Walkin Around Dublin

FMM: 3 mi

Hi, F & F,

Nice to have you back again on a Saturday...At least you are not checking this on your boss's time!... Update: one of the Fulbright administrators heard my plight, took pity on me, and brought me a stack of coffee filters. I'm saved!..Bob and I had another full day among the Fulbrighters yesterday...We toured a Georgian house. Georgian is the era during which three Kings named George - including the one that lost the U.S. for the crown - ruled in succession in England. See, I WAS listening! Tea was very expensive during that time and it was locked in a case with the mistress of the house wearing the key securely around her neck. Somehow I could see Mom doing that even today with her precious Lipton teabags.. anyway, we then had a very lively tour guide who liked to talk more than walk which was fine with me. He took us to see the Oscar Wilde statue in Merrion Park and incorporated in my favorite Oscar Wilde quotation, one I plan to use the next time I cross the border. When Oscar was asked at customs if he had anything to declare, he replied, "Only my genius." (I would make a smiley face now, but "Notepad", the system Tim says I have to write this blog on, doesn't allow such frivolous additions -- it's words and words only and not even a boldface for emphasis can be used!)..Only 3 out of 30 of the Fulbrighters are stationed in Dublin. I did meet one wife who acts like she might hang around with me. We have arranged to go out on Wed. to a Literary Pub Crawl. Do you think I can read _Ulysses_ and _Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man_ by Wed? I think Cliffs Notes are online now, aren't they?...I am now home alone for the weekend as Bob has gone with the rest of the Fulbrighters up to Maynooth for a total immersion in the Irish language...He has been very excited about this as he has been studying Irish for many years on his own. Some of you may be wondering, "Don't they speak English in Ireland?" Well, yes, they do, but certain parts of the country speak Irish or Celtic. All signs here are written in Irish as well as English as are all laws. Students are required to take Irish all the way through school. There is even an Irish language TV channel here. While I'm told that only 30,000 people actually speak Irish soley, it has enjoyed a rebirth of interest, including Bob O'Connell's interest. He hopes he will get to try speaking it when we visit the Dingle Peninsula...So, you're probably wondering what I am going to do with myself this weekend, right? Well, last night I had a bag of candy and a bag of cookies for dinner (remember: Bob doesn't read this blog, so he'll never know I've gone off the health wagon and all evidence will be discarded before his return), watched part of the movie "Away from You" while dozing on the couch, read an Irish tabloid, slept in my clothes, written a few e-mails, watched David Letterman's confession online, read Sue Miller's _For Love_, and generally been a big slob. However, today is a new day and I plan to get dressed any hour now!..

Have a nice weekend!

Yours truly (well, mostly truly),
Tizzie/Tiz/Tizmom/Liz/Elizabeth