Happy [green] Christmas

My weekend was good. On Friday night I went to Whelan's with my flatmate, Renata and we had a great time! I met an Irish guy named David who is living in San Francisco and has been for the past six years. He's here visiting his family for the holidays. He's very nice and we got in touch on Saturday and spent the day together, he took me around Dublin which was nice because he knows places that I obviously don't!

We went to Christ Church Cathedral, which begun in 1038..! Very old, so much history, it's amazing. In the basement of the cathedral, there's the crypt. Kinda creepy!

The mumified remains of a cat and rat found in an organ pipe during renovations, it is assumed the cat was chasing the rat and got stuck. These pair made an appearance in one of James Joyces books, "as stuck as that cat to that mouse in that tube of that Christchurch organ".
Creepy!! I didn't take a photo of that... it's forever ingrained in my mind, so I just borrowed this photo from the net.

Anyway, after that we did DUBLINIA, which shows how Dublin was settled and how it progressed until the medieval times. It's crazy how people lived back then. This was definitely a place worth visiting!

And after that, we went to Trinity College. The campus is beautiful. We went to the old library to see the Book of Kells, but it wasn't there. So admission was 50% off. There were copies of the book, so we got to see that. We also saw the very old part of the library with extremely old books. It was amazing... like something out of a Harry Potter movie!

Finally, David took me to probably "the smallest pub in the world", called The Dawson Lounge. This place is TINY. Only has a capacity of about 30. And this place was packed, seems to be quite popular. Or it may only seem that way 'cause it doesn't take much to fill it! But we had a lot of fun there. We met a few guys, who were loads of fun.

Saturday night Holly came over to my place to predrink, then we went to a pub, The Thomas House, near my place where one of her friends was DJing. After his set we went another bar, and stayed there till close. Met a few new people too! It's not very hard to make friends here because everyone is very friendly and they all love Canadians. haha.

As you can imagine, I was very tired on Sunday and I knew I'd be working 11 hours on Monday. So I didn't do much on Sunday, which was kind of a nice change!

Monday I started my new job at the Irish Stock Exchange. I was kinda nervous about it, but I had no reason to be. It's very quiet because most people are on holidays, and the people that are actually here are very nice. I worked till 5:30 then I went off to my other job and worked till 8:30. After that I went to Whelan's for a show [I should say "gig" since that is what they call concerts here] with Jess, David, David's sister and her friend. It was good fun. The other three left and Jess and I stayed and drank a bit too much. We ran into friends there too, so we had a great time!

Yesterday morning was brutal, but I made it into work in time and looking fine..! hahah. Last night I didn't anything except watch a movie with my flatmates. And around 2:30am this morning, our fire alarm went off. We figure it was because the heating was on too high and we leaned some clothes against one of the radiators. But everything is fine, it was just a rude and very annoying wake-up call.

So today is Christmas Eve and I'm at work. I only work till 1pm today so it's not too bad. After this I have to go to the supermarket... Not really looking forward to dealing with the crowds, but oh well! I'm not 100% sure of my plans tonight, I've been invited to Renata's friend's party, but I'm not sure what Jess and Holly are up to yet. Tomorrow we're having lasagna for dinner... one vegetaraian, and one meat-lovers. One of their flatmates, Ludie, is a cook so apparently he'll be cooking up a storm. Yum!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!

Love you all.
xo.

December 16, 2008

I received a phone call from a temp agency on Friday offering me a part-time job doing data entry in the public sector. It pays pretty well, 14 euro/hour [minimum wage here is a little less than 9/hour] but it's only for four days this week for a few hours a day... but it's better than nothing! My first day was yesterday and it was fine. There's about 10 of us there, and I'd say about 7 of us are Canadian. A couple from Vancouver, one from Winnipeg, one from Toronto, me from Ottawa, one from PEI, and I forget where the other girl is from. So we have coast-to-coast Canadians! haha.

After work last night, I went to a concert at the venue called The Academy. Aunt Nadine got me + 2 [Jess and Holly] on the guestlist. We were able to go in the VIP area and everything! Very cool. So THANK YOU AUNT NADINE!! Unfortunately I had to work until 8:30 so we missed the first band, Fighting With Wire, who's the band that we were on the list for! But luckily they're playing again on January 24th, so I'll have to check them out then. The headlining band, Biffy Clyro, are Scottish and are pretty good! Apparently they have a pretty big fanbase here because the show was sold out and everyone was going crazy for them. I took a few photos, so I'll be uploading them onto facebook soon-ish.

