Well, I'm back. Not much has happened since I last wrote but I wanted to keep the blog up to date. So, I remember last time being frustrated with everything and everyone. I've gotten better at learning and accepting things as they are and as they come our way. Even though it's not easy it makes life a little more bearable. So, our situation right now...
David's money for school is still not here and we still have no idea when it'll come. David still likes his classes but he does think that what he wants to do is not what they teach him here. The degree will open doors for him but it doesn't seem to teach him much about teaching folk dance. It's more about researching and living with the people that he should study and understand. His desire is to teach and instill a love of folk dance into his students and I feel that he will be very successful at that. He has the personality and a great desire for it and he loves folk dance and dancing.
Our apartment is still nice even though we found quite a bit of broken pieces of furniture, including the main bed. One evening, as I was getting into bed the frame underneath broke and hurt my leg in the process. I still have a nice bruise on my right leg from that experience. We reported the problem but no one has taken any action yet even though it's been over two weeks. I also wish that the microwave was working because I'd love to have some popcorn. :) Otherwise the apartment is nice and comfortable. We are experiencing some difficulties with our neighbours underneath. They like to listen to their music very loudly. I have no doubt that they have a nice stereo that has a great base that resonates through the walls and keeps us awake until late at night. The longest it went was up until 1:00AM which might not seem that late if it wasn't for David having to get up early for school the next day. Well, I wrote a polite note to them which didn't have the desired effect so we might have to start looking for a different apartment. We really don't want this because at least we are comfortable and would like not to have to worry about an apartment right now. I don't know what we'll do yet...
Limerick has nice weather still. I'm still able to wear my flipflops and short sleaved t-shirts, which is nice. It's gotten a little bit colder but not a whole lot. The leaves are starting to turn yellow at places and the sky is more cloudy most of the time but the weather is still nice. Speaking of nature, one thing that really amazes me is our river... the Shannon river. It changes every hour and every day. In the morning it's full almost bursting, a few hours later is half full, to the point where the rocks on the bottom create waves and crazy waters, to only find it to its fullest in the evening. Sometimes it is so shallow that one could walk right through it, while other times is is so high that we worry that it might flow over. I'm not kidding that this river fluctuates more than any river I've ever seen. I know it's the tide, since we're so close to the ocean but it still seems pretty weird.
One thing that I'm very greatful about is the help of some people from church. It takes us about 50 minutes to walk to church on Sunday so it doesn't make it very easy and pleasurable, especially when it rains outside and it's cold and windy. But there are a few very nice and friendly people there. One family lended us money so that we could pay our rent, another man built us a small desk for our computer and another family helped us with some money for food. It's been a trying and humbling experience so far being here and we really hope not to have to receive help from others but it was very nice to have this help. My sister, Irina also helped us with some money, David's family from Japan and his boss, Sharon back in Utah also sent some money our way, for wich we are very greatful. We really hope that we'll be able to show our gratitude and thanks to all these people without whom we'd be homeless and starving.
What else has happened... One other good thing was that we finally were able to pick up our MAC computer. We left it in Utah with Carl and Karina and they mailed it to us a while back but when it got here the customs said that we had to pay almost 200 Euro to pick it up. We called them and they had us send it back to customs and when it returned there was no charge attached to it so we were able to get it. We are so happy to have it here safely and to be able to watch our favorite movies and TV shows that we missed all this time.
Well... I think that I covered pretty much most of it... I can't think of anything else. I like the food here, I like the green grass and trees and the Shannon river. I love being here with David. We might have to leave this country if our situation will not improve soon but we will remember these hard times that strenghtened us and drew us closer together.
Showing posts with label Limerick. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Limerick. Show all posts
Monday, October 5, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
To Limerick, Ireland...
