Weeding, weeding, weeding and....more weeding

Ok, I'm here, in the Irish ('Ierrysh') land, in fact this is my 5th day here. I thought I'd give you a little update (fingers crossed the internet connection doesn't f*ck up, as it normally does here), before posting more envy-endusing Corsican pictures:)

The title above should give you an idea of what I've been doing for the last few days. Yes, I've arrived! Right now, I'm typing with the fingers that are so dirty and dusty that I don't envy the next person taking over this station. The picture below was taken literally 10 minutes ago, on the way from my weeding place to the high-tech comps. Am I enjoying it? Oh yes (zyu, I have this image of you now in your Churchill impression!), especially since the amounts of food I've been consuming for the last few days means that weeding is the only solution (to get your saliva going: Friday was a pasta day - I had about 5 types of ravioli, 2 types of lasange with just cut young corgettes from the garden and long freshly made pasta made pale tomato sauce...) .

Rewinding a bit back: Thursday, I had a wonderful 14 hour trip from London Euston to my current place of residence: Euston-Crew-Holyhead by train, ferry to Dublin, tram to the train station, another 3 hour train journey to Cork, then a half an hour taxi drive to the Cookery school. I was a bit tired;), but then was quite refreshed by meeting two of my new house mates - les fils francaises (or francaises fils??). I am actually sharing a house with two very young and lovely French girls (that in addition to a telly that my hub would be very jeolous of right now) . They speak as little English as I speak French - the girls that is, not the telly - per-fec-to I say! I am obviously not having long philosophical conversations with them - yet;) - but the situation is very reminisent of the scenario about 11 years ago when I started conquering English. I just keep telling myself it's a beginning:)

The other comforting fact about this place is that I've already met a very warm and funny Russian girl, called Julia, who is a (!!) cook at the school and who (!!!) lives next door to me. Below is us on Saturday - we already had a shashlyk session with lots of wine and beer...;)

You might be wondering - amongst all the random talk here - what the hell am I actually doing. I am actually working, and apart from soul-inspiring weeding have also worked in the glass-house (un sere en francaise apparently;) and at the local market in Middleton selling various produce from the school's gardens (picked by my own hands the night before) and wonderful cutesy cupcakes made by yet another member of the family involved in Ballamaloe business - a charming German guy called Phillip who looks (ginger) and talks (very shhh) like a native Irish. Pictures - of the cupcakes, not Phillip - might follow soon..

and on Sunday, following in my habushka's steps I did a wonderful little walk from my cottage to a near-by town called Ballycotton (which I keep calling Bellybutton....). I even hitched my first lift on the way back, of which I'm particularly proud (she said sitting up right, looking like a proper little robin). The view below is of the bay in Ballycutton...

'Thanks a million!' as everyone seems to be saying here and I promise to write something a bit more engaging, or 'writy' next time:) I'll have a glass of....the creamiest loveliest milk for you later, the London folk!