You know, when I look at other 'blogs maintained by other friends, my life just seems plain boring.
"But Ayla," you say, "you live in Ireland! That's a foreign country! Depending on who you ask, it might even be in Europe! How can that fail to be exciting?!"
Well, yes, I live in Ireland, which is a foreign country to an American like me, and may or may not be in Europe. But it is also a fairly prosperous English-speaking first world country. A lot of things are different from the United States, but they're all fairly small things. My overall lifestyle isn't all that exotic-- the biggest differences are things like when I buy cheese, I buy Charleville instead of Sargento brand. (Or, more likely, Dunnes store brand instead of Kroger store brand.) I look "right, left, right" instead of "left, right, left" before crossing the street. And I don't even try to order a whiskey sour, let alone a complicated mixed drink, when I'm in a bar.
Plus, I'm in grad school, and that is pretty much the same everywhere. I sit at my desk, I read books, and I write things. I could really be in any desk in any English-speaking country; the only reason I'm here is that NUIG has the faculty and resources that specialize in what I'm interested in.
Of course, I shouldn't be complaining about my life being boring: my friend Sara was just here for two weeks! As I'm sure I've mentioned before, having visitors is always refreshing, because they get excited about things you take for granted and give you a fresh perspective on your boring ol' life. When Sara was here, we went to the Galway City museum, which I had never done! We also did lots of shopping, ate lots of good food (both in restaurants and home-cooked), and went to a lot of bars. We even went to a club, something I had also hitherto never done in Galway! The verdict: clubs anywhere are overpriced, and the dancing isn't any better than the dancing you'd get at a regular bar. Still, at least now I can say that I've been to one.
Sara had to fly back to Detroit, by way of JFK airport, on September 11. Yeah. I was nervous that she'd have a security nightmare to get through, but she said it wasn't too bad. Though she added that the security personnel looked rather on-edge. She made it back safe and sound, though, which is all that matters.
AND! Speaking of visitors! My cousin Maggie and my aunt Barb are coming to visit me this weekend! Maggie is currently living in St Andrews, Scotland, working at THE golf course as a chef; Aunt Barbie is visiting her there. They decided to take a couple days to come visit me in Galway. They get here on Sunday, and I am super excited, because they are some of my most fun relatives to hang out with. Time to roll out the futon again!
