Last month ended with a nice quick break away from Ireland and plenty of Nightvale. I went to London to see Deidre and a live performance of Welcome to Nightvale. It was pretty great. I was even apart of a murder mystery dinner! So much fun! Catching murderers while eating dinner and starring down strangers! Deidre also taught me a fun game where I had to kill off everyone in my family. The worse the death the more points. She's a lot better at it then me. Watch out Tannis and Dalton because she's pretty freakin pro. She also took me to Five Guys. Man oh man! Who knew that a greasy burger chain would a place of refuge! Free refills of strawberry lemonade and actual french fries! I didn't want to leave! Plus the music! You don't hear goo music like that anywhere here! It was a super trip. A nice reminder of how things are outside of the Emerald Isle.
The kittens at Deidre's place.
We did a really cool walking tour. Deidre has such great ideas! Like smoothies and American bacon!
According to our guide, this is a cannon from the Napoleonic wars with a cannon ball on top. I thought that was some nifty recycling.
When people here find out that I am from the States they usually ask me two questions. There must be a handbook for talking to Americans when in your own country because it's usually word for word the same questions. It must be part of their curriculum in high school to memorize. That or they are all programmed robots sent to make me feel like a broken record. The first question they ask is if I like it here. I tell them that I do but I miss home a lot. This is an amazingly beautiful country but I miss the sun and mountains. I miss my family and my dog. Leo doesn't have a big family like I do and so I get very lonely at times. But I am trying to enjoy my time here because it is only for a little while and then I will have my family, dog, and sunshine and I know I will miss how green and pretty it is here. The second question they ask is if people here are friendly to me. Yes and no. I smile and say hi to people on the street and I am usually answered back with a stare that says something like, "What's wrong wit ye, ye @$#% (your choice of cuss word)!" That doesn't stop me from saying hi because it always catches people off guard that you would acknowledge them. Where in the States if you say hi to someone they will usually smile back and say hello. Not always, I know but generally speaking I think American's are much more outwardly friendly than Irish people. Saying that, the Irish, to me, seem more genuine when they do talk to you. I have found a lot of people back home would be very fake. Now maybe that's just because I am a prickly person and they want me away before they become a pin cushion but that's what I have observed.
Speaking about observations. Irish people can't handle heat at all. It gets to the high 70's and they start complaining about how "roasting" it is. It gets into the 80's and you hear them talk about how it was sweltering and miserable. If they have ever been in 90, or heaven forbid 100 degrees, you will hear them talk about how they just managed to escape the great infernos of hell. With all that said it should surprise me that it is fairly common for adults to get heat rash or prickly heat. It's most common in babies but adults can get it. It is caused by sweating so much that your sweat glands become blocked and become infected. I had never heard of it before but it seems like many people have suffered from it where I work. A lady I work with recently got back from a vacation in Greece complaining of prickly heat. The things that surprised me was that it wasn't that warm. She said it was around 80-84 degrees while she was there. All I will say is that those poor starving immigrants must have been in a world of pain when they got to the states where sunshine is actually a real thing and not just a pagan myth.
Leo's grandma almost died but has made a huge recovery and is back home. She also lived past another birthday and is 78. Hopefully she will continue to do well. It sounds like Grandma J is doing better too. Horray for healing grandmas! I have also heard that Kyler and Marci are now parents. congrats to both of you! I hope that you are both able to adjust to this new transition in life smoothly! I have also heard that Elsie is going to be a sister. Congrats to Loren and Clint. Tristan, you are such a trend setter! First you married a balding man, then you had two kids, and moved away and it seems like everyone has to follow suit. Who knew that you were such an inspiration to so many. Too bad you weren't a trend setter in high school. I think that mustache of yours would've been a big hit. You're slogan could have been, "Be aerodynamic, people love it."
