gwayh

[gwayh]

Final Scone Count and Exciting News

Okay first, I forgot to ever share my final scone count!!!!! How could I have forgotten such an important part of being an au pair? Drum roll please!

Final Scone Count Homemade: 25 Bought: 38

But in all seriousness, I’m so excited to share that I’m going back to visit! In just 3 weeks and a day, I’ll be on the way to Ireland with my mom (and my aunt who we’ll be meeting up with in Dublin) to visit my host family and see a few sights!

I’m not entirely sure why I didn’t feel like sharing this news sooner. I think it felt so wonderful and exciting and unreal that I kind of just wanted to hug that feeling close to my chest for as long as possible. I’m honestly so overjoyed that things happened to work out to allow this to happen that I want to cry pretty much every time I think about what it will be like being back in Ireland. Being able to share some of what I experienced with my mom means so much to me; I don’t know how many times I was silently thinking “OH! I wish my mom could see this!” while I was adventuring around Ireland, and I’d love to introduce her to my lovely host parents and little MJ and baby A.

Pictures and posts about this little adventure to come of course! And I’ve been thinking I might start sharing any little trips I go on. I may not have the money or time to travel the world at the moment, but I can make little day trips and overnight trips here and there, and I wanted this to begin as an au pair blog but become more of a travel blog when I started it. So there’s that to look forward to as well, if you’d like to stay tuned! :D

[gwayh]

Homecoming and Goodbyes

I’ve put this off for way too long, but it’s so hard to put 9 months worth of experiences into a final blog post. I could go on and on, and do plan to occasionally still post things here. Not just about being an au pair, but just of my travels and experiences in general. But I hadn’t been able to figure out what to say, and it’s hard to face the end of something so pivotal in my life. I mean, how do I explain how I feel about saying goodbye and coming home when I can’t even fully comprehend how I feel about it myself?

I was equally excited about coming home and heartbroken about leaving. Coming home felt like the second best Christmas present of my entire life (it’s hard to beat getting a kitten that looked exactly like you wanted from Santa when you were 5, okay...). As the plane crossed the border over California and soared past the beautiful Sierra Nevada's, I cried because I was finally home. The second I was off the plane I raced through the airport, trying to see through walls because I knew my family was waiting, opting to lug my carry-on suitcase up a huge flight of stairs because the escalators were hellishly slow and I wasn’t about to let them slow me down from being reunited with my mom’s arms. I was on such a high from that long anticipated hug that I managed to stay up for 24 hours straight no problem (not that it helped the jetlag much... it took about a week to get back to California time).

But saying goodbye? That was one of the hardest things I’ve done. Leaving home was incredibly hard, but I knew I’d be back. There’s no certainty that I’ll ever get to go back to Ireland or see my host family in person again, and that uncertainty is crushing. I left a piece of my heart with them. I don’t think I’ll ever forget hugging MJ one last time and watching her little face in the window as she waved until I couldn’t see her anymore. Or how suddenly I was on the bus, having just hugged my host mom goodbye, and having no clue how March had turned into December so quickly when some of the days to get to it had felt so long.

To be honest, I was also nervous to come home. I had been away for so long, and changed in a lot of ways, I wasn’t sure how I’d fit back into my old life. In fact, I’m still trying to figure that out. But I grew a lot in Ireland. I experienced a lot in Ireland. So much more than I ever managed to get into writing on this blog. And one of the biggest lessons I think I took away from everything was how to embrace every day, no matter what it brings, and, wherever I go, how to go with my all my heart.

[gwayh]

I got home a week ago and I do plan to write a kind of final au pair blog about going home and my experience and all that! I’ve just been jetlagged and busy doing holiday things with friends and family, and honestly there’s so much to see and do at home that I haven’t been much inclined to sit at a computer. But it IS coming! Promise! :D

Hope everyone’s holidays were wonderful, and happy new year!

[gwayh]

WHOA! Actual evidence of me in Ireland? Crazy!

I don’t have a ton of photos that I’m actually in... I was too busy being behind the camera, I guess. But those first 2 are from May, when I was with my first host family, out at the local pub with the other au pairs in the area, and at Giant’s Causeway. The other 3 are from the cool bus cafe we ate in after surfing, the Ring of Kerry, and the Dingle Peninsula.

