85 and Sunny

April 8 2010

I need to get used to this. 85 degrees and sunny and it's only April 8th. This is still a complete phenomenon to me. I am waiting for the spring showers to come and blow the sun away and kill all the fledgling dandelions. But alas, I am in Newport and not the UK. We don't have any dandelions over here and any showers we do have this year are attributed to El Nino rather than any yearly weather patterns.

People keep asking me how we (Matt and I) are settling in and I dont' really know how to answer. Settling back into a place that you left purposely is very different than settling into a brand new place. There are so many familiar faces yet do I still say "hi"? I mean, many of these people I have not spoken to since high school and for good reason. We have been going out quite a bit this past week in our attempt to ingratiate ourselves into our new neighborhood, also our lack of furniture makes the flat pretty uninviting, and I feel as though I know half the town. Whether I am running into old volleyball teammates, girls I was a debutante with, family friends, old friends and just randoms it kind of feels like I never left. Sure everyone is a bit older, but no one appears to be too much wiser. The crowds are still getting drunk on a Saturday at the Shamrock or Billy's or one of the many drinking establishments, trying to avoid the increasingly aggressive cougars, and the only difference is that more people have switched to low calorie vodka soda drinks to avoid the middle age spread rather than drinking beer all night.

It's a funny ol' thing coming back to a place you grew up. Matt, on the other hand, is having a completely different experience to me. He's meeting these people for the first time and experiencing all this for the first time. I always think the first 3 months are the hardest when you move to a new place and by far the hardest thing is finding friends. Friends take years to find and although I know a lot of people all over the world, I can count my friends on one hand. It's why I feel so lucky that this time round, I am not making the move solo. I've finally got a built in friend.

All in all I am excited about what is to come. I am excited about renewing old friendships and making new ones. I am looking forward to the summer months and BBQ's and beach days. Wicklow is loving the beach and seems right at home. So while it still seems like we are on holiday, I am hoping that sometime very soon we will feel like Wicklow.