And so, the end of this trip is finally here. Not too much has occurred since the last time I posted (well, at least nothing blog worthy. Nobody wants to hear me bitch about finals, since my same qualms with finals would be the exact same problems I had with midterms.). Having to say final goodbyes to the people I met here have been plentiful. Much of the last week here was spent going out to eat, cooking for each other, and of course having a good round of fun at our favorite pubs. But other than that, it’s been pretty uneventful in the sense of interesting stories and adventures.
In fact the only blog worthy story I have is the fact that I visited the town where my family is from, Abbeyfeale. Sadly the trip was very unfruitful. One reason being that Irish bus transport is not the most reliable. In order for me to get there, I had to take a bus from Cork to Limerick, and then connect form Limerick to Abbeyfeale. The first bus decided not to depart until 15 minutes after it was supposed to depart. That was just enough time for me to miss the initial connection to Abbeyfeale. Perfect. So now I was stuck in the Limerick Bus station for another hour waiting to take a bus that would take me to a destination an hour and a half away. So, I finally catch the next bus and wait out the trek to get there, and I finally got there. Abbeyfeale, a very small town right on the border between County Limerick and County Kerry. My mission was to find the Kerry Bar, the pub that my Irish relatives apparently owned and operated. I walked up and down Main Street while rain poured heavily upon my head and wind that could tip over a cow pushing me along the sidewalk. Alas, I could not find it. Convinced that I had missed, I walked back again, and still no luck. I walked into a chipper (In Ireland chippers are where they serve fish and chips in a fast food style.), order some fish and chips, and asked the woman serving me where I could find the Kerry Bar. It was at that moment that I had discovered the unfortunate news that the pub had actually shut down a few years ago, a wine merchant shop took it’s residence, but that too failed to stay open for long. Such are the times, it’s hard to compete in such a business in a small town (especially since there between 8 and 10 other pubs along the same street). Sunken in defeat (the bar itself was the only contact information I had of my Irish relatives, without that, it was pretty much a lost cause), I looked around the town a bit more, but there really wasn’t much beyond Main Street (yes, that’s the reason why they call it Main Street, isn’t it?). To justify the trip in my own mind, I headed into a pub and had two pints (a Guinness and a Smithwick’s) before I caught the next bus out of town.
I do have this comment to make though, Ireland must be mad at my leaving it, because it’s throwing everything negative at me over the last couple weeks. I’ve been trying to determine how to interpret these occurrences properly, and I think I have the best applicable analogy: think of the USA and Ireland as girlfriends. For an American, USA is obviously your first time girlfriend. You did all your firsts with her. She was your high school sweetheart. Then you go to college, and realize you want a little more excitement and a change of pace from what you’re used to. In this analogy, you tell the USA, “I think we need to take a break.” While not thrilled about the idea, USA is still full on the idea that she’s number 1, the best around. So she obliges your request, fully believing you’ll be coming back.
So you take that break. You decide to a bit of travelling. Along the way, you come across this sassy, sexy red head all dressed in green. Why yes, this is Ireland you just discovered. You meet this fair lass and she hands you a Guinness right away. You’re confused because your last girlfriend made you wait so long to have this much fun with her. You wonder then, is this Ireland an easy lass? The answer to that, of course, is no. While much more fun and outgoing than your last girlfriend, you still have to work for it to get the pot of gold you seek. So you dance, you drink, and you have loads of craic with her. But something is off. What is it that’s off? You realize what it is: it’s only temporary. You know that having too much fun with her while you have to go back home is going to make the break up that much harder. So you distance yourself. You focus upon all the negative attributes maybe. You think “well, I can’t tell if she’s just laid back, or if she’s lazy. USA was never like this.”
The last sentence to that thought was key. “USA was never like this.” You’ve spent so long dealing with one girl that she’s painted the image of how they all should be, when simply you just can’t do that. And so you have it. It’s not her, it’s you. But still you’ve embraced the temporary change, but now you are going back to what you’re more comfortable with.
And that’s where I’m at. If you read this carefully you’ll know what I’m getting at. Ireland, it’s been fun, but there’s no need to make the sidewalks slippery and bust up my bus’s tire to get your message. I understand you’re upset, but I have to go back. Maybe someday when I have enough money (or if the euro falls apart and you go back to the punt) I’ll return, treat you right, and do all those touristy things you wanted me to do, but I just didn’t have the time to do.
Thus concludes my adventures of Ireland in the Fall of 2011. It’s been a great time. The blog is not finished though, further descriptions of Irish life and culture (and beer and whiskey) are along the way, just as soon as get back to the old reliable, the US of A.
P.S. I made it home safely, with no plane trouble this time (shocking), but I liked how I ended the post too much to edit it.
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