I’m not super great at posing for photos when a stranger is taking them, so there aren’t a lot and I don’t like most of them, but I know my family will appreciate actually seeing me in a few photos. :)

[gwayh]

Thanksgiving

Sooo, I started a blog ON Thanksgiving, but I just haven’t been feeling the whole writing thing lately, and it didn’t help that I was sick and just kind of accomplished nothing all weekend. But I’m sure you can imagine how much I have to be thankful for, what with having a great host family and getting to live in and explore Ireland this year, right? I’m sure I’ll having something a lot nicer and more eloquent to say when I get back home and reflect on everything, but at the moment I can’t find those words. :/

I don’t think I’ve actually shared any pictures around Youghal, where I’m living, but it’s a beautiful medieval town by a river and the sea, and I thought this would be a nice post to share them on. :)

Anyways, for Thanksgiving, my host dad was actually away all day on a trip to the nearest (only?) Ikea (3 hours away in Dublin), so my host mom and I tackled watching a baby and toddler and cooking dinner and dessert. It was mostly successful! She made a wonderful, perfectly cooked turkey (her first time cooking one, too), mashed potatoes, and maple roasted carrots and parsnips. I made a potato gratin and green beans (with almonds, garlic, and bacon). And then she made a strawberry apple crumble and I made a pumpkin pie. Honestly, the pumpkin pie was the only thing that wasn’t great. I’ve never made it before, and I was making it completely from scratch. I was so sure I had ruined the filling, but it actually turned out pretty good. What didn’t turn out good was the pie crust. It might as well have been a rock. :( I’m kind of ashamed because I learned how to make a fantastic pie crust from my mom and this is the first time I’ve totally botched it, but oh well. Live and learn.

I thought it was really nice of my host mom to put all the work into making a Thanksgiving dinner for me when it was just 3 adults and a toddler. And I really appreciated keeping busy so I didn’t have time to be too sad about missing out on my family Thanksgivings back home. But I got to briefly skype both sides of the family and say hi to everyone, so that was really nice!

Now I have just 3 weeks until I fly home! It’s really surreal, honestly. Like I know I have very little time left, but I think until I’m on the plane it won’t feel real, just like coming to Ireland didn’t feel real until I was actually on the way. But the countdown is officially on! :D

[gwayh]

Thought this was pretty accurate. Haha!

Being an au pair is wild like someone was like hey I have three young kids you know what’s missing? A confused 20-something year old

[gwayh]

Dave Matthews Band in Dublin

On Friday the 13th I went to Dublin to see Dave Matthews. It was an unnecessarily long day. My host dad said he’d drop me off in Cork to get the bus to Dublin on his way to work, told me to be ready at 6:15, and then overslept. I just missed the bus and had to wait an hour for the next one. It wasn’t so bad, but I was like, man, I could have slept longer. :/

So once I got there, I had something to eat and made my way to my hotel to see if they’d hold my suitcase for me (it was too early to check in) so that I could do some Christmas shopping. Shopping was a success and then some. I kind of bought a couple things for myself I didn’t plan on... oops. I got a long sleeve shirt awhile back that I LOVE, so I went with the intentions of buying it in another color, which I did. But it was a really cold day and I forgot a scarf, so I kind of bought one... And then out of the corner of my eye I was like, oh Harry Potter clothes! Too bad they never have Hufflepuff. And then! THEN! They DID! There was this super cute Hufflepuff tshirt so I had to buy it. Yes, had to. Never mind that I already have tons of stuff that I need to get home. The Hufflepuff shirt was a necessity, okay. So was “Liam the Lamb,” this little stuffed lamb on a sting with a suction cup (he lives on my mirror right now). There are just certain things a girl needs in life.

Anyways... I went and checked in, got ready for the concert, and headed out to get some dinner. I had this really cool pizza! It was a lower calorie option, with thin crispy crust, and a hole cut out of the middle and filled with a salad. I went with this option for the sole purpose of feeling less guilty about then ordering dessert (I think I confuse people at restaurants a lot with this kind of behavior; they always seem a bit taken aback when I order dessert. That and ordering a veggie burger with bacon on it...). I got these little baked dough balls that had cinnamon and sugar on them and came with like a vanilla buttercream frosting to dip them in, and they were amazing!