Well, it's been a while since I last wrote something here... The truth is that I had little to no time to write and that our life's been pretty stressful lately (or for the past few months). In July David found out that he got accepted to the University of Limerick, Ireland (Master Program in Ethnochoreology). If you don't know what that means, don't worry. I didn't either. It's a program that focuses on folk dance. David would love to teach folk dance at a university and this program is apparently the best of its kind in the world and will help him achieve his dream. So, ever since we found out that he got accepted we've been trying to get money to go. We went to all the banks in Provo to ask for student loans only to find out that there were very little to no options for us. We applied for government loans and got approved. So we thought, at least... Next we tried to find a buyer for our Kia and were unsuccessful there too. Our dear friends, Eve and Shawn were so kind to take the car and try to sell it for us while we will be in Ireland. We are very thankful and really hope that Shawn will be succesful. So, after much negotiations and help from David's family and from Brother and Sister Smart we were able to scrap up enough money for the plane tickets and finally left. How thankful we are that they were so kind to lend us money for the tickets. The Smarts made it possible for us to fly to Ireland and that is something that we will not easily forget.
The trip to Ireland wasn't too bad, nor too long. We flew through New York City and it was so cool to see the beautiful Manhattan from the place in the gorgeous sunset. The Paris, Charles DeGaulle airport was a modern looking airport. We enjoyed some tasty chocolate croissants there, just because we were in France! :) Eventually we got to the very tiny plane that took us from Paris to Shannon, an small airport a few kilometers from Limerick. I watched out the window as we flew over Ireland. It is a green country but I thought that it looked pretty empty :0 at least from up above. Limerick is the third biggest town in Ireland and is well populated. Now, don't think it's that big. Salt Lake is bigger and more modern looking than Limerick, by a lot. Limerick is a classic European city. Many small buildings, old houses and churches, castles or castle walls at every corner, small roads, caffees everywhere, good food and people walking everywhere. Smoking and coffee breaks seem to be the favorite past times around here. People drink loads of coffee and smoke everywhere you go. I guess I kind of forgot that part of European life... For the first four days we stayed in a hotel and walked around like crazy trying to find an apartment and to figure out what else was there to be done for David's financial aid to be finalized and for the funds to be dispursed. Well, it turns out that even now, almost a month since we arrived the funds have not been given to us and we still live off the little Euro that we were able to put together back in Utah. Why all this trouble? We don't know. The school tells David to call some American institutions who tell him to tell the school to send papers. The school then tells him to send other papers and when we thinkg that everything is over there are more papers to sign and send, more very expensive phone calls to be made and more people to yell at. It' been quite the adventure. The bureaucracy is something else and no one seems to know what to do, what the process is and how to handle things. The ladies in the International office drink their coffees peacefully, smoke their cigars and yell at us from feet away, from their office that there is nothing else they can do. Very frustrating! I find it very hard at times not to stress out. And we have been very stressed out, both of us, almost every single day since we arrived. Back to finding an apartment, we did find a very nice one, 800 Euro/month plus utilities. Yeah! Expensive. One of the best deals though. How we'll pay for it we don't know yet but we're hanging in here. After arriving here, we quickly learned that the concept of time is different here and that everything costs almost double than what it costs in America. Also, we learned that this county is been hit very hard by the recession and that people loose their jobs every day and that there aren't many jobs available. I've been trying to find some work ever since we got here but didn't find anything yet... Hard life for the Irish even though as you walk down the streets it doesn't look like it. People buy lots from the closing out stores and eat and drink out a lot. I said earlier that the concept of time is different here... What I meant is that if one says we meet at 3 o'cloclk, be sure that it's going to be at least 15 minutes until they arrive. When one of David's manuals arrived, the UPS guy told us that our over-night packet had to be delivered in three days after it arrived because he already finished work for the day (it was around noon on Friday) and that packets are not to be delivered until next Monday. So much for paying double the price of the book to get it here on time... Yeah, so life is been crazy and still is. We try hard to stay happy but when there isn't much to do and no money to spend life can get pretty boring and bland. There is one movie theater here but we didn't go there yet because it costs like $15/person and they only have one or two showings of each show every week. We did eat out at KFC once and spent almost 20 Euro. I'm not even joking! I wish I was. But there are some cool things about being here. We have a nice apartment, David is getting his masters, hopefully and he's enjoying his classes. If everything works out he should have a master degree by next December. It was going to be by next April but the school decided that the students should have a few months after they finish their course work to do field research. That is really cool and we're hoping to go to Romania for Christmas to do some of that research but no one will pay for it, not even the financial aid from the States because David won't be taking classes during that time. Well, we hope to find jobs and set some money aside to go to Romania and to at least visit Ireland's beautiful countryside if no other European countries. We really want to see the castle that is here in Limerick, the famous cliffs of Moher and hopefully get to see some other places as well. I'll try to write here more and hopefully have better news next time. I really miss everyone and being in the States but I'll try to make the best of my time here in Europe. I think that we have a wonderful opportunity and am happy to be here with David and stand by him through everything. Until next time, farewell!
