Goodbyes...

Goodbye gloomy weather and loads of rain (yeah, just had to start with the weather!)
Goodbye Saturday-Sunday weekends...
Goodbye bus-driver who greet the passengers
Goodbye Foosball tables
Goodbye huge, extremely comfortable bin bags
Goodbye free gym
Goodbye Sky news at the gym
Goodbye Grand Canal and Forbes Quay
Goodbye stupid drivers. Now I'll have to handle predictable Israeli drivers, then Aussies
Goodbye ATM machines that were fed with noodles and Veggies overnight.
Goodbye fresh blackberries straight from the bushes
Goodbye Sky news at the gym
Goodbye rogue police cars
Goodbye my private Blogger help (yeah, Pezzin, you!)
Goodbye my secret admirers
Goodbye drunk scumbags who threten to sue me
Goodbye DART
Goodbye urban foxes
Goodbye Dutchman and his jacket
Goodbye stupid Christmas parties and silly drunken people
Goodbye Region 4, you really are the best (one may think its a fraternity. he he)

And of course, goodbye Ryanair. Even though it's not fun travelling in Europe anymore, having the new baggage allowance restrictions...

No News, Some Mews and a Police Car Bed-Time Story

Whenever I go to the gym during lunch time, from some reason one of the TVs will always show the mid-day British Parliament broadcast (The house of Commons). It always looks like a big bunch of arguing teenagers. Politely arguing, though. There is a Speaker of the House, and s/he grants the permission to speak to whoever is on the list. Each one speaks for few minutes. While speaking, the rest of the parliament members in the house support or oppose the each speaker. How do they vote? Members shout out "Aye" and "No". Their votes are recorded, by the way.
That specific moment that the first one starts shouting, and everybody else join, is quite an hilarious moment, which reminds of the above mentioned high-school kids.

That's the only type of news I consume nowadays. For example, only today I discovered that the Israeli high-school teachers are on strike for 1.5 months. The Universities are on strike for a month, by the way. But what am I talking about, you probably know it already.

And as promised, a short story:
It was early in the morning, the sun was still somewhere else, only the newspaper people are at the streets, even the Cafes were still closed. Only one car was slowly driving the streets. And when we came across each other, I had to give way to that police car before crossing the street.

That moment changed everything. I just gave up and admitted defeat in my own private war against Irish car drivers. And I became one of them, the passive, frightened, miserable, running from the cars like a rat that is being chased by a cat, Irish pedestrians.

Answers to Some FAQ

Hi all,
Sorry it took me too long to answer. I'm just too busy, and somehow it doesn't surprise me.
Ireland is very nice, yet a bit retarded in certain ways, but you cannot have it all. So at least work is fine. There's a lot to do, but I enjoy it and it's very interesting. I love the people I work with, the food at work (which is a huge problem, but at least we have a free gym, and I'm there almost every other day), and the feeling that we are really being taken care of.

The most important thing is earning Euros and living in Ireland. It really makes everything else and other places to seem so cheap. And helps admitting that Israel is not such a bad expensive place to live. especially not Tel Aviv. And I'm serious. Try to pay no less than 1200 Euros for 1 bedroom apartment (and at least 1500 for 2 bedrooms). And the obvious thing is of course being closer to the rest of Europe and the lack of El Al presence nearby. It may be the main reason why the flights are cheap.

It also feels like people here are planning their next vacation all the time. So am I. That's what happens when people have so many free days a year (excluding National Holidays!). It also seems like I have been abroad (of Ireland) every month since I moved here. Yes, we already have plans for the next vacation which will be on 1-10 of December. We will be in Hong Kong. We already booked flights (even cheaper than what it would have cost in Israel) and hotels.

So... Those are the only updates I can come out with for now. Feel free to comment (or send an email) , and I think I'll use my blog for future updates for my dearest friends. Don't feel bad if it takes a while till you hear something back from me...
By the way, I can read and write Hebrew on my laptops, so don't write in English I you don't feel like (Unless you comment. Lets be fair towards my non-Israeli fans).

