Monday, September 10th.
Officially one week in Ireland, and official first day of true Irish weather! I went on a free walking tour at 11 am and what started as a light mist, toyed with scattered light rain for about an hour and finally became a solid heavy rainfall. The tour lasted until 2:30 pm and by the end we were all drenched (good way to test the new raincoat . . . conclusion = decent, but not as extraordinary as I'd hoped!).
The tour was absolutely fantastic! I ended up tipping the guide because he was THAT good; I definitely felt like his tour was worth money. He is getting his master's in history at Trinity College and gave us so much fascinating information about Dublin and the history of Ireland . . . I was in awe. I am incredibly envious of his retention rate and probably only remember about 20% of everything he told us in three and a half hours, but have a much a deeper understanding and appreciation of Ireland and its history. Thanks, Michael!
The other really fun part of the tour is that I met an Italian guy named Matteo at the very beginning, and we ended up spending the whole day together. He is getting his masters in agriculture, so we talked a lot about WWOOFing and his thesis and how he makes his homemade tomato sauce =) YUM!!
After the tour was over, a group of about 10 of us went to a pub for a hot lunch (my second Guiness & Beef Stew, but a completely different experience. Very fun, and both very delicious), and at 3:30 pm I decided to do the 4 pm Jameson Distillery Tour. At this point, all original plans for my day were askew anyways. I had packed a lunch to eat and planned on picnicking (definitely got too used to the nice weather) then doing the Guinness Tour, and finally hitting the Kilmainhem Jail. However, being wet and cold, the prospect of eating a packed lunch outside was unappealing, as was the jail visit, as their website warns that when the temps are low outside, they will be low inside and one should dress appropriately. SO! Nix the first plans and go drink some whiskey!!
Turns out the 4 pm tour was booked, but were able to sign up for the 4:40 pm tour and while waiting, went and played on this really weird but fun electronic game at an outdoor playground. I think it was called iplay and it tells you what action to execute (spin, stomp, push, etc. . . .) and you have to do so as quickly as possible. Very entertaining.
On the Jameson tour we learned all about the process that they use to make their whiskey. Super interesting! Did you know it is triple distilled?! And THAT is what gives it the smooth finish. =) I even got to be a taste tester and compare Jameson, Jack Daniels, and Scotch whiskey and it was a really cool experience. Still can't say I like whiskey, but I was actually able to tell the difference between the three, which is huge for me, as I usually classify all hard liquors into one similar category of "too strong."
After the tour, I hit Temple Bar and watched some live music while Matteo took care of some stuff at his hostel, and we met back up after I had my packed lunch as a dinner under an awning. I am cell phone-less while I am in Ireland and Scotland, and it makes meeting people quite challenging, but so far, so good. =) We hit a new pub for me and I had my first Guiness in Ireland, accompanied by more live Irish music. I absolutely love how easy it is to find live music in pubs here - it is EVERYWHERE!
I took the bus home around 9:30 pm and am feeling like such the Dublin bus pro! I don't even have to ask the bus driver to let me know when we get to the stop I need anymore. Watch out. I also bought a 'leap card' so I feel like a local. I am very excited by all of this. But maybe even more excited by my first ful day of work on the farm . . . .
Tuesday, September 11th.
We don't start until 9 am!!!!!! REALLY?! One perk to waking up at 4:30 am for years as a personal trainer is that anything after 6 am feels like sleeping in. =) I took advantage this morning and slept in until 8 am as I read until far too late last night.
My day started with 2 hours of picking raspberries. YES!! So fun! I love that picking raspberries is my work for right now. Good thing I had brushed my teeth right beforehand or I would have been much more tempted to eat some . . . they are so beautiful and plump and unaltered . . . they make me happy.
I was ready to go for the next task, when we stopped to take tea and visit with a house guest. It's so laid back here. It's incredible, and I love it; I find it to be a very good change of pace. After tea, I sowed seeds for lettuce, which was great fun! My first time sowing seeds!!! It was also extremely entertaining to watch the fickle Irish weather. I was in a polytunnel, so safe from the ever-changing times, but the weather kept undulating from spectacularly sunny to drizzle to downpour, within minutes at times. It was hilarious. I don't think I've ever seen the weather change so many times within a two hour period.
There was a scrumptious lunch break in the midst of the sowing of seeds, and after lunch I was joined by an extra set of hands. This extra set of hands belongs to a man who lives in Dublin and comes to help on the farm on Tuesday afternoons. It is so incredibly cool to meet other people involved in the WWOOFing community. We sowed hundreds of lettuce seeds of various types and I'm very much looking forward to watching them sprout and perhaps even getting to plant them . . . I didn't ask how long it will take before they are ready to plant; a question for tomorrow.
The rest of the work day was fulfilled by picking purple beans and transferring cabbage plants from their little pots into the ground - my first planting experience! So many firsts, and I'm anxious for many more. It's such satisfying and exciting work, knowing that what I'm doing is going to feed us and many other people. I'm a big fan of participating in the production of organic, quality vegetables.
Quite appropriately, we just started watching a British documentary called Food Unwrapped and it is incredibly disturbing, fascinating, and educational. The episode we watched was on canned grapefruit and probiotics. I highly recommend it.
I am absolutely loving my time on this farm. We've had some spectacular meals and very interesting and fun conversations. Frank and Azu are incredibly welcoming and warm hosts (although Frank 'locked' me in the walk-in fridge today because he thought he was playing the joke on Azu. Quite hilarious really: I was looking for chard for dinner tonight and all of a sudden the door closes and the light goes off and my immediate first thought is that he didn't realize somebody was in the fridge, and 'oh my god, am I going to be locked in the fridge all night???!!!' but no reason for panic as you can open the door from inside as well - phew! When he realized it was me and not Azu we both enjoyed a healthy little laugh fest).
I do have pictures I want to post that capture some of the adventures and experiences from the last few days, but for now I am off to bed. My goal is set for tomorrow!
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