So then I went to the concert, and it was super good, but like... long. Which would normally be great, except I was exhausted and feeling rather overstimulated by the noise and the lights. Also, things that would have made it better: not sitting behind a freakishly tall guy (no really, when we both stood up he was still taller than me despite being in the row below me), and a little less jamming. Like, the musicians are all phenomenal, and it was cool, but they didn’t play any of my favorite songs, and I just felt like they could have played more songs if they hadn’t added on several minutes of jamming after each song would normally end. Also, their guy who plays saxophone had a flute out on stage that he never used and I was super disappointed about that. What was really cool, was that there was a super nice Irish couple sitting next to me and we chatted for awhile before the show started. They have a 14 year old daughter, and were noting how I was kind of young for Dave Matthews, so partway through the concert they kind of parented me a bit. They asked if they could get me anything to drink, even water or lemonade or something, and I said no thank you. Well, the guy came back with a water bottle for me anyways. :) It was really sweet.

And then one last awesome thing: after the concert I was headed back when I walked past a ticket laying on the ground. I was a bit mad at myself for not having a real ticket shipped to me, and instead opting to print my ticket out on regular paper because it meant I wouldn’t have any sort of little souvenir from the show. So I passed this real ticket by and then was like, no, you know what. I’m going to go pick that up. So now I do have a little souvenir to go with all my other tickets and stuff from things I’ve done and seen in Ireland! :D

And, real quick because this ended up kind of long, I know I haven’t shared pictures in quite awhile. I haven't gone on any super picturesque trips, but I do have a boatload of pictures just from around town and ones that are more of snapshots, so I may try to share some of those soon. :)

[gwayh]

Jealousy

This has actually been a lot harder to write than I expected it to be, and I think that’s largely due to the fact that I haven’t gone into detail much about the negative things that have happened in my time abroad. I don’t think it’s right to drag anyone else into my blogs in a negative light even anonymously, and I try to always see the good in situations, so even when I do share negative things, I tend to slant them in a more positive light. But something I’ve thought about a lot while I’ve been in Ireland is jealousy. People back home have said they’re jealous of me many times, and having been on the other end of things, sitting at home wishing I could be doing what someone else was doing, I understand completely. But being an au pair in Ireland for nearly 8 months now (!!!!!) has given me a completely different perspective.

The truth is, sometimes I’m jealous too.

I’ve missed out on things back home because I'm thousands of miles away. Weddings, and parties, holidays and fun events. Spending time with family and friends. (Mexican food...) There have been plenty of moments where I felt that familiar pang of jealous longing. I think no matter where you are in the world, no matter what you’re doing, or how great a time you might be having, there will always be those moments of jealousy. Moments of longing to be somewhere else, to be doing something else.

The grass may quite literally be greener in Ireland than it is in California, but really there are pros and cons to being in both places. So while you might be at home looking at my pictures, reading my blog, wishing you could be out there in the big wide world doing something you’ve always dreamed of doing, remember that there’s a lot to be thankful for right where you are that you could very well miss out on if you were off adventuring. :)

[gwayh]

Waterford

So I’m finally getting around to writing this because there’s actually another blog I want to write, but I felt like I couldn’t until I did this one... Another blog will be up soon, although it’s not about any specific adventure.

Anyways. Waterford! The whole bus ride into Waterford, the sky out over the ocean was doing amazing beautiful things I’ve never seen it do before and will likely never see again.... and I couldn’t get pictures because I was sitting on the wrong side of the bus. :( Over Ireland it was overcast, but out over the water there were these pillars of clouds tinted pink and coral, and the rest of the sky was hazy and yellow, and it was being framed by the clouds over the land, and there were rays of light streaming through and it just looked so unreal. I kept waiting for it to disappear, but it stayed for pretty much the entire hour and a half bus ride.

In Waterford itself, I wandered around the city center a bit, and did some perusing in the shops there without actually buying anything because I knew I’d be spending some money later... I also went to the Medieval Museum, which was full of fascinating items and such from different time periods, and had tons of information on the history of the town (Waterford, like Youghal, was a walled medieval town, and parts of the wall still exist). My favorite room by far though, was this room with these embroidered vestments. The details were just so ridiculous, I could have stared at them for hours!

