A Newgyptian back in Ireland: The continuation
September 27, 2005
So I'm back in Ireland where I'll be until I head back to Egypt in a couple of weeks. My time in London was great, great, great and filled with time with old friends, meeting new artsy ones, and generally just reconnecting with Yaz. I'd love to write more about it, but maybe later. Last night my flight back to Dublin was delayed 3 hours, and due to various other delays I didn't get in until 3 in the morning - a good 4 hours after I was supposed to check into my hostel. There were no buses running, so I was forced to take a pricey taxi ride. The driver was awesome though, and it was a good thing I didn't take the bus as the hostel I'm staying at this time around is in a shadier part of town and it probably would not have been safe for me to be walking around with my 14 kilo pack at 3:30am.
Anyway, it seems that a few of you are in suspense to hear what happens next in my Dublin: The first time around saga, so here is the rest of the story:
In any case
After Maz's friends dropped me off at the hostel, I made my way upstairs and just crashed into bed. Next morning I woke up to find my three Asian roomies were gone, as well as the one possibly Australian one, leaving just me and one other girl in the room.
I decided to head north to Howth, another seaside town, where one can take a nice hike up this rocky cliff/hill type thing. Of course, as soon as I get there it starts pouring rain, but I perservere and continue along the idyllic village walk towards The Summit as it seems to be called. The rain lets up a little once I reach the bottom of the trail, only to pick up and become REALLY heavy by the time I reach a sort of slippery, sloping area. I decided to turn back and get a warm soup and a Guinness at the pub I'd seen on my way up there. From what I saw though of the summit and the town, it was really pretty, and maybe I'll try to go back there again at some point. We'll see.
Anyway, so I make my way back into Dublin proper, not really sure what to do for the evening - JIM hadn't been in touch all day, Maz had been at work all day and I was sure he would be tired, and Joe was preparing for the performance the next night. I then resolved to just have a date with myself, and possibly go out looking for live music at night.
Once I got back to Dublin, of course, the sun was out and shining bright, and the heavy rains of an hour prior were long-forgotten. As it was still kind of early in the day (around 3pm at this point) I just sort of ambled around, checked my email, got a sandwhich and ate it in a park. I also bumped into Tony the Australian from the B&B, and we talked about possibly making a quick day trip to Belfast the next day. I ultimately decided not to do it because I was concerned about missing or being late for Hedwig the next night.
Eventually I headed back to my hostel and decided to get tarted up for my date with myself. I got out and walked around to where I'd seen some music clubs and advertisements for live bands, but found nothing of interest. The most interesting thing that happened to me, in fact, was my first run-in with what I can only assume was a scanger. This young man, who looked to be about 15, came up to me and asked for a cigarette, and then the cheeky bastard asked for a kiss. I grinned and told him no, and he insisted saying, "Come on now, just one lit'l kiss." I of course just walked off, but the exchange amused me at least.
I finally resigned myself to just buying a trashy magazine, going back to the hostel, and calling it a night. It seems that Dublin is deader than dead on a Monday night.
I got back to the hostel and went out to the patio in the back for a smoke. There I found some of the buddies I'd made there - Ted, the Colin look-alike who I'd found out earlier at breakfast was actually a Canadian of Irish/ Norwegian descent, and worked at the hostel where JIM was staying; Juan, the adorably rotund Argentinian is that right?) who had been in Dublin 7 days looking for a job and was constantly freaking out about not finding one; and Ike, the cute German, also looking for a job, who had a penchat for American punk music. Actually, first it was just Ted sitting out back drinking a beer, and enjoying his only night off of work. He offered me a beer and we sat around drinking and smoking and getting to know each other more. Then Juan and Ike showed up, tired from a day of job-searching. It was a nice, mellow chat session. Ted was gettinng ready for a night at a pub down the street where Mondays are open-mic nights, and invited us to join him. At first Juan and Ike said they weren't going as they wanted to be up early the next day to continue the job search. But a couple of beers and a joint later, and we were all up for at least one more beer at the Mezz. We all headed out, picking up another German girl, Elivera, on the way out. The first few acts were really good - my personal favorite being this one guy from County Mayo, who had a really small build, but a big guitar, and an even bigger voice. The first song basically consisted of him singing the words, "Bitch/Bitch/Bitch" in a trance-like state, with a few stanzas of heartache in between. It was somewhat reminiscent of Nine Inch Nails or something along those lines. There was also this really crazy German girl, who at one point seemed to be enjoying a 5-minute orgasm on stage, and whose style was kind of like Bjork.
