So I forgot to mention that I got the chance to FaceTime with my brothers, sister and my mom. It's always nice to be able to see them even tho we are so far apart. I don't see or hear from my brothers very often as it is, mainly because I lived out of state and then because they are young boys and way more into the girls at school than their sister...which I understand. But anyway it was good to see and talk to them. We spent over an hr talking which never happens. I told them all about our adventures (my brothers are not loyal to the blog plus a little lazy so they prefer the cliff notes version). We talked about all the differences between the States and Ireland. Is actually amazing how similar Ireland is to the States when you think about it. Then of course I made my mom cry, as I always do. I don't even know what sets her off these days I think she's just sad that we aren't there.
So today I had already planned to meet with a new mom who is from New York but has been in Ireland for over eight years. I also got to visit a new part of Cork, Ballingcolig. It was cool to talk to another American or former American I should say. Even know she was American and has only been in Ireland 8 yrs she had an accent almost like the other Irish moms that I've met...that's just crazy. I almost couldn't tell that she was American. We talked about all the differences in the shopping and the weather and the people of course. Then we talked about all the similarities between the two. She gave me a lot of insight on what to look out for once we move into our house. Also gave me some tips about where and how to shop. It's crazy because in every town there are at least three supermarkets or grocery stores within a 2km radius. Some of the grocery stores are more like Walmart some are more like Kroger ad some are like ALDI's well actually they are Aldi's. So we sat around and chatted for quite a while, it was nice to have someone to talk to who understands what I'm going through. Another super cool mom. She was also impressed that I was getting out and about the meeting all of these new people so quickly. But we agreed that if I didn't get out, I would go crazy being in the house all day with the boys so its more like survival than bravery. We also talked about how moving to Ireland was a good transition place since the language is the same and the American influence makes it more like America than Europe.,.almost. So now I have another mom that I can call if I need a chat or want to set up a play date. After my morning meet up, I spent a few more hours there looking around the town. I didn't know that Ballingcolig had a farmers market but they do on Wed so I think I'll try to make it out there this week. The weather was bad today...I guess it wasn't that bad but it was cloudy and drizzled all day so I didn't spend much time outside... just inside of the shopping center.
After that I headed back over to Glanmire to meet-up with one of the moms that I met last week at the breastfeeding group. She is having some problems with her new little one so it was nice to chat and share experiences that helped both of us. She's from Germany but has been in Ireland for a long time now so I guess you could say she's Irish. So again, more good conversation with a local mom. While we were sitting there talking,
I see my friend Martha with her two boys and another mom. It's crazy that I saw here at that cafe because that's the exact same cafe that I met her at. I got to find out that the other mom with her had lived in NY for a long time...I thought she was just American because she didn't really have an accent. So now I have 2 moms that are former Americans so that will be nice when I start getting home sick. So they all sat down and we talked for a little while. I was just so amazed that I had all these ladies to talk to already. I think I have more mom friends in Cork than I did in TX...isn't that crazy??? How cool was that tho? Randomly sharing coffee with 3 Irish moms after only being here for 3 weeks...amazing. The other cool thing was that it was nice to be out and about and not be the the only person with a baby attached to your boob!! So all in all I spent pretty much my whole day talking to my new mom friends at the coffee shop. And I found out why Martha hasn't really been in touch with me over the last few days. I have been trying to text her or call her to schedule a play date or some time for me to come over so that we could chat and she doesn't do a good job about returning my calls or messages. So I just thought that she was busy which I knew she was...especially with two young boys but she told me it was really just that she doesn't like to make plans because of the two boys you just kind of go with the flow. She was like, "why don't you just ring me instead if trying to set a time? It would be much better just to ring me". And I told her I did call you a couple of times but I couldn't get in touch with you so I just figured that you were busy. She was like, "no just come by the house and see if I'm there and if I'm there you can just stay, it's no bother". I wasn't sure if I heard her right but it sounded like she just wanted me to just come over unannounced?!?!?! I told her I can't come over unless I call you first to make sure that you are there and to let you know that I'm on the way. She was insisted on the fact that I should just come by whenever and see if she is home because that's what all the other Irish people do she told me. That's just totally different for me ...I would hope someone would call me first to let me know that they are coming over but I guess in Ireland you don't have to do that... Yet another thing to get used to. So I tried to compromise and I told her that Wednesday I was going to come by in the morning so be prepared she just laughed at me but I think she got the point.
A great start to the week ...now only 3 more days until Lino. I miss him now and can't wait to see him and see him swim. I think Mike and I both needed this break...it just makes us love and appreciate him so much more. Can't wait to see my big boy!!
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