Grocery Shopping Ain't What it Used to Be

I suppose one of the key, distinguishing factors between living someplace and visiting someplace is the menial tasks one does not have to partake in when only visiting--tasks such as washing dishes, changing lightbulbs, or grocery shopping. That said, while I've only been here about 6 hours, I can safely say that I'm now living in Galway.

Bill drove me into Ennis this morning and I said my farewell, although I'll be seeing him again very soon. To lighten my load on the bus and while getting around Galway, he offered to let me keep some of my stuff at his place for the time being. In hindsight, it wasn't really necessary, as I ended up taking a cab from the bus stop back to the house anyways (an overstuffed backpack and two shoulder bags was a bit more than I felt like lugging on a 15-20 minute walk, and although Conal met me at the bus stop and offered to help, I felt that wouldn't have been a great way to start off roommate relations, so a cab it was). Regardless, it'll give me a good excuse to get out of the house, and if it works out, I'm hoping to get one more pipes lesson with Blackie while I'm in Ennis to meet Bill and collect my last bag sometime next week.

So, after parting ways with Bill, I hopped on the bus for the hour long ride up to Galway.

As a side note, I love how small Ireland is. Imagine starting your morning in Portland and driving up to Seattle to briefly check out the Cascades or Mt. St. Helens or something, then heading back down through Portland and all the way over to Washington, DC, getting in just before dark and having time to check into a hotel before heading out to catch dinner and hit the town a bit. Then, the next day, you pop over to Las Vegas, while stopping to check out Smokey Mountain National Park and something cool--let's say some Mormon cathedral in Salt Lake City--on the way. Finally, on the third day, you head over to Los Angeles, take the Pacific Coast Highway down to San Diego, cruising slowly and stopping often to take in the sights, before circling back around and heading back to Phoenix for the night.

That's roughly the geographical equivalent of the last three travelling days of mine and Sarah's trip here in 2005. Just substitute Donegal for Portland, Slieve League for the Cascades, Dublin for DC, the Wicklows for the Smokey's, Rock of Cashel for the Mormon Cathederal, Killarney for Vegas, the Ring of Kerry for the PCH and Cork for Pheonix. It was a few long days, but perfectly workable.

Now, back to Galway...

As I mentioned, Conal met me at the bus stop, which was helpful, although again, since we ended up taking a cab back to the house, it wasn't really necessary, but nice of him. He seems like a really good guy. He's from Philadelphia, and other than being about 12 years younger than me (damn!), we seem to have quite a bit in common. The biggest difference is that instead of waiting until he was nearly too old for such adventures, he decided to delay college and try life abroad right after high school. He's been here since September now. Being a first generation American of Irish descent, he's qualified for dual citizenship, so he has no concerns about the nastiness of immigration and 90 day limits and such. Lucky bastard.

After giving me a key and showing me the house, which, I had pretty much decided I was going to take unless it was an absolute dump, I dropped my stuff and we headed pretty much directly for the coffee shop with free wireless. I was starving and even more, jonesing for some net access! We both checked email and had a bite, then he headed back to the house while I continued to smack away at the net like the junkie I apparently am, until they kicked me out of the place (they close at 5. What a shame.).

When I got back, I decided I better make a trip to the store to get some food, with tomorrow being Easter Sunday and all and not knowing what places would be open. There's a Dunnes Stores (have I mentioned my extended stay in the fine Dunnes Stores in Ennis?) about a 5 minute walk from here. Really, the place great. It's about as close as you'll get to a Meijers' here, I think. Full grocery, clothes, house goods, etc. Kind of a strange setup with the grocery having its own check out lanes that are kind of right in the middle of the store, semi-separating the grocery from the rest of the store, which apparently has its own check out lanes elsewhere.

Getting back to menial tasks, the fun thing about living someplace completely different is that even the menial tasks take on a bit of a new twist. There was a twisted little smile I couldn't keep from my face (the other folks in the store must have thought I was just batty) due to the sheer absurdity of the fact that I was doing such a normal thing as grocery shopping in a place that, to me, is anything but the norm. Aside from that, shopping itself was a bit of an adventure. Not that it was akin to swimming off the Great Barrier Reef with a slab of raw meat strapped to leg or anything, but in the words of Vincent Vega, "You know what the funny thing about Europe is? It's the little differences". I got so wrapped up in just looking around at what was and wasn't available, that I practically forgot to shop.

Of course, the other aspect that was new and different to me was that I've never really been a particularly cost-conscious shopper. I may occasionally look for something that's on sale, but I've never been one to scan an entire shelf to find the very cheapest brand of a particular item, or to only buy things when they are on sale. Also, I've never really been concerned about the size of a particular load of groceries, but I'm currently limited first off by what I can carry, and secondly, by value. I'm not sure, but I've read that there may be a limit to how much I can spend at a grocery store with a foreign credit card, so for the time being, I'm going to try and keep my trips limited to my available cash.

Wow... I've just rambled on for three long paragraphs about a trip to the grocery store and you're still reading? Now THAT'S dedication, folks! Give yourselves a hand! Cut to the chase--I bought some food. Bananas, a few instant noodle things, some granola bars, yogurt, OJ and a couple frozen pizzas, etc. Picked up some lightbulbs for my room and some adhesive hooks, and kept it all to just over 20 euros.

And I only got slightly lost on the way to the store the first time.

Oh yeah, and in case I need a quick taste of home, there's a McDonalds right in front of the Dunnes Stores, and a Subway across the street. I wonder if McDonald's will be open for breakfast on Easter morning.