And to my dear friends that miss me, I really miss you and all the fun we had. And since you miss me in the office as well, maybe you better send me you CV??? Take a day or 2 to think about it.

And... Don't forget to check out the pics from Oslo, on my blog!

Berries, Berries, Berries, Berries, Berries...

Yesterday I went hiking with some friends. My first hiking trip in Ireland. Our destination was Howth, which is a small village in the north of Dublin, and it is situated in a peninsula. Howth peninsula. 25 minutes by the DART (Dublin's suburban train), and we are there. The hiking is on the cliffs along the peninsula.

But first, we went to the pier. Everybody who had been here before told me they saw seals. And since seals are one of my favourite animals ever since I've visited a kind of Seals Sanctuary few years ago, I was eager to see one out in the wild. And guess what! I saw none! But that was expected. That's what we saw instead:


Since my first purchase with my first salary was a new camera, I'm officially the one who takes pictures on every occasion.
That's also the reason I was always behind after we started climbing the cliffs... So eventually I had to chase my girls all the time.

At Some point, I didn't care anymore. It happened when I spotted this for the first time:


Blackberry bushes!
As those of you who know me, I adore berries. I love strawberries, I like raspberries, and after Moving to Ireland I discovered that blueberries are my favourites. never had it before.
Anyways, stopped and ate a lot of it (the blackberries). Only the black ones. All other colors are immature blackberries.
I just couldn't have enough of it. That's also the first time I eat something without washing it. Well, That me. I wash things before I eat it. Preferably with soap.

So after spotting the blackberry bushes and realizing there are loads more along our path, that was literally what kept me walking. Every time I spotted mature blackberries, I ate it. Well, of course the other girls ate as well, so I had as much as I could, allowing the others eat as well.

Look, those are nice blackberries. I better have some!


Uhhhmmmm... Yum, Yum!


I better have some more then!

Besides the berries. We had a wonderful day, beautiful weather, and we met many nice people along the way. We also met a friend from work hiking with another friend.
we were hiking for 3 hours, around 8 km, and it felt wonderful, felt like a high school trip, especially since we could talk Hebrew amongst us.
Here are some of the amazing pics I took:

Things I See Early Sunday Morning

7:30 in the morning to be precise:

1 Broken ATM machine.
2 ATM machines that were fed with noodles and Veggies during the night.
Lost and lonely tights.
Homeless guy sleeping in a small hideaway between buildings.

A Sportive Sunday

Today was a sunny Sunday full of sports events:

The Gaelic Football Semi Final- a giants match between Dublin and Kerry.
And as Grace keep saying: Kerry is The Best! They are. Dubs knocked out by Kerry. On September 16th Kerry will play the final against its greatest rival- Cork!

The Tour of Ireland.
On my way back from lunch with Dan, we saw that it was the time the competitor arrived the part of Dublin we were at. It was lame in a way. It didn't look like Tour De France with loads of people cheering the riders. There were approximately 40 people along 200 meters. Half of them were kids or even babies. Disappointing.

Grand Canal Walk
Well, this I didn't witness. It's just that on my way back home at around 18:00, There was a singer singing on an improvised stage. I must try to describe it- it was looked like an open container. When I'll have the pic I took on my mobile, I'll upload it, hopefully it is clear enough to see what I'm talking about. Besides the singer and the 2 years old girl wondering around him and his 2-people band, there were tens of people sitting at tables (or not) and drinking beer. The kids wore with their parents' Grand Canal Walk large size t-shirts.

What about me?
I had my own Cycling Tour at the gym
I had my own (Jogging) Marathon at the gym
And I had my own Grand Canal Walk on my way to and from the office.
Sorry, no Gaelic Football activity. I didn't even get the chance to discuss the rules with Grace yet.