Speaking of things I could have stared at for hours... I went to the Waterford Crystal factory, and the shop! Oh gosh, I spent waaaaay too long in the shop. (And way too much money...) Everything is just so exquisite and shiny and crafted to such perfection! I went on the factory tour, and you get to see the whole process. Making the wooden molds for the different objects, Blowing glass and cooling it in the molds, marking it to be cut, the actual cutting of the designs, and the etching and engraving. It was really fascinating.

I’m glad I went to Waterford. I wasn’t sure if I was going to go earlier in the year, but there’s some really great things to check out there (also, pro tip if you find yourself craving a sweet treat in Waterford, the crystal factory has the most ridiculous array of desserts to choose from.... just saying). I’ll get around to sharing some pictures eventually! Just, probably after I write that other blog.

[gwayh]

Just stopped MJ from eating a slug... definitely one of the grossest things I've prevented her from eating...

[gwayh]

Dingle Peninsula Tour

Sorry if this isn’t terribly well written. I’m having the worst time trying to focus. But anyways, an evening in Cork and Dingle Tour attempt number 2, which was thankfully a success!

I stayed in a hotel rather than a hostel because it was so last minute all of the hostels were booked. BUT, I scored an adorable little budget single room, got creative and used the electric kettle to make porridge I’d brought from home, and almost enjoyed dinner at the hotel’s adjoined fancy restaurant (Greenes Restaurant), complete with a waterfall. I decided against it in the end because the menu was so stuffy and posh that literally nothing on it appealed to me (okay, well dessert was appealing, but I was looking for dinner…), and I’ve gotten quite adventurous about my food choices here, so… Instead! Instead, I went to a “Mexican” food restaurant. The food was really good, but as a native Californian, their menu was absolutely hilarious. There wasn’t really anything authentic about their food, though they did seem to be trying their best… kind of. Potato and bacon were a filling choice for tacos and burritos. They had chimichangas under the traditional dishes section. They had the pronunciation for fajitas, but ONLY for fajitas. Nothing else. And those are only a few of the gems.

SO. On to the next day and the tour. The bus drivers on tours always have fascinating stories and bits of history to share. I don’t really love bus tours; I’d much rather explore on my own time. But the extra information and entertainment is kind of nice. The tour stopped in Killarney, which despite being there 3 times now, I haven’t really had the chance to explore. I got to actually walk around a bit this time, but being a Sunday morning, nothing was really open. I’d love to spend a weekend there at some point. We’ll see.

We went on toward the peninsula after that, and made a stop at Inch Beach, famous for being used in several films, most of which I had never heard of because I’m definitely not a film buff. The sun was out, and it was a ridiculously hazy day (I seriously have the worst luck with that...) making it blindingly bright, so it was hard to see for myself just how long the beach is, but it’s said to be around 3 miles long.

Next we headed on and passed through Dingle to adventure out onto Slea Head Drive. The road loops around the end of the peninsula, and has some spectacular views of the rugged landscape, and the Blasket Islands. It’s a terrifying road, honestly. I mean, most Irish roads are, but narrow, winding road along cliffs in a tour bus definitely brings it to the next level. As always in Ireland, there’s plenty of amazing archaeological sites just chilling on people’s private property. Obviously people have been around for hundreds of thousands of years, but to have those physical reminders right there in someone’s back garden is so surreal to me. We made a stop at the stunning Coumeenole Beach before finishing off the loop and stopping for lunch in Dingle.

Now, when we first passed through, I spotted an aquarium, so when we got back and I had a little over an hour to get lunch and check out the town, did I walk through the town like everyone else? Nope. I can’t resist animals, or stuffed animals (aquariums and zoos always have the best selection). I went to the aquarium of course! I learned that I’m really spoiled, having been to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, though. It was a nice little aquarium, but it just wasn’t Monterey’s. I got my animals fix in though, and bought a cute little stuffed walrus, before booking it back to the main part of Dingle to get something to eat before I ran out of time.

The rest of the tour was just heading back to Cork, but it was great to get to see another area of Ireland. The Dingle Peninsula certainly has it’s own unique rugged beauty. I’m glad my tour wasn’t cancelled this time. :)

[gwayh]

We were just talking about how MJ is so dramatic she’ll be an actress. Or maybe a dancer, because she’s always dancing. And I was sitting there thinking, oh man. It would be so weird if she became famous for something. I’d be like, oh yeah, I know her. I changed her dirty nappies...

