Canada – Being Back

If you follow my blog, you know I left Ireland in January. I have been back in Canada since mid January, and back in Alberta since January 21st. I wish I could say it has been an easy transition, but no new adventure is without its challenges, and this is no different. A friend in...

Goodbye Ireland!

Some of you may already know, and some of you will be finding this out now. I am leaving Ireland. I'm sitting at the airport now, writing this. It'll be a few stops to different cities before being back home, but today is the day I leave Ireland: exactly two years after landing here. In...

Love. Hug. Listen. Believe.

There are some days that help to put others into perspective. Yesterday was one of those days. I had an appointment in the late morning which required me to take a bus to get to. I left the house early so that I could spend some time in the park quietly reading before getting the...

Blarney Castle and Its Famous Stone

Hey! You! Yeah, you! Do you have the gift of the gab? Can you sweet talk you way into a date, out of a speeding ticket? Are you the person who can keep the crowd laughing or the one who can diffuse a fight just by using eloquence and having a good command of your...

Good at Goodbyes

Last week, I said goodbye to my closest friend here in Cork. Calla returned to New York after her visa here timed out. I am very sad that I won't be meeting up with her at the grocery store, or sitting down for tea or going for a couple of pints. Mostly I will miss...

R-Ra-Wra-Ra-Wrap up!

In junior high, I had a social studies teacher who tried to teach us some revision skills. He would help us make "Aide-mémoires". Essentially, writing out your notes and reducing and reducing until one line can remind you of an entire chapter kinda thing. He used to do the revision sessions with a 'record-scratch' "Wrap...

Repeal.

This post will likely ruffle some feathers, and frankly, I don't care. There are some topics that are a taboo discussion topic. The ones you're not supposed to bring up at the dinner table. This is one of them. Abortion. A couple of days after I got to Ireland in January 2017, I was approached...

A Canadian Surprise

Since July, I had been planning a party for my mom's 60th birthday. She definitely wanted to mark the occasion, and I was happy to sort out the structure from here. I recruited some helpers in Canada and we put together a whole day for her. She started the day off with breakfast, then got...

Paris, Part 2

After criss-crossing the streets of Strasbourg, I took a train to Paris where I fought my ailing immune system to go see the sights. I had one full day to spend in Paris before going back to Ireland. Truly, though, all I wanted to do was sleep. I had spent a very very very busy...

Bonjour Paris!

When I went to France, I had one day to check out Paris. I say I had one day, but technically, there was about one day at the beginning of my trip as well as the one full day. Let's call it two and shake on it, ok? I have been to France before. It...