Writing from the comfort of my new bed, I listen to a playlist a dear friend made of Portuguese music, and I can finally let out my breath. During the last month of October I have seen such a vast change of scenery, from total home comfort to luxury beach vacation, to the beginning of this journey. For much of the last 3 weeks, I have been sharing a room, with both people I love and strangers. Tonight, however, the confines of these four walls house only myself.
There is a housing crisis in Dublin. When I told people in the city that I was on the search for housing, they told me good luck. Well, fortunately, I somehow really lucked out. I have my own room, in a lovely Irish home with lovely Irish people (and another lodger). I have full access to a kitchen, bathroom, and a room that is larger than the room I last I resided in. The rent I pay is almost the same as I paid in Portland. All that is asked for is respect. The only aspect that could possibly make this situation better is if the location was closer to the Dublin action. Though a short 30-40 minute ride on the bus and the surroundings shift from houses and open spaces to the clustered city center. Perhaps though, the most miraculous part is that I landed in Dublin just a week ago.
As I unpacked the life I brought with me in a suitcase, duffel, and backpack, I gave each object that was brought from thousands of miles away, a home. There must be a word in some language for when everything is at its exact place. For, a sense of comfort is beginning to waft over me. My legs are covered with a sackcloth and ashes blanket I earned, and my walls are decorated with a taste of my path. It’s amazing how varied ink on paper can evoke such feelings of familiarity and comfort. Some of the postcards and notes I have had nearly 5 years, they have traveled with me from various living situations, always a temporary space, with my permanent decorations. This place is home, for now.
Just over two weeks in, I use screens to fulfill connection to those thousands of miles away. While I lack many people connections in this land, I have a crutch to remind myself that I am not so isolated. Rather I have the love and support of family, friends and more. Though it’s reliant on internet connection and timing. With all the support an ocean and several landscapes away, I realize that all that I seek, do, and experience is my own.
Somehow miraculously booking an online appointment with immigration, obtaining a PPS number, and acquiring the documents necessary to get a bank account – It is entirely up to me to problem solve.
It is also entirely up to me to learn and absorb. Though this was also true when I was pursuing a degree, learning from listening and not from note-taking and test-taking shifts something. Talking to the owner of the house, my landlord, I feel I barely know anything. I took courses in school about climatology, and I thought I was pretty well aware of the impending crisis, but in less than 15 minutes over breakfast my mind was expanded to understand the implications of the arctic ice sheet melting, what that will do to 
the salinity of the oceans, how that will impact global precipitation patterns and extreme weather events. Though I was probably taught this and answered questions about it, talking about it in a conversational way deepened my understanding and reinstalled an awareness of our place on this sacred planet.
Or, did you know that the Irish invented Halloween? It predates Christianity and was a pagan tradition, where they would burn bonfires at the end of the harvest season, and with their surplus of fruits, they would give them to the children. This, coupled with the tradition of sharing spooky stories and dressing to fool the Celtic spirits was the origin of trick-or-treating, jack-o-lantern carving and wearing a costume. Though the holiday originated in Ireland, the celebrations are more lavish in the United States. I wonder if that fact carries over to other holidays. I suppose as I stay here and become more acclimated, only time will tell.
