Wow, I'm Back in the USA!

Well, I've been back in the US for almost 2 weeks. It's weird. I haven't felt the dreaded 'reverse culture shock,' but I'm certainly noticing the differences (as well as the strange similarities). Before coming back, especially on the cusp of Christmas, I can see now that I was building up my memories of Minneapolis - not to say that Minneapolis isn't a great place. For instance, bacon is wonderful. I savor every piece (yes savor, not savour - maybe my ability to change the nationality of my spelling so quickly is a good metaphor for me adapting back and forth between Ireland and the US [as if there was that huge of a difference between the two {are these nested parentheses driving you nuts?}]), but doesn't have the nice meatiness of Irish rashers...

Since I haven't reported on my last few days and adventure home, and this blog is just as much a journal for myself than a blog for anybody else, I'd like to share that.

I spent a lot of time in the last few days in Dublin walking around, taking pictures, and taking my environs in. I ate lunch at little places in the City Centre that I couldn't anywhere else, got coffee at Fallon and Bryne for the last time, and watched mallards in Stephen's Green - among other things. Jenna flew home with me, so she got to Dublin on Thursday night after a snow-induced delay in Paris. We went to a few pubs around Ranelagh and Rathmines, although they had started closing since we got going to so late. Portabello - James Joyce's old digs - was where we settled, even though they played NHL and had multi-colored dance lights roving around the walls.

Friday was consumed by cleaning, taking care of library fines, and saying goodbye to a city I really loved. I had a guest lecturer in my last class, Irish Politics, that I made sure to make it to. The lecturer was Michael Marsh, who I had cited in papers time after time that semester. It was fun to finally see the guy whose work I'd leeched for the last 4 months.

I though a good dinner would be found at O'Neills. They are recognized as having some of the best quality pub food around - a fitting goodbye. For some reason, maybe that it was the last Friday before Christmas and everybody was having a good time with friends before going to see their family, there was not a free inch in the joint. The 6 of us in the group joined a couple at a huge table they snagged for themselves (they soon left) and got our food. I had a delicious beef and Guinness stew with chips and Brussels sprouts on the side. We hung out there for a few hours and then tried a few more pubs. Turns out that EVERY pub was lacking an extra square inch. We eventually gave up and got a few cans of Guinness and retreated to our flat. I finished my packing and cleaning and grabbed a few hours of sleep before the 5:30 alarm.

At the airport, we got to deal with checking bags, answering security questions, and filing for tax refunds. Then, our flight was delayed an hour, putting a big question mark next to our connection in Chicago. After a nice jog through O'Hare a la Home Alone (which I knew I'd have to do sometime), I relaxed on a plane back to Minneapolis. I was home!