Four Seasons in One Day

Four seasons in one day--that's one they say about the weather in Dublin. Today I experienced something like that...
This morning, around 9am, as I walked to work, it was sunny and clear blue skies.
At noon as I walked to a meeting, it was cloudy and windy.
At 1pm, there was heavy sleet coming down.
At 1:30pm, as I walked back to my office, it was sunny and clear blue skies.
At 3pm when my boss walked from the other building to ours (15 min walk), it was thrashing rain and very cold--he appeared at our meeting completely drenched, from head to toe.
At 4pm during our rooftop tea break, it was sunny and clear blue skies.
At 6pm when I walked home, it was (dark, obviously, and) lightly sleeting.

Crazy!

Be careful who you meet...

I was going to visit a friend who seriously broke her leg while in Uganda over the holidays. She is now staying at her parents' home until she recovers, so I was going to catch the bus there on my way home from work.

I had to walk a mile in the cold rain and wind (with gusts up to 30 mph). I was very hungry (thus light-headed and a bit shaky), basically tense and tired when I boarded the bus. The other occupants are in a similar state. The buses tend to be crowded at this time of day, so I looked for a seat and finally found one with no person in it--just a school girl's bags, as she was sitting in the adjoining seat. I sat down on the edge, and she sort of grumpily moved her bags onto her lap. I gave her a kind smile and said she could keep them there, that I was happy just on the edge. She said, no that's okay.

We road along in silence...I was in no mood to make conversation, and she didn't seem to be either. Her mobile rang and it was her mother, to whom the girl made some abrupt/complaining remark. Yes, in no mood for small talk.

We neared the area where my stop would be...but it was completely dark outside, misty, and the bus windows were fogged up. I peered outside and couldn't make out the landmarks, but we were clearly at an intersection with stop lights. As I was not in the most familiar territory, I asked the girl what road that was, making a hand motion parallel to the cross street. She replied, "That's not a road, it's an estate," while pointing to the street in the left-hand direction. Then pointing in the right-hand direction she named whatever street it was.

I gave a puzzled look, while my mind was thinking: In Ireland, streets take on different names at crossroads, sectioned off with different names as the street progresses along, even if it is the very same road. I suppose it is a handy way of letting a person know how far down a location may be, but it can be a bit confusing as well, since you may never turn off a street yet you find yourself on one with a different name...
More prominently, my mind was thinking about how clearly that was a street on the left, yet she had so tersely replied "it's not a road it is an estate." Give me some slack here! Okay, so an estate is what little neighborhood areas are called, like a (very small!) subdivision we'd have in the US. So this road evidently wasn't a through street, it was a road entering an estate.

I told her the road I was looking for, and she smiled and said it is the same stop where she will be getting of, so I could just watch her. When we arrived, she silently pressed the stop button, never saying a word to me, I took it as my sign to go forward, and thus we got off and went our own directions as soon as we were outside, never speaking. (This is very rare in Ireland--my experiences have been that strangers are generally very chatty and helpful.)

So I got out the instructions to my friends' house and walked 10 minutes there, in the dark, cold mist. My friend had said there would be a "laneway" in front of her house. I had no idea what a laneway was, but I hoped I'd realize it when I saw it...

Indeed, I discovered a laneway is a walking path/alleyway into the neighborhood, which prevents a pedestrian from having to walk all the way down to the next through road. I found her house easily, was welcomed inside and began visiting with my friend.

Five minutes later the front door opened, and in walked the girl from the bus!! It was my friend's sister! No way, what are the odds? We looked at each other, stunned. We began sheepishly laughing, and stammering over greetings, apologies, etc. Internally we were each re-tracing our words and attitude from the interaction we'd had on the bus, a bit embarrassed for not being more friendly then...for now we would be sharing a family dinner together. :)

Two more phrases

"Utterly Knackered." This is a phrase I often hear people using to describe when they were feeling completely exhausted. It's very common, and one I've found myself using.

"She did the dirt." A friend was telling another friend why the relationship between his brother and the girlfriend ended. The explanation was that "she did the dirt." I asked what this meant. It means she cheated on him.

There's two random phrases for ya I encountered and just thought I'd record them here...

First Sunny Day of 2008!

Today was the first sunny day in 2008, with totally clear blue skies the entire day (not merely in 1 hour intervals). What a relief! As such, everyone seized the opportunity to get outside and soak it up, replenishing their Vitamin D stores, etc.

I went for a 10-mile run along the coastal road, my favorite route, reserved only for weekend runs on pretty days. It was lovely to see couple after couple out for a stroll, mostly elderly folks, also a few families. This all just put me in a grande mood--a gorgeous view of the mountains and sea and cliffs, friendly Irish folk out and about. Ahh, I'm in Ireland.

