Alice Sebold and Sinéad O'Connor

Two inspiring women.

Alice Sebold wrote a little book called "The Lovely Bones" that took the literary world by storm -- one of those books that was a word-of-mouth smashing success. What makes the book so unique is its perspective, because it's told from the point of view of a girl who is murdered in the opening chapter...she narrates from heaven as she watches her family deal with the aftermath of her unsolved disappearance and death. While the subject matter is devastating, the writing is wonderful -- fluid and spare.

I went to see Alice Sebold read from her new book last week at a bookstore in Dublin's city centre. The new book is about a woman who kills her mother -- also in the opening chapter. So she doesn't really write cheerful novels... But it was an inspiring evening for me, as I listened to her talk about her writing process. It was fascinating to hear her say that she didn't find the voice of the narrator in Lovely Bones for a couple of years after she'd started writing the book...so I asked her what she did write about, given the importance of that element of the novel. She said she has these obsessions that she writes about and out of the obsession comes the voice and then the rest of the story falls into place. So unusual -- just like her books I guess. Her obsession that created Lovely Bones was about voiceless dead girls, who disappear with their untold stories. And Almost Moon was almost in reaction to the "Hallmark" style portrayal of mother-daughter relationships.

I have no segue to move to Sinéad...:)

I have listened to Sinéad O'Connor since I was 14...I played her album "I do not want what I haven't got" about a million times and found her sad soul-searching songs comforting in those lonely teenage years. "Black Boys on Mopeds" was the first song I ever learned to play on the guitar. I have always loved her voice -- it's so powerful, honest, and emotionally raw.

To see her in her hometown was too good of a chance to pass up, so I headed out last night in the wind and rain and ventured to the city centre to the Olympia theatre. I didn't recognize her when she walked on stage. Dressed in a baggy man's suit with a white collared shirt and clunky shoes, I thought she was a man...one of the band. Watching her made me realize I've only ever really seen her face -- that famous face with huge eyes, perfect skin, and shaved head is all you see on her album covers and videos. I thought her body would match her face and be delicate, feminine -- the reality is that she's surprisingly gawky, awkward, and boyish. She's a bit knock-kneed and kind of duck-footed. For all her years on stage, she's shy to the point of not being able to look directly at the crowd, and dances in a shuffling, self-conscious way.

But that voice, that amazing voice, was all that mattered. And because of the size of her body of work I didn't bother hoping she would play anything from that album I listened to so many years ago, so I was thrilled when she opened with two songs from it, then did three more during the show, and sang a solo acoustic version of "Black Boys on Mopeds" in the encore. Wonderful.

Job, home, and travel news

The past couple of weeks have been pretty up and down for me, which is why I've not been communicating much, but now things feel settled and I feel ready to talk about it! No, it's not really that dramatic, but its just been the most turbulent part of my time here, which is not bad considering the scope of the change in my life.

Anywyay, I was offered a position with a company called Europlex, and I accepted it. This is not the job in the city centre -- I didn't end up having the second interview for that position because the person I needed to have it with was out of town for so long I didn't feel I could defer the offer from the other job for much longer without jeopardizing it. So, rather than risk having no job, I accepted the Europlex offer.

This means I had to move and I was lucky enough to find a place immediately, and it's great. It's a 20 minute walk to work, 5 minutes from a mall that has two supermarkets and everything else you could need, and 10 minutes from a cinema complex. There's also a bus stop practically in front of the house to get to the city centre, and several large parks nearby. I went for a long walk this afternoon to explore them all. Now I just need to find a soccer team to join:)

I live with two others: Sean, who owns the house, and Jenny, who's a renter like me. They're both lovely people, and we get along really well, in that communal living kind of way. I would like to get a bike so I can more easily explore the neighborhoods around me, and just to give myself mobility outside the buses.

