Fiat!!!

Absolutely awesome, right?!

I (Austin) blog to you sleepy and, well, sleepy in the kitchen of our hosts.  We just bought a 2001 Fiat Multipla today!

After lots of anxst and research on buying (and insuring) a used car in Ireland, our host Mark found a killer deal on the Multipla, which had been slowing molding in a church parking lot because the tax ran out (it costs 800 euro a year to register a car in Ireland, a monstrous amount, so many people let their cars collect dust off the road if they don't want to pay it).  It was literally molding actually, inside.  But it's engine worked (mostly, minus some exhaust work, but Mark is an awesome mechanic), so Kindra and Mark and I went to check it out.  The guy selling it didn't speak a lick of English (he was from Germany), except when it came to numbers.  I test drove the Fiat around the parking lot, got the Mark the mechanic opinion stamp of approval, and threw out an offer (it was originally 280 euro, which is amazingly cheap, but being a cheap bastard I tried low balling him).  "Two hundred?" I said.  His expression of dismay immediately revealed that his English at least extended to numbers.  Mark and I tried 250 euro, and after some straining our German friend said yes.  Wooohooo, 250 euro for a stinking Multipla!  Of course, you in America are going, what the bloody hell is a Multipla?!  (well, minus the bloody hell, that's pure British).  It's a Honda Element style car, with back seats that remove for our "on the road hostel" option.  It is right up our alley, and gets at least 32 mpg as well (though factor in $7+ a gallon, and that doesn't feel right so good). 

Sooo...our adventures continue!  Our hosts haven't evicted us yet, but we may be on the street by the weekend, and our newly acquired Fiat Multipla will be sure to an important part of the road ahead.  :)

Certainty in Uncertainty

Kindra here =)

Our time here has been terrific! Bonding with all the fuzzy/muddy animals, learning more about composting and planting and why earthworms are the awesomest, and getting wonderful, hilarious times with our hosts have been making these 2 weeks a time worth remembering. We even got to weed out and prepare an entire area for planting and gardening, which is extremely rewarding, to turn something from a pile of weeds into an aesthetically pleasing opportunity for new life to flourish. We have also experienced gale winds now, and got to see/be sprayed by HUGE surf in the ocean city of Lehinge, about a 45 min walk from our place. (As a sidenote, we also learned during that time in Lehinge that things in rural Ireland really do close at 5. Or sometimes even before 5 when they say they close at 6. Not in Kansas/late night metropolis cities anymore.)

As part of the highlights, we have been learning about British culture-since our hosts are British-and it's so fun! They a catchy, quirky phrase for just about everything in life, from "gripper"-a person who grips onto you in conversation when you clearly have no desire to talk with them; a person who in impossible to extract yourself from conversation once entered in to said conversations; to "yok"- a thing, as in "what's the name of that yok?" or "that yok there"; or "bum"-an expression of displeasure, as in 'person drops something and would then say "oh bum!" It's been fun =)

Today, however, we received some *potentially* bad news from our hosts. As part of the WWOOFing arrangement, they have the right to ask that their workers leave at any point if their situation changes, it's not a good fit, etc., and WWOOFers have the same right to leave their hosts. While from our perspective this is an excellent side of WWOOFing, as there is no obligation on either party if it's not working out or things change, we never really thought it would affect (effect?)  us-we were wrong. Today we were asked to find another host for our last 2 weeks in Ireland-not from any fault of ours or not getting along, but simply because they cannot afford to have us at the present. The mechanic business that supports their family has come to a screeching halt since we have arrived, and to top it off the weather has been almost totally incapacitating us from doing any of the work they actually need us to do. (Incidentally, we learned from a local Irishman we hitchhiked with yesterday that this past year and continuing into this year is the wettest Ireland has ever seen.) If his business were to pick up and the weather to change/stop raining etc, we would be more than welcome to stay the full original planned time. They are NOT kicking us out, and emphasized that if we can't find another host that they won't throw us out and we can finish our time here....but that, financially, it would be appreciated if we could find somewhere else. Starting this weekend-ish.

Soooooooo, Austin and I had been talking about wanting to buy a car/van/something mobile to sleep in just as a convenience and potential cost saver as we go through Europe, and especially with these recent events we are now looking in earnest for a car. The fact that we have an excellent mechanic as a host who can inspect it for us before we buy is certainly a plus as well. 

As we have been spending time with Jesus lately, we have been feeling encouraged to be more independent in our travels, and to possibly step out of the box of ONLY WWOOFing; to try new things as we travel, and we are thinking that this may be just that opportunity. So we may get a Mitsubishi station wagon from town, and travel Ireland for a week before heading to Scotland and travel there for a week before our next WWOOFing stop there....who knows! =)

No matter what happens, however uncertain some things may be, we are absolutely certain in this: God is with us, and He is for us. So who can be against us? We know He will provide-He always has-and we know we can trust Him.

So we'll keep you posted, but for now we may be packing up and hitting the road in the next few days! I guess this is the part when everyone tells you that you have to be flexible when you're traveling, right?
; )

Irish Landscapes

Moonlit sky outside our house.

Car driving by at night.

Oh the beautiful, beautiful roads.

This picture expresses the journey we are on.

Pick Your Weather

Welcome to Clare County Ireland, the winter wonderland of variety weather.  I (Austin here) said it would be strictly rain on the agenda, but boy was I wrong.  In the five days we have had rain (it's raining now :), snow, mist, sun, cloudy, and extensive frost (ie so cold our water pipes in our mobile home froze).  The snow melted by midday, but was still unexpected and awesome.

