You call that a dress? The joys of going out on the town.

I want to discuss the phenomenon of the Irish woman out on the town. I've never seen anything like it, even when I spent some time in California. Let us now set the scene.

Last night my bro-in-law, K, uncle L and I all went out to Dorman's. Dorman's is a bar/club in Magherafelt, a village about 5 miles away. We were meeting cousin P for his birthday. Now Dorman's is a younger crowd so most of the people were in their early twenties. (We didn't choose this pub). Now none of girls I saw had a shoe with a heel no lower then 3 inches, enough hairspray to envy the best 50's beehive and so much makeup that even Dame Edna would say, "now hold on..." You almost have to see it to believe it. Now I know many of you may say, well that's just like how they dress in the big city. You have to understand that we were backwater NI and it's twice as bad in the city. If we were in Belfast, what the girls were wearing last night to go clubbing would be what a girl might wear if she were, let's say, going to the mall.
I hope I painted a clear picture of the scene I was looking at last night. But it's not only the outfits, but the attitude. It was a wee bit crowded so people were having to squeeze past each other. I had more boob grazes and elbows in the back from other girs than any other time I've been out. I think at one point a girl actually punched me in the back just to get me to move. Going to the bathroom was also an adventure. There were no less then two girls per stall and many of them couldn't hit the seat so I wasn't quite sure if it was just spilled drinks on the floor. There were also more girls waiting to use the mirror than the toilets and I honestly think no one washed their hands. (insert gagging noise here) To top everything off almost all these girls were between the ages of 18 and 21, as the drinking age in the UK is 18.

I wish I was better with words to describe the scene I was in last night, but I hope it gives you a wee glance as to what the nightlife here is like. At one point I was outside sitting on a picnic table saying to myself, "I miss Amigos. I miss wearing jeans out. I miss a crappy live band in a dark bar. I miss Maine." Going out here is fun since the whole crowd is still a novelty. There one thing I can say for American girls, we are much better dancers. Last weekend a bunch of us went to another pub in Magherafelt called Mary's. This was a much older crowd that wasn't drunk at 12. The DJ was good and a friend, C and I danced like no one was watching. C was a great dancer and I was ok, but American are more suited to the R&B/hip hop than Europeans. I am going to clarify before I get in trouble, not all the girls in Ireland are like this. All my friends here are always dressed very classy and their make-up is always perfect. I'm talking about section of the population that is notorious for their clothes, make-up and attitude.


oíche mhaith

It's pronouced punk-an-ach (Yankee)

As mentioned above, I have moved to Northern Ireland. Well, let me correct that, I am in the process of moving to NI, as we'll call it. Yes, all my belongings are here as well as my husband and daughter, but I can't stay as long as expected. When we flew over here in November, we were under the impression that since my husband and daughter were UK citizens, then I could change my status to settlement from visitor. NOPE! Come to find out I have to go back to the States and apply for a settlement visa, do fingering printing/pictures and then come back for good hopefully. This creates alot of stress. Will I get the visa? Can I even afford it? Will husband find a job in time? Can I travel back to the US once I get the visa? The movies make an international move look so easy.......

To catch everyone up, I have been here for two months and we are currently living with my husband's parents. They have a lovely huge house with enough room for all three of us plus them plus my brother-in-law, K. In Europe it's not uncommon to have all the family living under one roof. It has been nice to have the grandparents helping with our daughter and also my father-in-law, RG is a great cook. It has, however, been hard with no car, no cellphone and no income. It will get better and after I get the visa sorted I will get my UK drivers licence, but until then the transition period is very trying at times.  The first month was very difficult as we were getting used to sharing our living space again and also the surprise of the visa issue was emotional. We also had to wait for all our household goods in our shipment and that as very hard. But January has been a good month. We finally got our stuff, hung out with our friends and found some things to do during the day to get us out of the house. That is pretty much the last two months in a nutshell.

Since this is my first post on my first blog I'm going to explain some things. I know many of you know me personally and follow me on facebook, I've decided not to use names incase my blog goes big (everyone wishes, right). Since I'm sure I'm going to get tired of typing husband or daughter, they are going to be call R for husband and O for daughter. If you're one of my friends and I talk about you in my post I'll just use the first letter of your first name unless you tell me other wise.  I am also going to talk some things about myself that many of you don't know about me. All I ask is that you do not judge, the information I disclose will hopefully help others in their struggles. I am also just going to put it out there that I'm not an English major and a horrible speller, so again, don't judge and hopefully you all can follow me.

To finish for today, I hope you all will enjoy my future posts and pictures. Comments will always be welcome!

oíche mhaith