Onward and Upward

I have been accepted to the Counselling Psychology M.Ed. program at OISE, a department of the University of Toronto, beginning this September. I'm thrilled!

We certainly have a lot to deal with now, since Jon's work contract here in Ireland does not end until early December, but we will figure it all out somehow. I will find a place to stay on my own for a few months in Toronto and he will move into a smaller (cheaper) place for his last few months here, and we will LOVE skype. It will be complicated, but on the long term it will be great.

The next adventure is on the horizon.

So Behind in My Blogging, I've Given Up Apologizing.

So much to tell.

Jon & I made the final lap in our wedding extravaganza. This one, organized by my mother and held in Tel Aviv on April 30th 2010, was a luncheon affair. Despite the fact that it rained a bit, a rather shocking weather event for Tel Aviv at the end of April, the party was wonderful and we all enjoyed ourselves. The photographer, Nicole de Castro, took some fantastic pictures:












After breaking the glass.










After the wedding grand finale, we took some time to hang out and enjoy Israel. We spent time with family, lay on the beach, went to Jerusalem, and checked out some fun stuff around Tel Aviv.


The cousins at a tapas bar in downtown Tel Aviv


Quiet Tel Aviv beach


View over Jerusalem's Old City


The new Design Museum in Holon




Ottoman ruins in Tel Afek




Orchid garden at Utopia Botanical Park




Carnivorous plant at Utopia



Now that you have had some measure of an update on my month abroad, at least via photos, I feel I can begin to tell you about life in the present. We are back in Cork, and Jon is working while I am doing volunteer work for the Cork Simon community. We are busy and the weather is a bit more summery, so generally things are good here. Still, I must admit that I am happy to know that after this summer it will be time to go home to Toronto. It's a sort of a countdown in my mind now. But until then, I hope to suck up every moment of our European adventure!

Kilkenny

Jon surprised me this past weekend with a trip to Kilkenny. He rented a car and we spent Saturday & Sunday driving to Kilkenny city and through part of County Kilkenny. It was such a great gift!

The photo above was taken in an area across from Kilkenny Castle which used to be the horse stables. The old building is still there but has been converted into some stores, craft shops and art galleries.

We had a lot of fun walking around there, as well as the rest of Kilkenny. We even had fairly decent weather.








We drove home the long pretty way, through County Kilkenny and then down to the coast road, stopping to see a few ruins along the way. They were sites from the 12-15th century and although it was a weekend, there was nobody else there, often giving the places a sort of creepy-but-amazing vibe.






Next we hit the Gaeltacht in County Waterford, where the views were stunning. Oh, and there were sheep, of course. I hadn't seen them in a couple of months, so that was nice.







All in all, a wonderful few days. Thank you so much Jon!

34

Happy Birthday to my favourite Nerd.

Much love,
L

Pre-Birthday Celebrations

OK, I'll admit that I was not thrilled to be back in Cork. It's true. Luckily for me, though, tonight my Corkonian spirits have been lifted and I've been reminded of some of the pleasures of living here.

Jon is turning 34 on Monday but he will be in Bath, England doing a sciencey thingy (as he is wont to do), so I organized a little pre-birthday celebration for him tonight. We went out to a nice restaurant called Les Gourmandises with our friends. There was much chatter, much laughter, and much food. I had a good time, and I think Jon did too.



Happy Almost-Birthday, Husband!

L

Highlights of Off-Blogging Times:

1. Our friend D came to visit us after his adventures on the Camino de Santiago. One day we took him to Fitzgerald Park, where we marvelled at the magical mirrored tree.



And played in the playground.


And then in the evening, went out dancing, leaving us in a sort of exhausted euphoria.



2. Our next highlight was a visit to Tel Aviv. We got a chance to hang out at the beach, walk around the downtown shops and markets, and still do plenty of family stuff. My youngest cousin got married, his older sister had her first baby, and we had a celebratory lunch for my father's 60th birthday. On top of all that, everyone was congratulating us on our engagement and wanted all the info & details. Of course, we didn't have the info to offer up, but we just developed a generic narrative for people. Funny how these things go!










3. Jon came home to Cork before me because of work, so I ended up coming back just a few days before my 32nd birthday. Before I left Jon bought me surprise tickets to a Tracy Chapman concert that I'd been dying to go and see. However, the concert was on the night of the day that I arrived back in Cork. Things should have still gone smoothly, but of course they did not. My Tel Aviv-Heathrow flight left late, so I missed my connection to the Heathrow-Cork flight. Luckily I got one 2 hours later, but I nearly had a heart attack when I thought I might miss the concert!







4. The day after the concert, we had an appointment with the Cork wedding registrar at an ungodly hour of the morning. I was tired, but excited & nervous.
A very friendly woman met with us and went through some fairly simple questions and instructions. Then she told us to pick a date for our civil ceremony...!
So, we are getting married on Friday Sept 25th in Cork! Yay!
We are also planning a post-wedding party in Toronto and one in Tel Aviv, but for now we will have a wee little ceremony in September.




5. Next, my brother and his partner Emily came to visit us in Cork for a bit. We had a great time checking out St. Finnbarre's Cathedral, ringing the Shandon Bells, heading out to Blarney Castle, and other shenanigans.









OK, this post has taken me much longer than I expected. Enjoy this last little video, and I hope to be back soon.
Shalom!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9NgXIkyiwk

Driving on the Left

Map of Ireland:



Hello dear readers in all parts of the world,

My parents returned home yesterday. We had a nice time together and did a bit more Irish traveling over Easter weekend, since Jon had a couple of days off work.

I've been on 3 separate car trips in SW Ireland over the last month, so I thought I'd do an overview. This is a total injustice, of course, since each trip deserves its own massive poetic essay with adjoining photos. However, I know this is the only way I have any hope of catching up, so my apologies. Please believe me that these places are fantastically beautiful, and touched my heart in a way I did not expect.

As you can see on the map above, the southwest coast of Ireland consists of a group of pensinsulas, some tiny and some biggish (in orange). They are all quite windswept, craggy, oceanic, and rural. The largest and most famous one is The Ring of Kerry:



My first trip was around the Ring of Kerry with Jon & Jen (from Canada) & Christina (from Australia). We had perfect weather that weekend, and were completely blown away by the landscapes. Whether it was the sheep milling about, the waves crashing against the cliffs, or the colorful little villages, we were delighted.








Next, I joined Christina on a trip to discover the other, smaller and lesser-traveled, peninsulas. Starting in the south, they are called Mizen Head, Sheep's Head, Beara, Ring of Kerry (which we had already seen), and Dingle Peninsula. With the exception of Sheep's Head, we covered most of that area on our 5-day trip.









Trip #3 was this last weekend. It was a long weekend because of Easter and my parents were here, so we decided to rent a car and take off on some adventures! They were interested in the Ring of Kerry, so we doubled back a bit, but we also went to some new places around Killarney. The around there is a National Park, so it is very lush and pretty. It actually reminds me of Canada. Also, there are a bunch of historical sites - castles in particular - that we went to see. Very *very* impressive.











(No idea what's up with the size of these pics?! Any help or suggestions from blogger geniuses out there would be greatly appreciated.)

Jon's parents arrive in early May, so knows where life will take us next??

In the meantime, I hope all of you are doing well. I think of you often. Funny how the world can seem so small and so big at the same time.