Welcome to Ireland

Well, I had intended to post more blogs about Ireland before I actually left for the Emerald Isle but that didn't happen so all I really knew going in were these two nuggets (both from Netflix, actually):

• the Irish equivalent of classic rock is awesome (some documentary that I don't know the name of - just search Netflix for "Ireland")
• Irish accents can be so hard to understand (Burn Notice and a movie that I don't know the name of - but also just search for "Ireland")

At the time I am writing this post, I have been in Ireland for three full days. Seventy-two hours of completely unreal life. I don't know what it is about this green country but something about it makes the following things seem okay:

• Bars with "college bar" feels to them that are packed with 16-60 year olds
• The fact that a fellow American and I sat down for dinner at a pub at 6:30 and drank beers with a local man named Jerry (legend, by the way) until 11:30
• Jerry came back to the bar on campus with us because it was his 39th birthday
• Jerry said his wife would be fine with it
• The following night, we went back to the same bar and saw Jerry and his wife. And she was okay with the previous night's happenings
• The bar on campus (which I could hit with a rock if my living room windows opened wider) hosted a Transgender/Transexual conference party thing this week. Three other Americans and I chatted with a man named Stella last night. 
• Our conversation with Stella was about housing markets and the Irish economy. Not about how he was muscular as shit but wearing a tube top dress and lipstick. 

I would hope that reading that makes you concerned for my health and safety. I'm actually really nervous to let my mom see, now that I think about it. But Ireland isn't all about getting really drunk. There is also a lot of history and culture that does not happen in public houses. 

For example, did you know that Arthur Guinness was akin to George Washington? He was such a huge figure in the political history of Ireland that they honor him with his own holiday (September 27th) like the Fourth of July.

Wait, what? He's not political at all? He founded a brewery? 

Oh.

Well, in the words of Jerry, #welcometoireland