Busy Little Thursday

I'm back and I successfully survived my first American Women's Club function.  Whew!  I circled the house where it was several times and Drew had to give me a pep talk but I finally took a deep breath and went in, after debating what would happen if I just lied and told Drew I went but actually went to the pub instead.  I think my biggest fear was walking in, greeting people, and then being ushered into a room where people were already talking to each other and I would stand there like a dumbass.  That only happened like once or twice and it wasn't even that traumatic.  Thankfully.

The Newcomer's Coffee Group was at a woman's luxurious apartment in Ballsbridge and I walked in and met a wide variety of women!  I'd say on average, the ages were between 35-70 years old (yes, 70 years old),  all of them had an average of 3 children each, and all of them lived in far away in the suburbs of Dublin.  Not exactly in the same life stage as me but...oh well.  I hung out with an older woman from NYC who was funny and friendly, and told me about how her 37 year old daughter was dating for the first time ever and was really enjoying all the sex she'd been having.  She then leaned in close and in her heavy New York accent said "Get this!  He's a CYCLIST!  I bet he really knows how to RIDE!" And then she burst out laughing.  Awesome.  WTF.  Besides the interesting characters there, I learned about the Professional Women's group, and other opportunities and ways to get involved.  I think it'll ultimately be a good thing for me, and it's probably one of those things where I'll get as much out of it as I put into it.  More than anything, it just felt so wonderful to hear every single one of them say "Yes, it's hard.  No, it's not just you.  Living abroad is hard.  THIS IS HARD."  That was such a relief and such a validation of my feelings.  I'm glad I went.  But don't tell Drew.

After this anxiety-ridden event was over, I got to prepare for my next one: the dinner party at PWC for anyone and everyone affiliated with the States, the Navy, or Notre Dame.  In case you didn't know, Notre Dame and Navy are playing an American football game in Dublin this weekend!  Around 30,000 Americans are flying in for it and the city has been preparing all week.  Hotels and pubs have signs welcoming the visitors and people are walking around the city in all of their gear.  So PWC generously had a huge dinner function on Thursday night for everyone, and all of us got to go!  This naturally meant I was having anxiety about what to wear and meeting Drew's work people in general.  But like everything else in my life, it wasn't at all bad - it was actually FUN and I freaked out for nothing.  Lots of good food and drinks and tons of schmoozing but a good time regardless!

Drew learning to pour his own Guinness.

Success!

Beautiful view from the top floor of PWC.

  

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More beautiful views.

Huge Naval ship in for the game.

The food was REALLY good, and this was our dessert - some sort of cheesecake, strawberries, and a pudding.  It was at the end of the night and the wine was flowing and I wolfed it down before I knew what was happening.  Whoops.

 Now that these two anxious-but-really-fun events are over, we can focus on the good times ahead this weekend!  I'll report back on the game on Sunday.  Cheers!