On Living in Ireland

I find myself analyzing life in Europe and in Dublin more and more. There has been a turning point over the past several weeks in my feelings towards Dublin. I think this is the result of two things in particular. One is that we have finally made some friends here in Dublin and two is that, ironically enough, now that we have finally made some friends we may be moving in the next couple of months. Having said this I would now like to tell you what I like about living here.

• I love meeting and getting to know international peoples.
• I love being able to travel so easily and inexpensively.
• I love being a housewife- taking care of our little apartment and having all the time in the world to cook.
• I love the fact that Europeans value time off so that Matt's work schedule allows for us to be together and travel much more than we could if he was working in the U.S.
• I like the mild temperatures in Ireland.
• I like how it is almost always perfect weather for soup.
• I like walking to the store for groceries almost everyday and finding the best deals between the four stores in my neighborhood.
• I like having the time, energy, and resources to have people stay here with us (sometimes even complete strangers).
• I like being more physically active because we don't have a car.
• Life seems simpler here.

There are also a number of things I don't like:

• I HATE the frequent & ferocious winds of Dublin.
• I hate how expensive things are in Dublin-especially going out to eat.
• I don't like how there are no good Christian bookstores here.
• I don't like 4 seasons in one day and the general instability of the weather.
• I don't like not having a car when I want to go to a friend's house who lives far away.

So, these are just some minor thoughts on the matter. I like living in Europe on the whole. Ireland has slowly grown on me because of the great people I have met and the familiarity of it now as I face the unknown in a possible new city. I surely wouldn't stay in Ireland forever but I think I will miss it when I leave.