Ye Heavenly Lord, Grant Me the Stamina of an Irish Lass

Currently sitting at the kitchen table of one Lorna O'Neill while she counts up her 21st birthday money (currently at 1,600 euro-- apparently turning 21 is quite the lucrative occasion!), and Heidi sits beside me enjoying minestrone soup and homemade soda bread. How much do we love being in a home in a small Irish town with a darling Irish family? Quite a bit.

A run down of our time in the Emerald Isle thus far:

June 3rd, 6:30pm: Arrived in Cork, landed down at our hostel. Finagled some cell phone use from the beautiful Russian desk keeper; texted our other Irish friend Laragh to let her know we'd arrived. Called her then on a pay phone in the lobby and had several frantic unsuccessful tries with the foreign machines. WORK, damn ye! Enjoyed a Guinness and a cidre at the hostel bar during which we said several times to each other WE ARE IN IRELAND HEEEEY; then met up then with Laragh and her boyfriend, Brian. Caught up as best as could be accomplished while deciphering gloriously thick Irish accents.

June 4th, 5:30 am: Woke up to hideous loud snoring. Am I the only one this bothers? Looked around to see other five dorm-mates awake-- the girl beside me on the other top bed shook her hands over her head, GAAAH. Leaned over to tell the bald bearded perpetrator below me: 'Scuse me sir-- you're snoring quite loudly. Maybe you could sleep on your side?' Went back to bed.

7:30am: Heidi wakes up to find same bald, bearded man sitting in his underwear, all fleshy white and hairy, counting out pills and sorting through small metal things.

8:00am: I wake up to see same bald, bearded man on the floor, clothed in skimpy shorts, taking things out of his wallet and putting them back in. Oh the glorious random world of hostels.

10:00am: Meet up with Laragh; explore Cork. She shows us a SPECTACULAR discount store, and I buy everything. Almost.

1:00pm: Start the drive to Cork with Laragh's boyfriend Brian. Drive down windy, skinny Irish roads at 80 mph. Not kidding. I was watching the speedometer, and there was a miles guage as WELL as a kilometer guage. I focus on distant green hills and try to lapse into daydreams to quiet my protesting tummy.

5:00pm: Meet Laragh's family. Have tea, with biscuits and tarts. Look out the window every five minutes and exclaim yet again over the unbelievably beautiful view we have of the coast and the rugged green before it. Have brown bread and fresh, wild, barbequed salmon. Watch a misty gale take over the sky, and then watch it whip the land outside with fierce winds and rain. Shiver with delight. Shivery shiver.

9:30pm: Get ready for the birthday bash. We are gorgeous. And rain-coated.

10:30pm: Arrive at the birthday party, which is at a pub PACKED with Irish lads and lasses. Also parents, and grand-parents, and small children. There's a one man band in the corner, and pints crash together in toasts every five minutes. Whisky! Guinness! Cidre! Rum! Pints! Half-pints! Gallons! Buckets!

June 5th, 12:00am: Heidi is romanced by a 18-year-old who is crushed to learn she's engaged. I am romanced by a 25-year-old who can't seem to remember I'm nursing a dislocated shoulder when he ineptly tries to dance with me. We make friends, and immediately forget their names. Lorna is given 21 kisses by 21 blokes, and is made to do a hilarious dance with a willing male participant.

1:00am: They play Springsteen's "BOOORRN IN THE USA!!" and Heidi and I point to ourselves, happily. Others do too. Everyone knows each other here, and it's easy to spot the foreigners-- we are Lorna's American friends that everyone has heard about. Haha!

2:00am: I am fading, and watch the chattering, giggling 7-year-olds around me in disbelief. How are they standing??

3:00am: The music has stopped, but the party is still moving forward with gusto, and people are going back to the bar for drinks. Heidi and I stand bleary-eyed in a corner, half-heartedly dealing with Romancers One and Two.

3:30am: Lorna's mom is leaving with her 9-year-old sister, and Heidi and I jump at the chance to go home too. We crawl into bed at 4:00am, exhausted.

12:30pm: Wake up. Have breakfast/lunch with Lorna's mom and younger siblings-- she apparently is still at the pub, or a house nearby. Breakfast is cereal with tea, and fresh soda bread and marmalade. Yay. Yay for Irish food. Yay.

1:30pm: Go for a walk together out towards the coast and feel overwhelmed. No wonder Ireland is still full of folklore and legends-- this is the stuff of fairy tales! Everything is LUSH, and green, and gorgeous-- the hills are rolling, the stones rise up, the water looms blue and wild. We see wild flowers everywhere-- shy wild fushias, gentle foxgloves, cackling thistles, eager butter-cups, and so many more I can't name. It's unbelievable. It's beautiful. I have been to Ireland before and remember it as one of my favorites-- once again, I find myself besotted.

3:00pm: Lorna arrives home and informs us she wasn't able to get to bed until "Half six." She tells us not to worry though-- we'll take naps, and shower, and have some coffee so that we can go out again for the REALLY big party tonight which will leave the old folks and kidlins at home. What? Another one?? A BIGGER one??

God, give us strength!