...delicious. Then we checked in to our new hostel for the night, Mac Gabhainns Backpackers Hostel. This one was right in the city center. Very nice. They gave us the four bedded en suite to ourselves so it didn’t even really feel like a hostel. We then did the obligatory Kilkenny Castle tour. It was really good. They also have a small art gallery in the basement which had a super awesome show going on, it was the art of Atsushi Kaga (www.atsushikaga.com). It’s the kind of art that’s right up my alley. There are loads of cute little boutiques in the city so we did some shopping for the rest of the afternoon. We had some really good meals too. I didn’t want to leave on Monday. It’s the kind of place that I could see myself living in. Good shopping, good eats, good nightlife, small town feel. See my photos in the Kilkenny link above.
On a sad note, Bridget bought her plane ticket home. She goes for good on November 11th. It’s a long and complicated story but the gist is she hates work enough to go back home. We’ll be very sad to see her go. Tennille will be taking over her room at least.
Happy Birthday Chandra (I bought her New Kids On The Block tickets for me and her in January)!

Although We've Come...To The End Of The Road

So excited, just got home from seeing Boys II Men at Tripod in Dublin. It was great, took me right back to middle school. One of the members was missing but it didn’t even matter. I’d say about 75% of the crowd was American. I highly recommend them if they come to your city.
As far as work goes...I finally grew a pair and told my manager I think the ward is a really terrible learning environment. She pulled me aside into her office to tell me I didn’t seem happy, I wonder why it took her 5 months to figure it out. Anyways, she said she doesn’t feel the same way I do...shocker. I told her I think everyone is very catty and quick to point out everyone else’s faults. She said she didn’t agree with me but that she would try to be more in tune with what was going on. I simply told her that was the vibe I got and that is how I feel, that I doubt and second guess everything I do because I’m terrified I’ll get told I do something wrong. It’s enough to wreck your head. What I wanted to tell her is that she is the biggest culprit but I thought that would’ve been taking it to far. She’s extremely condescending and patronizing. She makes you feel like an idiot on most occasions. She’s always right and always knows what’s best for everyone. I doubt it will resolve anything but at least I told her how I feel and now she’ll know why I’m so quiet at work. It made me feel a little better when my preceptor told me I’m not the only one that feels that way but I still don’t think it’s any excuse. Please god let me work straight nights when my preceptorship is over.
On a good note, I bought a plane ticket to come home over Thanksgiving. I’ll be there November 14th-30th. I can’t wait to have some time off and be back in the States to see everyone.

Fancy New Blog

I discovered some awesomness on my Mac the other day which led me to make a new blog. It's way fancier and has the capability to hold way more pictures.
Here is the new site: http://web.mac.com/sarahstroik/iWeb/Site/Welcome.html
I'll eventually close this account.
Enjoy!

Niki's Visit

This past week, Niki was here to visit me. It was great because not only did I get to see my BFF, but I also didn't have to work. Here, now, I will attempt to remember everything we did. I picked Niki and our rental car up on Friday and after getting a little lost, we came back to my apartment to re-pack for our Donegal weekend and to pick up Bridget. On the way out of town, we also picked up Chandra. It was going to be a real girls weekend. We got into Glencolumbkille in the evening and had a bite to eat and a nap before hitting the (small) town. We did the obligatory pub crawl (there are only 3) and met some of the locals.

Saturday we did a little sight seeing. We went to my favorite beach (Silver Strand) for some photo ops and to wet our toes in the Atlantic. It was lunch at the Tea House in the Folk Village in Glen to warm up after that. Then it was off to Ardara via Glengesh Pass to see the waterfall. We stopped at the chemist to visit Alisha at work as well. After that, it was off to the pubs again and a long night is was. The pub we were at stayed open into the early morning and then a load of us went off to the beach for a makeshift bonfire and sing along and to watch the sunrise. Super fun and super cold.

Sunday we joined Captain Paddy Byrne on his boat The Nuala Star and he took us for a spin along the coast. It was very windy and the water was super choppy so it made for an exciting 2 hour ride. We stopped at The Rusty in Teelin for a drink and then had dinner at An Cistin in town before having another exciting night on the town.

On the way home Monday, we stopped in Donegal town for a little sight seeing and shopping before really hitting the road. Stopped in Mullingar again for a breather and then had a quiet night at home.