Anyway, in return for the hash he'd supplied us with Juan gave Ted a pack of cigarettes - a highly prized commodity in over-priced Dublin, and I bought him a beer at the bar. Eventually, Juan and Ike decided to go back to the hostel and get to bed, and Elivera followed them shortly after leaving just me and Ted at the bar.
I have to say a few things here, because I think you all know where this is going - first of all, I didn't think much of the fact that we were left alone at the time, because frankly while I found Ted intriguing (no, really, he was a very interesting guy who'd had a lot of crazy experiences), I didn't necessarily find him attractive, and I guess my mind was also - believe or not - not focused on the idea of hooking up with someone. Remember that my plans for the evening had originally involved a date with me and myself, and I was totally content with that idea.
Ted and I really didn't talk much at the bar, opting to mostly sit in silence sipping our beers so it wasn't like there was any flirtation going on, aside from the occassional accidental touching and general closenss. After the German girl spent herself on stage we decided to head back to the hostel, both still a little high and a little tipsy as well. I still didn't realize where this was leading, but Ted and I both obviously wanted to hang out a bit more, so we went up to the TV room. There was another guy in there, but he left soon after probably because Ted and I were being a bit chatty. Ted stepped out of the room and I found a favorite re-run of Sex and the City on the telly, and was happily engrossed in watching it when Ted slipped back into the room and slid next to me on the couch and started mumbling something about viking seduction (yeah, I don't know). Again, your friend Newgy was still a bit clueless, when suddenly Ted swooped around and started kissing me. I was a little stunned at first, but eventually just decided to go with it.
I'm not saying this was against my will, or that I had NO idea that this was where things were leading, but I also do tend to be kind of dense when it comes to this sort of thing, and was just a bit disbelieving when it actually happened.
I will just say this - it was definitely fun and I had a good time. He said and did ALL the right things (here's a tip for all those guys wanting to seduce an Arab girl: make lots of comments about her mysterious, almond eyes, and how good she smells, mmkay?)
I fully expected Ted to be weird and want nothing to do with me the next day - even if we didn't do anything really about which we should have felt awkward - but I was still prepared for some weirdness.
He was, however, pretty nice, if a little awkward. We even smoked another joint together before I went off to see Hedwig, and I told him I'd stop by his work to say bye later that night before I left for London.
I actually ended up catching him at the hostel before he went off to work, and it was then that he started giving me the cold shoulder. I don't know if it was because he'd actually wanted to spend more time with me that day, and I had other plans, on top of which I didn't mention to him that I was leaving for London until mid-day after the night we hooked up or what. All I know is that after Hedwig I said my final goodbyes to JIM, then went back to my hostel and was smoking with Juan and Ike when Ted showed up. He had a cigarette, and then said he had to get ready for work but would be back in 5 minutes to say bye to me. And I never saw him again.
Like I said, I'd prepared myself for that reaction earlier, so I wasn't hurt or even really upset when it happened, but I was a little bit confused. It seems to be a theme in my life these days with guys telling me, I guess, what they think I want to hear, when actually I'm totally prepared for what it seems they actually mean or feel. It's one of those things I'll just never get about guys.
Next time - I'll give a full review of Hedwig, which I can't say enough was WONDERFUL (and I don't just say that because I know Joe occassionally reads this). It really was a highlight of my time in Dublin.
Till then - toodles.