Final Pre-Ireland Post

I am excited this gray, humid Saturday morning, as I lounge in my pajamas in my apartment that is quiet for the first time this week. I almost said anxious instead of excited, but then I heard my Dad’s voice echo in my head: “you’re not nervous, you’re excited.” That line was used before nearly every theatrical, musical, or sports performance during my growing up, and what can I say – it stuck. Now it is sometimes hard for me to discern whether I truly am nervous or excited. Probably because I am usually a combination of both…

Several hours later...

I purchased a form of currency today understand only on a very rudimentary basis. (The most important factor of which, of course, is that the weak dollar is gobbled up in large quantities by the euro. I’m quite sure the Irish are currently pleased with their decision to adopt EU currency.) After a lengthy exchange with the money-changer on the difference between __ euros and __ IN euros (I think I’ll understand the Irish accent better than this guy’s), however, I walked away content.

I then swam (too humid to walk) through Eastern Market en route to CVS for a few last-minute items, and passed hundreds of people who didn’t notice me, either here or gone. Life in DC (or anywhere else, for that matter) will not stop for anyone on my account. I am somewhat disappointed that I am leaving for what at least appears prima facia to be the initial cool-down – or so the weather report tells me. I suppose I will see upon my return.

But the trade-off is that I will know what Irish rain feels like, what Irish coffee tastes like. What a castle built a thousand years before my country was even discovered looks like. Whether there are actually forty shades of green, and what it’s like to talk to people who can remember their nation torn by civil war. To hear Gaelic spoken, not mimicked, and see the sun set from the Cliffs of Moher – a west coast far different from the one I know so well…

Aren’t I already sounding more lyrical and Irish? On the practical front, all bases – I think – are covered. I even remembered the memory card I’d found on the street near the White House nearly a year ago. I put it in my camera to make sure it was usable, and found that the card was actually full of someone else’s pictures from a trip to Universal Studios and a visit to see a new baby. I felt bad deleting them, but the memory space will go to good use. Between the two cards I should have room for nearly 400 pictures. Also, I discovered that Duracell lies. Their “pre-charged” rechargeable batteries aren’t fully charged (humph), but thankfully I thought ahead to check.

And with that, dear friends – with my bag not yet packed, but most everything laid out to go – I bid you adieu, wishing you a lovely beginning to your September, with a promise that many post-trip posts will follow… return of the healthcare reform debate permitting ;)

Slainte!