Frog Blog

there were no visible garbage cans at F's house in newry. no little bins in the bathrooms or bedrooms and it didn't seem like any of them showered or used towels when i was there. the only garbage i could find was off the kitchen in the hall. but it was a really relaxing stay. i drank so much tea and pigged out on biscuits and watched (and loved) "celebrity love island."

i'm currently in dublin and just took a somewhat boring historical tour of the city. i did it to meet people and get my bearings. it was only boring because it was just too many factoids for my brain to process in a short amount of time. it was like the entire history of ireland since the dawn of time until now in less than two hours. interesting to a point but not really at the same time. i met a woman from vancouver, canada, traveling with her 80-year-old mom and a recent cornell graduate here on a trip alone for a few more weeks. the latter says "like" a lot but it's better than nothing. i'm trying to find reinspiration and searching for my bootstraps to hoist up. it's a pretty cool city in which to do just that-- although i'm not the kind who goes out to bars alone at night so i'm counting on meeting more people at my hostel. i have a private room which i've yet to see. it wasn't ready when i arrived so i dumped my bag and got some lunch in town. if it's decent, i'll book two more nights and leave here on sunday, probably bound for kilkenny or a smaller town in between.

they say the republic of ireland is wicked expensive-- apparently it's right up there with finland as one of the most expensive countries in the EU. so far i haven't necessarily noticed except with lodging. i'm paying 32 euros a night for a hostel room. granted, it's a private room, but that's pretty steep if you ask me. the costs of things aren't that much different from france, and after paying up to 3.50 euros for a coke in franceland, 2 euros for the same coke ain't that bad.

hanging with F was relaxing. i slept so well because i didn't have anywhere to go. nothing really to do. her mother talked my ear off, though. many of our conversations involved her saying something and then spending 10 minutes asking me if i agreed and rehashing the same point again and again. i learned to tune it out after a while. she kind of overshadowed F and F's dad, which was too bad. F was a little hard to read-- rather quiet, young. she'd never seen dental floss. no kidding! she's never had oatmeal and had a lot of questions about america. she's never been to london, but i've never been to washington dc or even boise for that matter so i can't fault her for that one. strange girl but the hospitality was so appreciated on my part!!

now i'm drinking a hot tea and will most likely grab some dinner with my tour mate. it's luxury having a whole 28 mintues remaining on my internet time. one hour plus a tea costs 3.50. beats a coke.