The new flatmate, Pedro, is working out very well. He's very nice and he seems like a cool guy. We actually have similar tastes in music, he likes a lot of American punk bands like NOFX, Strung Out, and even the Canadian band Propagandhi. I found this to be a bit surprising, but definitely cool! His brother is the guitarist for a couple of Spanish punk bands. He played me some of their stuff, but of course I have no idea what they're singing about. Pedro moved here to improve his English and he said he's very thankful that he's living here because I've already taught him a lot! I've been teaching them [him and my other flatmates] slang too, and it's so funny. He asked me today what "no money, no honeys" means. HAHAH.

Today I received a phone call from the same temp agency and they offered me another job for over the holidays. Since I'm not planning on doing any travelling over the holidays, I said definitely!! So I'm going to be working as a receptionist at the Irish Stock Exchange. Crazy!! I start on the 23rd and finish on the 3rd. And it's only a half day for Christmas Eve and NYE and I get Stephen's Day [Boxing Day] and New Year's Day off. So pretty perfect. I'll be making 12 euro/hour, so not too bad. Again, definitely better than nothing! So I am pretty happy about that! And I'm sure that'll look good on my CV here.

After that, I got tickets for Holly and I to see The Streets on January 25th. Kind of an acquired taste but I'm pretty stoked to check out that show!

I don't know if I'm going out tonight. Probably not. Pedro invited me out with some of his friends; they're getting together for a girl's leaving party. I'm not sure if I'll go or not, 'cause I'm pretty tired.

Irish for the Year

Yesterday, I had to register with the Garda [police] at the immigration bureau. They took my photo and fingerprinted the index finger of each hand. It took me about three hours... so boring! Luckily I had my iPod and was reading a bit of the paper. Apparently the cost of living is higher in Dublin than London! Can you imagine? But, I'm having a great time and wouldn't change it for the world. On the other hand, I don't think I'll ever get over having to pay about 8 euro for a barcardi + diet coke. Mind you, they give you the little glass bottles of coke, so you can make that last 2 or 3 drinks... depending on how strong you like it. ;)

Anyway, I took the LUAS [Dublin's tram system] on my way home from the garda yesterday, and a Spanish guy asked me how to get to the Guinness Brewery. I was so happy I could actually give someone directions! hahah. I told him what stop to get off at, and then he asked for more directions from there. Rather than explaining it, I told him I could walk him most of the way since I live about a minute away. On our short walk, I discovered he's looking for a new flat because his flatmates are boring. I suggested he come look at our flat 'cause one of my flatmates is leaving ASAP. So I showed him the flat, introduced him to one of my flatmates, and he really liked it. So he called me and said he'd like to make the deposit on the flat! So funny how things like that work out. All of us had put ads on the internet, and Harry [the one who's moving out] puts ads up in Trinity College, stores, etc.

So, we have a new flatmate moving in tomorrow! His name is Pedro, he's 26 and from Spain. He seems nice. Like so many other Europeans from non-English countries, he moved here to learn English. Which is really weird because even I have a hard time understanding Irish people. So he's happy that I live here and that I'm a native English speaker, so I can help him. It's funny to be helping people with English words... Just the other day I taught Renata the words "fancy" and "auction".

Tonight I'm going over to Jess' and Holly's place, then going out. Our plans keep getting skewed so we'll see...

No more news on the job front, really. A lady called me from another temp agency... she saw my CV online. So I'm meeting with her tomorrow at 3. Hopefully one of these agencies will hook me up with a job and soon!

Still no snow yet, but I guess you guys in Ottawa have enough for both of us, eh?! One of my flatmates saw white stuff on the ground and he was so excited because he thought it was snow. A lady looked at him with disgust and said "that's SALT". Hhahah, poor Junior, he was so embarassed.

Oh, I also found my new favourite store that I can't afford. I'm thinking maybe applying to work there part-time. It's called TopShop and is very popular here and in the UK. So this is definitely going to be a place where I'll spend a good chunk of my pay..!

Sick [from the Drink]

Well, things have changed since my last entry. I no longer have a job! I decided that I didn't want to work in a pub because that would mean working till 3am on most nights, which conflicts with my friends' schedules. It would have been fun, but it'll be more fun to spend time in pubs with my friends. ;)

Saturday night I went to Whelan's [new favourite pub] and then a late-night casino. I lost! I played roulette and I lost, but oh well. It was pretty fancy in there and I won't mind if I never go back. It was quite the experience, though. They digitally fingerprint you and everything. A little too intense!

