Welcome to Howth

We took about a 20min car ride North of Dublin to a small fishing village named Howth. It is built around a hill that has a beautiful walking trail. The photos don't do it justice.

Wanna stay with us????

These are some photos of where we're staying. We were a little scared when we moved in to say the least but we've since gotten over it.


It turns out that this is where U2's recording studio is and the grafitti is all dedicated to the band. It changes daily as people come to add there devotion to U2.

Week Three

Today marks the beginning of the third week we've lived here. We can see normalcy down the road but it still feels like anything but. I survived my first week of work which was mainly days filled with orientation, etc. and I have hope that I'll actually start doing my job by Friday. It is tough being away from everything and everyone we know and can't wait to start having visitors. We really need to find our own apartment soon so we can get out of our suitcases, fill our cupboards and refrigerator. We've seen a good portion of the city of Dublin and hopefully we can get out of town this weekend. If we do expect some more pictures soon!

Still Moving

Sorry it took so long to get more pictures up. We were having computer difficulties. The pictures towards the end were taken at Trinity College in the middle of the city center. Enjoy the show!

On a Monday night.

Tonight we went out to dinner in a little town down the street from our hotel. We were eating in a parking lot next to the take out place were we bought our food and a group of 12ish girls walked by and said hi. We replied and the immediately they turned around and asked if we were from America. It is hard to understand the Irish but when you have 6 of them talking to you at the same time it gets really tricky. They wanted to where we were from and it went something like, "Are you from California? I love California...Yeah, it's my favorite country."

We really haven't found anyone who doesn't like Americans yet. Most of them want to know what it's like. They have a lot of American TV and I imagine they want to know if Americans are like they are on the shows. We must be huge disappointments.

Days 3 and 4

We finally made it to the ocean yesterday. We also found out where Bono lives and it is just a short ride on the Dart down the coast. We have found temporary living arrangements which is huge relief so that we can look and find a place that the cats can come to. If we can't we at least have somewhere that we can rent next month. I start work tomorrow morning which would be a little stressful but I think it will be a day of observing and touring around the hospital. It is becoming quite apparent that my days will be quite long and since there is a current pay freeze on overtime (courtesy of socialized medicine) my hours will be "banked" and hopefully I can use them for vacation which we are really looking forward to.

From my perspective.

We have been very fortunate so far. Every Irishman we've met has been more than helpful (save the customs agent at the airport). One old man actually walked up this long hill with us to give directions. He told us that his hips weren't helping...and neither was the beer! Ireland (or at least Dublin) has really become a city of immigrants. It is especially funny to see (or hear) people of different races -especially Asian- speak with an Irish accent.

Finding somewhere to live has been another story. My supervisor has offered us an apartment she owns to rent which is 2bed 1bath in a very nice area and even has a little porch to sit out on. She said her building does not allow pets so we are very torn to say the least (which I'm sure non-pet owners do not understand). We have found someone who will let us live with them for a couple of months until we find something permanent because even that apartment isn't available until October and 2bed apartments in our price range are very hard to find.

Today is the first day that the sun hasn't been out. Yesterday was quite warm actually and with all the walking we do it makes for some sweaty times. We have yet to see one drop of rain - good Irish weather indeed!

First Days

Our first 2 days are in the books. Yesterday we were so exhausted from not being able to sleep on the plane that we spent a good portion of the day in bed. We did get out last night in to town. We took the LUAS which is a light rail and met our first people. A self admitting alcoholic woman that chatted the entire time and a young college student from the Netherlands who was able to hold a much better conversation. We've had several trips on the bus as well. Today we spent most of the day in line, first at the welfare office to get a tax ID number and next to register with the immigration office. It was pretty much a complete waste of the day but a necessary evil. We may also have a 2 bedroom apartment lined up for a couple of months from now in a really nice part of Dublin. We miss everyone very much (especially those little Teeth!). Enjoy the slide show!

Last Night in the Desert

We're just under 12 hours from flying the coup. I got to spend the afternoon with my parents and grandpa which was nice because we won't have the holidays this year. To my parents I want to say thank you for getting me to a place in my life where I feel I have the opportunity to live life to the fullest. To our friends Ryan & Yunuen, Ben & Lis, Caleb, Liam, Phil and many others, thank you for sharing your time and lives with us. You have made our time here rich. We hope to see you all sooner rather than later. Dublin or Bust!