[gwayh]

Quick Update

MJ reached for my phone with apple juice from the apple she's eating all over her hands, so I told her no touching because your hands are sticky. She backed up, gave me the biggest frown, and walked over to the nearest object, a chair, and slapped her hands onto it all while glaring over her shoulder at me. I was like ...I just meant my phone... She's been doing some serious testing like that lately. Doing what you said not to do, or doing something she thinks you don't want her doing in plain view to see how you'll react. Also, more adorable developments: she's decided cars are called beep beeps, and when she says "I don't know," it comes out more as one word that sounds like I-nn-know. :) In other news, I made it to Dingle! The bus tour wasn't canceled this time! Blog and photos coming soon, though it might be delayed a bit; I think I'm going to try to get to Waterford this weekend on one of my days off while the weather is still decent.

[gwayh]

Sorry this got a bit long, and sorry for only having cell phone pictures, but anyways:

Killing Time In Cork And The Coolest Walk!

So I had Wednesday and Thursday off, and I thought I’d go on a bus tour to Dingle peninsula. The thing is, it leaves at 8:30 in the morning and the soonest I could get into Cork by bus would have been 8:25, IF the bus was perfectly on time. Definitely not going to work. But with 2 days off, I figured why not stay in the city overnight and go Thursday? So I booked a hostel, and on Wednesday my host dad was going to the city so he dropped me off around noon.

Most of Wednesday was walking around, shopping and learning the layout of the city center better (or, you know, looking for that one shop and only knowing vaguely where it is and just wandering up and down streets until I found it rather than checking a map or asking for directions...). I discovered that the autumn/winter clothes here are pretty much warm fuzzy heaven to me. All of the thick fuzzy socks and leggings and jumpers and scarfs you can imagine. I mean, there’s some of that at home, but not to the same degree as there is here. You’d never find magnificently thick fuzzy tall wellie socks in California, okay. I also found a chocolate place to rival Butler’s. I’ll have to go back. They have even more options for hot chocolate than what Butler’s offers!

I also killed some time by getting a tattoo. I really wanted to get something in Ireland, but the idea I originally came up with ended up being a super special mother daughter tattoo, and I’m waiting until I get home to get it for several reasons. But I had been playing around with the idea of a small tattoo, and decided on a little sun, so I walked into a shop and they fit me in in the evening, so I now have my second tattoo. :D

BUT. In the evening I learned that the tour to Dingle had been cancelled. Even though I was really disappointed, I decided to look on the bright side of things. I could now sleep in in the morning, so I went to see a night time showing of The Martian, which was quite good. And in the morning I treated myself to a lovely breakfast.

I headed back to Youghal after checking out of the hostel, and after unpacking, went out to buy an ice cream because it was a beautiful warm sunny day, if a bit windy. I only intended to go look out at the water for a minute before heading back, but the water was SO far out that I had to go check it out! I had never seen the tide so low before! Youghal is along the mouth of a river, so imagine the town and land is kind of L shaped. The main town is along the river, and there are several small beaches before a lighthouse, and the other part of the L, where there’s a very long beach along the sea. When the tide is in, the little beaches are very much separate, but the tide was so far out I walked all the way from the first one around to the main beach along the sea.

The rocks and the way the water was draining down parts of the beach in rivulets were making me kick myself for not bringing my camera, but I hadn’t exactly planned on the walk. I used my cell phone to get a few pictures, but I mostly just enjoyed the walk. AND! I found this super cool cave that I didn’t even know existed! I’ll have to try and keep an eye out for another really low tide so I can go take proper pictures, although to be honest caves freak me out a bit.

So after enjoying putting my tired feet into the water for a bit, I started to slowly make my way back, clamoring over rocks to look at the tide pools you can’t often get to, when this man called out to me. He was asking me a if I was looking for William Perrot. I was so confused at first, and just said no, I’m just looking at tide pools. He apologized, and said that a lot of people come out here looking for William, so he thought that was what I was doing. I’m like okay. Old Irish guy, right? He’s probably taking the piss out of me, as the Irish would say. But it turns out he totally wasn’t (Well, maybe a bit. He could have said straight off that it was a carved name instead of acting like he meant an actual person...). He showed me where it was, and told me the story. Apparently in 1933, William Perrot, a Welsh man, either fell or jumped (no one really knows) from the ship he worked on as a cabin boy and drowned. After the funeral, his brother came and carved his name into the rock, and it’s still there nearly 100 years later.

