Sowing Smiles: Dublin: From the Cabbie to the Craig

(Irish accent, thick but perfectly understandable) "Emily, if you could do anything you wanted to do, with no barrier to you doing it, what would you want to do with your life?" The cabbie from the Dublin airport asked me that one. I hate that question, I believe, more than any other question. I cannot answer it, and that's on me. "Most people, if they can answer that question and do it, love their lives. It's when people decide they want to live in a certain place that they then have to be able to afford the place. Then they do the job for the rent money and not because they love the job." One thing I learned very quickly is that if you get an Irishman talking about something that he wants to talk about, he may not stop. "I dropped out of school at age 14, had my skill (driving) and used it for work. I met my wife at age 15, and we married at age 17. By the next year, we had our first child, and then our lives had nothing to do with us anymore; they were all about our children. I'm happy I have my children, but I wish I would have taken some time before then to live my life. What you're doing now, Emily, is living your life!"

If the driver wasn't pleasant enough, my Ukranian hosts were absolutely lovely. Olga, Igor, and baby Marc were some of the most strikingly beautiful people I've met, but I thought it would be weird to ask them for a photo. They really made me feel welcome and had flowers on my bed and a cute sign for me when I arrived. They gave me maps, guidebooks, recommendations, etc. and wanted to make sure I had a true Dublin experience before seeing the countryside.

Craig pronounced 'crack,' means a variety of words in Irish, most usually having to do with "fun." For craig during my full day in Dublin, I took a suggestion from Igor and participated in a free walking tour. The guide was hilarious, and I quickly became familiar with the Irish way of joking. For instance, our guide taught us the Irish phrase póg mo thóin, meaning "welcome." Just kidding. It actually means "kiss my ass," but that's how our guide introduced the phrase. I think the jokes are a good practice because daily, monotonous life becomes more enjoyable when you get laughs woven throughout the whole thing.

Random fashion show in the middle of St. Stephen's Shopping District

Here's an example of how the entire lot of them takes part in the craig: There's a woman named Molly Malone immortalized in Irish song, and the legend is that she was a lady of the night and a fisherwoman. They even have a statue of her in the middle of Dublin and luck is associated with rubbing her in a particular location. Turns out, there is no record of such a woman ever having lived! But it's a fun little song, and a fun little legend, so why not?

Statue of Molly Malone

Apparently Christ's Church was Catholic, then something happened. (The guide used that saying tons of times. He actually explained this part, but I just can't remember it.) It became a bar and brothel, and now it is a working Anglican church. A cat and mouse were found mummified in the pipe organ; the Irish nicknamed them Tom and Jerry; and since the organist kept them in glass jars, they can now be seen at a museum in Dublin. That's another perfect example of the Irish sense of humor.

Now for the history section. The Irish call the potato famine The Great Hunger because, really, there was plenty of food being grown on the island. The only crop that failed was the potato, and those who were renting land were required to give all their produce, except some potatoes, as rent money to the owners. I didn't know this. The government decided that the farmers needed to work this matter out with the landowners privately, and the landowners refused to lessen the rent payment. Hence, The Great Hunger. Half the population either died or emigrated.

A memorial along the River Liffy that honors those who walked to Dublin to try to catch boats that could carry them to a better way of life.

Conversely, in the 1990s, the Irish were getting rich--something about independence + joining the EU + hardworking people+time--and Ireland was actually the 4th richest country in the world. They decided they had to do something with all that money, so they built a spire in the sky, or as the tour guide called it "a $4 million dollar homing beacon for drunks." It looks like a needle, conveniently erected around the time that heroin was spiking. Then, of course, the Irish have a few lewder nicknames for it. Because craig.

The spire

In the evening, I headed to O'Neills pub for some food from the carvery, a nice pint, traditional Irish music and dancing, and the craig. While there...I met Americans. Go figure. Dubliners were there as well, but we Americans were determined to have a typical chatty pub experience, and so we ended up chatting with each other. Wouldn't you know, the musicians played Country Roads!