So my new address is:
22 Glin Road
Coolock, Dublin 17
Ireland

The job is pretty good so far. Europlex designs complex alarm systems, and since I have no electronics knowledge, it's a pretty steep learning curve, which is fine... My boss is based in the UK, and the first week was hard because I felt pretty alone, but I had a long talk with another guy in the office, who's also sort of my boss, and he said he would step in and give me some direct support, because I really need it at this point in the job. Everyone is very friendly there...there aren't very many women there, but they all get together and have lunch together everyday, so I get some female company then! I'm the only female in the R&D department, but the guys I work with are great -- helpful, friendly, kind. It's a real treat.

Anyway, those are the high-level things. I can't believe what a difference having my job and accommodation settled have made to my state of mind. I feel really happy for the first time since I arrived here. Not that I was unhappy per se, but it's quite stressful to have things up in the air for as long as they've been for me.

My other big news is that I've booked my Christmas holidays!! Europlex has four days of forced holidays over Christmas, which means we have 10 days of holiday time, so, I'm going to visit my cousin Erik, who's my only family this side of the Atlantic, in Israel!!! I'm SO EXCITED. I can't believe I get to go to Israel. Such a fascinating country in so many ways -- historically, geographically, religiously. It will be great to be there with Erik, who's so knowledgeable, and who's fluent in Hebrew.

Anyway, I'll be in touch a little more now that the big things in my life are taken care of. I'm going to London this coming weekend to collect the remainder of my luggage -- and my fiddle! Have to start looking for an instructor:)

Ciao for now, my lovely friends and family.

PS I went to Kilkenny a couple weeks ago and put a few pics up on my Flickr site.

House news and contact info…

So, I’ve found a place to live…and it’s amazing! I started looking last week and it was kind of discouraging, given how competitive housing is right now, but I came to look at this house in Dun Laoghaire (pronounced, believe it or not, Dun Leary), which is a suburb south of Dublin, and decided to take the room.

Dun Laoghaire is relatively far from the city centre, but the DART (like the skytrain) is just a short busride away and then I can take that into the city. And the house just seems worth it… It’s a huge, detached house with so many rooms I’m still discovering some. Its been leased by this great woman named Pamela, who’s a single mother. Her daughter is here with her – a typical 15-year-old who’s horse crazy. There are three other renters, a girl from Germany, a guy from Ireland, and a guy from Poland. So it’s a pretty international house… I have the smallest room, but it’s really nice, and I have a lovely view of the park across the street. There’s tons of common space and the backyard is so amazing – beautifully landscaped with lights, pathways, a small bridge…too bad summer is over...

The address is:
The Hills, 126 Rochestown Ave.
Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin

The only catch to this place is that if I get offered a job in north Dublin, I'll have to move because the commute is unreasonable, but hopefully I'll get offered the other job I'm interviewing for, which is in the city centre and *is* a reasonable commute.

I also have a phone because you can’t really exist here without one. Unfortunately the only network I can send text messages to in Canada is Rogers, and I don’t think I know a single person on Rogers, so we’ll have to stick to email…or to talking to each other:)

My number is: 85 814 8987
To dial from Canada, it’s 1-353-85-814-8987.

Oh, and Ireland is 8 hours ahead of Vancouver, so do the math, wherever you are, but it would be lovely to hear from any of you.

The Internet connection (they refer to it as broadband here) is in the works, so I’m offline at home again, but hopefully not for too long.

The rumours are true...Ireland really is GREEN

Spent a lovely weekend in Galway recently...despite the hostel experience that just made me feel *really old*

Galway city is charming and located right on the picturesque Galway Bay. But the real highlight for me was getting into the surrounding countryside -- actually into County Clare, which is just south of County Galway. I did a bus tour on Sunday into a place called The Burren, which means Rocky Country. It's very rocky, but also very green and lush. We did a hill walk on a farm that has been in the same family for over 250 years. Our guide told us all about the history of the area and pointed out the various flora and fauna. We hiked up the mountain behind the farm and could see all the way out to the bay. The day was gorgeous and sunny, mild and warm. We continued to the famous Cliffs of Moher, which were beautiful...but the real highlight for me was the walk.

In general the countryside was just totally gorgeous...mile after mile of green fields and low stone walls. I just loved it...could've stared at it all day.

