galway

yeah yeah yeah hitch hiking adventure!

i left my lovely westport family house this afternoon after little to no sleep and an early wake up to find the roads of irelund friendly and full of adventure.

i am missing amy and sarah - the little girls i was living with, but i am welcoming a chance to be quiet and conserve my energy. i am getting sick, i think. i am trying to take it slow.

i headed out at 1230 and was picked up by many wonderful irishfolks. stone-layers, construction-worker-become-painter-after-debilitating-accident (following the dream, yeah), truck driver, cattle farmer, fishery worker (to retire on october 6th!) and finally, brazilian woman with her girls.

The cattle farmer with smiling eyes and a valiant spirit took me in for lunch. We ate with his wife, two farmhands, polish helper, and son. He told me that he had just dropped his youngest of nine (who is 22, he was an older fella) at trainin' because 'he's a little retarded, but a happy, good lookin' fella. it's just that he can't talk.' I was humbled by the way he spoke of his son and how unashamed he was. His daughter lives in NYC - Long Beach LI, and we talked about obama and the election. he asked me what i did and i told him all of my jobs, but the one thing he was excited about was the circus. he told me that i am a freespirit and i wont ever work behind a desk, or in a laboratory. neither will he

he bid me off well and though i didn't get a ride for more than 2 km, i enjoyed the scenery and when i finally did get a ride it was absolutely fateful. when i was picked up by the brazilian woman, she told me of her reasons for moving to irelund. she told me that she cries when she listens to country and gospel music, and she not only drove me miles out of her way to bring me into the galway city centre, but she is going to pick me up later tonight and i will stay at her house. we laughed and talked about the places we are from, and her young daughter spoke in irish 'the teddy is writing'. I have been so blessed during this trip with wonderful people. I got to hear beautiful music with other wonderful american tourists and locals alike in westport yesterday evening after a shady evening in the flat of an irishman.


and that's a story too.

he stopped me on the street earlier that day after i smiled at him and we got to talking for about fifteen minutes. he told me he is a musician and asked what i was doing later. i called him at night thinking we would go out and listen to music in one of the pubs, but he instead took me back to his house where we sat on opposite sides of the room talking about politics (everyone is excited about the election...they all know what's going on) and music. he played me beautiful irish ballads on his guitar and then some indian riffs, to which i responded with wagon wheel and railroads (my song). At some point he crossed the room to go to the bathroom and on his way back to his seat, he stopped and looked at my cross around my neck. he took it in his hands, which already was strange, and then he touched my criss cross pin which was over my heart (read: left tit). he then sat next to me and we talked, until he reached for my leaf earring, and then my moon tattoo. oh! and THEN i received a massage, because it's rough carrying a backpack and my muscles must be sore. living in nyc has taught me to understand the nature of these encounters, and i understood him to be a benign character (afterall, he did sing a song to me that went 'there is a grrl Sairuh, and i like her smile') so i had to put all of my energy into not laughing so hard that my body shook and he realized it. my thoughts at the time sounded something like 'well, it's a free massage, so give it a minute or two, and then tell him you'll be leaving.'

never a dull moment

and then of course, there was patrick who picked me up in his truck. he asked me if i was ok to travel alone and if i didnt want a friend because he would want his wife to be with him. i told him about my vision of the two backpackers on the day that emilie asked to join me on my adventure, but that i am very excited about this solitary journey. what was scary at first dissolved within minutes and i am happy to be alone so far away, not knowing where i will stay, or anyone in the country.

he told me that he thinks reincarnation might be true because there was once a holiday he took with his wife where he knew the city without having ever been there. he thinks he lived there once. he also told me a lot of the history of irelund and then said ' i like picking up hitchers because i like hearing their stories, but i seem to do most of the talkin' myself'

the people of irelund are wonderful and full of love. my heart feathers are ruffling and my body is aching for rest.

trad music at a pub tonight before going to eau claire galway with lilly, my brazilian friend.

love from this beautiful isle,

Say Ruh

ps. the buildings in irelund are painted colors. i think it is because it is so gray most of the time - they need cheering