Encounters Interesting, Enlightening, and Awkward.

I really need to write when I'm not falling asleep.

ALRIGHT. Wake up, Laura. So I didn't say much about yesterday, but it was a really nice day. I really just wandered around most of the time. Not being very familiar with the place myself. I kind of followed the crowds until I got my bearings - which meant that, soon after getting off the train, the take-away Fish and Chips place across from the harbor seemed like a really good idea. Thinking back on it, after they'd taken too much of my money, it probably wasn't - but oh well. I'm such a cheap-skate with my money, it's probably okay to indulge myself every once in a while - even if it IS for over-priced fast-food. Oh, haha, also - I was in line to order there, and there were still four or five people in front of me. A girl behind the counter suddenly looks at me and says, "Are you okay?" Confused, I ask, "Sorry?" "You okay?" she repeats. Still confused. I say, "Yeah...?" She raises an eyebrow. "You want to order?" "Oh."

So now you know - if you're ever ordering at a restaurant in Ireland, the question "are you okay" is not referring to your physical or emotional health. Apparently only Americans think about that where food is concerned.

So I got my food and took it down to the harbor, which was thronging with people. I sat in the sun on a bench along the docks, down the way a bit from a kid playing "9 Crimes" on his guitar. I immediately liked him, because Vince and I sang that song at the cafe night in Prague last summer, and even though it's a sad song, the memory made me happy. He sang a lot of other things, too - mostly very repetitive things - but it gave me something to enjoy while I ate. Eventually I got up and walked around the harbor, out to the end of the pier and back, and then I saw a pathway that led up and out to the peninsula's end, so I followed it. Mostly that was just a beautiful walk, although a few things of interest did happen. One of which comprised possibly the most awkward episode of the trip thus far...

So, I got to the top of a really beautiful hill over-looking the ocean, right? And it was a gorgeous view. There were other people up there, but there were so many different ridges and different levels that everyone basically had their own place and didn't really interact with anyone else. Mostly there were couples up there, but I did see one fellow on the very top of the hill who was stripped down to only his underwear, sun-bathing like a lizard on a rock. I climbed out to a nice little ledge and decided to try to get a picture of me and the view, via my camera's self-timer. So I set my camera on a rock, set the timer, and backed up to the edge of the cliff and posed. Click. Only, that picture didn't look good - so I tried it again. No go. I took several shots, but none of them looked good - either my head was blocking the island, or there was hair in my face, or I hadn't gotten posed in time... yeah. But I figured nobody could see me, so I didn't mind that I looked really dumb for awhile. Then, just as I gave up and was putting my camera away, I heard a voice. "Sorry? Excuse me?" I look up. Sun-bather is coming down the hill towards me, pulling on his shirt. "Would'ye like a hand there, with your camera? I noticed ye struggling..." HAHAHAHA. I suppose a normal person would have just said, "Oh, sure, thanks!" A normal person. Instead, I let out a ridiculous, "PAH!" followed quickly by, "Oh, um, thanks - that'd be really nice." He proceeded to take my picture, chat with me a bit, leave - and then come back five minutes later, asking if I wanted a picture with a different background. Oh man. Awkward moments.

So after that, I was pretty good with not taking myself too seriously. Which is good, because I'm pretty silly, generally speaking. I walked for a long while, but then it was after 6 o'clock and even though it was still light, I knew I should probably head back soon. Especially because the ride home takes an hour from Howth. As I stopped to fix my sock, I was passed by an elderly chap with a bouquet of wildflowers in his hand. "Heat getting to your feet!" he said, rather than asked. I wasn't quite sure what that meant, so I just laughed and said, "Yup." He asked where I was from, and I said California - and we talked about America vs. Ireland all the way down the mountain and into town. It's funny - the fellow I met on the last hike (Horse-Walker) was crazy about America. But not this guy. He couldn't get over how big and impersonal it is, although he says he'd love to get to Seattle or New England in the fall. (I totally agree with him there.) I'm trying to remember what else we talked about - he was a really interesting old chap, and very much into talking to foreigners. He told me that he asked everyone he met where they came from, because he was interested; one day, he said, he passed 75 people on a hike, and he asked each and every one of them where they came from. Four of them had been Irish. He also told me that every year, there are multiple suicides up on that cliff I'd just been on - once, he said, he was walking down the path (the very same one we were walking at the moment) towards evening time and a Lithuanian guy walked right past him and stepped straight off the edge. Just like that. There were some other disturbing stories that I'm not going to write down; but yeah. It just surprises me, I guess, how much other people have lived through and seen. Peoples lives are such interesting things to talk about.