So my totally unplanned walk led to some cool discoveries, along with just being a lovely long walk on the beach on what will probably be one of the last warm sunny days of the year. I’m disappointed that I didn’t get to Dingle, and I’m still hoping to even if the weather probably won’t be nearly as nice when I get the chance to go. But if I had gone, I would have missed out on the movie, a nice breakfast, and the coolest walk I’ve had in Youghal (and there are some cool places to walk around a once walled in medieval town).

[gwayh]

Fun Story Guys! :D

So MJ has a sore bum, and her grandma was going to take her nappy off for a while, but realized that it was dirty. I offered to go change it and her clothes because it had leaked. Once I finish I set her down and get pants and a nappy to bring down with us, and she runs off while I do so. I go to find her, and as I get to the bedroom she's in she starts crying because she's closed herself in the bathroom and doesn't know how to open the door yet. I open it and am greeted by a lovely surprise: she's also crying because she's just pooped on the floor. That dirty nappy I just changed was recent too. :[ Oooh, but it gets better. I cleaned up, and we go back down, and she's playing for maybe 5 minutes when she starts going "Poo! Poo!" Her mom and grandma think she's just saying that she went poo earlier... And then she promptly poops all over her leg and the carpet. Positivite of the situation: she knew and tried to tell us what was going to happen the second time. We haven't started any potty training yet, so her being aware is great. Also, she started saying both "poo" and "nappy" today. Negative besides the obvious: she now keeps whining and crying and grabbing at her nappy going "Poo! Nappy! Poo!" even when she's completely clean...

[gwayh]

Blarney Castle and Gardens

Soooo, Tuesday I was dropped off in Cork by my host dad on his way to visit my host mom and the new baby in the hospital. I went and grabbed a timetable for the bus route to Blarney. It said the next bus was at 1:30, and at the time is was only 12:30, so I headed to my favorite place to eat in Cork, CoMix Bistro (Granted, I’ve only eaten at 3 places. I keep coming back to this same bistro...). So I head back to the bus station after lunch, thinking I’ll just read while I wait for the bus, but then there’s a bus at the gate for 1:04 that is listed nowhere on the timetable or the big screens with bus schedules inside the station. I walked up literally 2 minutes before this bus was leaving. Perfect timing. AND. The bus to Blarney is a double decker bus! I got to sit on top in the very front row both going to Blarney and returning. It was my first time on a double decker, and while the branches hitting the bus were incredibly loud, the view was great.

I know everyone knows Blarney for the castle and the stone, but I was super excited to see the gardens. The trails went on for ages and meandered all over the place. Everything was so incredibly beautiful, not that I expect any less from Ireland at this point. I was a bit disappointed that I didn’t get to see everything because I had to be back by a certain time, but I did get to see a lot. The castle itself is your pretty typical old castle. Cold, dark, absolutely amazing when you imagine the limited technology and tools when it was built, but also a little scary to be walking through when you think of that... Narrow spiral staircases take you up to the top, the last several steps so tiny less than half my foot fit on them. But the views from the top if you peak over the walls were fabulous!

I passed on the stone. I personally think it’s a good bit of blarney that the Irish have convinced tourists it has powers, and had no desire to kiss a stone thousands have also kissed...

I might go back at some point to see the rest of the grounds. But I’m glad to have seen what I did see if I don’t end up going back. I definitely recommend going if you ever find yourself in Ireland, and even slowly making your way up the castle stairs (there was a pretty long queue even on an off-season weekday). You can decide for yourself if you want to kiss the Blarney stone, though. :)

[gwayh]

MJ was watching Frozen, and at the end of the song Love Is An Open Door, when Anna says yes to marrying Hans, MJ goes “YES!” And she turns around and walks toward me, very excitedly going “YES! YES! YES!” She gets to where I’m sitting, stops, very gently rests her hand on my knee, solemnly looks up, and says in the gravest voice I’ve ever heard out of a toddler “Yes,” before turning away to watch the movie again. I’m not sure exactly what happened there, but it was pretty hilarious.