is it fall yet?

Yes, summer vacation is over, and I am back in Galway. Finally. My (nice long) vacation was lovely, really, but it's also quite nice to be back in my apartment, sleeping in my bed. I got in on Wednesday morning and have spent the week unpacking, getting re-organized, and slowly conquering my jetlag. (I think I've mostly gotten it taken care of. Now when I sleep in, I have no excuse except laziness.)

I love this city, even though it's been mostly cool and rainy since my return. I also love my apartment, even though the problems I was having before my vacation didn't magically fix themselves while I was gone. The cold tap in my sink broke back in July-- this has happened before, and that time my landlord came over and fiddled with something that fixed it for a while, though it was still finicky. Also, back in June my shower had started losing pressure and gradually got hotter and hotter, until it began oscillating between scalding hot and icy cold. (This also happened before, earlier this year, and a guy came and fixed it while I was at school.) So, Wednesday, I called my landlord (hereafter referred to as "Frank," since that's his name) to inform him that I was back, and told him about these problems. Yesterday afternoon, he came over to fix things.

Yesterday was Saturday, and Saturday in Galway there is a great outdoor street market, with fresh produce and food vendors and all sorts of fun things. I had been looking forward to going, since it's been months, and yesterday was quite warm and sunny; I was planning on buying some vegetables and maybe getting some Indian food or sushi or fresh donuts. Then, right as I was starting to eat my lunch, Frank came by. He fixed the shower, and told me how to fix it myself next time-- the problem is limescale buildup in the shower head, so all I need to do is take it apart and clean it. Then he took apart the tap in the kitchen and discovered that the tap fitting (or something) was broken on the cold side, and that he'd need to get a new part. He left to go buy a replacement, and said he'd be back in two hours, at 3:00pm. By the time I finished eating and washing up from lunch, it was after 2, so I figured I'd just wait for him and thought maybe I'd go to the market after he left. At 4:30 he returned and replaced both taps in the kitchen sink for me.

I appreciated his fixing things for me, of course. The shower this morning was warm and wonderful, and having two working taps in the kitchen again is great. It's really nice to have a landlord who runs a construction company and knows how to fix household things. But instead of walking around the market in the sun, I got to spend the afternoon sitting around my flat waiting for Frank. I did leave at around 6:00pm to take a walk and maybe do a little late shopping, but all the stalls in the market were either gone or closing up. (I was surprised by how many were still there, honestly; they must have stayed late to take advantage of the great weather.) All the shops in town were closed or closing, too. Even on a Saturday everything in Ireland closes by 6:30, which I guess I'd forgotten.

There is a limited street market on Sundays, so I thought maybe I'd go there today. But, of course, today it's cold and rainy and blustery, and I really don't feel like walking around in that. Oh, Ireland, how I've missed you...

Windy City post!

Yes, I am posting this from Chicago! Sorry for the radio silence on this 'blog, but I've been on vacation, and despite spending my days being super-lazy that still has been surprisingly busy. Anyway I've been at my parents' house, and they are about 90% of my readership anyway. :-P

So, I am currently at Jim's apartment in Chicago. Tomorrow morning I am flying out to San Diego to visit my sister! I haven't seen Hanna since Christmas, and I haven't visited her in California in over two years. Needless to say, I'm very excited. Adventures will be had!

Then it will be back to MI, and the annual Pirate Party. Then I'll have another week to bum around, and then I'll go back here to do some research at the University of Chicago, before I fly back to Ireland on August 25. Oy.

quick update

I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while! I have been crazy busy. I was in New York for four days, then Boston for a week, then Rhode Island for two days, and now I'm in New York again. (With another two days in Massachusetts thrown in there.) I am leaving on Wednesday already... the three weeks really have flown.

I am currently at my friend Meredith's apartment in Brooklyn. She lives here with her boyfriend Michael, but he is in Israel right now for his work. Michael is a good guy, and I'm sad I don't get to see him more on this trip-- the three of us had dinner the day I got in, but that's it-- but I feel better about crashing on their futon for a week when there are only two people here, not three. I would be worried about being in their way too much if both of them were here, but since it's just me and Meredith I don't feel like I'm taking up too much space.

So I have one more full day at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, and then about fourish hours on Wednesday, if I need them. We'll see. This trip has been wonderful; the work has been hard, but quite rewarding, and it was been simply lovely to see new places and good friends.


Eventually I'll make a proper update, with comprehensive impressions and pictures and all. But I'll leave you with this, for now, oh reader: yesterday afternoon found me eating Salvadoran street food while sitting under the Brooklyn Bridge on a beautiful summer day. Which I think is one of those "to do before I die" items.

Ayla Abroad... in Manhattan!

Yes, this post comes from Hostel 99, in Manhattan's Upper East Side. I arrived in New York City yesterday afternoon! I am staying here until Sunday, when I will be traveling to Boston and staying there for a week. I might end up staying longer in Boston, depending on how much I get done in that week, or I might go back to New York after that. Oh, and one weekend in there I'm going to Rhode Island.

This is by no means a vacation, of course. I'm here for research: the big theatre collections for the period I'm studying are at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and at the Harvard Theatre Collection. (And the Museum of the City of New York archives, but that's closed for renovations.) Today-- in a couple hours-- I'm going to head down to the Library for the Performing Arts and start exploring. It's kind of intimidating, because I really don't know what I'm looking for, but still exciting!

Which shows how much of a dork I am, I guess. I'm intimidated by a library card catalogue, but actually getting to the library-- getting around in New York City, a place I have no previous knowledge of-- is no biggie. Well, it's easy to get around! It's definitely easier to follow directions and maps here than in, say, Dublin... here at least the streets are in grids and don't change their names every block. The subway is easy too, and there's a station not far from my hostel. And, if all else fails, I can always hail a cab, but I'm trying to do this on a budget. Hence the hostel.


Last night, I met up with my friend Meredith. Meredith and I were in the same MA, but when she finished she moved back to Brooklyn and now works at a publishing company. Toward the end of my trip-- when I come back from Boston-- I'm going to be staying with her, which will be fun. We went out for dinner last night in Chinatown, at a restaurant called Yeah Shanghai Deluxe. It was delicious, and she insisted I keep the leftovers, so I have dinner taken care of for the next couple days!

Speaking of food, the hostel breakfast is starting...

faux toes

As promised, photos from the beautiful weather and Ocean Race festivities!

(Click to embiggen.)

Crowds at the Spanish Arch.


And so Salthill became a European beach resort. So many inappropriate swimsuits, and naked children, at odds with Irish prudery.


I found a crab!


Hookers racing! (No, the jokes never get old.)


Hookers AND curraghs racing! At seeing this, my friend Jenn said, "It's like Galway Bay threw up culture!"


Some of the racing boats. The Green Dragon is on the far left.


The deck of one of the racing yachts. I would NOT want to be on that thing in a storm!


A mandala made of seashells in Shop Street! It looked really cool. (I took this picture for my mom, who enjoys mandalas.)