Tuesday morning we had to return the car so we stopped for groceries on the way back. I introduced Niki to some of the delicious Irish foods such as Crunchy Nut cereal and Irish Pride bread, two staples of my diet. Tuesday night we went to Whelan's. It's the pub where P.S. I Love You was filmed. We saw a little live music by a Canadian guy. After that I took Niki to one of my favorite pubs in Dublin, The Hairy Lemon. It was dead but it turned out good because we didn't have to wait for drinks and we got to chat with the barman. He let us leave our mark on the pub, we pinned a dollar bill with our names and the date on it onto the woodwork above the bar. If you're ever there, check it out.

Wednesday we did the Wild Wicklow bus tour. The driver was insane and totally inappropriate which made for an excellent time. We drove along the coast and port and then through the Hollywood Hills of Dublin where we got to scope out the homesteads of Bono, Van Morrison, and Enya before getting to Wicklow. We stopped at Avoca for a bathroom break and to look around. They sell all sorts of cool stuff. They're sort of like Bibelot or Patina but they also do handwoven wool stuff. Wicklow was amazing, I would love to live there. We went to Glendalough, picked blueberries, had a pub lunch, and went for a little hike. Our bus driver even brought along a bottle of Jameson for us to enjoy. He put two Belgium dudes in charge of the bottle and they ended up drinking pretty much all of it...never trust a Belgian. P.S. I Love You was also filmed at Glendalough. The weather was gorgeous and sunny so we were exhausted by the end of the day. When we got back we had a cuppa at Bewley's (my favorite people watching spot) and then went home to catch up on some much needed rest.

Thursday we hit up Guinness where we did the tour and had a pint direct from the source. You'll never have a tastier Guinness. We had a unique and tasty dinner at Gruel after that. We went out to my other favorite pub, Flannery's, that night. It was insanely hot and packed but we had a blast watching a group of very entertaining dancers. Only in Ireland do they have Riverdance and they're national anthem as part of their playlist. I wish I could've videotaped the chaos that ensued when Riverdance was playing.

Friday, Niki and I hit up Phoenix Park. We walked around a little (the place is huge, bigger than Central Park), laid on the grass and people watched, and had a nice lunch. Friday, I took Niki and Rachel out in Temple Bar just to say they had been there. It's really touristy and full of stag and hen (bachelor and bachelorette) parties. After that it was on to a Dublin institution called Copper Faced Jack's. It's about the only "club" in Dublin and so has quite the reputation. It's something you only have to experience once. It's better on Monday nights when the clientele are mainly nurses, cops, and firefighters.

Saturday we did our shopping and sight seeing in the city center on Grafton St. and O'Connell St mainly. Niki wanted to see some live music so I bought us tickets to Sharon Shannon on a whim. She and her band do all traditional Irish music (she plays the accordion). I know it sounds lame but it was actually great and a very good way to end Niki's vacation. Sharon Shannon made "Galway Girl" famous with another Irish artist Mundy on the P.S. I Love You soundtrack. I know right, we had a total P.S. I Love You week...it was totally coincidental. Anyways, Mundy was also at the show and was sort of the surprise guest. It was great because Niki, Rachel, and I had heard a song playing at the Hairy Lemon one night that we were obsessed with. Nobody could tell us the right artist and Niki and I couldn't find the song anywhere online. Well, turns out it's Mundy, which we figured out when he sang it at the show (the song is "July" if anyone is interested). We met Sam and Chandra at The Hairy Lemon afterwards for a few drinks and to say our goodbyes. Niki made it safely home on Monday. I miss her terribly and wanted to hold her hostage. I'm currently working on finding her a job here so she can come back :). I wonder if Enya needs a nanny, we know where she lives. 

I'm officially an Irish nurse!

Well, it's official, I got my registration in the mail yesterday. I'm officially on the register for An Bord Altrainas (the Irish Nursing Board). Now I can stop being so passive and start ruffling feathers at work and they can't do anything about it. 

I had a rather eventful weekend. Thursday night I went to Estelle and Jay Z with Chandra at the RDS. It was a good show, not very packed. Friday, Jen convinced us to go to The Hoodoo Gurus (an '80's Aussie band) at The Button Factory. Also a good time. One of the pictures is her with the lead singer. Saturday, we decided to go to see Morrissey. It was at the old Royal Hospital which is now the modern art museum. It was outside on the grounds. The weather (mostly) cooperated. He put on a good show. 

