Trying to Settle In

So, having decided not to take the questionable apartment I saw the other night, Celia (my Australian bunk buddy from the hostel, who also celebrates her dog's birthday) and I did a little perusing of the local paper's classifieds. I had very little success when I made the calls the next day (on my new cel phone, by the way!), only managing to make one appointment. As it turns out, though, it was the right appointment. We hope. Celia and I went together to check the place out, and we were both pretty thrilled! It's a brand new apartment, the bottom floor of a house that has just been divided up. It's very small, but quite nice; fully furnished, including brand new appliances, beds, couches, table and chairs, etc. It's bright and pleasant, and includes a little courtyard out the back. It has an intercom, which is nice, and is quite centrally located; we would both be able to walk to work and back. We've let the landlords know that we'd like to take it (and move in tomorrow, if possible!), and are just waiting to hear back now, which is excruciating. I'll keep you updated.

Yesterday was a day of errands; I spent a lot of time trying to work out the apartment stuff, and then got completely lost looking for the Social Welfare Office (I had to go there to get my PPS Number--which is like a SIN or Social Security Number). I finally made it there, and was lucky enough only to wait an hour for them to photocopy my ID and proof of residence, stamp my application and tell me my number would be posted in 7-10 business days. (I'm not joking about the lucky thing--Celia was there over 2 hours!)

Last night was Erica and Miyoshi's last night in Dublin (they flew to London this morning), so we went to check out some traditional music and dancing, hosted by a hotel on Bachelor's Walk (on the Liffey). It was fun, though we barely understood any of the patter that went on between songs. We left there around 10:00 and wandered along the Liffey for a while. Something funny and unexpected about Ireland; there is still some sunlight until almost 10:30 at night! It's very curious.

This morning I dropped off my application at a downtown Starbucks, so I hope to hear from them within a couple of days. Not that it's a real measure of anything, but the girl (sorry, barista), who accepted my application seemed very pleased to have it. I am actually looking forward to working a bit; my days are so unstructured now that I find it a bit disorienting.

The weather continues to be amazing; clear and warm and sunny. The locals are taking it a bit further than seems appropriate to me--they're all out in shorts and t-shirts and such (I'm still wearing a couple of shirts and a jacket. I'm enjoying their excitement, but starting to wonder if this is as warm as it gets here!