As we reached the foot of the mountain, we passed by an elderly couple and Mr. Anti-America struck up a conversation with them. (This he did by remarking, "Nice day," listening to their responses, and asking the man, "What part of London do you come from?" Turned out the guy wasn't from London, although he was British. I forget what city he came from.) He introduced me as Miss California and the four of us walked along talking for awhile, until he found his car and left us. The couple - Maeve and Howard by name - were also taking the train, so we walked to town together, and then waited 25 minutes for the train, and then rode it together until they got off at O'Connelly... so I spent about an hour or more talking to them. She's Irish, he's British - they met because she worked for the army, as a nurse or a receptionist or something. She was a very chatty lady - I could fill a small book with all the places she told me I had to go on my visit. ("She didn't tell you she works for the tourist bureau, did she?" Howard remarked.) I really enjoyed them; it was a funny feeling, walking around town and riding a train with a couple of complete strangers, and feeling like I was their long-lost granddaughter or something. Howard asked me if I see a "hell of a difference in culture" between America and Ireland. I told him no, not really - except that European kids are far more independent than American ones. It's true, if you think about it - it's highly unusual for an American girl of 18 to go off to another country by herself, but in Europe, kids start doing that at 15 or 16. Maeve squinted up her eyes and said, "Well, you know what the only thing to be really afraid of is?" "What?" "Fear! It's just like crossing a road. If you fear it, you'll never get anywhere."

I was actually quite sad to see them go. In any case.... wow, that was a lot. That was YESTERDAY. I didn't really talk to anybody today, so my synopsis of that should be shorter. ;)

Ray and I were out the door by 7 AM, and he dropped me off at Arthur's Quay in Limerick at half-past nine. After walking around the river Shannon for awhile, I found my way across to King John's Castle. This time, I went inside. Yay! That was really cool. Although it was a little bit too touristy... the only part that felt very REAL was the inside of the original tours, where you go through spiral staircases past narrow-slitted windows (for archers!) and passage ways where the ceiling is low and strewn with cobwebs. Yuck. There was also an archaeological dig-sit, under the visitor center, where you go underground and look at original houses they've excavated, dating back to the 1100's. That was cool - though a bit claustrophobic and, well, dark. I went to the visitor's center and bought myself a beautiful pair of earrings, because Amelia told me to pick myself a birthday present from her. ;) So yay, now I have a lovely souvenir. Then I went to the Limerick Museum, which was cool, but not spectacular... aaaaaand then I went to St. Mary's Cathedral, which is the oldest building in Limerick (possibly Ireland?) that is still in daily use. It was started in the 1100's, also. That was a beautiful place. Not quite as beautiful as Christchurch, but still... for the 1100's. Impressive. Also, old graveyard surrounding the church! That was fabulous.

After that... I just kind of walked around for awhile, ate my sandwich, and then found a nice bench on the opposite side of the river to sit on for the next 3 or 4 hours. I wrote in my journal for awhile, and then I started "Breakfast at Tiffany's". And then for some reason part of the Shannon was being drained, so that by 5 o'clock a good part of the riverbed closest to me was exposed. So I went down and walked on the bottom of the river for awhile. I met Ray at the bus stop at 6, and we were home by 8:30 for a late dinner. Which brings us up to date!

Tomorrow is going to be fun, if I'm feeling well. Which means that I should probably get some sleep now... because I feel like I may be getting a fever. Ugh. Why can't I shake this lousy sickness?

Anyway. I hope all you Californians are having a good afternoon. I miss you all and think about you often. :)