Life in Limerick

Dia is Muire dhuit!

the entrance to Dromroe Village

Translation: The blessings of God and Mary on you!  Your response should be something along the lines of the Irish for “The blessings of God and Mary and St. Patrick on you.” My lecturer pronounced it for us but my translation skills weren’t quite up to taking that one down yet, so it’s quite all right if you don’t get it right. But anyhow.

This weekend marked the end of my third week in Ireland. It’s crazy how time is already flying by! I feel like I just landed Dublin, because I’m DEFINITELY still getting my wits about me. I’m starting to feel comfortable in Limerick; I’m understanding the bus schedule, I can find the Starbucks and the campus bar (that sounds very un-adapting-like but they’re amazingly good reference points), I’ve (eventually) found all of my classes, and I’m getting the hang of using Euros (they’re feeling less like Monopoly money which is both good and dismaying). There’s an unimaginable amount of things I’m NOT used to, but I’ll take my victories where I can get them!

Roommates: Nik (left) and Matt (center)

My living arrangements are definitely helping to facilitate my adjusting. I was assigned to the student “village” of Dromroe which consists of eight or nine apartment building-types with between 8 and ten apartments in each one. Most of the apartments hold six students, but of course I can never be normal – my apartment is on the ground floor of my building and it’s a disability apartment. Because it has to be wheelchair-accessible, all of the light switches and counters are extra low and the apartment is very open and roomy. My bedroom in particular is one of two in the apartment for wheelchair-bound students, and is almost twice as large as my friends’ rooms.  Each person in Dromroe gets their own bathroom (HUGE perk in itself), but mine is especially big because again, it has to fit a wheelchair (even BIGGER perk!). I was excited and a little nervous to learn earlier this summer that my roommates could be Irish students, international students, graduate students, you name it. I wasn’t sure how that would go, but it turned out wonderful so far: the two girls, Jillian and Meabh, are both first-year Irish students, and the two guys, Matt and Nik, are graduate students from Philly and Bulgaria, respectively.  Having Matt in the house has been the biggest blessing I could ever imagine. I love meeting people and learning about cultures and such, but sometimes it’s nice to have someone who thinks in American – and even better, in Pennsylvanian!  That may sound silly, but it’s comforting to be able to talk football or American Idol or even just rag on him about saying “water” funny, without having to explain every other word. Case in point, I was telling a story about a night out and referred to a guy at the bar as a “jag-off” (I’m from Pittsburgh? How could you tell?); the blank looks I got from my Irish and Bulgarian roommates were almost comical, but Matt just went right on with the conversation, saying how rude and irritating this particular person had been. Thank God for Philadelphia – and it’ll be awhile til I say THAT again!

the Shannon River (it's SUNNY!)

The weather has been much like expected, meaning the days are in the 50° to mid-60° range and mostly cloudy. It rains on and off but usually only twenty minutes on, thirty minutes off, five minutes on, two hours off, and so on.  I’ve been surprised at how little it’s rained since I’ve been here, actually; I was expecting downpours far more often than we’ve had, and there’s been fairly long periods of blue sky and sun almost every day. Some of my pictures you might not even believe were taken in Ireland! I’ll get larger amounts of photos up soon hopefully, but I’m still trying to figure out where exactly they GO on my computer when they leave my camera. Puzzling to be sure, but I’ve been asking around for someone who knows HPs better than I.  

Last but not least, a challenge for you, dear audience.  As many people remind me, Limerick is not only a city in Ireland but also a format of poem. I’ve not seen many limericks since I’ve been here – only one on the side of a building – so to make up for it, hit me with your best shot! There will be a prize for the best one, probably along the lines of a postcard of sheep or something similar, so I’m expecting your best efforts! I really appreciate the comments and emails from everyone, and I apologize if I don’t respond promptly (or at all, sometimes I just completely forget). I get crazy busy and wrapped up in figuring out another culture that’s close but just different enough to throw you for a loop now and then, but I really do love hearing from you!

Sláinte!

(That one means “health!”, kind of like a “cheers!”)