Went to a drinking establishment called "Temple Bar" last night (no stag (bachelor) or hen (bachelorette) parties in sight), in an only mildly objectionable area of town. Struck up a conversation with the bartender, who was a 40-ish woman, and it turns out that she's from Galway, and it was her birthday the next day. We also proceeded to talk at length about what's possibly the most discussed topic in her homeland: the weather. Now generally speaking, Americans tend to talk about the weather when they are uncomfortable, want to break the ice, or have nothing else to say, etc. In Ireland, the weather seems a totally legitimate topic of conversation between individuals who have known each other for months or years. A good chunk of conversations can center around current weather conditions, and comparisons with the last few month/years. I've tried to explain this to my friends in SF, but:
- Several of them are spoilt from only having lived in California after moving to the US, mostly from other warm climates. No upstate NY with chances of a snow-in till mid-May for this lot! A whole week without the sun is an unthinkable thing.
- I really think this obsession cannot be appreciated until one has lived in Ireland for a bit, and been hugely surprised by a fantastic day in October, or crushingly disappointed by a much-promised summer that never quite arrived.
Anyway, Temple Bar was followed by Indian/Pakistani food at a hole in the wall place around the corner. Hadn't been there in months... thankfully, not much had changed. Everything was still guaranteed to be completely non-organic, hyper-fattening, instantaneously food coma-inducing, and swimming in as much oil as the containers would allow. Oh, and did I mention social-interaction-inhibiting odors that refuse to part company with one's skin, hair or clothes? Good times! Ate like a pig starved for generations (a skill perfected by yours truly from travels to Spain).