Yesterday I stayed in all day because I have a cold and a cough... so annoying! But it's not surprising because I'm sure my system has been taking a beating and it's just damp here.

Today I called my landlord [an agency] to come fix a couple of door handles. This was my third time calling them so I wasn't too impressed. They came over right away, today! Hahah. So after that I went and bought a concert ticket for one of my favourite American punk bands, NOFX. I saw them in Montreal in October, and now I'll see them in Dublin in May!! Pretty cool, eh! After that I went to set up an Irish bank account because I finally received my PPS # [like Canada's SIN]. So my Irish bank account should be up and running within the next week or two. Just in time for Christmas...

After that I went to an internet cafe to job hunt online. I submitted my CV all over Dublin. I honestly think I applied at 20+ places. It feels very weird for me not to have job. As I was coming home from city centre, I received a phone call from a lady asking me to meet her tomorrow at 9am. Since I wasn't in the door yet, I asked if she could send me all this info by email. She said she would but I still haven't received it. I received one email which I thought could be it, so I called a number of that particular agency. That agency told me it wasn't them, but after looking at my CV they'd like to meet with me anyway! Haha!
Right after that phone call, I received another call from a lady asking me to meet her tomorrow at 3pm. She told me I have quite the impressive CV and she's not sure if she has anything for me but it's worth checking out because my CV is so good. Can you imagine?! So, I'm pretty relieved. I'm sure I'll find a job by Christmas... at least I hope so!!

Tonight, I'm going out even though I'm still recovering from my cold/cough.

I think on Saturday, Jess, Ludie, Abbie, and I will be going on a little road trip to drive around Ireland. We'll be hiring [that's the way they say 'rent' in terms of car, they say 'let' in terms of flats and houses] a car and doing a little driving around Ireland. Luckily Abbie and Ludie are both Aussies and they're used to dirving on the 'wrong' side. Whereas Jess and I don't even have our licenses!

Love you all,
xo.

Luck of the Canuck..?

Ugh, I just wrote an entry and then it got deleted... very annoying!!

Anyway, I got a job!!

Today was round 2 of job hunting, and it paid off! I was feeling like it wasn't going to, though. So many places say they're not hiring and won't even take a CV. Just as I was about to call it a day, I walked into a pub that's about a 10-15 minute walk from my flat. They also told me they weren't hiring but that they'd take my CV just in case. We were joking around a bit, talking a bit about Canada, etc. Then I left. One of the managers literally chased me down the road and asked me to go back with him to the restaurant. He explained to me that everyone is on a trial basis when they start, and one of the girls isn't quite cutting it. So that's where I come in! My first shift is on Sunday at 3pm and it's only for a few hours. The place is called the Bull & Castle, and from what I can see everyone seems nice and friendly. So I'm very happy!! They're also closed for a few days over Christmas, so I may take a mini holiday with Jess, Holly, and Abbie [their Aussie flatmate]. I'm pretty excited!!!

Other than that, not much else is going on. For tonight, I'll probably grab a quick bite to eat and then get ready here, then head off to Jess' and Holly's to predrink, then off to a club. Tomorrow night we're going back to Whelan's. I think Whelan's is quickly becoming my new favourite pub, other than the one I work at, of course! ;)

It's actually pretty cold here today... I can see my breath! But no snow. It's kind of weird to see all the Christmas decorations up with no snow around, not that I'm complaining. My flatmates have never even seen snow! Oh, the joys of growing up in Brasil.

Have a good weekend everyone!

xo.

Hitting the pavement...

So today I hit the pavement and applied at thirteen different places. I spent the whole afternoon walking around the south side of Dublin... it was nice! I applied at pubs, shops, hotels, and one hostel. A couple of them look promising, so here's hoping! Unfortunately, a lot of places aren't hiring because of the recession. One bartender/owner told me he's actually letting people go. He's been in this business 37 years and this is the worst he's seen it. Ouch. Hopefully this doesn't effect me! I'm sure I'll find something.

Last night a few of us went to a bar called The Mezz, which has different genres of music on different nights. Last night was cool because there was band playing The Doors and AC/DC and stuff. I tried to apply at The Mezz today but they weren't open. So I'll wait and see.

