Moving in Tim

31.08.10, on a train to Dublin

So much to report; I’ve really been slacking recently. After an hour and a half, Tim returned to me, a grin on his face, and a key in his hand. We walked with a purpose towards 27 Kilmurry Village, his new home. We walked into his apartment to find that we were the first to arrive. Upon trying to unlock his bedroom door, Tim realized they had given him a faulty key; it opened his roommate’s bedroom, not his own. Fast forward about half an hour- Tim has keys to his bedroom and his roommate’s… for now. Tim’s room… where to begin? The walls are a horrific shade of orange, and his comforter is an equally grotesque shade of maroon. It’s like they took the two worst possible colors, and put them together: a nightmare for any gay man. (heh <3) After examining the room, we set off to explore the rest of the house, which consists of two floors, a decently sized kitchen with mini appliances (seriously, the oven is at Easy Bake status), and a very small “living room” separated by maybe 2 feet of wall. By American standards, this apartment was left in a fairly shabby state- you can see sticky left on the walls, the floors need a mopping, there are cobwebs in every room, the toilet leaks and the freezer was completely frozen over. However, after a new hostel every other night, we thought it was brilliant!

The weather God’s blessed us with another 17 degree day (AKA sunny and gorgeous, but not too hot), so we explored campus, made a few U-turns, and drank Cokes on what we later learned was the Gaelic football field. Like any respectable college students, we ordered pizza to be delivered, and there we sat, two Oregonians in Ireland, sitting in an empty house, eating American pizza. At this point, we’ve lost all our shame, and no longer think twice about proving American stereotypes.

I nervously spent the night in Tim’s roommate’s bed, hoping I wouldn’t be caught and thereby offending whoever he has to live 3 feet away from for 4 months. Of course it happened. His roommate, Evan (from Tualatin, Oregon!) and Evan’s parents showed up at 8:15- fifteen minutes before my alarm was scheduled to go off. Fortunately for me, Evan and his parents are the nicest people one could hope to meet and live with. I felt immediately at ease with them when I saw that Evan’s mom was wearing Keens, just like me. J Unbeknownst to us, Tim apparently had orientation at 9am (this later turned out to be false, but they went anyway, and even got some free food out of it). While Evan and Tim went off to their orientation, I stayed back with Evan’s folks, and together we thawed the boys’ freezer. After lunch, they were generous enough to offer to take Tim and me with them on their shopping adventures, so away we went! We hit up Dunnes (think K-Mart mixed with a grocery store), TK Maxx (I’ll give you one guess what this store would remind you of), PC World, and two other home and garden type stores. Starting over, especially in a new country is quite the task- so much is needed!

That night, after hundreds of Euro had been spent on towls, sheets, pillows, toiletries, and food, we all made Tacos together, and it was quite the heartwarming moment. With these four people, all my worries and homesickness went away, if just for a little while. Later, we kidnapped Natalie, Tim’s friend from Pacific, and watched a bizarre British sitcom before retiring for the night.

I spent a magical night on Tim and Evan’s couch. It’s approximately 3.5 feet long, hard, and as of yet, pillow and blanketless. I went to bed at 1:00. At 3:00, there was a burst of LOUD party music, and drunken singing. At 3:30, it ceased. Hour after hour I lay there awake, and by the time Evan’s parents came to collect us for a Paddywagon bus tour, I felt like hell, and opted out of going. The rest of the day was spent in Tim’s house, only leaving to eat. Much to my dismay, realized that my flight was scheduled to leave today, not tomorrow as I had previously thought. Enter huge wave of panic, self-loathing, frustration, and then calmness. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from this trip is that nothing is ever certain, more often then not, you can’t change what’s frustrating you, there’s usually a solution, and you gotta let things go.

Now I’m on my own, on a train to Dublin, with the help of no less than 5 very sweet, very helpful Irish people. I’m deeply touched by the people I’ve met in this country, and I will not soon forget their kindness.

If you’re religious, please send some prayers my way that tomorrow will go without a hitch. If you’re not, send me some positive energy. I’m confident in my abilities, but at the same time, it’s pretty scary to travel by one’s self.