My First Time

Or: First Month Summary

1. Got my first ever Free Massage for the first time in my life
2. Played Foosball for the first time in my life
3. Played Nintendo Wii for the first time in my life
4. Worked extra hours on my third week in a new job for the first time in my life
5. And must think how I want to spend my 11 Vacation days by the end of the year! And some other 25 days by the end of next one, not including public holidays - another 9 days per year. I wish this was my only problem. But when I come to think of it, I don't have that many problems these days for the first time in my life
6. Having an umbrella in my bag on a regular basis for the first time in my life
7. Walked in the rain wearing shorts for the first time in my life
8. Not working on Sundays for the first time in my life
9. Go to the Gym (for the first time in 6 years)
10. And don't have to pay for it for the first time in my life
11. Went to a Jews' singles party (organized by Rabbi Zalman), and enjoyed every minute (not everybody were Jews neither single) for the first time in my life
12. Drank alcohol every weekend for the first time in my life
13. Being broke for the first time in my life. Had more money when I was 16 (Don't want to spend the money I have in Israel)
14. But I'm also doing good by thinking how shall I spend the little money I do have.
15. Don't spend money on food during weekdays for the first time in my life
16. I'll have a very impressive this month for the first time in my life. This month only, though...
17. And of course living abroad, (18.) working abroad, (19.) to be precise- working at Google, (20.) partying and having fun and (21.) trying to count how many people in Israel are thinking of me and wanting to strangle me out of jealousy. Or just strangle me without any reasonable reason (I can think of one person right now! haha ha ha hahaha ha... I wish she could read that!) all of the above- for the first time in my life

There are many other first times I just can't remember. So many new good things and adventures. Besides, I must leave something for my next post.

I also have to go to a party soon, so no time as well.

You Should be More Careful!

That's what the nice Irish policeman said to someone I know, after crossing the street. Why did he say that? Because a car driver saw a pedestrian crossing the street, and that was a good-enough reason to speed up. Why not making the poor pedestrian sweat a bit and feel like this could be his/her last moment in life?

That's how it is here in Dublin. The streets of Dublin (or any other place in Ireland) are not a safe place! The unwritten law is that cars and drivers have the priority to drive (and maybe run over people as well???...), the pedestrians must be more careful and more responsible, and wish they had a car. That way we'll feel much safer.

After being here for almost a month, I can understand where it comes from. The streets of Dublin are very narrow and crowded. There are more traffic lights for cars than pedestrians. We have to cross the street whenever it seems safe enough. But there's always a car with a mad driver behind the wheel, just around the corner. Pedestrians always have to press a button if they want to cross the street, even at the city busiest junction. Otherwise the light will never change to green on most pedestrians' traffic lights.

The police' approach is to reproach and preach. At least they don't give pedestrians reports for crossing the street on red light and/or carelessness . Like in Israel. But at least in Israel pedestrians are more taken care of. the police do a lot in those cases, and give away many reports to rogue drivers. I read and saw on the news!

I know some might disagree. I know it sounds absurd, but wait till you are here, and then understand what I'm talking about. Yes, I do mean that Israeli drivers are more careful than Irish. Despite the fact that they can stab you when you argue with them. Well, I'm exaggerating, as almost always, but it does happen, sometimes. That, too, was written and on the news. From time to time.

I have one last tip. If you're in Dublin, try not to accidentally hit the mirror of the car next to you with our elbow, or the driver will start beeping like crazy and shout at you like crazy. Based on a true story. Not mine. Yet.

Week 1 Summary

Here are the implications of my first week at Google:

My shoulders hurt and my back is almost broken from carrying my new laptop to and from work.

I have some blisters that refuse to heal from walking to and from work, 30 minutes every direction.

My arms are full with bruises as I bump into so many people on rush hours in the crowded city of Dublin.

My ass hurts from sitting for 3 hours at the Immigration police waiting to get a Certificate of Registration card that looks exactly like an ID card, but says at the back: This is not an Identity Card. And they got my details wrong: they changed my name and made me 2 years older. what the hell will happen if a policeman will check my certificate and see I'm supposed to be 30 according to it? He might think it's a fake one!
Ohhh, and almost an hour at the social security offices.

I have a cold from walking in the rain. With umbrella. No jacket.

