My Dublin Life

I've been working super-hard this week so the first plan of action is SLEEP, blessed sleep. I'm planning to go to bed early tonight and then lie in bed until lunch time. Ahhhhh.....

Also! Great news; I got talking to the PhD student I've had a crush on this last little while. Nothing much really, but I established that he's from County Meath, spent a year in Australia picking fruit and decided to go back and do a PhD because of the global downturn. He's 25 and he's "only gorgeous" as the Irish girls say.

That's as far as it got. How did I start chatting to him? Well, I was sneaky. I noticed that he was wearning an Irish rugby shirt and, pretending I wanted to buy one for my friend, asked him where they could be found...

OK, I know I'm lame but a gal has to do what a gal has to do. After all that embarrassment with George, I'm taking it slow so that is as far as I've got. But at least now we are on "hello" terms when we pass each other in TCD.

Thanks to my free tickets, the rest of the weekend is pretty much taken care of. I'm going to a show on Saturday night. Again, Dublin Tourism could only give me one ticket but I am getting used to the idea of going to the theatre on my own and anyway I'm meeting some of the other postgrads afterwards for a drink. Sunday, if the weather is OK, I'm going to meet Saoirse and her Mom and go to the Botanic Gardens. I'm not so interested in plants as all that but there's a sculpture show on there to, which is kind of a neat idea so I'm looking forward to that. Saoirse's Mom is also planning to go to a casino... just kidding! Casino is the Italian for little house, I think. Anyway, it's this crazy miniature Italian villa in the middle of an otherwise ordinary Dublin suburb. As I believe Sunday lunch is on her, we're gonna go keep her company. Plus, it might be interesting! I haven't been before but I've seen photos and it does look like the sort of place that might have inspired by dear old Bram Stoker, who in my humble opinion is possibly the greatest Dubliner of all time!

That's all for now folks! I'm going home for an early night.

Well, as I mentioned, Dublin Tourism coughed up with some free tickets to shows in the Theatre Festival.

I was surprised at first that the Theatre Festival is so hot on the heels of the Fringe Festival which ended, like, a week ago. But as there seems to be basically one festival after another, great!

Ordinarily, I probably wouldn't be able to come up with the funds to go to more than one show, so I was absolutely thrilled to get tickets to three. Only thing is, there's just ONE ticket, so I have to go on my own. I was a little nervous last night going to the Abbey which is apparently the most "intellectual" of the large theatres in Dublin. But actually, it doesn't matter, being on your own. After all, you don't go to the theatre to talk to your friends. I saw Tales of Ballycumber, which was suitably gloomy and very clever, so good job, guys! I came straight home afterwards, because I draw the line at going to bars by myself and, anyway, funds are a bit low.

I found Bepe in a thoughtful mood and thankfully without his girlfriend. We opened a bottle of wine and he told me that he wasn't sure how things were going with her. I was like, "Dude, she cheated on you. Do you ever think you'll trust her again?" and he looked miserable and said kinda pathetically that she was the first girl he'd ever loved.

Bepe's 21 or something. 22 maybe? Anyway, hardly over the hill. I managed not to butt in too much coz it's hardly my business but frankly I think he should ditch her and not just because of the dividends that would come my way in the form of no more tiny bits of lingerie hanging about drying on my towel rack. I don't like having her around: girl is seriously nasty.

So I was talking to one of my tutors about bits n pieces and he said considering I'm a literature major and considering that I've been swimming at the forty-foot and am staying in Dublin, I should really try to get more into James Joyce. I've only read bits. I like them but the whole of Ulysses is a daunting proposition. I'm thinking maybe I can just get a bunch of lit postgrads together, we'll all go to the museum and then just say we've read the book. What do you think?

I didn't think that I would be able to go, but thanks to this blog, have got tickets to three shows in the Dublin Theatre Festival.

Once again, thank you Dublin Tourism. I hope you continue liking my blog :) I am doing my best to be honest about my experiences here, the less good as well as the great so I'm really happy that you like it so far.

