Sunny Day

It's a rare sunny day in Galway. Erin had work at noon, so I took the bus with her to Salthill. There's nothing like that view, especially on a day like today. I ate lunch at her cafe- it was delicious! However, I now understand Erin's intense dislike for small children at work. Some of these parents should be required to take a class or something- their kids were out of control. Poor Erin has to dance around the place with scalding hot beverages and avoid spilling them all over a bunch of brats. She works until 7:30, which is never fun on a weekend but especially tough when dealing with a bunch of stupid people. 

We're starting to get really excited for our visitors! Anne, Colleen, Tyler, and Stacy all come within the next week. At one point, when Tyler's brother comes to Galway, we'll have five house guests! Luckily, David will be in the U.S. touring with his band for half of March, so we won't bug him. We haven't seen Wash Wash in over a week, so we're not too worried about him being bothered. (We are a little worried about whether or not he is alive...) After that group, my friend Jameson comes and then Lauren. We can't wait; we already have tons of plans: Connemara, the Aran Islands, Donegal. Things were so crazy when we first arrived that we haven't done any Irish tourist stuff yet. Stacy and I are also planning a trip to London. Sheila's family is coming to visit this week too, so there will be lots of sightseeing done this month. I'm sure we'll have lots of pictures to post!

Last night, we went to Monroe's, one of our favorite pubs. We happen to catch "Two Queues," which is the two-man-band we talked about earlier. They play the exact same songs every time we see them (including "Galway Girl" at  least twice), but they haven't gotten old yet! We met a bunch of rugby players from New Zealand too. The Irish rugby team defeated rival England yesterday, so the pubs were full of rugby fans celebrating the victory. Erin and I are trying really hard to understand rugby. It's a really cool sport... the parts that we've figured out anyway. Our plan is to buy jerseys, hang out at the pubs on game days, and eventually catch on.

Work is still, well, work. We're both working about 40 hours a week, which isn't as bad as we thought it would be. We figure the more we work now, the earlier we can quit and travel! Our current plan is to do Spain and a couple of other countries for about two weeks and return to the States on April 28. It kind of stinks that we have exact opposite work schedules (I work 9-5 Monday thru Friday and Erin works 12-7:30 three weekdays and weekends), but I think it's preventing us from driving each other crazy. We finally registered with immigration and applied for our PPSNs (the Irish equivalent of social security numbers). So we're legal, and, more importantly, we can get paid!

On an unfortunate side note, I heard back from Yale Law. It was a no, which didn't come as a huge surprise and was almost a relief. Now it's off my mind, and I can start weighing the pros and cons of the other schools. I'll have to officially make the decision by mid-April. Barring my acceptance to Stanford, I think Georgetown in Washington, D.C. will be my home next year! (Sorry, Dad.)

Well, until next time, I hope all is well! Thanks for all the comments and emails. It's great hearing from home! We love you all.

Katie