Viva USA and the Irish Postal Service!!

In October Marco and I are going back to the US for a few weeks to take care of some things. While we are there, Marco is going to be working with a professor at Northwestern University in Chicago. This professor was visiting the university in Galway over the summer and it worked out perfectly since they do work in the same area! Even though we are married, Marco still requires a visa to enter the US at this point. So, we made an appointment at the US embassy in Dublin and headed off on another "visa adventure". When we arrived at the embassy, we were both very impressed with the efficiency and order. Everyone from the security guards to the visa officer were extremely courteous and professional. Just watching how the staff interacted with people of all nationalities made us both realize that the US is a very open-minded and tolerant culture in general. Although we have been treated very well here in Ireland and by most of the embassies we have visited, we have seen that not everyone is treated the same way.

After we checked in, we joined the dozens of other people waiting to be called to the window for service. We heard lots of names being called, mostly of Irish people planning to visit the US. Then, all of a sudden, we heard "Marco Antonio Zuniga Zamalloa......numero uno, por favor." We certainly weren't expecting to hear Spanish at this point! We approached the window and the visa officer (who happened to be Irish) greeted us in Spanish and proceeded to ask Marco questions in Spanish! I told the guy that Marco speaks English, but he laughed and said he wanted to practice. :) He then asked why Marco had a Peruvian passport instead of one from Arequipa. Any Peruvians will understand this. Marco was born in a city named Arequipa and apparently people there feel like people from Texas.....they are their own country! Anyway, it was super funny that this guy knew anything about that. It turns out his wife had lived in Peru for several years and speaks fluent Spanish, so he had been there a few times himself. The best part about the experience was that they granted a 10 year visa to Marco!!!! Now, that was so nice to hear after all of the drama we have had with European embassies only granting short-term visas after requiring a ton of documentation. Anyway, viva USA!!!!

So, each time you apply for a visa you have to leave your passport with them, along with all of the documentation, and then you wait for them to process it and mail you the passport. Well, we were at the embassy on a Monday morning...yesterday. We must have left there around 10:30am to catch the bus back to Dublin. They still had to do whatever it is they do to process the visa paperwork. This morning (Tuesday) at about 8:30am our doorbell rang. It was the postman with the passport in hand! Unbelievable.... viva Irish mail!!!!!

This simple experience reminded Marco why he loves the USA and it also made me proud to be an American. :o)

Volunteering is Fun!!!

So, I think I wrote a while back about the volunteering activities that I have gotten involved with here in Galway. I thought I would just give a little update on how things are going.

Over the summer while the kids were on vacation I went to the school garden twice a week just to do watering and some weeding. It was really fun for me, except on those really rainy Irish days!! Anyway, the kids are back now and they really helped get things back in shape like the grass and weeds that grew like wildfire from all the rain. It's looking beautiful now, which is a good thing. Just last week we found out that the garden had been nominated for a some sort of biodiversity award and a judge came by to look and take pictures. I think there's a good chance we will get something, but we won't know for several weeks. I need to take some pictures to post so you can all see what I'm talking about.

I also still go to the "Friendship Club" every Wednesday afternoon. This is the place for refugee women and children to come for a couple of hours of social time and activities. With the kids back in school, one of the main activities is homework time. Somehow, I got nominated to be the main homework helper so I spend my time assisting the kids with math (or as they call it here "maths"), reading, spelling, etc. It's actually really fun to feel like you are helping kids to learn! It is also very challenging to get them to pay attention and focus, so I have a much greater respect for all of the teachers of the world! After homework time there is usually some sort of craft or activity for the kids. This week they made sock puppets and actually put on a show for us. I finally took some pictures of the kids, so below you can see a little slide show.



Tomorrow morning Marco and I will head off to Dublin. We have an appointment at the US embassy early Monday morning to get his visa for our visit to the US next month. We figured we would go a day early and try and have a good meal in the big city. Based on recent experiences with the French embassy, we are really hoping things are a bit easier this time!

We Love Irish Taxi Drivers

Ok, so I just have to give some major appreciation to Irish taxi drivers. Well, I'm not sure if it's the same all over Ireland, but most certainly for Galway taxi drivers. They have to be some of the nicest of anywhere in the world! Seriously, since we moved to Galway, we haven't yet met even one who wasn't extremely friendly and helpful. I guess taxi drivers around the world don't necessarily have the best reputation, so this says a lot. But it's even more than that. Each week I walk about 20 minutes to our grocery store to do the shopping and have to take a taxi home with all of the bags. Every single time, the taxi driver helps me load all of the bags. When we arrive to the apartment, they always get out and carry all of the bags to my front door! And as if that weren't enough.....when they calculate the fare, they actually round down!!! So, say the fare comes out to 8.20 euros, they will say "Just give me 8." Amazing!

Arand Islands and a B-Day Surprise

Ever since we moved to Ireland we have heard people talking about how amazing the Aran Islands are. We kept saying we would wait for someone to visit us and then we would go. So when the family arrived, we knew it was time! On a beautiful Sunday morning we loaded the kids in the car and drove about 45 minutes up the coast to the small town where the ferry is located. The ferry took about 45 minutes as well, and then we arrived to the largest of the islands, Inishmore. People have told us that it's best to rent bikes and explore the island, but with kids we decided to hire a taxi van for the day. This was a wise decision, as we were able to hit most of the major sites without too much difficulty and we got some interesting stories from our driver along the way. Inishmore has a population of about 800 people, so everyone knows everyone. There is 1 doctor, 1 nurse and 1 police officer.

Our first stop was for lunch, and we found a little thatched roof cottage restaurant where everything on the menu was made from scratch. We had some delicious soup and sandwiches, as well as some mouth watering dessert! Next up, we hiked about 10 minutes up a path to Dun Aengus, a historic 17th century stone fort that overlooks some of the most spectacular cliffs I have seen. Luckily, we had a great weather day, so we could see from one side of the island to the other. Our taxi driver picked us up at the bottom of the hill and we drove to a few other beautiful sites around the island. When we made it back to town where the ferry docked, we still had some time to wait and were a bit hungry. We stopped in to a local place for fish and chips that was so fresh and delicious! We then caught the ferry back and found our way home to Galway....thanks to GPS. :) Marco and I can't wait to go back and explore the island on bikes!!!

So, Carol, Christian and the kids left for a couple of days exploring Ireland and we really missed them! When they returned, Carol and I had planned a sort of surprise birthday celebration for Marco. His birthday is actually September 3rd, but we wanted to celebrate while we were together. We prepared some delicious Peruvian food (well, Carol cooked and I chopped!) that we knew Marco would love. Chicha morada, which is a drink made from boiling purple corn, pineapple rind and cinnamon. Papa a la huancaina, which is a potato dish with a cheesy/spicy sauce. Lomo saltado, which is a delicious beef dish with onions and tomatoes. And finally, crema volteada, Marco's favorite dessert, which is sort of like a flan. We decorated with balloons and the kids made a precious, homemade card for Uncle Marco. Marco had no idea we were planning something, so that was fun.

The family stayed until Saturday, when they took the train to Dublin in order to fly back to Zurich. Having the kids around was so much fun and the house was so quiet and lonely after they left. And it is always so nice to be with family....we appreciate those experiences very much. We can't wait until the next time.