i'm in ennis, a small town near the shannon airport. my flight leaves at 11 tomorrow morning. luckily it only takes about a half hour to get there by bus, and my B&B is a four minute walk from the bus station.
am i sad it's my last day in ireland? not really. i'll miss all the tea and cadbury and being able to understand everyone and having nice, genuine conversations with strangers. but soon enough i'll have that at home.
i'm a little anxious to get home. i haven't been in america in nearly 10 months and i'm sure not much has changed except the price of gas. the psychotherapist and i discussed things we don't like about the usa at breakfast this morning, and here are some of the things we came up with: american anxiety, obesity, big cars and trucks hogging the road, too much fast food, constantly being inundated with stuff, too much consumerism, advertisements, impatience, stupidity, the lack of intellectual, stimulating conversation and aggressive, in-your-face people who are too picky about what goes in their starbucks. in a nutshell. it's depressing to think about but at the same time it's home, and i have to say there are a lot of things i'm looking forward to. (when mentioning the bad things on the phone to my mother this morning she said, oh god, am i going to have to listen to this for a month as you readjust??? and i said, maybe, but it doesn't give me free reign to bitch, so not to worry, ma.)
i do like how i can do whatever and be whatever in america-- i can walk down the street in my pajamas and not turn a head, i can use my debit card on a pack of gum and i can order a no-cheese pizza. not that i plan on doing any of these things (although i am looking forward to getting my debit card working again). i'm also looking forward to not calculating euros to dollars in my head all the time and i'm excited to drink dr. pepper again.
in ireland most people are dressed up to just go shopping-- nice-- i feel like a shlubby in my travel clothes. in france, people are so polite-- they always say hello and goodbye and excuse me, even to weirdos they don't want to talk to. i do like how everything is on the go in america, but i haven't missed rushing and i've learned a certain amount of patience, which was my weakest virtue.
mostly what i want to do is see my family and boyfriend and friends again and enjoy being back where i know things but am eager to learn new things-- eager to meet more people and try new bars and just do more things in my hometown.
it's weird that it's coming down to it, that my time here is almost up. but it's ok. it has to be, at least for now-- it's unavoidable. i need to find a job to pay off the credit card bill, i need to change clothes and not live out of a bag, i need to buy groceries and not eat out all the time. i need my own bed, at least for a little while. at least until the next something comes along. who knows what that will be? i'm eager to find out. on verra.