Lack of sleep. It just feels that way. Now that I'm working again, I feel like I need to sleep more than I used to when I was unemployed. Besides, I don't feel like my back is healing as well, because of the lousy mattress we have in our apartment. In Israel I had my own wonder mattress. Now we have the cheapest mattress the owner could find. which probably wasn't that cheap. After all he paid in Euros.

And of course, I'm broke.
But somehow there's always money a pint or 2 everytime we are going to the pub.
Some of my last month expenses:
British Airways' (expensive) ticket to Dublin (which will be reimbursed);
New shoes for work, paid 100 (!!) Euros for the above-mentioned certificate (which will be reimbursed);
A new mobile. I know I cannot allow myself luxuries, but I'm an Israeli, I cannot function without a mobile. In spite of the fact that I don't really use it, I must grant people the opportunity to reach me all day. Doesn't matter if I'm broke;
New pants. In order to justify this purchase I will state that it was for work as well.

I'll get my first paycheck and the reimbursements on the 25th of August! I'll have to use the Israeli bank account for everything, and the money in it is about to evaporate by the 2nd of August.
Or maybe just ask Dan for some money... Haven't asked someone for money for over 10 years...
Isn't life wonderful as a poor girl?

So as you probably already figured out, Israelis like to complain. A lot.

But I, contrary to other Israelis, can also distinguish some positive aspects of the situation:

I start working on Mondays. I always thought that working on Sundays is useless. And at last someone actually agrees. (And for the moment, lets drop the fact I also work Fridays, OK?)

It is so nice to see the smiling face of the man who hands out the morning papers at the same street corner, and greets me every morning and wishes me a wonderful day.

I met so many interesting people, from at least 15 different nationalities!

I become even more eco-friendly than before.

There are hundreds (if not thousands) of free beer in the canteen (Where we have breakfast and lunch everyday) on each Friday's TGIF. And after drinking some, we go to the pub to drink some more.

Playing X-BOX, Foosball (Still learning), Pool (trying to, anyway), and the possibility to choose any other game, such as SP2 (t, Table-Tennis, and more (the rumor says there is or are PS3 somewhere).
If I don't feel like playing I can always sit on cushion seat (pouffe). Or on the massage sofa.

And....
I do have a google.com account, which is priceless!

News Flash

Yes, I submitted my resignation letter a month ago, and I'm not working there since last Thursday. It feels wonderful to be unemployed! Even though I wake up at around 7:30 every morning for a different doctor, meeting at the bank or breakfast with friends.

Yeah, I'm busy! If you want to meet me (in addition to all the 20 doctors I met), you must schedule. But I'm afraid it's too late, my time here is almost up... Well, by HERE I mean Israel.

I'm leaving in 6 days, for as long as possible!

On Monday I'll be heading to Dublin, Ireland. I'll be working and living there, and of course I'll be joining Dan, at last!

Right now my apartment is one big mess. Suitcases, bags and cloths that need to be washed are thrown on the floor, along with some dust and a bit more dust... And few pairs of shoes. I have so many papers on every table, and every time I need to look for my mobile phone, I must call it from my land line...

So of course I'm all excitements and stressed at the same time (WIll I be able to pack everything in the 2 suitcases? Will I be able to meet everybody by monday? etc...), and can't wait till monday comes!

The Sociology of the Israeli Dubliners

Just like every other place on the Globe, Dublin has its Israelis. And we all know that Israelis that live in the same place know each other.

So here's the story about how Dan got himself familiarised with the Israeli Dubliners:
Before Dan moved to Ireland, He knew a guy that his wife started working for Dublin Amdocs offices. The wife have been to Dublin for a month already when Dan first met him. He was supposed to move there soon.
As you all know, It's been 4 months since Dan relocated to Dublin, and he's in touch with that couple since.