At some point, I was overcome by the beautiful scene and simply had to stop and just take it all in. I was looking out at Dalkey Island, a 22-acre island just 300 metres off the shore. Evidence has been found suggesting inhabitants were on the island 6000 years ago, that it was in use through the Iron age and early Christian period, and was also used as a Viking base.

On the island sits Martello Tower and the ruins of St. Begnet's church, which dates from the 7th century. This was such an intriguing scene--the stone ruins sitting in quiet, peaceful solitude on this island with waves crashing into the rocks and the sun shining onto the green grass canopy. The visual appeal was accompanied by the images conjured up of the early Irish monks seeking safe-haven on this isolated ground, or the battles fought on these shores during various invasions of Ireland. It all carries such history and indications of the legacy present throughout Ireland. Those round towers are a unique characteristic of monasteries here, and the structure of the abbey, along with the idea of the church in every community, has been maintained for over 1500 years.

I continued my run, marveling at the history of Ireland, once being "the land of saints and scholars," the propagation of the Celtic culture, the preservation of an Irish identity and jovial spirit despite tremendous adversity, the incredible upturn of the economy, the hospitality of the people, etc.
I also marveled at the existence of Beauty, and how this quality can cause someone to stop dead in their tracks just to soak in the scene. Also the need for us to be willing to pause or slow down our multitude of activities, to go out to be among community and enjoy simplicity in life, rather than be busily occupied in autonomous endeavors enclosed away from the rest of life and creation. There is something marvelous about being connected with history and humanity--the transmission of life and culture across time and locale...

Kilkenny

Two friends of mine took me on a day trip today to Kilkenny, which is about a 2-hour drive southwest of Dublin. Kilkenny is considered the medieval capital of Ireland because of its well-preserved medieval castles, churches, public buildings, and streets. It fell into the hands of the Normans in the 12th century and became a prosperous walled city and was the venue for many parliaments in the 14th century.

"Cill Chainnigh" in the Irish language, means "the church of Canice," which was founded by the Irish saint Canice himself. St. Canice's Cathedral is a highlight of the city, built in the 13th century in the Early Gothic style, though the site has been a place of Christian worship since the 6th century. Wow! There is also a well-preserved round tower, from the 9th century.

After touring the church, we saw Kilkenny Castle (12th century) and then toured the Rothe House, which was a typical middle-class Tudor home built in 1594, now more of a museum. There were various prehistoric artifacts found in the area, supposedly 320 million years old. Also a stone of the Ogham alphabet, which is the earliest form of writing of the Celtic peoples used in the 4th-8th centuries. We also saw the old courthouse, town hall, and the charming main street, which still shows much Norman presence in the architecture.

We had lunch at the Nicholas Mosse Pottery studio. This pottery is very well-known in Ireland, and evidently throughout the world (though I'm not pottery connoisseur), all handmade and hand-painted. It really is attractive work, and very functional as well. :)

It really was a fun-filled day with two dear friends! They are extremely generous and thoughtful to want to help me see as much of Ireland as I can while I'm here, offering such a day trip as this.
The evening was capped off as they even gave me a bunch of fresh yellow flowers to brighten my apartment!

Irish Music and Cultural Festival

I went to Temple Bar Trad--the Irish music and cultural festival that is taking place Wed-Sun.
Temple Bar is the name of the cultural quarter in Dublin, with old cobblestone streets, street performers, traditional Irish pubs, and the like. So this weekend there is even more music and culture than usual.

I especially enjoyed listening to a group that consisted of 2 fiddlers, an accordian, guitar, and percussionist. They had a great authentic Irish vibe and sound about them, and watching those fiddles interact with each other and the according was fantastic!

Well, this entry will be short, as I am quite tired and should get to sleep.

Diaries

Imagine yourself at work, and the boss comes in and asks you "What is in your diary for this week?" or the project manager emails the entire team, with the subject line "A date for your diary."

My first intuition was a bit of embarrassment, as this seemed like a very private matter.
In the States, children keep their secrets in a diary under lock and key. An adult might have a journal, which may be less "classified" but nevertheless very personal. So to have people at work referring to an item with "confidential" invisibly written all over it, was a bit unnerving.

However, a diary in Ireland is more like a calendar or planner. So one checks his diary to see if there are any commitments on the schedule and to keep track of appointments.

I confess, even after living here for 6 months, I still cringe about to hear grown men, perhaps from a platform behind a microphone, speaking of their diaries. I think I'll stick with referring to my "planner."