The shows are coming up this week so watch this space. The Dublin Theatre Festival rocks. It is hard to believe that there's as much theatre in Dublin as there is but it's true. As well as the big venues, there are theatres in all sorts of unexpected places. I think I mentioned some in an earlier blog about the Fringe Festival. Maybe it's the penniless student in me, but I kind of like these tiny venues best, as they are more surprising and you are really close to the performers. Like one in a bookstore and in a cafe.

Back at the ranch, Bepe's girlfriend is still on the scene and, aggravatingly, the failure to find a job seems to have paid dividends for her as now her father has decided to bankroll her at English School. The only good thing is that he's a very moral sort who won't have her living with her boyfriend. So she'll usually be gone after midnight, in case Daddy rings to check.

I can't stand her. Honestly, I can't. I was wearing some of my new flea-market duds and she was all like. "That's very originale. Did your professors tell you to dress up like that as part of your research?"

WTF?

Anyway, focusing on the positive, I'm gonna go read up on the shows that Dublin Tourism is treating me to and decide who to take with me. I know who's not coming.

I don't read newspapers very much, unless someone hands me a free one on the street (and even then...) but I don't have my head in the sand and I do know that the world is in depression/recession/general meltdown.

Which means that this is a good time to be a student. I'm lucky too because I have a scholarship which means that while I'm on a very limited budget, I'm OK.

I'm not going to try saying that every cloud has a silver lining but I will say this: I'm impressed by the resourcefulness of the Dublin folk. I've found out that there's been a big upsurge in flea markets, car boot sales, etc. So this weekend Saoirse and me went to check a couple out in the hope of picking up some cheap clothes.

On Saturday, we went to Blackrock Market. It's in the "village" of Blackrock, which is really an upmarket neighbourhood, so not necessarily where you'd expect a flea market to be. You go in a door from the main street of the village and inside it's a fabulous place where hippies of all ages sell cool stuff. Wish I needed a flower-bedecked chandelier. I did pick up a couple of dresses older than myself and a purple fake-fur jacket that is totally my size.

On Sunday, I went to Newmarket Flea Market which is nearish to St Patrick's Cathedral and about a half-hour walk away from where I live. The square itself would seem to be a work in progress (pretty apartment buildings one end, shabby warehouses the other end) but the market is a whole lot of fun. Amazingly, there was a dude in the corner who was a ...DJ...! A DJ at a flea market! There were stands selling cheap eats and more importantly, lots of folk selling clothes. I picked up a black-and-white jumpsuit.

Interesting discovery of the weekend: I am a great size for shopping for clothes in flea markets. I sometimes find it difficult to find things to suit me in regular stores. I'm tall with broad shoulders (courtesy of my Outport forebears no doubt) so a lot of girlie clothes are too tight across the back. But I'm relatively slim (or at least, I'm not BIG big), so fat-girl clothes don't fit either. I've found out that, at flea markets, all the average sizes sell out fast, leaving the rest for me.

When I got home, I tried on a few outfits and showed them to Bepe.

"My girlfriend would never have worn something like that." He said.

I thought he was having a dig at me and started to get offended but just as I was getting ready to storm off in outrage, he added: "She's really pretty shallow."

Bless his heart, I think he's beginning to see sense.

Anyway, if anyone knows of other flea markets, I'd love a tip. Also, don't you think it would be useful if there was a website where you could them all up? Or maybe there already is...?

Last night was the anniversary of the invention of Guinness, apparently.

Anyway, as you can imagine, the whole city went crazy! Guinness, of course, is the local brew. The company had put on shows all over town and I think just about every student in the city was on the streets. I heard rumours of free pints, but didn't find anyone. It didn't matter and I actually didn't even drink all that much because we (I went out with a bunch of guys from my department at TCD) spent most of the evening wandering from one joint to another.



At one point, we hooked up with a bunch of medical students from Nigeria, who were celebrating and waving little Nigerian flags. This seemed kinda odd so I asked them why and they told me that where they come from Guinness is actually brewed and that it's madly popular in Nigeria. Go figure.