On Easter Monday, the day after we were back from our Easter holiday (Ellen, here's what you, and probably many other fans, are waiting for: The debt from my previous post), they invited us to join them to Dublin's Botanic Gardens. We decided to join, although we had the cunning plan of staying home and getting lazy.
We got our first impression when we were walking into the Cafeteria. It felt like walking into a Geriatric Institute, thanks to all of the old people (some on wheelchairs) accompanied by their sons, daughters and grandchildren.
But we really enjoyed the gardens. By us, I mean Us the girls. The guys were just enjoying talking business, the stock market, politics and Irish girls of course. To be precise, the conversation over the Irish girls was about the outrageous training suits they just love to wear. In fact, all 4 of us took part in that conversation over that high-importance issue. Every suit is in one color only, but it comes in many different colors, in a variety of fabrics, and they really like the velvet-like fabric!!! Most of the time it shows their bellies, and sometimes it's a huge belly and in some other times it's just a big belly. And that, i must say, is the real Irish culture shock. I apologize for not taking a picture of a girl in her brown or orange velvet-suit, to demonstrate you.
After the gardens, we went to a retail center, and then we went to eat in an Indian restaurant. Since the amazing Diwali was closed for the afternoon, we had to settle for not such a good restaurant, in the Temple Bar area (and that says it all...)
After eating and talking some more about the Israeli and Irish economy, work, stock-market, and this time we all took part, we went home. That day outside lasted 8 hours!

The following week they invited us and another Israeli couple for dinner at their place. That evening we were revealed to some important facts about the Israeli Dubliners.
There are 2 major groups: The Amdocses and the Intels.
The Amdocses are very connected and stay in touch, even organizing events, such as the Israeli independence day they celebrated with BBQ in the park.
The Intels, however, are mostly married to Irish, so they stay among themselves, and don't like to join those get-togethers, or stay in touch with those who doesn't belong to their group.
The rest are somewhat like Dan, who is an only Israeli in their company. That was the situation with the other couple that was invited that evening. Those Israelis are usually familiarize with the others through someone they know (or knew) from Amdocs.

Now I just want to apologize for not writing, again, for such a long time... I feel like I have so many things on my mind when I'm not in a relaxing vacation, and I'm not even in the mood to write and practice my writing.
I promise, again, to try and get over it!
We'll see how it works.

The Southern Feast or How I Spent my Easter Holiday

As I promised, I'll tell you a little bit about our Easter holiday and our trip to the south of Ireland.

We left Dublin at around 12:00, heading south, towards Cork county. As we approached the big city (Cork), the direction road signs became lousier. So we were taking some wrong turns or just not taking the right ones. I must admit- that was no surprise. We were driving and we stopped at the more interesting places on the way. The road lead us to many villages and towns, since the national roads in Ireland goes through the center of each and every one on the way.

When it come to cities, luckily there are the Irish Roundabouts. Ahhh, the magnificent Irish Roundabouts! Now, let me tell you a bit about it: they are quite wide, with 2 or 3 lanes, sometimes there are traffic lights at the enterance and sometimes even along the roundabout.

One of the places we had a stop was a village near Cork, a very touristic one, called Blarney. Why is it so touristic? because it has a castle. One taxi driver told us we should kiss a certain stone at the castle, but he forgot why... Back to Blarney and its castle. So what do they do? Charge 9 euros per adult only to enter the castle and it's gardens. Does that worth it? Don't know. We didn't even hesitate and decided not to pay. 9 is far too much for just another castle that looks exactly the same as other Irish ones.

There was a shopping center pretty close to the castle's entrance. Since it was made especially for the tourists, they sell Irish gifts only. Besides all that, there are many pubs.

Then we continued towards the coast, and this time we passed through another touristic village called Kinsale. It is s supposed to be the culinary capital of something (of Ireland or the county). But we weren't hungry, so we didn't eat there. Which will turn out to be quite a fatal mistake. We continued driving along the coast, tying to find a nice B&B to spend the night. It was around 18:00, and we found a great B&B in a place called Kilbrittain. Don't get too excited, the initial Kil comes from the word 'Cill' in Gaelic, and means Church. Our room's window was facing the Celtic Sea, that will soon merge with the Atlantic Ocean. how Amazing was that! An hour or so later we started to feel hungry, so we got into the car and drove to the near village, and then to another one, only to discover all the restaurants are closed. Even the hotel's restaurant was closed. Then it hit us! It was Good Friday! Easter! We already knew the poor Irish are not allowed to consume any alcohol that day, but no eating, as well??? Eventually we came across a convenience store, so we ended up eating sandwiches ans dairy. Certainly not the kind of dinner we had on our mind that day. But we are lucky we were able to buy something to eat. By the way, remember the alcohol restrictions that day? We noticed the alcohol shelves at the supermarket were covered by a plastic covers...Sounds familiar?

