update from ireland!!!

hi friends <3

oh, how i miss you all so dearly.

i'm in ireland right now. no, like, RIGHT NOW. not like, i got home yesterday. or, i got home 5 minutes ago - i'm there RIGHT NOW. um, crazy.

so, quite quickly, we arrived in dublin on tuesday morning around 8am. none of us had slept all night long so we were super tired. i guess i don't really understand what jet lag is, because everyone kept saying that we weren't supposed to be tired at 8am, but that's when i usually go back to bed anyways, so i don't know. i was confused. but, tired.

we knew it would be a bad idea to sleep right away, so we dropped our bags off at the hostel and then headed out walking. we walked a lot. and took lots of naps on benches, in cafes, and at trinity college. they didn't mind. we also drank lots of coffee.

ate peanut butter and jelly for supper in our hostel room. then were all in bed by around 8pm. slept right through until 8am which was super great.

wednesday we were ready to take on ireland by storm!!!!! we walked all the way to the western part of the city and had a tour of this really amazing jail. or, 'gaol', as they say. it was really awesome. i loved it. would definitely do it again if i'm ever in dublin again.

then, walked waaaaaaay around some more. we seriously stormed the city by foot. found a sweet little place called the Cinnamon Cafe to eat in. delish. then aliya, elizabeth and i walked around to find the writer's museum. we walked in. looked around. decided we didn't want to pay for the tour, so we hung out in the bookshop.

wednesday night we ended up in the Palace Bar pretty close to our hotel, where we met up with some other Hampshire kids!!! Will and Dave. great (looking) people. had a beer with them. planned to hang out more the next day.

thursday was museum day. we did the national museum, national library, ummm.....was that it? maybe that was it. saw this really incredible exhibit called Bog Bodies. omg, it was like, all of a sudden, these workers started finding all these bodies in the bogs in Ireland, Denmark, Norway, etc, and they were all so perfectly preserved. and they had some of the bodies on display. it was really moving and sort of terrifying. it made me remember my forensic anthropology class and all the feelings i had holding real human bones. and seeing the machete marks in the skulls. it was heavy.

then we got ready to go out to this other bar that Will and Dave knew of. kind of. they had met this band in the street and the band said they would be at this bar. but, we had no idea where the bar was. so, we found it. but the band had already stopped playing. whatevs. we stayed and had drinks anyways.

then moved onto another bar. but, we never actually got there because a drunk irish man stopped us in the street and proceeded to yell at us for about 2 hours telling us we need to stand up for our country and also change the entire thing. and also somehow tell Obama to do better. whatevs. but, at the end of the night, we ended up getting kicked out of this irish bar. .....morelater.....

i guess that's all. now we're in Ennis. i really like it here. there are super nice people working at the hostel. tonight we move onto Doolin. for two nights and then Galway. then back to Dublin, and then north a little for the wedding ONE WEEK FROM TODAY!!!!!

i now have a lime green strap on my duffle bag because they broke it off at the airport. this was right after the custom's guy was being angry at me because apparently i didn't bring enough money. this made me really upset and i was recalling it again yesterday and was still really upset. it all seemed fine. he was asking me normal customs things and then all of a sudden:

CUSTOM'S GUY: How much money did you bring with you?
JULIE: How much do I have in cash?
CUSTOM'S GUY: How much money will you have access to while you're here?
JULIE: Ummm......(says amount)
CUSTOM'S GUY: Is that all?
JULIE: Um, I think so.
CUSTOM'S GUY: (makes a face) Are all you're hotels paid for?
JULIE: Um, the booking fees are. We're paying once we get there.
CUSTOM'S GUY: And where are you staying?
JULIE: Abagail's for the first three nights, then we're heading west.
CUSTOM'S GUY: And you only have ($ amount) for your whole trip?
JULIE: Yeah, I guess.
CUSTOM'S GUY: That's not very much.
JULIE: Yeah...I guess...I know....
CUSTOM'S GUY: We expect you to contribute back to our economy. I mean, what would happen if you got sick and needed to be in the hospital while you were here? We want you to be able to take care of yourself. And you didn't bring much money for that.
JULIE: Okay...
CUSTOM'S GUY: How long are you here total?
JULIE: About two weeks.
CUSTOM'S GUY: ($ amount) is not very much for two weeks. D' you understand?
JULIE: Yes.