I also came home armed with a recipe for Guinness Beef Stew that they were handing out in one of the bars, so I guess I'll give that a lash. Things are not great in the flat right now with Bepe feeling so-so about the girlfriend and her failure to find a job and blah and I guess I wasn't necessarily all that diplomatic about her when she was here. If I can manage to knock together a good stew, I think he'll be pleased as he's always deploring my eating habits. Which is a bit mean as he's a chef and I'm, well, not. I'm planning to stay in tomorrow and do that.

Not tonight tho'. Tonight is Culture night! What a cool idea; museums and venues all over town are open until late with free entry for everyone. I actually think that they should do this more often, because it's not always easy to get to stuff during the day. But I am not complaining; this is the coolest idea. I'm gonna grab a burger at Captain America's and pound the pavements from one culture hotspot to another until late!

I can't believe that freakin' NERVE of Bepe's girlfriend!

I was all geared up to go to the International with Saoirse when she comes in in a pair of rhinestone infested jeans.

"Oh goodnight," she said. "Early for going to bed."
"I'm just heading out," I said.
"I see," she said. "I was confused because of your pyjamas..."

Pyjamas??? I might not be as gaudy a dresser as some people but I was wearing MAKE-UP.

I was so cross I didn't go out and to make matters worse I don't even know if they do shows Tuesdays. I didn't check. I texted Saoirse and told her that the night was off, went and bought a couple of cans of Guinness and drank them morosely in my room. So you would think that that was bad enough but when I came out to pick up a snack in the kitchen, we had this exchange:

"Oh look, you've got one of those children's stick-on tattoos. Just as well it will come off, coz who would want a bat on their wrist forever."
"It's a real tattoo."

I HATE HER.

However, the good news is that her job situation is not going well. She's too fussy -- doesn't want to do anything that might involve breaking a nail. So it looks like she's going to have to go back to Italy. And that means that I won't have to leave this apartment, which Iwould really not do. However, she's going to be round for a couple weeks more, which means that I'll be OUT as much as possible which in turn means that I'll have a lot of things to write about which hopefully will mean that Dublin Tourism will keep posting my blog and MAYBE (hint, guys) throw some tickets to the Dublin Theatre Festival in my general direction. It all looks good. I have my preferences, but I'll take anything ;-)

Especially as I have to make it up to Saoirse after having to cancel the other night.

This afternoon, I'm going to try and find this place my local greengrocer told me about. Apparently it's not far from here: a cemetery dedicated to or maybe the resting place of some fallen heroes or other. I am pretty hazy on the details of Irish history. The Irish sure do like their cemeteries. But I'm not complaining: as a student of 19th century lit., anything gloomy is right up my alley!

Well, my lovely tattoo is all healed now and I am so happy with it. Not so my room mate. As if it was any of his business, he grabbed my wrist yesterday afternoon and we had the following lovely exchange:

"What the hell have you done?"
"It's a tattoo."
"I can see that. I'm wondering why you were so stupid as to defile yourself like that" (he actually said, "defile")
"Well, I'm not the one who got back together with his cheating girlfriend, so if anyone is stupid..."

Things have been pretty tense since then and I find myself wondering for the nth time if maybe I should just move out and find someplace else to live. Thing is that I love where this apartment is--it rocks looking out the window and seeing the Liffey and the Ha'penny Bridge and most of the time we actually have a lot of fun together sharing this house. But with the girlfriend...well, three is a crowd and while obviously she's gonna be here some of the time there's been no mention of her chipping in to pay for all the hot water she consumes in the shower and hand-washing her stupid lingerie.

That might sound petty, but I'm on a budget here.

On a cheerier note, college is going really well. I like my supervisor, I like the other students and Trinity is a lot more fun with more structure to my day. They all seem impressed with all the pre-reading I've done and, of course, there's the constant thrill of will-I-or-won't-I see the Beautiful PhD Student on whom I've got such a crush.

As for the entertainments this week, there's a comedy festival on that is out of my budget -- but I don't feel hard-done-by. I'll be hitting my usual comedy joint, the International! Maybe even tonight, if I can get someone to come with me.