The trip to Ireland wasn't too bad, nor too long. We flew through New York City and it was so cool to see the beautiful Manhattan from the place in the gorgeous sunset. The Paris, Charles DeGaulle airport was a modern looking airport. We enjoyed some tasty chocolate croissants there, just because we were in France! :) Eventually we got to the very tiny plane that took us from Paris to Shannon, an small airport a few kilometers from Limerick. I watched out the window as we flew over Ireland. It is a green country but I thought that it looked pretty empty :0 at least from up above. Limerick is the third biggest town in Ireland and is well populated. Now, don't think it's that big. Salt Lake is bigger and more modern looking than Limerick, by a lot. Limerick is a classic European city. Many small buildings, old houses and churches, castles or castle walls at every corner, small roads, caffees everywhere, good food and people walking everywhere. Smoking and coffee breaks seem to be the favorite past times around here. People drink loads of coffee and smoke everywhere you go. I guess I kind of forgot that part of European life... For the first four days we stayed in a hotel and walked around like crazy trying to find an apartment and to figure out what else was there to be done for David's financial aid to be finalized and for the funds to be dispursed. Well, it turns out that even now, almost a month since we arrived the funds have not been given to us and we still live off the little Euro that we were able to put together back in Utah. Why all this trouble? We don't know. The school tells David to call some American institutions who tell him to tell the school to send papers. The school then tells him to send other papers and when we thinkg that everything is over there are more papers to sign and send, more very expensive phone calls to be made and more people to yell at. It' been quite the adventure. The bureaucracy is something else and no one seems to know what to do, what the process is and how to handle things. The ladies in the International office drink their coffees peacefully, smoke their cigars and yell at us from feet away, from their office that there is nothing else they can do. Very frustrating! I find it very hard at times not to stress out. And we have been very stressed out, both of us, almost every single day since we arrived. Back to finding an apartment, we did find a very nice one, 800 Euro/month plus utilities. Yeah! Expensive. One of the best deals though. How we'll pay for it we don't know yet but we're hanging in here. After arriving here, we quickly learned that the concept of time is different here and that everything costs almost double than what it costs in America. Also, we learned that this county is been hit very hard by the recession and that people loose their jobs every day and that there aren't many jobs available. I've been trying to find some work ever since we got here but didn't find anything yet... Hard life for the Irish even though as you walk down the streets it doesn't look like it. People buy lots from the closing out stores and eat and drink out a lot. I said earlier that the concept of time is different here... What I meant is that if one says we meet at 3 o'cloclk, be sure that it's going to be at least 15 minutes until they arrive. When one of David's manuals arrived, the UPS guy told us that our over-night packet had to be delivered in three days after it arrived because he already finished work for the day (it was around noon on Friday) and that packets are not to be delivered until next Monday. So much for paying double the price of the book to get it here on time... Yeah, so life is been crazy and still is. We try hard to stay happy but when there isn't much to do and no money to spend life can get pretty boring and bland. There is one movie theater here but we didn't go there yet because it costs like $15/person and they only have one or two showings of each show every week. We did eat out at KFC once and spent almost 20 Euro. I'm not even joking! I wish I was. But there are some cool things about being here. We have a nice apartment, David is getting his masters, hopefully and he's enjoying his classes. If everything works out he should have a master degree by next December. It was going to be by next April but the school decided that the students should have a few months after they finish their course work to do field research. That is really cool and we're hoping to go to Romania for Christmas to do some of that research but no one will pay for it, not even the financial aid from the States because David won't be taking classes during that time. Well, we hope to find jobs and set some money aside to go to Romania and to at least visit Ireland's beautiful countryside if no other European countries. We really want to see the castle that is here in Limerick, the famous cliffs of Moher and hopefully get to see some other places as well. I'll try to write here more and hopefully have better news next time. I really miss everyone and being in the States but I'll try to make the best of my time here in Europe. I think that we have a wonderful opportunity and am happy to be here with David and stand by him through everything. Until next time, farewell!
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