Saturday, November 22, 2008

"Tree" is a Magic Number

Holy geeze, I can't believe the hassling I get for not writing in my blog for a few days! I guess that's what happens when everyone's used to the every other day routine. Time to get used to the once a week routine - I can only write about job searching so much!

Thursday was job hunting day for Matt and I. We got all dressed up (as dressed up as Matt and I get), printed off copies of our CV's, and walked, and walked, and walked. I've learned one very important thing on this trip so far - Matt should NOT be in charge of directions! He's always confident he knows where he's going (and that's why I trust him), and he always gets to where he wants to be - it just takes ten times longer to get there than it should! We were trying to find a temp agency outside of the city center. It was a far enough walk to begin with, and when we were nearby, we found ourselves walking around in circles and circles trying to find the actual street. We finally arrived, only to have them tell us that it's appointment only and we need to e-mail our CV's first. At least we got some serious resistance training in - the strong winds were blowing us around like crazy!

The weather here really varies every day and throughout the day. It hasn't been as gloomy as I expected, and what they think is cold here is actually pretty comfortable for us. The sun comes out for a bit, then it clouds over. The rain so far has only been mist, so we have yet to get drenched. The temperature is anywhere from 9 - 12 degrees during the day.

People eat a lot of Pringles here. Everywhere you go and everyone you see...Pringles! Matt and I have been surviving mostly on pasta and vegetables - it's a pretty cheap yet delicious meal to eat. When we're eating dinner at 17:00, other people are eating lunch. When we're sleeping, they're eating dinner. We've been treating ourselves all too often with chocolate or banana milk, and Matt surprised me with a tub of ice cream the other day. He sure knows how to win my heart!

Once we got back to the city center from the temp agency on Thursday, I handed out my CV's to some shops and a gallery just down the street from our hostel. I immediately got a call back from the artist who was showing at the gallery. He was impressed with my CV and wanted to meet. I was really giddy at this point, since I had just Googled his name only to discover that he is one of Ireland's most well-known artists. Famous people like Kate Moss, Enya, and Courtney Love own his work. He originally wanted me to work in his gallery on the opposite side of the Ireland but then decided he could use some help in his Dublin space. This all sounds fine and dandy and really exciting, right? Well, no.

I met with the artist on Saturday for what I thought would be a more formal interview, and to discuss wage, hours, etc. When I arrived at the gallery, he immediately handed me a twenty and asked me to fetch him a double espresso from this cafe down the street that he just adores. Oh, and they have fabulous danishes, so I had to get him one of those too. And some mineral water. And I couldn't forget to pick up a roll of scotch tape while I was out. I was pretty livid at this point. Who does this guy think he is? He doesn't know me, I haven't even accepted the job (let alone had an interview), and here I am running around picking up his daily fixes! No thanks. The whole "interview" should have only taken 15 minutes but really it took 2 hours, since his ear seemed to be glued to one of his three cellphones the whole time. Thus, I've decided not to accept the job and the search continues!

Friday was super fun. It had to be - it was Matt's birthday! After switching to our new hostel, we started off the day by buying Matt some interview clothes from a pretty inexpensive department store called Penneys. He got new shoes, a shirt and tie, and dress pants. We've noticed that people get really fancied up here, especially for interviews, so we thought he might as well have one nice outfit. Then we headed to the Guinness Storehouse where we toured the old brewery and enjoyed a fresh pint and beautiful view of Dublin at the top. Guinness is an acquired taste...that I have yet to acquire. I've had a few now, and the one at the Storehouse was definitely the best yet. I might get shot for saying this, but it kind of tastes like cigarette butts, tar, and coffee, all mixed together to make one big glass of creamy goodness. I've become a fan of the Irish cider, Bulmers - it goes down just like apple juice!

St. James Gate Brewery


I guess I should learn how to spell Guinness...


Old school Guinness advertising


"The equipment you see around you, like the building you're standing in, comes from another time, when machines were works of art."


Letting it settle before they top it up. It looks better than it tastes!


The Guinness Gates (this one's for you, Daddio!)


Peter, a Kiwi who works at our hostel front desk, invited us out for a drink with him and his wife and a few other hostel dwellers. We met up with them on a pub patio around dinner time, and about 15 of us from all around the world spent the night drinking and chatting and listening to each other sing and play the guitar. People are so interesting, and talented, and funny, and FUN! An Irish lad had his turn on the guitar, and I wanted so bad for him to sing "Three is a Magic Number." Why, you ask? Here, they don't pronounce the "h" in "th." So really, he would have been singing about "trees." I don't know why this is so funny to me, but it is! Just imagine them saying "thirty three and a third." The best part of the night was when Matt received an Irish happy birthday serenade, especially for him. It was pretty cool.

A good chunk of my day Saturday was spent at my gallery "interview." Matt and I found a little market in the heart of Temple Bar where we enjoyed some crepes (mmm, mine was filled with Nutella and bananas...so good!) Around 14:00, we met up with Peter, his wife, and Vaughan from our hostel (also a Kiwi) and went to a pub that was packed full with at least 200 people. There were two big rugby games and a soccer game on, and the buzz in there was amazing. I don't know anything about rugby - it was more exciting for me to feel the excitement when everyone cheered than it was to actually watch the games. By the time I get home, I'll be a rugby pro. Matt's already getting the hang of it.


Temple Bar Market


Green


St. Stephens Green Mall


Sunday we arrived back at Kinlay House. We've gotten to know the hostel staff who are absolutely amazing. They invite you out, introduce you to other travelers, and always make you feel welcome. They've also managed to squeeze us in for another two weeks here, which is great. We had to wait around in the kitchen and tv room with our luggage until our rooms were ready in the afternoon. We did lots of laundry in the meantime and man does it feel good to have clean clothes! Hostel life can get pretty dirty. Laundry costs a bloody fortune too - 8 Euros to wash and dry one load!

Today we were on a serious mission to find jobs. I got rid of all of my CV's and applied for more places online. Between Matt and I, we've probably applied to more than 50 places, and we don't hear back from any of them. It's really tough finding work, especially when every other person in this city is here doing the same thing as us. Tomorrow we plan on looking outside of the city center. We're taking the tram to an area called the Docklands and hopefully we have a little more luck. I'm really starting to worry about running out of dough. Any donations toward Alex and Matt's Traveling Fund are greatly appreciated! :)


Matt's stylin' flip flips. He refused to wear them, so now they hold up the window.


We finally have new roomies. A really nice Aussie girl, Clare, who is here doing the same thing as us, and an Italian dude who was making me crazy last night by criticizing my cooking. Figures he'd show up in our room today!

P.S. I finally caved and bought butter!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would have taken the $20, said "be back in fifteen" and took off.

Whats the guys name. I want to google him.

Anonymous said...

Can't wait to get there. Are the gates to the Brewery pearly, because they should be.

Keep up the job hunt, I'm sure something will pop up. After all you can't run out of money until March at least.

Anonymous said...

Love the designer window flip flips! Wish Matt a Happy Birthday...if he were here I would have baked him a cake.

Good Luck with the job hunt!

Love to you both!