March 23

...a nice week in Dublin...

I am really getting the swing of things here. Thanks for your prayers - they worked for two sunny days. Blue sky could be seen several times during both Sunday and Monday! Here is this week's update:

Sunday: Took it easy, a relaxing *beautiful* day. Walked up to St. Stephen's Green and saw some street performers. One comedian and one guy jumping through hoops. Since it was so pretty, we walked through St. Stephen's Green. As many times as we have been near it, it was about time! It's like a little Central Park. After a little grocery shopping at a proper grocery store, we ate at Friday's because we wanted burgers. All hamburgers are cooked well-done here. I'll have to adjust since my favorite is medium rare!! Having had our fix of American food, we returned to our abodes for a quiet, early night.

Monday: The St. Patrick's Day Parade came right down my street! We found a wall to sit / stand on to watch and photograph the parade. It was another sunny day, but we were on the shady side of the street freezing to death. We managed to enjoy it anyway. After the parade, we walked to a pub called Forum Bar, where we ate pub food and watched REAL Irish people singing REAL Irish songs. It was such a moving experience to finally see it in real life! I have watched so many shows on the Travel Channel and now I actually believe it. We went to a couple other pubs for a couple more beers - the Bank and the Stag's Head - and then went home. Don't worry - no excess. Just enough to celebrate the holiday. I struggled to stay up for Lost, which came on at 10. I was so excited to see real TV - it was awesome!

Tuesday: Spent literally the entire day at government offices to apply for PPS numbers (Irish SSNs) and to register with Immigration. We went to the social services office for the PPS application at 8 AM and finally left Immigration at 3:30 PM. It was a long day. I ate dinner (first real home-cooked meal) and went to bed early.

Wednesday: Normal work day. It was actually nice to make it into the office! I actually rode the free bus (my buddies are making fun of me for talking about the free bus all the time) by myself and asked the bus driver to show me the pick-up spot for the mornings. Then I stopped at the Stephen's Green Mall to look for a rain-proof big black purse. Couldn't find one, so I walked on home and did laundry. It takes forever!!

Thursday: Free bus TO work - first time. Next Thursday and Friday, the 27th and 28th, we Americans will be presenting overviews of various areas of the Jacksonville business to our teams. We have been busy preparing for the sessions, and may have to schedule training rooms at the Treasury Building. This is in the City Centre, which is way closer to my apartment. I am all for two days at the Treasury Building!! At the end of the day, we met Tom Dugan, who is from New York and is a managing director in Dublin. He's been here about a year. The senior managers in Jax suggested we introduce ourselves. He was really nice and down-to-earth, and said a few times that if we need anything to just ask him. I stopped by the grocery store on the way home, ate a light dinner and watched Big Brother USA. It's one of the few American shows we get here.

Friday: Made it to the Dundrum Town Centre. It's between my apartment and work on the LUAS train route. This is a HUGE mall - probably twice the size of the Avenues in Jax. There's a Penney's there! I'm not sure it's the same as JC Penney's, but they had some really good deals. I bought some desperately needed black socks - 6 pairs for €3! I also found a good black purse. It is big but light-weight and holds all of my stuff, including my camera in its bag. Love it! After a long day of shopping, I came home and cooked dinner again - salmon, rice and veggies. It was my first time using the oven and it was a little scary. But alas, I was successful. My dinner was tasty.

Saturday: Headed out early to meet up with the hop-on hop-off city tour bus. Rode it all the way around the city, then got off at the O'Connell Street stop and walked around a little. There was a market in a side street just like what I've seen on TV. They had fruits and veggies for pretty cheap. I hope I find one around me. Found a really big book store - downstairs were new books and upstairs were second-hand books. Had lunch and got back on the bus to see more sights. Got off at Kilmainhaim Gaol (the famous old jail) but the tours for the rest of the day were booked. Across the street was the Ireland Museum of Modern Art. Got lost and never really saw anything great, went back to the bus stop and on to Guinness. The line for the storehouse was around the block, so it will be another day. Same thing happened at Jameson Whiskey Distillery. Headed for home, a nap and a sandwich for dinner. Mini-pub crawl and back home to bed.

Today I am taking it easy. I may walk around a little later, but for now I'm staying put and giving my hard-working feet a rest.