Getting off the phone

Whenever persons say good-bye on the phone, there is no simple "bye" or even "talk to ya later, bye," rather they say, "bye-bye-bye-bye..." It's actually rather cute. The voice pitch goes up a bit and becomes sort of sing-songy. Each person is saying this simultaneous with the other, but slightly at an alternating beat, sort of like in a round or echo, and the voice sort of trails off as the phone is being hung up.

At first I found it a bit strange, but then I found myself doing it too...

Yo Mon

After hearing a lecture, I joined the conversation among friends at tea who were discussing the talk, "Then yo mon said ... " These words, "yo mon" kept occurring, in reference to some person, which seemed to be the lecturer. At first I thought perhaps it was an Irish name that I wasn't familiar with, but then I realized they were talking about the speaker, and I know that was not his name (he was American).

Then I was among another group of people, and the same "yo mon" is used, but somehow I could tell it was in a general way--perhaps it is a nickname or a title for someone?

Finally, the mystery was opened to me. They are really saying "your man" (but with a Dublin accent), and it is a typical way of referring to whomever is the subject of the conversation. Rather than using the (natural...) pronoun "he," here they say "your man," even when the person is a stranger to you all and there is no obvious possession by anyone to warrant the use of "your." It's kind of like saying "that guy"... just casually spicing up the description a bit, I suppose...

Well, now that my ears are tuned into this expression, I hear it all the time! I can't help but chuckle, as it really is a very common usage in Dublin, and I'm not quite sure why it is better than a simple "he." But I confess, I am starting to be endeared toward its presence in casual story-telling among friends...

Marriages in Ireland

For a valid marriage to take place in Ireland, there are some different requirements than in the US.

First, the couple must given notification of intention to marry at least 3 months in advance. This is to be done in person, making an appointment with the Registar. It cannot be done by post. A friend of mine had a rough experience, as the official quizzed him as a father would before the permission was granted. None of those shotgun Las Vegas weddings allowed here.

Then the ceremony must take place at an approved venue. Actually, prior to November 2007, the ceremony could only take place in a church or in the Registry. No weddings in homes, parks, etc. During a church ceremony, there would be a specific point in which the couple signs the registry that is kept in the church, the record for all time of their valid marriage. Ahh, this is consistent with the understanding among researchers that the churches are the place of record for births, marriages, and deaths. I never really understood that in the US, but now I see how that would be true.

Now, however, the official record is kept in the Registry, regardless of the venue (similar to in the US). There are a few more allowances for venues, but not much. A park is still not acceptable.

The following is taken directly from the official guidelines concerning marriage venues:
"The place in which marriage may be solemnized must be a fixed structure that is clearly identifiable by description and location as a distinct part of a venue.
The requirement that the marriage be solemnized in a fixed structure that is open to the public precludes marriages being solemnized in the open air, a tent, marquee or other temporary structure, or a private dwelling."

Divorce in Ireland

Divorce in Ireland was illegal until 1995.

Currently, it is still difficult to get a divorce in Ireland. Well, to be more thorough, let me note that there are 5 options one can take following a "marital breakdown."
1) Separate by fact. This is simply when the two spouses no longer cohabit with each other, but no legal action is taken.
2) Deed of separation. This is some sort of document signed by both spouses that states the marriage has broken down and makes provisions outside the courts (I think).
3) Judicial separation. This is made in the courts whenever there are special reasons for the breakdown, such as adultery, abuse, or clear evidence that the marriage has failed. If this is granted, the persons are still not permitted to re-marry.
4) Divorce. This may be granted only after the spouses have lived a part for 4 out of the 5 previous years.
5) Decree of Nullity. This is when it is determined that the marriage never was valid to begin with, as some vital component was missing, such as the consent of one of the persons.

Can you imagine? Spouses must wait 5 years and live separately for 4 of those years before a divorce can be granted. I don't really know the protocol in the US, and what different options may be available, but believe one can get a divorce within months.
Just think how society in the US would be different if divorce had only been made legal 13 years ago and still had such hoops to jump through before it could be granted.

I am a believer in marriage for life, and I am looking forward to making this covenant with my future husband.

Abortion and Birth Control in Ireland

Abortion is currently illegal in the Republic of Ireland as well as Northern Ireland, except in certain cases of rape or protecting the woman's health. It is legal in Great Britain, so women from the north and south may journey to England to carry out the operation, but it is certainly taboo to speak of.

Birth control methods were made legal in Northern Ireland when Great Britain modified its laws in the 1950's and 1960's, but they were illegal in the Republic of Ireland until 1980. A woman would face criminal charges if she imported contraceptives. There is the famous story of the "contraceptive train" in 1971 that would traveled from Belfast to Dublin, with 50+ women aboard who had bought contraceptives, mostly condoms. In 1973 it became legal to import contraceptives for personal use, but not for selling or distributing to other people. Gradually prohibitions from advertising, selling and such were altered, and in 1980 contraceptives became legal.