It's getting too long, so in brief- the next day we were doing the Ring of Kerry, where I took the amazing landscape pics I attached to my previous post. Been to a Natioal Park near Kilarney, a very nice town. Then we drove in a very narrow national road, and again, you can find a related pic in my previous post. Then been to a Village called Kenmare, and this time we ate there, not waiting for the evening hours, affraid we'll stay hungry...

At the late afternoon hours we were in a town called Waterville, because at the east side of it there's a loch, and at the west side there's the Atlantic Ocean. It was a beautiful town, but we decided to driver further mre for a hour or so, and then find a place to sleep. And then we were in Cahersiveen, a disgusting town, with dirty, old and ugly B&Bs, not to mentin the horrible hosts. I'm tellng you so you can learn fom our mistakes. After that we drove for another 30-40km, to the next town, Killorglin. a very nice town, definately unlike the previous one. There we found a very nice B&B- Grove Lodge, with the nicest hosts ever- Delia and Fergus Foley. We enjoyed our staying there. We also ate at a good Indian and Pakistani Restaurant, and we had a long talk with the nicest waiter ever- Manny (NOT to be pronounced like Money!).

The day after we were heading back home, had a stop in Kilkenny, the town where you can smell the beer in the streets. Probably becaue of the tens of pubs over there (and only 2 or 3 restaurants). Oh, and there's a castle as well.

By 20:30 we were home, so tired and exhausted, thinking we have 36 hours until tuesday morning, which means 36 hours to relax, sleep, watch TV and eat, without even leaving the house.

But we were sooooo wronge......

The One and Only Ireland

The Last few days Dan and I were exploring Ireland, the country where in addition to the Careful, Children Crossing road sign, you can see Cattle Crossing, Causion Cross Wind and Leprechaun Crossing road signs.

The country that in addition to the gazelle and cow road signs, you can find a road sign that from a distance looks like the Puma logo (but actually notifies the driver of a merging road)...
The only country where you can smell the beer in the outside fresh air and find empty beer-cans thrown at the national road in the middle of nowhere, and still find a sign such as this:

The country where you can find an advertisment sign for Castle for Rent, a place called Kilbritain, and a chain of islands called after the cattle family (The Bull, The Cow and The Calf)...

The country where you can find a roadkill every 1000 meters and sometimes even every 100 meters. Mostly foxes and crows, yes I actually did mean crows, but also other kinds of birds and badgers (and no, I didn't even think about taking a picture of it...).

The only country where you can find yourself on a national road such as this,

and find that the maximum speed allowed is 100 km per hour.

But also the only country where you can find that kind of breath-taking landscapes.

More about our Easter holiday, in my next post.

Ode to the North

Last Monday-Tuesday we've been to Northern Ireland. The place where Pind (sounds almost like pint that ends with a D, but still, not exactly) is actually Pound (the currency).

Dan had to be at a place called Banbridge, for some meetings. Luckily, he rented a car on the company's expense, so I joined him. I've decided that while he's on his meetings, I'll go to Belfast. I did some checking on the internet, and it took me 15 minutes until I found a proper website to check whether there's a bus or a train from Banbridge to Belfast. They should do some major upgrade works on their SEO... I discovered that there's a direct bus, Ulsterbus, line no. 38 or 238 or 238a to Belfast, every 20-30 minutes. I was afraid it was too good to be true, and hoping that the internet search doesn't necessarily say anything about their service.

Well, the bus was exactly on time, every time! And it's surprisingly good, considering the fact that it arrives from Newry.

