Week Three!

Cheers, everyone!

It's hard to believe that it has been two weeks since we left America for our new life in Ireland. The adjustment has been much less drama-filled than I expected. We are still chugging through moving chores and checking off the boxes on our To Do list, facilitated by the steady hand and ready humor of our Irish angels, Hugh and Eileen. They came to visit on Saturday, Eileen with arms full of homemade chutneys and Hugh casting an eye about to make sure we were making appropriate progress. We had tea and strudel and their planned one-hour visit extended to two, assuring me that we had done well with our first social invitation. 

Yesterday, we drove to Dublin and back to return The Beast for a more reasonably sized car. Thomas is continually surprised by how nice the Irish are. After our interaction yesterday at the car rental counter, he again mentioned it. He followed up with a comment that he's spent too much time living with lowered expectations of how service people treat their customers. Thanks to the very nice Hertz man, we are now driving a normal car. 

We both continue to be tickled by the interest the Irish have in us and the warmth of their welcoming greetings. We also are often reminded of the close-knit nature of our community. Everyone in Glasshouse knows everyone else and/or is related to them. However, the speed with which they've opened their arms to us is very gratifying. Here are a few examples. 

We stopped into the appliance store in Roscrea (the town nearest to us) to while away 15 minutes until the cell phone shop reopened after its lunch break. As I often do, I started off the conversation by explaining that we are transplanted Americans unclear about most things Irish and in need of advice on what to buy. Helen, the sales associate, eyed me carefully and asked my name. "Mary Claire, welcome to Ireland! Where would you be living?" I mentioned Shinrone. "Where in Shinrone?" I confirmed that we are in Glasshouse. "Glasshouse? Are you the Americans who bought the [previous owners] house?" Yes, I replied. "Ah, Mary Claire, that's a fine house. He was a very particular man. That house is like a fortress. He's a teacher, did you know that? His wife is also a teacher. My home place is next to Shinrone." And just like that, Helen and I were talking about why we moved to Ireland, what did we think of it, have our household goods arrived, etc. We have since purchased an iron, an immersion blender, a TV, and a cooker (combined oven and range) from Helen. She sent Patrick, the electrician, over on Saturday to deliver the cooker in preparation for its installation tonight. 

Because we are out in the country, we had to find and contract with a trash and recycling service. We chose Ryan's. The Ryan's man delivered our trash and recycling bins last week. Before he turned them over to us, he carefully wiped them down with a cloth. We stood, watching in amazement, as he turned the cloth over and over to clean each part of our trash bins. 

We ordered some pet supplies for Velvet Jane from a shop in Limerick. Limerick is officially designated as a city, a coveted designation that affords extra local governance. There are only six cities in Ireland. Hugh disdainfully refers to Limerick as "a glorified town". Any way, the pet shop sent a text that they'd be delivering our goods between 3:37 and 5:37 on Tuesday last week. Thomas commented on the specificity of the timing. When the driver arrived at 6:00, he was full of apologies. His van had broken down and he needed to locate a working one, empty the contents of the broken-down one, and restock the functioning vehicle. Never did he complain about this; he simply apologised multiple times for the enormous inconvenience suffered upon our cat by his delay. I assured him that the delay was not a problem and offered consolation for the awful day he was having. 

Then, we hired Gerard to replace the locks on our house and to key them all so that a single key would open each door. He came out from Roscrea, inspected the locks, commented on the very particular needs of the previous owner (did we know that he's a teacher?), and expressed apologies that he would have to return the following day with the lock sets. Apparently, they are not your run of the mill lock set. The next morning, he called to ask when would be a good time to return. He showed up on time and spent about 15 minutes efficiently installing the new locks. He presented us with an invoice for his services. When I asked what type of payment he would take, he responded, "Ah, just drop by the next time you're in town and pay me then". 

Today marks the end of our self-isolation period (and we have a normal car!). I will start driving to town and over to the monastery for morning walks. The peace and quiet that we held our breaths and hoped for has arrived in full bloom. I find it miraculous that I am living in this gloriously beautiful country, surrounded by nature and friendly people. 

Our next challenge is to obtain Irish driving licences. I think there will be a blog post worthy of that endeavour. 

Sláinte!