The Catholic Church officially opposes contraception, instead promoting Natural Family Planning, which is a method that is consistent with the natural design of the body, and reported to be effective when used properly.

Where did you go to school?

If someone asked you that question, how would you answer?

I'd venture to say that in the US, you would respond with the name of your college/university. Yes, if two people were to meet in a pub/restaurant/street in pick-whatever-US-city and ask each other "Where did you go to school?", the answer would be the name of a university.

However, in Dublin, if two 40 year old men meet in a pub and ask each other that question, they will respond with their primary and secondary schools. Seriously!

I find this thoroughly fascinating. Indeed, here in Ireland, where you went to primary and secondary school plays a very central role in your identity. Evidently it is very insightful information, of much more important interest to someone you've just met, than where you went to college (or what fraternity you went to--see the corresponding post below). For it reveals things about the region where you grew up, the smaller local community of which you were a part, who your friends are, the kind of person you were shaped to be.

Which brings me to the next point: people in Ireland are more likely to retain their secondary school friends for life rather than their college friends. In fact, they tend to stay around the area where they grew up and continue to hang with the same people and families throughout their lives. One does not move off to college and make a new community there, rather it is always the home roots that is the strong determining factor of social circles.

In the US, the tendency is to move away to college, and during those years to gain independence, begin to see life in a broader way and form one's own views away from the prescriptions of parents/family/community of the earlier years. In the university environment and season of life, one makes the lifelong friends--for they have bonded through these times of struggle and deeper personal formation.

But not so in Ireland.

Folks are identified by their primary/secondary schools and the local community in which they were raise.

I suppose it is only possible for these to be important and insightful in a small place where people actually know the primary and secondary schools, and there is considerable conformity within them. And as I've written before on this blog, on this small island, it seems no Irish person is beyond 2-3 degrees of separation from the next!

No Fraternities in Ireland

During a birthday party at work today, we got into an amusing conversation about fraternities and the lack thereof in Ireland. In fact, the concept seems to be utterly foreign to the Irish. Those present in our group, ages 25-40, were baffled by the stereotypes they'd seen on American movies.

We questioned why this could be so, and one conjecture was that there is not much respect for authority in Ireland, so the structure of fraternities would be difficult to sustain. I think this is a weak hypothesis, yet I don't really know the answer. Excessive drinking certainly isn't foreign to the Irish way of life...yet that is precisely part of the difference: excessive drinking is a normal part of life in this culture, but it is more of a sport in the fraternities in the US...

Anyhow, the director of our group is American and told stories of his fraternities days at MIT, about pledging, rush, initiation, living in the frat house, etc. It was common knowledge for us Americans present, but the Irish (and those from other nations) listeners were absolutely flabbergasted. They simply couldn't understand.

Well, actually, some of them couldn't get past wondering why fraternities always had Greek letters. :)

Crackers

Cracker. As in "firecracker." Not the edible resting place for cheese.

Party crackers are popular in Ireland and the UK, often a part of Christmas, New Year's, weddings and birthday celebrations.

From Wikipedia: "A cracker consists of a cardboard tube wrapped in a brightly decorated twist of paper, making it resemble an over-sized sweet-wrapper. The cracker is pulled by two people, and, much in the manner of a wishbone, the cracker splits unevenly. The split is accompanied by a small bang produced by the effect of friction on a chemically impregnated card strip (similar to that used in a cap gun). The person with the larger portion of cracker empties the contents from the tube and keeps them. Typically these contents are a coloured paper hat or crown; a small toy or other trinket and a motto, a joke or piece of trivia on a small strip of paper."

I had my first cracker last night at a party, and inside were: gold paper crown, Butler's Chocolates (Irish Creme), and a piece of paper with two jokes on it. Reminds me of a fortune cookie at an American Chinese restaurant, only much better. These crackers are great fun as we went around the table with pairs of people competing for the larger portion when they pull the cracker and hear the pop, and then the winners donning the crowns...

Happy New Year

I was in Texas for 3 weeks over the holidays and have now been back in Dublin for a week. It is an adjustment and change of mindset returning to life here. A slower pace and people wanting to chat wherever you are.

The first morning at the bus stop on my way to work, I encountered 2 very friendly elderly women. The 3 of us were all strangers, yet carried on lively conversation while we waited, and continued it on the bus.

My suitcases arrived 2 days later than my airplane, and were delivered to my doorstep at 11pm. The man was extremely friendly and chatty, with a typical Irish sense of humor and jovial mood. I have missed these fun accents and personalities!