Thursday, July 19, 2007

Seeing as this blog's been so popular lately . . .

I'm out of Galway. It took me a little longer than I had planned to pry myself away from everything and everyone that was keeping me there, but I've moved on. I'm in Co. Wicklow now (actually at the moment I'm in the library in Wicklow Town) and I'm working on a farm again.

It's really cool. It's called Carraig Dúlra (can't seem to link to it, but the URL is http://www.dulra.org/) and it's not only a farm, but also a traditional skills bank. It's on Carraig Mountain which is lovely, and I spend everyday outside. I sleep on sheepskins on the floor of a yurt and we cook all our meals in either an outdoor kitchen or over a fire.

I live with a couple of other folks, Petra from Toronto, Meg from Maine, and Alberto from Millan. They're all great craic and I'm really enjoying myself. Today was our day off and we walked all over the place and ended up enjoying the sun at the beach. We've got some photos kicking around, but they're not online yet, thus you can't see 'em.

Monday, July 02, 2007

Progress

It's been a while since I've updated this blog, and so many things have happened. It's been even longer since I wrote in my travel diary. I've been spending all my time having adventures, and not leaving enough time to chronicle them all.

Galway is the graveyard of ambition. It's been said again and again and I think I understand why. I met a guy two nights ago from Florida. He's been in Galway for 3 years now, and his life takes place in a triangle about 400 meters across. He lives in a flat that overlooks shop street where he busks, which is in turn beside his local pub. He says he counted the steps he made one day, and it was only 40.

I take MANY more steps than that in a day (I mean, I live in Salthill) but my life has likewise been simplified. I don't really buy groceries, I just go with people when they're going to eat and contribute a little to the cause. I've had authentic Italian pasta, Jamaican curry chicken, Spanish omelettes all cooked by folks who grew up in each respective country, and know what they're doing.

It's going to be hard to leave Galway, but it's gotta happen. I'll probably only stick around for another week or so, for the arts festival, but leave before race week.