15 SEPT 2008 - A Nigerian birthday in Ireland

Last night, we all – Paul, Diatou, Ethen and me – all went to a birthday party for a little girl here in town, but as Diatou warned, an African children's party is just as much a party for the adults. At first it was just a lot of kids playing with balloons and having a good time while most of the adults sat on the side eating and the like.

However, as the night progressed and the beer, cider, and vodka began flowing, it evolved into a party for the grown ups. We had a very drunk Russian guy singing, loud music playing, a lot of the adults out dancing, with a lot of little kids running around going crazy with balloons and kazoos. It was a lot fun!

And, oddly enough, it was in Ireland where I came across my first can of Arabic Coca-Cola, which I found novel enough to photograph.

As the party progressed, we bought a few "take aways" – beers you take from the pub – and went over to the home of one of Paul's Nigerian friends and had a very drunken discussion of a new Bollywood/Nollywood movie that apparently Paul and his friend has been working on for sometime.

It was a fun night in Tralee, though probably not what most people would expect...

Day 4 (14 Sept 08) - A quick whirlwind tour of central Ireland

So not long after my last post Paul called and we were off. Off where, you ask? Apparently it was time to take a massive eight-hour tour of Ireland. Paul's friends Chris and Jennifer were in town from Tennessee and rode up to Shannon to pick me up and off we went further north, into County Clare.

The first destination was the famous Cliffs of Moher.

Atop the cliffs it was so incredibly windy you could lean forward and the wind would hold you up. This was quite a change from Georgia & Tennessee; but felt quite nice after being cooped up in the airplane for the trip over.

After this we headed off through The Burren, stopping along the way in Kinvara for a bite to eat and a pint.

Then we were off to Lough Dergh, in the middle of Ireland and we angled down to the southern reaches of it near the Holy Isle.

Along the way we pulled off to visit a prehistoric wedge tomb from about 2000 BCE that off the main road we were traveling on. Ater stumbling a little way into a cattle pasture:

Then it was back to Tralee and after popping in Paul's place for a few minutes we went out to a couple pubs in town.

The next day we all slept in and in that I was going on almost 48 hours awake I took full advantage of the opportunity. The next day we all woke up around 1:00 in the afternoon and Paul fixed us all a big traditional Irish breakfast, which we ate at 3:00 in the afternoon.

Then it was off to Dingle. I actually visited the Dingle Peninsula the first time I visited Ireland and we went back to at least a couple of the same places. After going down to the very end of the peninsula at Slea Head, we went back to the town of Dingle and started hitting the pubs. After getting a room – or two rooms, one for Chris and Jennifer and one for Paul & me – at a B&B we ended up in a late pub (stays open until 2:00) that Paul usually goes to in town.

We left Dingle and came back to Tralee where everyone just napped and lounged until going to dinner at Paul's old restaurant.

Apparently Chris and Jennifer left back to the states this morning and Paul is pretty much exhausted. Whereas I slept in and am finally getting things together, including this blog.

Starting Monday I have to start getting my trip in order...

Day 1 (10 Sept 08) - Well, that was a fairly unplesant...

... trip. First was the ride down to Atlanta, which went seamlessly, but meant I had a full three hour wait in Atlanta airport, which (unlike Denver & Tralee) does not provide free WiFi. So I found myself hanging out in the exact same airport bar I was in when I went to Ireland in June. However, this time they had a surprise for me. After I finished eating, the waitress dropped a beer, specifically she dropped a beer IN MY LAP. So not only did I smell like a brewery, it also looked as though I pissed myself. Well, what can you do? I guess I could have pitched a fit, but that wouldn't have changed a single thing, so I took it in stride. Luckily, the very light-weight clothes I was wearing (due to GA heat) dried out quickly so by the time I was boarding the flight to New York I didn't look any worse for the wear, though I probably still smelled like an insane drunk.

Anyway, the flight to JFK in New York was also uncomfortable, in that every single seat was taken, so we were packed in like sardines and I had a very nice – but very old and very fat – guy sitting next to me burping and farting and picking his nose & ears for the whole flight. Again, what can you do?

Once at JFK it turns out that New York doesn't allow smoking in their airports; so since I had a almost four hour lay over, out I went to smoke. However, unlike every other airport I've ever been to, it would seem that JFK doesn't have any sort of concessions outside of the security area, so to be outside meant no food, no drink, no nothing until you go back through the security check in. Finally I did so and made my way to my gate (12); only to discover that apparently both the flight number and boarding gate on my pass had been changed. Of course this wasn't announced until the moment after I spent $10.00 out of sheer boredom for a T-Mobile Hotspot day pass so I could play online for the remaining hour. While my old gate was a T-Mobile Hotspot, my new gate wasn't, so that was $10.00 literally thrown away for absolute nothing.

Thankfully, the flight to Ireland was not packed, so I got a whole row to myself; so it was very comfortable. Further, using Mom's idea of Oliver Twist Chewing Tobacco Bits – little pellets of tobacco that you put in your mouth, but don't have to spit from – the entire flight over was pleasant enough. Nevertheless, I still wasn't able to sleep at all. And, although the flight left on time, somehow – and I really don't understand how this is possible – we landed in Shannon a full hour earlier than scheduled. This isn't exactly something you can complain about, but then again...

... it means I'm sitting here in the Shannon airport cafeteria-style eatery, just ate breakfast, and haven't heard a word from Paul. So it seems I may be around here for a little while… Oh well, I'm sure it will be all be fine.

Day -ii --- Starting my blog & the Schengen Zone

I didn't intend to activate this blog until I left the United States and have been posting most things over on my MySpace Blog. However, today - two days before leaving the States for good - I posted a comment that is relevant for my travels and decided it would be a good way to get started here.

Anyway, the Schengen Zone covers most of the European Union. In order to travel without going to the trouble of getting a long-term visa - which is considerably more difficult - I have to travel in the Schengen zone for 90 days and then hop out into non-Schengen countries for another 90 days. Further, since most countries only give US passport holders 90 days as well, when I hop out of the Schengen zone I have to have access to two different non-Schengen countries to make up for the one day overlap between the 90 days in and 90 days out of the Schengen zone. If I didn't mind being illegal, a lot of this wouldn't matter, but since I want to stay legal, I made a map...