I don't know whether there was a vacation from school those days, but there were many teenagers at the lawn of the city hall in Belfast. Seems like they all fancy the Gothic look: dark black hair, dark cloths. They all look the same. The girls wear too much make-up powder at that age, and the shade usually doesn't fit their skin colour. When they'll grow up, it doesn't matter whether they'll keep the gothic look, they'll add some tan to it. Yeah, many Irish women (haven't see tanned men, yet) put some kind of lotion that makes their skin look tanned. But it seems like they put it on their lags and their faces only, so when it's extremely hot, like these last few day, so many girls wearing t-shirts and skirts, uncover their extremely white, untanned hands (compared to their faces or legs).

By the way, after that, they'll probably get pregnant, have kids and that's it...

Except the city hall I went to the Belfast Castle, just to discover that except for the great view from up the hill, there are 2 rooms to be seen by the public, and the rest of that pretty huge castle is used for conferences and weddings... It all explains why they don't charge to enter the castle.
The most interesting thing was a neighbourhood where walls at the end of each block is painted, and it all been kept from the time of The Troubles. I took many pictures over there, and there were some more, but I didn't have the time to stay there, I had to go back to Banbridge, and then back to Dublin. I give you a quick glimpse. If you wish to see some more, just email me.

It was a nice place to visit, Belfast, but certainly not a must.

And now, for the first time, I going to use my blog to say hey to Jeremy, the taxi driver from Banbridge. We had a nice, long chat when he was taking me from the hotel we were staying, just outside of Banbridge, to the town center, to catch the bus to Belfast. I'm quite sure he doesn't read my blog, but still... I hope you enjoyed the Chelsea-Valencia match yesterday (He flew to London for the match!). And please, next time you drive with an Israeli, I think it's pretty stupid to ask whether it's safe living there... You're from Northern Ireland, you must know that what's on the media is quite different from the real, everyday life.

Tomorrow is Good Friday, and the following Monday is Easter Monday. What better reason do we have to go out of the city for few days? This time we go to the south, and when we're back, I'll update you, of course ( who else???)

Some Cricket Facts

Here are 10 things I learned about Cricket last Friday.
Please note: The additional info is based on my own knowledge and the opinions that are stated are my own and does not indicate anything else but my thoughts:

1. It happens once in 4 years: Cricket World Championship. The first one was at 1975, in England. By the way, it was The West Indies who took the championship. They also won the following Championship. But it stopped there.

2. This year it take place in Guyana, South America. I am almost certain Guyana was once a colony. Next to Guyana lies Suriname, An Ex-Colony of the Netherlands. At first Suriname was a British colony and New York was a Dutch colony. There were loads of gold in Suriname, the Dutch knew it but the British didn't. That's why the Netherlands offered Britain a swap, and they agreed.

3. Many Ex-Colonies are participating at the Cricket World Championship: India, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Zimbabwe, The West Indies (Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad etc.) Australia, New Zealand, Ireland. Some of the mentioned above suffered, were exploited and abused more than others.

4. England, the biggest imperialist country ever, have never won the championship, though getting into the final for 3 times. How ironic.

5. The referees are dressed like colonialists.

6. Surprisingly, Pakistan lost to Ireland at the first stage of the games, and is out of the competition. Less than 24 hours after their defeat, the Pakistan coach, Bob Woolmer, who's actually an Ex-English-Cricket Player, was found unconscious in his hotel room. It is suspected he was actually poisoned and was strangled, which caused his death. The case in being investigated by the Guyana or the Jamaican police (It was unclear by the article I read...).

7. The match I was watching at Dublin Airport was between Ireland and England. Unfortunately, England won.

8. About the game itself: In the Cricket World Championship, a match will last 1 whole day (8 hours in total). The Non-World Championship match will last few days!!!
It's pretty much like Baseball: there are a bat and a ball, but it shaped different than the baseball ones.
There are two teams that are playing against each other, of course. One team is at the field, while the other one is hitting the ball and tries to gain as many runs as possible.

