a long update
We’ve been in Ireland for more than 5 weeks. Or maybe 6 weeks. I don’t know. Here’s a bit of what life is like for us here in Kilkenny…
For starters, it’s a lot more unplugged. In a good way. A very good way, even. I am immensely enjoying not having phones ringing off the hook and only having limited internet. Believe it or not, I rarely even look at a clock here! In fact, there are only two working clocks in this house: one on the entrance wall and one on the microwave. I don’t even have a clock beside my bed! Owen is my alarm clock, but more about that later…Ande has a very full schedule that definitely requires living by the clock, but not so with Owen and me. In addition to being mostly unplugged from phones, internet, and time in general, we are also (mostly) unplugged from TV. Irish basic television has four channels, one of which is solely in Gaelic. The other channels typically feature such vintage American hits as Murder She Wrote and Lizzie Maguire. Other more up to date shows are a season or two (or three) behind what we see at home. This has given me more time to do a couple of things: be a bit bored and read. I was able to finish in less than 24 hours a very interesting book called The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime. Despite the boredom at times, I really appreciate this chance to be unplugged. When will we have this opportunity again??
We share our house with half the team…the male half. I will admit that I was none too thrilled about sharing our house at all, much less with the guys, but it’s gone really well. Not perfect, of course, as a family of three learns to live with roommates. It means there is little alone time for Ande and me, but we are making some and adjusting to not having it all at the same time. I actually think it has been a better situation to live with the guys as opposed to the girls now that we’re doing it. If you have to share your living space with two college-aged guys, these are the ones to do it with. They really are fun personalities. The three girls live about a ten minute walk from here. Well, technically they sleep a 10 minute walk from here as our house is the hub of all team activity, including all meals. So in a way, 8 of us share this space. Much adjusting has been made regarding activities that go on when Owen is sleeping. Basically the place is on noise patrol when Owen is down. The house is a two-story house with the bedrooms upstairs, and all noise from downstairs is somehow amplified in the bedrooms. Noise patrol is going well, and the team has been overall mindful of how important it is for him to get the sleep he needs. As Brittany said this week “If Owen is happy, we are all happy!” I agree.
While on the subject…I went a little crazy at first trying to work out Owen’s sleep schedule, something I hadn’t anticipated at all. My kiddo has always been a very easy, naturally-scheduled sleeper who needs a good bit of sleep. Okay, more sleep than anyone else’s baby that I know of! But he has never had a problem falling asleep or staying asleep. Well, take into account the extra folks + the loud house, not to mention the…oh…SMALL detail of it not getting dark here until about 11:30 PM and the sun blaring full-go by 4:30/5 AM!!! and you’ve got yourself a difficult sleep situation for a 1 year-old. Shoot, it was hard for me and Ande to adjust to ALL THAT SUN coming in the windows at night. Owen was waking up three or four times thinking it was time to start a new day. Finally, in a moment of sleep-deprived clarity I realized I should black out his window with a garbage bag…that made a tremendous difference. Now he is happily sleeping through the night again. Hallelujah! That bit of craziness almost sent me right back on a plane toward home.
In general, life here is very expensive. Things cost about 2 times what they cost at home. So that was beyond discouraging at the start of the trip. Actually, it didn’t hit me until we arrived in Kilkenny. I saw that things were expensive in Dublin, but hey…we were on vacation. Once we got here, though I freaked out a good bit, actually tearing up in the grocery store. It was also VERY hard at first to find food for Owen (part of the crying for me in the grocery store) as so much here is not pasteurized. It took three trips to the store before I found a brand of yogurt he could eat. Even brands from home are not the same: Cheerios here are frosted like Frosted Flakes. Pure sugar. (“Why is my baby shoving down these Cheerios, eyebrows raised in delight?” I wondered…once I tasted them, clearly they were no longer on his menu.)
The church has been amazing. The people have been generous and kind and fun to be with. I have really enjoyed the church’s community ministry of Toddler Group on Tuesday mornings where parents bring their kids to play with all kinds of great toys, enjoy some snacks, and socialize with each other. Most of the parents don’t attend church, so it is a huge ministry of the church. Basically, I am just doing my at-home job of caring for Owen in a different place, with different people, and no car. The rest of the team is working for the church morning until night: serving in the worship service, with local schools, with the youth group, leading Bible studies and prayer meetings and lots of other things…even picking up trash alongside the road! There are times when it feels very isolating to be mommying here while everyone is off doing other things. And there are some times when I love it. There are peaks and valleys, to be sure.
We had four days off as a team to have a short vacation that was much-needed. A family in the church loaned us their holiday home on the beach about 2 hours away. We hiked a bit, played on the beach (the water is freezing), and in general rested. Those without a child to care for even got to cliff jump in to the sea (with a guide, not just random unsafe jumping). Resting meant no cooking either, so we splurged and ate out every night…at the same delicious pub. Yeah, it was that good. Pub food can REALLY be hit or miss, so it was a treat to have such good food in the only pub in town.
Now we are back to normal life here, enjoying our day off (Mondays). I am sitting at the mall café using their internet and drinking a delicious Coke. Mmm. Random aside: ON THE BOTTLE, Coke here is described as “Sparkling Soft Drink with Vegetable Extracts”…does that mean I can stop feeling guilty about being addicted to it??? It’s practically V8!!
On a date in Kilkinney, an outside restaurant with a view of the castle
A boy and his (borrowed) car
Playground fun
The team
Owen’s favorite “toys”: a basket of colored clothes pins
The neighborhood dog that I have made my Ireland dog
The Castle
Filed under: on June 29th, 2009 | 8 Comments »
