Ireland

I spent 10 years in Ireland and experienced a bit different life than in Poland. I’ll give you a little summary of how I see Ireland “Through my eyes” 👁👁.

On my arrival I experienced a bit of a shock, seeing people walking around in the middle of winter without jackets, in just suits, and babies dressed in sleeping bags with bare legs. Of course, after years of living in Ireland, I have come to understand why that is. First of all, people there have a different sensitivity to temperature, and babies and children, running around completely “naked” in such temperatures, are simply hardened that way. It is not the same as in Poland, where a ‘Polish mother’ dresses her child in millions of clothes, wraps it in a scarf with only eyes visible, and to be on the safe side, throws a blanket over, and, in the end, squeezes into a sleeping bag, which, as a last resort, can be found in the pram. I know this, because I did it myself. And it was a mistake. Shortly after I arrived in Ireland, I felt it on my own skin. I wrote about it in the post “Unknown Land”.

From all the places we visited and saw, I can briefly describe my impressions and observations.

Housing 🏘. Generally a country built up with houses. In Dublin city centre you can see slightly bigger buildings, which are rather used as offices or other purposes.

Friendliness 😊. What can I say. My observations on this subject were included in the “Canada” post. Besides, the teachers are quite friendly, with the kids it varies. The principal from our children’s primary school is the person for the job. It is his destiny. Imagine that he knows every child by name and even by the surname, and there were about 900 students.

Health care 🏥🩺 Coming to Ireland after registering, we immediately have access to public health care, which however is not the best, looking at our experiences. Going to the doctor, there is a chance of getting in or not on a given day, after standing your time, rule: first come, first served. You can wait shorter, unfortunately also with long delays, when you sign up for a specific time in a private clinic, which has an agreement with the Ministry of Health. Professionalism also leaves much to be desired. I mentioned this in the post “Canada”. Additionally, when I was already in Puerto Rico, I got a call from the hospital for a procedure for which I had signed up 3 years earlier. You can see for yourself.

English . This is one of the countries where you can hear English, but I will honestly admit that for those who are not fluent in English, or even for those who are, it can be quite a challenge. In Ireland, it’s more Irish-English than English, and another issue is an understanding of Irish person, with their accent and how they say words. Sometimes you have a feeling that you are trying to understand someone who has sat in a pub all day and had 15 beers 🍻. One thing is for sure. From the mouth of an Irishman you will never hear criticism of your English language. For them we always speak great, even though we know very well what level of English we represent.

“Parties” are 7 days a week. After all day work, everyone goes to the pub to admire a few pints of Guinness or another beer if they don’t particularly like Guinness. It is important to have a beer before day end. Weekends, on the other hand, and especially Sunday, are family days. Most Irish families take their kids to the pub for lunch and end up staying there for all day with kids running around the place doing whatever they want. Most important is that the parents can get together and have a pint 🍻.

Transport: Buses 🚌 in Ireland are double-decker and tickets are bought from the driver. Luas 🚄, are the trams that run around Dublin. Time to time you can even meet a horse in them 🐎. Really, and rather nobody is particularly surprised by this. Well, maybe tourists and newcomers 😉.

That’s how I see Ireland “Through My Eyes” in a nutshell.

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