Thursday, November 6, 2014

This City I Love




Well I've been living here in Cork City for at least two months now, and I couldn't love it more! Rain or shine, cold or pleasant, my heart is here. And the funny thing is, I haven't even seen all the city yet, I realized just last weekend. There are whole other sides of town that I haven't even visited yet. Last Saturday the other ISA students from Galway came down to "my city" and I got to experience the pride and joy of showing them around. First I met up with them in the Crawford Art Gallery, and that was funny because I sort of got lost trying to find the place. I do feel dumb about that because I've been living here for two months now and it should be easy. But hey, how is one supposed to find something they've never been to before? Anyway, the gallery is absolutely LOVely and I want to go back there now!


It was a very rainy Saturday. And before I met up with the Galway girls I had a parsnip soup lunch in the Farmgate Cafe with my friend Lexi. We went shopping a little together too, as we were planning a potluck for that night. Poor girl, Lexi's umbrella wasn't working right as the wind kept blowing it inside out, so she ended up getting pretty wet. My U.S. thrift-shop one was fairing out fine to keep the top part of me dry, but my boots were aweful. I've been wearing my boots everywhere lately, so that's probably why the wear-n'-tear caused them to start leaking. So I went into one charity shop after another until I found a pair of rain boots for 6.50 euro. I then took my wet socks and other boots off and stuffed them in my backpack, so I could wear the dry rain boots. They helped some, since we did a whole bunch of walking around the city, showing the Galway girls UCC campus and the English Market, etc. By evening though, I had blisters on my feet. But since the rain had stopped I delightedly put my Chaco sandals on. I made my Swiss potato kugel for the potluck, and chocolate chip cookies for dessert. After the potluck I went with a couple of the girls I'd invited to the potluck, to a pub where most of the other students were, and handed them the left-over chocolate chip cookies. (There was some great live music in there.) I wanted them all to feel at home in "my city." I was just bummed I couldn't invite all ten+ girls to the potluck, because they're all fabulous!



Sunday after church, I hung out with my Irish friend Anna. They skies played like kittens with sun and cloud most of the day, but Anna took me to new lookouts of the city. Off of Penrose Quay there are some steep-hilled streets, and the views of the city are just stunning! While climbing the street we also popped into one of the crafty shops along the way, and I saw yet others that I totally want to return to later on. A thought also crossed my mind: "Why be in such a hurry to travel all over when I'm in such a great place right here?" I feel blessed to live here.




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