Lockdown, spontaneous ideas and boredom in between

Saturday, 24.10.2020

Here in Ireland, it's finally autumn break, which gives me enough time to finally give a little sign of life. Since the last report, a lot has happened and autumn has finally arrived.

The leaves are slowly turning orange and brown, the last sun is no longer warm, it only creates the beautiful autumn feeling and the radiant leaves. Here in Sligo, you can take beautiful walks. Right behind the school is the Doorly Park. There you can walk directly along the lake, admire the various swans and ducks, and let your thoughts wander. Marco and I have been walking there almost twice a day lately. There aren't really any other beautiful hiking trails or places to take a walk in Sligo, so the Doorly Park has to do with its charm. In the background, the mountains rise like a painting, and I have already realized for myself that such a backdrop is inspiring to dream.

When the sun shines during the day, you can be sure that the sky will offer a beautiful palette of pink, orange, and violet tones in the evening. The sun currently sets between half past 6 and half past 7, but this weekend the time change is also happening here.

Last weekend, Marco and I went to the beach again. The weather was dry and a little windy, which is one of the best conditions in Ireland. We were there in just about 15 minutes by public transportation. When we arrived, it was high tide, so we walked along the beach for a while, enjoyed the view, and braved the wind, which ruined any attempt at a hairstyle.

As a reward, we had ice cream at Mammy Johnston's. This place was recommended to Marco and me by many locals here. It's a bit expensive, but we're not penny pinchers and so we treated ourselves to this little, expensive reward.

Around the promenade of Strandhill, there are many small shops, opportunities to eat and drink, and seating areas, so you can spend hours there if you want. You can watch people, enjoy the sun, and try the food.

After that weekend, the last week of school before the holidays finally started. It wasn't a very stressful week, as the students had already taken all their tests and the German classes, for example, watched only 'Fack Ju Göhte' and 'Türkisch für Anfänger' for relaxation. The kids found the movies really funny, but they were surprised that children in Germany are already confronted with swear words and nudity in movies at such a young age. After all, the movies are rated for ages 12 and up. Apparently, it's different in Ireland, but it introduced them a little to German culture.

Now many students think that Elyas M'Barek is the only German actor, as he appears in all the movies shown so far. We clarified this misconception, but the students still weren't completely convinced.

On Thursday, Halloween was celebrated a bit in school. For a small contribution (3 euros), you could leave the school uniform at home and come to school in a costume. Some kids took this opportunity to simply wear casual clothes and go as a 'teenager' or as 'themselves'. Others, however, put a lot of effort into their costumes. It was so much fun to just walk through the school during the breaks and admire the costumes. For example, you could see Jesus himself, a golfer, M&M's, basketball players, a rock musician, and even a hipster (Marco).

Personally, I had to improvise a bit and dressed up a little retro. With a vest, a loose blouse, and flared trousers, you're always dressed right, aren't you? In retrospect, I realized that I would actually wear this outfit like that, haha. Some people also said that I looked like Velma from Scooby-Doo, which I found very fitting.

Today is Saturday and therefore the first day of the holidays. Unfortunately, Marco and I cannot use the time sensibly and travel somewhere, because from Thursday morning, Ireland will be in lockdown again. This means that all shops will be closed again, except for essential ones like grocery stores. We are also only allowed to leave our place of residence within 5km and not meet anyone. It's a tough blow, especially because there isn't much to do in Sligo and it feels like we're wasting our free time. The lockdown is scheduled for six weeks, and then it will be seen if the numbers have gone down and if the lockdown has worked. The government actually wants Ireland to be in Phase 2 by Christmas. From Thursday, we will be back in Phase 5, so there is still a long way to go, but we can't do anything about it. Our fingers are crossed though.

However, there is something I managed to do before the lockdown:

I got a tattoo!

When the news came on Monday afternoon that everything would be closed again from Thursday, I immediately sent an email and got an appointment for Tuesday. Unfortunately, Marco couldn't come with me because of Corona, but I did it without his support.

Curious about the design?

Just a small circle.

What does it mean? That's the first question you get asked.

Now you could get poetic and say that a circle represents infinity and can also stand for the circle of life, but the truth is: I just thought it was beautiful! I've been thinking about getting a tattoo for a long time and decided that this was the perfect idea for my first tattoo (yes, Mom, there will probably be more. I'm sorry).

So Marco and I are stuck in Sligo next week. We will probably spend the time going for walks, trying out takeaways, rebuilding our alcohol tolerance a bit, and just relaxing. The movies in German class inspired me to start watching the series 'Türkisch für Anfänger'. It feels a bit like a second quarantine, with the only difference being that Marco and I are allowed to leave the house.

Only thing left to do is keep our fingers crossed and hope it gets better soon.

Stay safe and God bless.