i was super upset about this. i just wanted to scream at him. scream something like, 'UM, HOW MANY DAYS OFF HAVE YOU HAD IN THE PAST THREE MONTHS?!?!?!' for serious!! he had no right to say those things to me. and it makes me angry everytime i think about it. i had been working for three months straight to save money for this trip and it was the number one thing i was stressing about. and then i was free from work, all set, landed in dublin, feeling good, and then he goes and says these things to me. UGH. he had no idea of my situation and i think it was completely out of line.

and, i bet he didn't know he was talking to the number one hater of airport and custom's employees. he had no idea. and he did not help me get over this at all.

whatevs. i try not to think about it.

but, i'm going to charge my ipod now. and then we're leaving for the bus stop. yesterday we were on the hottest bus in the world for about 5 hours. it was horrible. the most hottest i've ever been for such a long period of time. it was like, 100 degrees C. no joke.

anyways. hope you all are having lovely times whatever you're doing!! i'd still love to hear from you. i check my email somewhat frequently. i love you all. miss you all. perhaps another update before the wedding??? i think this upcoming hostel has free laundry and detergent. so that's exciting.

OK! LOVE YOU!!!!!

<3<3.Jacuzzi.Jacuzzi.<3<3

turtle:::update

NO TURTLE GETS LEFT BEHIND!!!!

<3

we're in Boston at kate's beautiful house. cambridge in the morning. davis square in the early afternoon-ish. logan in the late afternoon. ireland in the evening!!!!

<3

:::buck:::

(i like that my last two blog entry titles have rhymed!)


so, the big debate is whether or not i should bring Buck to ireland. my mom says absolutely not. i think kara said that too.

i was assuming i would just bring him. he's never been to Ireland before either.

i guess i just have to blog about this a little because it upsets me.

in my 8+ years of having Buck, i've only slept without him for one night. it was the night of Amy's wedding. the night the 7th Harry Potter book was released. i was planning on sleeping over Matt and Meg's after the wedding and i just forgot to bring him.

this is why i like bringing Buck places: he makes a great pillow. he can turn any uncomfortable situation into a comfortable one. for serious.

i don't know. i guess part of me is like,

JULIE 1: Yeah, why would you bring such a large stuffed animal to Ireland with you? He's just going to take up space. Also, you're 23, get over it.

and the other part of me is like,

JULIE 2: Why wouldn't you bring him to Ireland?? You've only slept one night without him in 8 years! You've taken him on all your other vacations, why is this one any different? Who cares if you're 23?!?! Not Buck.

i suppose he's a security thing. but, i never thought of him like that until now. so maybe he isn't. it was never like, "ok, i need buck there too." it was always like, "oh great, buck is coming!"

the people love buck. he's been up the east coast, over to the canadian west coast, the canadian east coast, driven through the rocky mountains, been to his homeland of florida multiple times....he loves vacationing!

i don't know. i suppose if there's room i'll bring him. i just feel like if i don't bring him, i'll be upset about it. sleeping alone in a foreign country with no Buck?? ugh. what a horrible time.

i guess i'd be willing to sacrifice clothing space for Buck. i could probably make room for him in my backpack. there was talk yesterday of adding straps to him and adding a zipper to his shell to turn him into a backpack.

i feel bad about even having this debate. why wouldn't Buck come!?! he'd love Ireland! it makes me nervous if i think about not bringing him.

i guess i'll let you know what i decide.



here are Buck, Oscar and Pooka napping in the hotel in Montreal. the housekeeper aligned them with Kara's pillow, thinking that the clown design belonged to the little child in our family. when, in fact, the three stuffed animals belonged to me, with the fancy teal design pillow next to the clown pillow. (ps::what a creeper clown on that pillow!)


ok. back to the pack.


:::PS::: the other day aliya and i were driving and, at a stop light, we pulled up next to this couple on a motorcycle. and the lady on the back had a sticker on her helmet that read, "Don't make me turn on my bitch switch!" we immediately decided it was the trip motto.


<3