Alcoholism is alive and well and living in Ireland

Well hello all,

Hope everyone had a happy-scrappy holiday season. (Mine is still in full swing.) Love that vacation time.

Christmas in Ireland was as good as it possibly could be (given that I'm away from home and my peeps.) I made Christmas eve dinner (Lasagne of the vegetarian variety, stuffed mushrooms, salad, brownies) and nothing was burnt or frozen or otherwise debacled. Food was delicious if I do say so myself and Tom's family (+ Christopher and Danny) seemed to like it. It was nice to give a little back considering how often I'm fed and watered by Tom's parents.

Christmas itself was fairly mellow, pressies, tasty dinner, plenty of wine and various relatives and friends "calling 'round," to say hello and have a drink or a snack and a bit a craic. I got some lovely presents including a day at a spa in Dublin from Tommy...mmmmm Think I'll avoid the facials though ;)

Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing day nights were all, proper, "piss ups," translation - nights out on the drink - although I make no attempt at this point to keep up with either the drinks or the late nights and took myself home in a taxi on Christmas night around 1am. Didn't want to turn into a pumpkin or anyt'ing... Boxing night was the best night out by far as a good 20 of Tom's friends all congregated at the Spring and Air Brake (strange name for a club eh?) and there were kickass DJs (one being a lady DJ amd good as shit.) It was nice to see all of Tommy's peeps as I think I've met them all by now and can be a bit more relaxed hanging out. have really enjoyed seeing Christopher (who used to live in Boston) and Gavin (who we visited in London) and some of Tom's other friends who I've become kinda fond of.

The down side of all this Christmas revelry is exactly that. Everyone uses the holiday as an excuse to get absolutely blocked. I am by no means a teetotaler (sp?) but it's a little excessive even for me. It's also strange to see the older generation off their heads...I have seen so many of Tom's friends parents in full drunken merriment which is just, well, odd. Or maybe what's really strange to me is how normal that is to everyone else. I realized the other day that I have never seen my own parents or their friends (with a few notable exceptions) really, properly, speech slurring, staggeringly drunk. No doubt, I have seen them indulge in a few too many glasses of wine and get a little bleary-eyed and talkative but this shit is on a whole other level. That said, it is pretty amazing, the honesty you get from people when they've been on the drink all day. It does give me a bit of insight into this culture and this world and some of the people in it. And it can't be said that Belfast don't know how to party. The craic is present and accounted for. It is a world where your most lively night on the piss would be undistinguishable from its landscape and notable only for the hangover (and maybe not even for that.) And it's on those days, that I feel most keenly, that the way I see and experience this country, is through the eyes of a foreigner. That I am different somehow and experiencing things from an entirely different angle from those around me. It does sharpen the senses (except when it dulls them...another shot maybe???) I can't say it's not interesting.

FYI, went out to one of the locals last night and did pub quiz with Tom and friends and one of the questions asked was, "In what US city does the drama Ali McBeal take place?" A question made for yours truly. It takes place in a wicked pissa city dude. I'll leave it to you to figyah out which one. All in all, we came in Second Place and won ourselves ten quid (which was quickly spent on you'll never guess what.) Have to say that I have become a big fan of pub quiz...might have to start being a pub quiz geek...haha. Just don't ask me any questions about East Enders or Manchester United. Kylie who?

Hope you're all enjoying this winter break and have yerselves a happy new year. Oh and of course, Happy Birthday Megs as today is yer day. Hope it's great.

Charlie Brown Christmas Tree

Charlie Brown Christmas
Originally uploaded by di_juice.

In da house...

Gay Marriage, Christmas Saws, and Chimney Wishes

Hi All,

Have been profoundly busy lately (in both good and bad ways.) Thankfully, I get 10 days off for Christmas (love this Catholic Country). I am as burnt out as I've ever been and in need of sleep and good craic and the like.

We did finally manage to get our Christmas tree up although it took us three days from the purchase of the thing to its erection (haha). A christmas tree stand was eventually found although when Tom went to put the tree into it, he found that the tree had a giant knobby end which was too wide to fit into said stand. Long story short, he ended up hacking off the trunk (and this was no branch but a full fledged thick tree trunk) with a serrated kitchen knife. Needless to say, this took him about an hour and the result was wood shavings and pine needles galore all over the living room. Then it took us forever getting the bloody thing straight (cuz the trunk was off kilter on the bottom.) Then, lights and ornaments... I lost the white lights debate but I won the tinsel war...gotta draw the line somewhere ;) At the end of all the effort, we had a slightly dried out tree with white and colored lights and a hodge-podge of ornaments from Tom's Auntie, our basement, and Penneys. It's a total Charlie Brown tree...but it's ours. Maybe it's kind of like ugly children ;) they might be busted but you love 'em anyway...haha. It's nice to have a tree in the house. Haven't bothered to get one for years.

