scattyme (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} scattyme) wrote,@ 2007-11-10 14:56:00 |
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Another attempt at blogging
I'm sitting in our gallery in Cluny, watching people go by outside. They're mostly locals at this time of year. Since I got back from our trip to Ireland and the UK last month I decided to try to become an active blogger again - and also a more active commenter on other peoples' blogs. So here goes. We'll see how long I stick with it!
Being back in Ireland felt different this time from any other time I've gone back. It really seemed like a hybrid between the US and here. There was a huge sense of hustle and bustle and a stupendous amount of traffic, particularly in Dublin. Shops were generally open all day. Certain things that I enjoyed in the US and that are impossible to find here, like hot milky chai and hummous, were easy to find in Ireland - even in Banbridge, which isn't exactly the kind of place I would associate with hot milky chai. People were less formal than here as a rule. There was also a fair amount of worry about things like health care and violent crime.
Of course, some of the difference might be because we live in a quiet, rural area here, and we spent much of our time in cities in Ireland. Still, I don't think that accounts for it all. When we were in Cahirsiveen on the Ring of Kerry we noticed a Slavic grocery store. There's nothing like that here in Cluny, and Cluny is at least three times as big as Cahirsiveen.
It was fantastic to catch up with old friends and family in Ireland. We couldn't live there right now though - housing would be far too expensive for us, unless you're somewhere in the back of beyond where you need a car to get around, or you're earning a professional salary. I must admit also that I'm really enjoying the stimulation of living in a country where another language is spoken - it's much more interesting than I thought it would be - and that makes me rather less eager to rush back to anywhere English-speaking.
I do miss the Irish ecology though, in particular the way the light changes so much, and I miss my friends there, both old and new. I'm very glad to be alive at a time when the Internet exists.
I'm sitting in our gallery in Cluny, watching people go by outside. They're mostly locals at this time of year. Since I got back from our trip to Ireland and the UK last month I decided to try to become an active blogger again - and also a more active commenter on other peoples' blogs. So here goes. We'll see how long I stick with it!
Being back in Ireland felt different this time from any other time I've gone back. It really seemed like a hybrid between the US and here. There was a huge sense of hustle and bustle and a stupendous amount of traffic, particularly in Dublin. Shops were generally open all day. Certain things that I enjoyed in the US and that are impossible to find here, like hot milky chai and hummous, were easy to find in Ireland - even in Banbridge, which isn't exactly the kind of place I would associate with hot milky chai. People were less formal than here as a rule. There was also a fair amount of worry about things like health care and violent crime.
Of course, some of the difference might be because we live in a quiet, rural area here, and we spent much of our time in cities in Ireland. Still, I don't think that accounts for it all. When we were in Cahirsiveen on the Ring of Kerry we noticed a Slavic grocery store. There's nothing like that here in Cluny, and Cluny is at least three times as big as Cahirsiveen.
It was fantastic to catch up with old friends and family in Ireland. We couldn't live there right now though - housing would be far too expensive for us, unless you're somewhere in the back of beyond where you need a car to get around, or you're earning a professional salary. I must admit also that I'm really enjoying the stimulation of living in a country where another language is spoken - it's much more interesting than I thought it would be - and that makes me rather less eager to rush back to anywhere English-speaking.
I do miss the Irish ecology though, in particular the way the light changes so much, and I miss my friends there, both old and new. I'm very glad to be alive at a time when the Internet exists.
