Reflections on a Cold Night
Ah the library. Nothing beats sitting here doing some reading on nationalism before T-tones practice. It's been awhile since I've updated this blog. In that span of time I have aged one whole year (I'm now 22 as of September 20th), celebrated Halloween as a "drunk Monk" (pretty interesting) and have written papers, read countless pages of historical books, and eaten rice-a-roni, the San Francisco treat. Things with Jilian are going very well, and all is well on the home front. Dad visited a few weeks back and we had a great time going to bars and just shooting the shit. I'm lucky to have such a positive relationship with both my folks, and I feel like I've transcended the "son" to "friend" phase with them, which is really cool and something I truly cherish.
Anyway, I had a random thought about an encounter I had in Ireland last semester. There was this computer lab near Corrib Village, my place of residence, called St. Anthony's. It was the best place to check your e-mail/work on homework because the custodians closed it right at 10 (in the closer lab they normally shut down around 9:45). There was a custodian there though, an older woman, who was from some former Eastern Bloc country (and the name just slipped me, I'm sure it will come back). But I'd said hi to here every time I walked into the lab, and smiled and joked with her, she was a pretty cool lady. She spoke English relatively well, though it was pretty broken, but I remember the look she gave me when she found out I was American. It wasn't that "damn you American" look that I normally got from a few select Irish concerning foreign policy, but it was that hopeful look you get when people still hear about the dream or the myth that is "America." In this case she was interested in a job, and, since I had visited the lab for probably three months, she felt that I was the one who could help her and her family move to the States. Now, of course I knew this was a tricky proposition. I didn't speak her language well, and knew nothing of immigration rules, so nothing really became of it. I also told her she was probably making better wages in Ireland than she would back in the States (probably true). But what amazed me was the zeal with which she grasped the American idea. Her husband was a "very good" builder she said, and would find work quickly in a place like America.
Random thoughts I know, but it's always good to put them down when they come to you...you never know when you'll want to revive them.
Now back to Palestinian Nationalism. Fun.
Cheers,
-Nate
"And she called out a warning..don't ever let life pass you by"-Incubus
Anyway, I had a random thought about an encounter I had in Ireland last semester. There was this computer lab near Corrib Village, my place of residence, called St. Anthony's. It was the best place to check your e-mail/work on homework because the custodians closed it right at 10 (in the closer lab they normally shut down around 9:45). There was a custodian there though, an older woman, who was from some former Eastern Bloc country (and the name just slipped me, I'm sure it will come back). But I'd said hi to here every time I walked into the lab, and smiled and joked with her, she was a pretty cool lady. She spoke English relatively well, though it was pretty broken, but I remember the look she gave me when she found out I was American. It wasn't that "damn you American" look that I normally got from a few select Irish concerning foreign policy, but it was that hopeful look you get when people still hear about the dream or the myth that is "America." In this case she was interested in a job, and, since I had visited the lab for probably three months, she felt that I was the one who could help her and her family move to the States. Now, of course I knew this was a tricky proposition. I didn't speak her language well, and knew nothing of immigration rules, so nothing really became of it. I also told her she was probably making better wages in Ireland than she would back in the States (probably true). But what amazed me was the zeal with which she grasped the American idea. Her husband was a "very good" builder she said, and would find work quickly in a place like America.
Random thoughts I know, but it's always good to put them down when they come to you...you never know when you'll want to revive them.
Now back to Palestinian Nationalism. Fun.
Cheers,
-Nate
"And she called out a warning..don't ever let life pass you by"-Incubus
posted by Nate at
11:34 PM
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