Tuesday, August 9, 2011

getting acquainted with home.

I've had a few days off to recover from TeenStreet before I start work on Thursday.
Sunday I slept, ate and did my first loads of laundry. I hung things out to dry on the line in our garden and had to hover around it and constantly look out my window because the Irish rain is so unpredictable. It was a success.

Yesterday, my housemate Andrea took me around Roscommon to get me acquainted with some of the usual sites around town. We first drove to Molloy's bakery for a snack/lunch. I had chicken and corn soup with brown Irish bread that was delicious. But just a word of warning - the Irish serve their soup hot. Needless to say, my tongue is still recovering ... I have a feeling I will be frequenting Molloy's quite often. It's right down the street, it took me about 7 minutes to walk there today (but I didn't go in). And it's wonderful.

We went to the castle afterward. This is the first moment I truly felt like I was in Ireland. The scenery was so green, and this was the first castle I had seen. The grounds were well kept - there's a huge loop around the site to walk on, there's benches, a lake, and a playground for kids. It took me 20 minutes to walk there today.



Next stop was into town to get groceries. I was informed that we'd have to get groceries on a weekly basis because none of the food here has preservatives like the States. I stopped by a bookstore called Easons and bought a map of Ireland. I needed it to gather my bearings and see where I've been and where I want to go. I already started sticking notes on where I went with my school five years ago and would like to go back.

Today I tried to see if I could walk to castle. Like I said, it took me about 20 minutes. I like the walk better than the drive because you can see more scenery and notice all the little details like cows in the fields or who has the best garden or who keeps a donkey in their backyard. And you might have a little old Irishman totter past you on his bike and say "lovely day, it'n it?" and smile at you. Made my day.

1 comment:

Kathy said...

Sound like a lovely day! I can't wait for the unfolding of the bookseller's story. I have already started praying for him. Ray and I went to our retreat this weekend to bond with our team to Ethiopia. God always amazes me. Love to hear your stories. I'll have some of my own when I get back.