Journal for tbrounst

So, I’ve made no secret that I had a pretty bad week. If you’ve been checking my Facebook status, or even reading the past few blog posts, you’ll notice that I’ve hinted at this significantly. I’ve just been in a bad place emotionally, and while I’m glad my parents are here and like spending time with them, I’ve just been feeling crummy.

But, the thing is, each day it gets a little better. The first day it hurts a lot—that’s how this sort of thing goes, after all—and you can’t seem to escape from it. The next day, it still hurts, but less. You’re trying to focus on other things. You’re trying to think of something else. He next day it’s still there, playing in your mind, but it doesn’t hurt as much. You’re getting distracted by other things. Soon you’re back to normal for an hour, and then something reminds you and you’re hurt again. Then you feel better and forget, and then something else reminds you and you begin again. But after awhile…you just walk on. It stops hurting and you can move on with your life.

That’s what happened to me yesterday. I got over that omni-present specter and got to move on with life. I had a good day, something I really needed.

Before I begin the relatively boring list of what I actually did yesterday, there are two highlights I want to make special note of. These were the two parts of yesterday that were really awesome.

To begin, my dad looks like a tourist everywhere. Literally. One time, my brother mom and I were driving around Bellingham and someone said “hey, look at that goofy looking guy! He’s so lost and confused.” And we all look and there’s this old man, clearly out of place, clearly confused by everything. We laugh for a minute before mom said “wait…that’s dad!”

While here, dad bought a hat, similar to the style that everyone else was wearing. And because it got warm he took off his rain jacket so he’s walking around in a cream colored sweatshirt. He looked Irish. I don’t know how the hat did it, but dad blended in perfectly. Like, you would think he was a native. There were a couple times when mom and I lost him in a crowd, so we’d say “look for the goofy looking tourist,” only to realize that didn’t work anymore!

The other, even more exciting thing, goes back a long time. Back in high school I made friends with a girl named Martha. We met online and for around three years I chatted with her on AIM on a regular basis but had never actually met her since she lives on the east coast. She was a really good friend, though, and someone who I enjoyed talking to a lot. When we both ended up in college, we drifted apart. We were both on AIM a lot less, and the pressures and stress of school (along with having a million friends within walking distance) made it so I was on the computer less. We still talked, probably once a semester, but that was all. She’s still someone I really like, and in many ways she’s shaped who I am today, but I had given up on meeting her anytime soon.

My parents mentioned that it was a long flight between Athens and Seattle, and I might enjoy a lay over of a night somewhere on the east coast, like New York. I thought for a moment and realized Martha’s living in New York right now. More importantly, she agreed to meet up with me for dinner if I take the layover (since I still haven't bought tickets, it’s still a little up in the air, but I think it’ll work). So, apparently I’m going to finally meet Martha! I’m almost more excited for that than my five week nomadic trek (though my nomadic trek does include driving ATVs on a Greek beach). Also, when I talked to her about it, I pointed out I’d be jet lagged, tired, smelly, exhausted, not shaven for five weeks and my clothes wouldn’t have had a proper wash for two weeks at best. Her response was pretty much “yeah, I figured. Whatever.” Good girl!

And now for the rest of what happened yesterday. That was the most important stuff above.

I met up with my parents at the giant hooker (that is a real landmark…) at around noon and we went over to the Saturday market. The Saturday market is a lot of fun, I’ve been I think every week that I’ve been in Galway. It has some pretty jewelry, cool art, and most importantly lots of awesome food, including the best doughnuts ever created by man. I forced my parents to buy six of them (two for each of us—and you want to eat two), but because my dad didn’t want them I “had” to eat three and a half. It’s sort of like those times my mom wants one bite of ice cream so she buys me a sundae…Also, we bought some cool paintings of Ireland that I plan to decorate my dorm with. For once my dorm walls won’t be barren like my soul!

After that, we wandered around town for awhile. I showed them my campus and the cool ruins we found, and they agreed the Terrible Bridge is, in fact, terrible. Though, before that, every bridge we walked over, my dad asked “is this the Terrible Bridge?” Then we came back to my place for a bit and I checked up on e-mail and Facebook for awhile, then we headed out for dinner.

Mom had found this restaurant/bar called “The Front Door,” and so we went in search of it. I remembered seeing it as we walked around, so I led them to where I thought it was. My mom looked at it and said “this isn’t the place I was talking about! It was down here.” She walks us around the corner of the block, goes a bit and stops “here it is!” she proudly declared “this is the restaurant.” Turns out it was the same restaurant, just another entrance.

After that we went out to Monroe’s and as we were leaving we ran into a friend of mine, Anna, and her parents who, as it turns out, are staying in the same bed and breakfast as my parents. So we went out to another pub with them where we listened to traditional Irish music, than watched an adorable old man (not my dad) do Irish dance and sing some Irish folk songs. I want to be that guy when I grow up. That old Irish man is my hero. The best part was when he almost got my mom to do some Irish dance with him…

So, overall, it was a good day. It was a lot of fun. A lot of cool things happened. Dad stopped being a tourist, and for the first time since I met her in July of 2001, I have plans to actually meet Martha. Plus, a lot of just good, fun stuff happened. I was finally able to move past what had been upsetting me for nearly a week and enjoy myself, and it felt good. Like I said, it was something I really needed, and was a great way to end my Ireland experience.