9. For further information go to www.cricinfo.com or at their world cup website http://uk.cricinfo.com/worldcup2007

10. So for those of you who used to think like me that cricket is boring: Think Again!
I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

The Saga of Dublin Airport

Well, I have just landed at the Dublin Airport, where I'm supposed to meet Dan. Yeah, yeah, he had to go on a business trip and was supposed to land at 19:00, 2 hours after my plane lands. I decided I'll wait for him at the airport.
Well, nothing is supposed to work as planned, so when I landed I called Dan, and he told me there'll be a delay, and he'll probably land at 20:00!!! I knew something like that would happen! Why couldn't my flight be delayed??I just hope nothing else will occur out of the blue...

Well, at first I was thinking to go to the city, put my suitcase (which is quite big to travel the city with) at a luggage deposit, but at the tourist info i was told that there are 2 places in Dublin where I can deposit it, but they are both quite far from the area where Dan lives and from the more interesting parts of Dublin. So I decided to stay at the airport. And what can be better than writing my next post at the airport? So that's why I'm sitting down at the airport under the Meeting Point sign, my dear suitcase is next to me, and I write everything in my cool 888.com notebook.

It's 18:25. I have 1.5 hours left. If I find nothing better to do, this might be a very long post. Talking on the phone could be nice, but expensive- almost 1$ per minute for incoming calls. and that also means I'll have to convince people to call me... maybe that's not such a good idea after all.

5 minutes have passed.
There are some available Internet access positions, but it costs 1E per 10 minutes! so expensive!
hey, I can also watch and try to understand Cricket. The TV in front of us, the people at the Meeting Point, is on, and there's a cricket match. Everybody around me are quite fascinated by the match between Ireland and England.
Another 5 minutes have passed. It's going to be soooo long... That post.
Hey, I've got a wonderful idea! I'll go to the tourist info and get some ideas for Monday- Tuesday.When I come back, I'll explain.

Well, I'm back, after spending 20 minutes at the line, so that the nice lady at the tourist info would tell me that she has no info about Northern Ireland, and she gave me the address of the tourist info in Belfast (for Or's Travels Advice- near the Jury Hotel, at Royal Avenue. Hey! you've earned a free link! You lucky bitch!).
after that I bought a bottle of water, drank some, ate my last sandwich from this morning, yes, it was delicious, and no, I suppose (I use that word so much. I think, or even better- I suppose I'll have it as a label) it wasn't spoiled. After that I drank some more, and my mom called, so now I have 40 minutes left!

Ohh, No!!! I now look at the board, and his light will land at 20:10! that means I have to wait another 15 minutes!!
So now the countdown is 55 minutes.
OK. So now I have the time to tell you all ( all of my 3 frequent readers) what's on for Monday. Dan has to go to Northern Ireland for a business trip, by a rented car. I'll join him. At first I was terrified, I thought he was supposed to go to London or some other place in England, and I'll have lose 2 days with him (If I want to join him that means we'll have to book myself a flight, too expensive. And besides, there's always the chance there are no available seats on the flight). So he has to go to a place called Banbridge, and it's quite close to Belfast, so I'll take a bus there, or Dan will drop me there. I better not drive the car, unless I'm in the mood for an accident. I'm sure I'll find what to do and where to go there.

There's a couple in their mid-20's sitting next to me. they are fighting and laughing like 5 years old... What's wrong with you people??? (Dear Ellen, this one is for you!)

So now I have 40 minutes left, I filled 3 pages in my cool 888.com notebook, and I still have to type it later on today. So I think I'll watch Cricket after all, and keep you updated in what I've learned about it in my next post.

Dublin, here I come!

I know it has been a long time, and I apologize for that. Do I have readers that are impatiently waiting for my next post? Don’t think so, but, let it be…

In the meantime I've got tickets to Dublin for tomorrow!!! I fly via Frankfurt and its horrible airport. Or at least terminal C. I gave Or the idea of a contest: the most disgusting airport terminal in Europe.

I keep bugging her about it, but she didn’t do anything yet.

I have pics of Frankfurt and the Heathrow domestic flights terminal. They both make the waiting unbearable.

Well, just try to avoid that terminal if possible.

Anyway, that's what I wanted to tell you all. I'll update you with some of my adventures in Dublin (and Ireland). I promiss it won't take that long until I publish my next post!

Ciao