Now that I'm all done with my work orientation/adaptation I have to start working weekends (boo). I worked my first couple of nights this week and it made me a much happier person. I know my educator doesn't want me working nights for the next few months (or as few as possible) but hopefully once that's done I can work straight nights or mostly nights. I'm working this weekend so there probably won't be much to report. 

My old weekend work crew from Regions sent me a fabulous care package for which I am so grateful. I have already utilized the Burn Center curly straw as you can see. I'm sure various other items from the package will show up around Dublin and in pictures soon. 

Rody Bolands

I went out on Saturday night with some girls from work to celebrate a couple of birthdays. I thought I would post a couple of pictures to introduce you all to some of my new friends. We went to a pub in Rathmines that was so much fun called Rody Bolands. The first picture is Jen and I. She's my friend from Australia that works in Nephro-Urology. The second picture contains Bridget (my roommate from New Zealand, she works in Oncology) on the far left, Jen, Rachel is in the pink (she is from Northern Ireland and works in the transitional care unit), and Mary is to the left of her (from Essex and works in the high dependency unit). Rachel and Mary are roommates and live in the same apartment complex as Bridget and I. The last picture is Rachel again. 

On another happy note...Niki is coming to visit me! She'll be here July 18th-27th. I can't wait to see her and explore Ireland with her. 

My internet frustration.

I have the day off today so I'm on a mission for internet that consistently work. We currently have our phone, internet, and broadband through one company. They haven't all worked together since we got it. I called the company to complain and tell them that I wouldn't be paying my bill until everything worked. The customer service guy who was helping me replied "You're just trying to get all kinds of money out of me aren't you...you Americans." I couldn't believe it. If not paying for services I don't receive makes me American, I'm proud to be an American. Argh. 

Another upsetting piece of news...the Ireland Prince show was cancelled. Nobody has really said why except that it was out of the hands of Prince and the production company. It better not be just Prince being Prince. 

Work is still slightly frustrating. When I first started work, my educator told me I would be expecting to "seek out my own learning opportunities" so I did. Then, the following week she told me I should only be focusing on the way the unit is run and the daily activities, not to even focus on the burn cares (this is a burn unit right?), basically telling me to stop seeking out my own learning opportunities. So, that week I just did what I was told. Then, the next week, my educator told me I seemed "disinterested". Kind of odd considering my Kiwi roommate had heard the exact same thing the day before from her nurse educator. I only found out this week that another one of our friends from Africa had also been told the same thing. Those nurse educators must go to weekly meetings where they're given the word of the week. The other week, it must have been "disinterested". I just told her that she was giving me conflicting tasks and that she needs to be more clear. It takes Irish people a bazillion words to say what we can say in one short sentence and I think they take that as disinterest. I kind of told her that in a very nice way. She has kind of left me alone since. At least all us foreigners kind of stick together. 

A couple of weekends ago I went up to Glencolumbkille for "The Gaeltacht". It's a big gaelic football weekend that happens at a different gaelic speaking location every year. Lots of towns apply and this year Glen was picked. They fixed up the town really nice. A lot of buildings had new paint jobs and landscaping, etc. The town was packed full of people from all over Ireland. It was great craic as they would say. It was football all day and then music at night. I'm glad I had the opportunity to go. Gaelic football is a pretty entertaining sport. It's like football, rugby, volleyball, and soccer all mixed. I got to practice a little Irish as well. 

In The Name of the Fada

I've been watching this really hilarious show over the last couple of weeks and I thought I'd share. It's called "In The Name of the Fada" which is a play on words. A fada is an accent over a letter. It's a "reality show" in which Des Bishop, an Irish-American comedian, attempts to learn Irish well enough to perform a stand up act in Irish. Even if you don't know any Irish, he's pretty entertaining. During his training, he translates House of Pain's "Jump Around" into Irish. The first link below is a link to the shows, the second link is one to his website. There is a free download of "Jump Around" on it and some of his other stand up acts. 

http://www.rte.ie/tv/inthenameofthefada/

www.desbishop.com