People Who Meet People

I arrived in Dublin yesterday morning without really knowing anyone here. My hostel was less social than I had expected, and if I hadn't gone out with the one person I know here (Erica), I would have had a rather lonely night indeed. Today, however, things felt a little different. It was a quiet day (in terms of conversation) until around 5pm, when I went back to the kitchen of the hostel for my dinner (or tea, I guess I should call it). There I ran into two of the girls I am currently sharing a room with; Jackie, who is from outside London and has come to Dublin in pursuit of a dream of a new life, and Celia, an Australian girl who is my age and has plans quite similar to mine (she actually got a job at a pub today). I met them both briefly yesterday, long enough to get to like Celia (she loves Siena too, and is reading Jane Eyre) and find Jackie a little odd (she's been sick with the flu since she got here but--if you let her--will talk your ear off, without pausing for input). In any case the three of us started talking, and soon everyone else in the kitchen (two Australians, a man and a woman, and a German woman) joined in too, as did Stephanie and Sharon (from North Carolina) when they came in. It was great! Stephanie and Sharon are also in my room (it can fit 8 girls), and when I met them back there we had another nice conversation, during which I discovered that they did a Birthright trip to Israel last December (and Sharon leaves shortly to lead another one)! Talk about a small world...

I also had an interesting conversation with Carolina, a French/Italian girl who is trying to rent out her room (or really, her half of a room) on Mountjoy Square. That's right; I went to check out an apartment today, all by myself, for the first time! I'm not yet sure what to do about the place; the apartment itself was pretty drab and dingy, and quite dark, and I'd have to share a small room with a Japanese girl (though I'm told she's very nice), and the rest of the apartment with her and two South African guys. On the other hand, the rent isn't obscene (though it certainly isn't cheap), and an apartment in Dublin is turning out to be much harder to find than I expected. Also, it's a good location and right across the street from a nice park (where people walk their dogs!), on a courtyard (that's full of kittens!), and I can stay for as long (or short) as I want (though I would be responsible for finding a replacement tenant). Celia walked up to the building with me, and mentioned something about our potentially finding a place together if the Mountjoy place didn't work out. That might be nice, since I do like her, and we seem to have a fair bit in common (e.g. today is her lab's birthday). We both have places to stay until Sunday morning, so we don't have long to figure it out, but I think it might be worth a try.