We had a few people over last night (our small pool of friends is even smaller at this time of the year but we managed to convince 4 whole people (if you count 9 year old's) to come over for snacks and mulled wine. I made stuffed mushys, hummus and pita and brownies and Tommy made mulled wine (that was quite tasty.) It ended up being a really nice time. Just before people came, I got that 13 year old birthday party feeling where you wonder if anyone will actually show up...;)

So I didn't just throw in that gay marriage bit in the title for the sake of controversy. Gay marriage has just become legal in the UK and due to Northern Irelands marriage laws, it ended up being the first place in GB to marry some same-sex peeps. This is of course, notable and cool in and of itself and was front page news this week. Crazier though is who was on the front page of the newspaper I was handed last Monday. Lolo, Mina, Jess and I actually met the couple gracing the cover of said newspaper. We met them in a florist shop on the Antrim Road in Belfast last summer. What are the odds? the only two lesbians I know in Belfast, and they are the first couple to tie the knot. Whodathunk?!

Well, I am practically braindead at this point with Christmas preparations and the Christmas Rush at work and fending off my favorite yeast-flavored illness. Got the Chimney swept today (who knew chimney sweeps still exist) so am gonna make myself a big ole turf fire tonight in the fireplace and wrap some pressies. Apparently, when you get your chimney swept, you're supposed to go outside and look to see the sweepy thing (like a black swiffer on a long pole) poke its little head out the top of the chimney. And when you see it, you get to make a wish. I could use some wishes - should get my chimney swept more often. They should advertise - Free Wish with any Chimney Sweep...haha. Right now I'm just wishing for sleep. Am off to take it easy.)

Happy Christmas y'all.

Diana

The lovely Christmas Market in Beal Feirste

Christmas Market and City Hall
Originally uploaded by di_juice.

Click on the pic to see the Christmas Market and various other examples of the Christmas fever that has gripped this country ;) inc. Dublin and the roaring metropolis that is Drogheda...

Just like it says...

Belfast City Hall
Originally uploaded by di_juice.

A Very Dublin Christmas

I don't know if this will be funny to a non-Irish audience but I thought it was hilarious... It's the christmas story, if ya happen to be a dublin skiprat. Ya bleedin' muppets. (note the total lack of final consonant sounds on any of the words...yes I am an accent geek. )

The Knacktivity

Adapted for the Dublin audience:

Dere's dis boord called Mary, yeah? She's a virgin (wha' de fook is dah?)

She's not married or nuttin', but she's got dis felleh, Joe, righ'? He does joinery an' all dah. Mary lives with him in a flah dowwen in Nazareh.

One day Mary meets dis yungfelleh Gabriel. She's like `Wha are yeh bleedin' lookin' ah?" Gabriel just goes "You're fookin' up da spoute so yeh are".

Mary's scarleh. She gives him a fookin' earful: "Are you bleedin' startin'?

I'm no fookin' sluh. I never bin wih no one!"

So Mary goes and sees her cousin Liz, who's six months gone herself.

Liz is on a mad buzz, bud. She's filled with spirits, Barcardi Breezers an' all dah. She sez te Mary " Ah howeyeh, Mary, I can feel me chiseller in me stummick and I reckon I'm well blessed. Think of all deh money we'll be getting from deh social." Mary goes "Yeah, s'pose you're righ' "

Mary an' Joe haven't goh a fookin' bean so they have to ponse a donkey, an' go dowwen the Behlehem on dah. Dey get to dis boozer an' Mary wants to stop, yeah? To have her yungfelleh an' all dah. But there's no fookin' no roohem at the inn, righ'? So Mary an' Joe break an' into this garridge, only it's filled wih animals. Cowis an' sheep an' all dah.

Then these three lads tourn up, lookin bleedin' rapih, wih crowens on der heads an' all dah'. They're like "Ah Jaysis, howeyeh!" an' say dey're deh tree wise men from de East Wall.

Joe goes: 'If you're so bleedin wiyis, wha de fook are yizzer doin' wih dis Frankenstein an' myrrh? Why didn't yeh just bring gold, 20 Blue and Boorberry?' It's all about to kick off when Gabriel turns up again an' sez he's got anudder message from dis Lord hardchaw.

He's like 'Deh coppers is comin an' they're killin all de chisslers. You better fook off to Egypt.' Joe goes 'You must be fookin' off yer bleedin' rocker if yeh tink I'm goin' te fookin' Egypt on a fookin' donkey'

Gabriel sez 'Suit yerself, bud. But it's your look out if yeh stay.' So they go dowwen teh Egypt till they've stopped killin deh foorst-born an' all an' annyways it's safe an' dah.

Then Joe and Mary and Jesus go back to Nazareh, an' Jesus turns water inteh Dutch Gold.

