So long Macroom!

It started out as one of the most beautiful days since our trip in Ireland started. We woke up at 830 and saw a ton of "fucking blue" in the sky along with some white fluffy clouds. It was actually warm enough to wear shorts and tshirt and still be sweating.

We were told the night before by our hosts that they would like to get some more painting done. Our hosts, lets call them Gereene (wife) and Ian (husband), were very happy with our painting job in the kitchen that we completed 2 days prior. We painted two doors, the baseboards, and two window shafts. Gereene called it "professional" and "lovely." We gathered up our painting materials and listened to what needed to get done today. We were to wash, sand, and paint: the molding of 4 doors, chips in the staircase, and a few dozen banisters of the georgian staircase. They needed to get some more paint so Ian got the color and went to town to pick it up.

Kevin and I worked about an hour or so washing and sanding the necessary areas. We left the chips on the staircase and the molding on a window undone because they could be done quickly and we didn't know if the window needed to get done or not. We decided to go outside and enjoy the sun until the paint arrived. We laid out in the grass with the dogs for around 15 minutes. It was bliss. Gereene came out front and asked us to help her hang up a sheet out front. We did so and then went inside. Kevin was a bit hungry so I followed him into the kitchen, not really intending on eating anything.

I went into the other room when I started to hear Gereene's voice rise a bit above its normal loud level. I listened for about a minute of her complaining to Kevin, picking up words of disappointment and complaining that we still had lots to do. We knew that we still had work to do, but really without the paint, there was hardly anything. I went in the room and took the same verbal assault. She was mad that we were given work to do and that we would just go outside and then stick our heads in the fridge. She felt like we hadn't done anything, even though we were trying to explain what we did and didn't do yet.

She told us "the work you have been given has been soft. Since you have been here, you have really only had to do one hard thing [laying concrete and putting up drywall for two days]. You didn't do anything yesterday [we were encouraged by her to go out and ride bikes, and then we worked for about 2-3 hours preparing dinner for the family]. You did a good job painting the kitchen but that was easy [took about 5 hours] and we could've done that [?]."

She went on to tell us that this wasn't some sort of holiday vacation and not a hippie camp (staring at Kevin). She felt that we were deceitful and lazy. The paint still had not arrived and we listened to her complain for about 10 minutes. We tried to explain what we had and hadn't done, trying to reason that really we have been waiting for the paint to arrive- we never intended on being done with work for the day. Her stubbornness was amazing. We had seen it before in awkward arguments with the husband and son, but never expected to be in the line of fire of it. She demanded to be right, and would not take any other input seriously.

So in the end we decided she was a bit too crazy for us (and racist- ex 1. they had a black child statue with sponge in hand and "coon" hat) to last the two final days of our agreement, and we went upstairs laughing to ourselves and packed our bags. We said our goodbyes to the husband and son who were hiding out in the horse field, were able to make some conscience clearing sandwiches so we wouldn't leave hungry, and walked into town.

We emailed a bunch of people and around 4:30pm attempted to hitch the 45 minute drive to cork. We waited about 20 minutes before getting picked up by two 70 year old sisters- one of which was a nun. They were very friendly (although sadly scared of Obama) and drove us to a hostel.

15 Days Without Updates

Oh yes, finally an update! Here we are at a library in Macroom. Kevin is in an unfortunate mood and there are screaming children running around. Georgia and Russia are still in a weird situation, the sky is grey (naturally) and we are going to be in Ireland for another 6 days.

Because it would be nearly impossible and rather annoying for a play by play update up until now, here is what we have accomplished, failed, and embarrassingly did while here so far in Ireland:

-Arrived in Dublin after 5.5 hours of uncomfort (being 6'3 rules in coach)
-Left my 4qt canteen on the plane
-Took the Dublin bus to city centre and asked numerous people for walking directions to hotel
-Stayed 3 nights in renowned 5-star Shelbourne hotel
-Hung out with Frank and Ellen McCourt for 3 days and nights
-Laughed at frustrated Kevin after getting lost and soaking wet on first day in Dublin
-Went to Temple Bar x2
-Experienced what we were told to be "one of the worst summers in the history of Ireland"
-Kevin bought a 59 euro guitar
-Laid out in lovely Dublin parks with Kevin, his guitar, and children eventually calling him a fag
-Looked left, right, then left again after getting confused with driving conditions
-Ate expensive meals for free (thank you for the generosity!)
-Looked at and heard of lots of castles
-Ate 5 euro Irish breakfast with eccentric Irishmen
-Avoided Dublin tourists
-Heard many tales about Irish history, how the Irish built America, and about the famine
-Hitchhiked from Macroom to Cork and back
-Rode bikes around the incredibly beautiful Kilarney mountains/lake and lived in pain and hatred after the 45km bike ride back - legs = jelly
-Played with 2 irish wolfhounds, 10 pugs, one coughing old terrier, lovely killer poodle, mellowed out irish setter and horses
-Laid a concrete floor, put up drywall, and painted kitchen doors and baseboards
-Found and stayed in hostels
-Met many "single serving friends"
-Talked to Irish guys/girls, German guys/girls, French guys/girls, American transfer students and travelers, Austrailian guys, a magazine editor, a professional folk singer, friends of family, rugby player, italian dude, spanish guys, and many others who were lost with our short term memory
-Swam in a 5-star gym/spa
-Received dog poo presents in bedroom twice
-Listened to the frequent yell of "EDWARDDDDDDD"
-Chased red herrings (Kevin)
-Hung out at Irish flat with 2 xboxs
-Ate cod, salmon, sea bass, lots of potatoes, chicken fast food sandwich, ham, bacon, lamb, pork, black pudding, guiness braised beef, chips aka fries, lots of toast and tea, salami and brie, oysters, mussels, calamarie, many cheeses, asparagus pesto, patte, pizzas, and ate blackberries on dozens of strees.
-Got stung by thistle
-Had many language barrier conversations
-Met girls from Paris who "liked money"
-Watched olympics and listened to Irish people constantly bringing up Michael Phelps
-Went to Guinness brewery
-Drank Guinness, Murphy's, Heineken, Beamish, Bulmers, Bavaria, Carlsberg, red and white wine, whiskey and other unknown foreign beers
-Admired the beautiful countryside
-Tried to surf web on .01kbps 3G connection
-Rode mountain bikes through mud and water and over rocks
-Got lost on confusing streets that change names after every block and often dont have street signs
-Battled a cold (thanks Jenn!)
-Played poker
-Saw a russian guy looking at porn in an internet cafe
-Went to thrift stores
-Learned how the Irish view the sky/weather: "I think I see fucking blue!"

And plenty of other things that have momentarily skipped our minds. It has been great so far. Will try to keep a more steady update schedule now. Oh and the library computers don't allow Kevin to plug in his camera, so we are still without any pictures... SORRY!!!! They will come soon.

So we plan hitch to Cork again on Saturday, stay for 2 nights, and maybe even try to hitch all the way to Dublin (although bus is only 14 euro). If there is anything else we should do while here please let us know!