I think we'll be going out again tonight, I'm not sure where but I'd like to check out the Porterhouse, which is a pub. As you can see, pubs are an important part of Irish culture!! haha.

I'm pretty well settled into my new flat, except I still haven't done groceries..! Oops. I guess I should do that tonight. I'm also still not fully unpacked 'cause I don't have enough hangers. I have to go buy some... obviously I'm not the lightest packer!! Oh, and to answer your question Grandma, we have TV in my flat but just basic cable. I don't see any of my favourite shows, but I'm sure I could find somewhere online that will play them. I've been watching some Irish and British TV, and it's a bit weird for sure. And lots of swearing in the evening!

As for now, I think I'm going to relax until my friends are done work and then get ready to go out!

xo.

"Thirty-three and the Third"

So, as most of you already know, I found a flat!!! It's literally a two minute walk from the Guinness Storehouse [which is where you would go for the tour of the Guinness brewery]. My flat is great; everything is brand new... we are the first tenants living here! All [3] of my flatmates are Brazilian and about 27. They're all really nice and helpful... thank God!!
It's only about a 20 minute walk for me to get to Temple Bar [comparable to the market in Ottawa but wayyyy better] , which is where I'm hoping to get a job in a pub..! Don't worry, I won't be walking home alone!!

I've been going out every night and loving it, of course!! Tonight is my first, and much needed, night in. I'm so tired! I think I'm still a bit jet-lagged plus I'm pretty sure the partying every night adds to it [haha]. Last night we [Jess, Holly, and two Irish guys that Holly knows] went to a pub called Whalen's. It's a pretty popular pub here, and apparently there's a scene from the movie P.S. I Love You that was filmed there. One of the guys told us that, but he swears he only knew because two American girls told him [yeah right!]. I did take some photos but I haven't uploaded them yet...

We recently discovered that it's really funny to get Irish people to say "Thirty-three and the third". If you ever get the chance, ask an Irishman to say it and you'll see what I mean!!

Lots of foreigners here. Aussies, Kiwis, Spanish, French, etc. It's cool to meet people from all around the world and hear all the accents and sayings they have. And obviously everyone loves Canadians!!

Okay, well it's 12:30am here [they would actually say "half twelve" which is kind of confusing], and it's time for me to go to bed!

Cheers from Dublin!

xo.

Safe and Sound in Ireland

Hi everyone!

Well, my flights went very well... I arrived early in both destinations. Both flights had empty seats so we were free to move around and sit where we wanted... except for in first class, damn! The food on the plane was terrible!! There were two choices, 3 cheese pasta or chicken and rice. Trying to make the healthier choice, I chose chicken and and rice. The rice was mushy and the chicken extremely dry. I didn't even eat half of it. The flight from Philadelphia to Dublin was about 6.5 hours long, I think I slept about two.

Anyway, Jess met me at the airport in Dublin and we took a cab back to her place. As you can imagine, I was pooched! I arrived in Dublin at 9am their time which is like 4am our time. We just hung out at her place all day and relaxed with some of her roommates. I didn't nap because I think that's the best way to get over jet lag.

We went out last night to an Australian bar called Welshed or something like that. Turns out we picked a weird night to go out 'cause it was Brasilian night at the Aussie bar... weird! We weren't really feeling it so we didn't stay too too long.
Oh, there was also a football [soccer] match last night here in Dublin. It was Ireland vs. Poland and the streets were packed with people. We could hear the crowd from the stadium from Jess' and Holly's place! Of course, they only live a few doors down from it, but still. I think Poland won, but there is a huge Polish population here so it was still just as crazy.

Today I'm just hanging around their place and checking for apartments online. I think I'm going to see a couple tomorrow, so hopefully one of them works out and then I'll have a place to call my own!

Love you all and take care,

Lisa
xo.

Surprise!

So, last night was my surprise party at Liam Maguire's! Needless to say, I was completely surprised. I had NO idea. But now we're going to have to get a new venue for surprise parties!!

Having everyone in the same room last night made me realize how lucky I am to have such amazing family and friends. I love you all and will miss you while I'm in Ireland.

I'll be updating this blog as much as I can while I'm overseas. And now that Mom & Dad got me my little netbook [so small it could fit in my purse], it will be a lot easier to stay in touch!

P.S. If anyone has photos from last night, please send them to me! Thanks!

Nine more days..!

xo.