Pictures are up on Flickr!

I've decided I'm going to stay in Dublin -- at least base myself out of here, because this is where the lion's share of the work is. I have some irons in the fire for some permanent positions, and am looking into some temp work in the meantime. Will keep you posted.

Flickr update

My pictures from Croatia are *finally* up on my Flickr site.

So no more nagging!

I just spent a wonderful weekend in Galway on the west coast of Ireland, so there are more pics coming...

Catching up

I know, I know, it’s been a while since my last blog. So sue me:) I’m still trying to get the hang of this blogging thing.

So, my trip to Croatia was wonderful. Dubrovnik is one of the most stunning cities I’ve ever seen. I don’t know if it was because it was the first Mediterranean style city I’ve ever seen, but I thought it was pretty amazing. I loved the orange tiled roofs dotting the mountainside, the massive city walls, the way the light reflected off the white stones of the streets in a hundred different ways. I took millions of pictures (yes, they’re coming soon!).

I was in Croatia with my friend Davorka, who I worked with at my last job. She was born in Dubrovnik but spent much of her time on an island off the coast called Sipan (pronounced Ship-an). We spent three nights there…it was a charming little seaside town. We stayed at her uncle’s house, which is built a bit like a hotel because they rent rooms out in the summer when there are lots of tourists. A lot of Davorka’s family was there, aunts, uncles, cousins, her mother, sister, and daughter. It was such a neat experience, being in this multi-generational household. Meals were communal and the kitchen was the busiest place in the house. Not many of her family spoke much English, but it didn’t matter. They were so kind and welcoming and generous to me…plying me with food and wine constantly!

The weather didn’t cooperate while we were there – though we had nice afternoons. But it was quite windy and we only swam once – even then it was pretty “refreshing.” We did go kayaking and hiked up the small mountain behind the house. We went for lots of walks and generally relaxed. The night before I left to go back to Dubrovnik there was a huge storm and I laid in bed and worried that none of the boats were going to be able to run the next day and I would be stranded on the island! Three of the four boats were cancelled, so I got out by the skin of my teeth. I spent one last afternoon in the old city, and flew back to London the next day.

Burcak and her family picked me up at the airport and we proceeded on to Legoland for the afternoon, which, I have to say, was SO COOL. The models they built there are amazing – a real feat of engineering! Took lots of pics there too:)

Anyway, I’m in Dublin now – at last…it feels really good to be here after all these months of talking about it, planning, thinking, etc. It’s funny for me to think that I started talking about this as something I wanted to do at Christmas, and now, here I am. I feel so very fortunate that I have the ability to make that kind of change in my life and come from a culture that makes it possible.

ps London pics are up:)

Jolly Old England

It still feels amazing to me that I'm in England -- and even more so that I'm in London...doing things like taking the "tube" and seeing all these world famous buildings like Big Ben and Westminster Abbey.

It has been wonderful being here and staying at my old high school friend's place. Burcak (pronounced Bourchuk) and her husband Cuneyt (pronounced like Sinead but with a J) have been the best hosts. They are both originally from Turkey and have lived in London for about 5 years, both working in finance. They have an adorable 2-year-old boy named Sarp -- pictures will be coming later. It's been so nice to have such a warm, hospitable place to recover from my jetlag and settle in to European life.

I've done lots of sightseeing since I arrived -- Big Ben and the parliament buildinds are my favourite. I did the London bus tour and saw so much it's a bit of a blur. I think when I come back to London I will do more focussed sight-seeing and just do one or two attractions per day. This was like an overview or survey course of what London has to offer!

I met up with another old high school friend, Gabriella, or Gabby, as she is aptly nicknamed. Was great to see Gabby again after many years of never being in the same city/country. We had lunch in Covent Gardens and has some celebrity sightings -- Naomi Campbell and Claudia Schiffer.

The weather has been good -- very little rain except for this morning, but it's now sunny with blue skies!

I am leaving for Dubrovnik this afternoon and will likely not be online while I'm there. I will post more when I'm back and in Dublin.