Just Us T(h) ree

Well, We've officially got ourselves a Christmas Tree although at the moment it's lying sadly on its side in our livingroom. We both swore we had a christmas tree stand under the stairs but after tearing the house apart, it appears to have been absconded with by a Christmas tree stand thief...or something. We have lights, various decorations from various Irish relatives and discount stores and the tree, all in various piles on the floor...hopefully we'll get it all sorted by tonight and I will have perty pictures of our efforts. It was actually quite comical getting the tree home last night. We went to the Irish version of Home Depot (called Woody's...there seems to be a connection between DIY and male anatomical hardware there but I won't go there...) We picked out the last halfway decent tree in the place. The trees here must be a different variety as they are much less picture perfect and more like real trees that you just personally went and hacked down in the backyard...there is a charm to them though, in that Charlie Brown Christmas tree sorta way. Anyway, we bought the thing (and a bunch of other stuff that we don't need but seemed cool at the time) and then we were faced with the prospect of getting it home. We just about managed to fit, Tom, myself and a six-foot evergreen in our Volkswagen Polo which (for any of you who've seen it either in picture or person) is quite a feat. It's about the size of a mini...and that's being generous. The tree went from the back of the trunk to the front windshield. We were stopped at an intersection on the way home and a cabbie idling in traffic next to us was laughing his leg off at us and our tree...the christmas version of a clown car. ;)

Hopefully we will soon be sipping mulled wine around our transplanted little pine tree....Cheers.

Continental Christmas

Went to the most brilliant Christmas Market in Belfast, the, "Continental Christmas Market," which consisted of various stalls and tents surrounding the ornately lit up city hall (and of course, a giant christmas tree.) Seems the Belfast city council is trying to start a Christmas market tradition by inviting all sorts of vendors from, "the continent," to sell their wares for the month of December. It was most lovely, with all sorts of trinkets and edibles. There were the most amazing french patisseries with tartes, and gateaux and petit pains and bush de Noel and some sort of potato and bacon dish that smelled amazing. There were creperies and a Paella stand with the biggest vats of Paella I've ever seen, There was a woman selling tiny dutch pancakes served in a paper bag with sugar, and dutch tulips. French soap, dried lavender, leather handbags and belts, jumpers, christmas trees and the like were all on offer. The German "Christmas Beer tent," was serving up, "Big German Bratwurst and 2 pints of Erdinger Weisbier for 5 quid as well as German alcoholic, "Fruit Punch." No german Christmas Beer tent would be complete without eurotrash pop-music and disco lights and this tent lived up to expectation.( David Hasselhoff would have felt right at home...haha) We kicked it with the Germans for a while and then ended up in the Irish beer tent, a similar venue except with fiddlee-dee (Irish tin whistle and the like) and heat lamps which were appreciated but not really necessary since the temperatures here have been strangely warm lately. We wandered around nibbling on all the free samples of cookies and olives and olive oils... and among us (Tom and me and a couple of his friends) we tried Paella, some kind of Nordic pizza, Kangaroo Burgers (really), Paella, garlic mushrooms and a whole loaf of Olive bread....yum. Love Holiday eating 'specially European style. Good stuff

Who's yer Daddy

You Sexy Bitch
Originally uploaded by di_juice.

Happy Fakes and to all a good night.

Christmas in a Catholic Country

Jaysus McChristy, it's Christmas with a capital C in these parts. Dublin is absolutely decked to the halls: lights of all colors draped over lampposts, in the shape of snowmen, and reindeers, and candycanes and snowflakes, wreaths of all sizes, giant christmas trees in the train stations, even life size lite-up and blow-up doll Frostie the snowmen have been spotted in our 'hood. My neighbors have what appear to be pinata style snowman decorations. It's quite something, from the tacky to the magical and back again. Welcome to tinsel town. :) Radio DJs are promoting charities and discussing the (apparently rapidly disappearing) joys of the christmas layer cake. (fyi: this sponge cake is three layers of yellow, pink and brown cake so maybe there's a reason it's going extinct.) All the stores are full of Christmas puddings and Christmas crackers...I even saw something called a Christmas Mallow yesterday in Supervalu which appeared to be a tartlike thing filled with an unappealing amount of marshmallow filling and a little frosted snowflake on top. Mulled wine is also appearing everywhere... mmmm ...certainly don't mind that. More wine, less mallow please. Gotta love the fact that Dec. 26 is boxing day and so while we're all getting back to normal on the 26th in the states...the party just continues in these parts. (Tom has informed me that we're going to some sort of clubby / DJ thing on Boxing day in Belfast with a bunch of the Northy peeps.)

While I will certainly miss all my Boston loves, ice-skating on the common, mulled cider at Wilson's farm, taking out my Christmas ornaments (which mark every year of my life thus far,) holiday dinner with the ladies, and most of all, the warm fuzzies of Christmas Eve at Seventy Perry and eating Cippino (sp?) with crusty bread and wine, it will no doubt be a festive holiday season in Irlanda. There will most likely be some good eating, good drinking, and general merriment all round. You can't say the Irish don't know how to party. Merry, Merry y'all.