Mark and Tina are absolutely the sweetest couple, and have been great hosts.  Tina cooks lunch and dinner for us just about every night, and we fend for ourselves on toast and cornflakes for breakfast.  They are great to converse with; we often spend at least an hour each meal just chatting it up about anything from our families to Irish and UK history to anything in between.  We cooked them our favorite Chicken Tikka Masala recipe (which I made wayyyy too spicy), but they actually choked it down with dignaty and had a great time with it.

Our actual WWOOFing work here has thus far been feeding those hungry donkeys (and chickens, geese, and ducks for that matter), and various projects.  Yesterday we watered their gardens in the polytunnel and scraped clean a cement rock garden; today the frost was too strong to do any digging, so we scrubbed and cleaned parts of the main house.  For both of us it was very fulfilling!

The inside of one of two polytunnels on site.

Kindra watering away!

So far, we have cashed our free time in on extensive walking adventures and an absolutely epic fifteen mile bike ride to the Cliffs of Moher.  I am serious, yes, the cliffs of insanity from the Princess Bride!  Soo freakin' cool.  And literally, cool, with huge wind gusts and chilly temps.

Staying warm at the famous Cliffs of Moher!

So our WWOOFing adventure continues, one variable weather/work day at a time!

For more pics: https://picasaweb.google.com/117860913937238604610/Ireland

Cheers!

At least, that is what the Irish say a few times a meal to the tune of glasses clanking.  And it so happens to be what we are saying to our new adventure's start.  Cheers!

(By the way, it's me Austin blogging.   It seems to help our readers to know who the culprit of current writing is :)

Clouds over Ireland.  Today it was sunny, and these fluffy beauts were putting on a major show (complete with rainbows!).

As I write to you now, rain is thundering down on the conservatory wing of our WWOOF host's place (it's the closest room in proximity to our mobile home that gets WiFi).  What, a mobile home?!  Yes, indeed, that is no typo, but rather our home in Ennistymon, Ireland for the next month, and it actually pretty rad.  We have a shower, bed, kitchen, living room, heating, and a good amount of space.  Kindra is napping it right now, the jet lag is still running its merry way out of her system (though we did sleep in until 11 AM, and that was amazing).

Our "mobile" home :)

View from the inside out.

Our hosts, Mark and Tina, who actually originate from the UK (two ex-pats in a row for WWOOF hosts!) are incredibly kind and accommodating.  Mark runs his own high tech car engine business from home, and is an absolute handyman at anything with an engine.  We met them at the raining bus station last night (you better get used to it, for the next month rain will be a regular on this blog) and they promptly helped us load up our luggage and get to their place, where we were greeted by an unusually affectionate cat and three ferociously friendly dogs.  The rest of the animals residing here didn't make their appearance known until this morning, starting with the brontosaurus like call of the donkeys feet away from our bedroom's window.  Chickens, ducks, and quacky geese added to the melody somewhere around noon. 

Kindra went out to pet the donkeys, and I followed suit, with camera in hand.  Except maybe the brown donkey didn't like cameras, or me, because when I put my hand out for a sniff over I got a bite to the thumb knuckle :(  Not even a flesh wound, just a little sore but I can still type fine just in case you readers were worrying for lack of future blogs :)

The culprit!  Still, can't say no to that sweet face.

Now, you're probably wondering, how was the trip over?  To answer you, pretty brutal, as far as a ten hour flight, intense UK customs, waiting for security check round two (think one hundred people and like three TSA peeps to get us through), and another short flight to Dublin can go.  Customs wanted us to prove how $$$ we had before we could get through, and repeatedly threatened to send us back (I mean, we did have a one way ticket, I get that, and I guess being American isn't a golden ticket to go anywhere without a good reason).  Eventually, customs, tiring of our attempts to connect to the internet to prove our bank accounts had more than five bucks in them finally let us through (thank you Jesus!).   What an adventure.

Oh, P.S., picture super jet lagged Kindra trying to explain to a disgruntled (likely overworked, underpaid and under appreciated) customs agent that her current occupation is "traveler."  We both laugh about it now.

Kindra, not jet lagged yet.

Once arriving in Dublin, we stayed at the nicest hostel Kindra and I have ever stepped in (thank Isaac's Hostel!), and then explored Dublin for a bit.  No, leprechauns and pints of Guinness do not dance and leap into your arms at every corner.  There are some green park patches which are pretty, but most it is smog and cars. 

Our cool hostel.

So here we are in rainy, green, beautiful Ireland!  We start our WWOOF duties within the next few days.  One note I have to add is a big, big thank you to our families and friends we saw in the last weeks in the states!!  I can't even begin to express how blessed and supported we felt.  We couldn't do this trip without you guys.

Until next blog!!

A link to our photos in Ireland: https://picasaweb.google.com/117860913937238604610/Ireland

That's us, world travellers!

Saying goodbye, and getting ready for new hellos

Kindra here. T-8 days to launch our next phase in world travel adventures, and our gaze is fixed on Ireland with Tina and Mark at An Teach Lapa, our next WWOOFing farm. Before we hit the road, we have been having a blast with and saying goodbye to friends and family. Staying with my dad and his family now... it's hard to even imagine saying goodbye to my amazing siblings, let alone saying goodbye when you don't know the next time you'll be seeing them again. But then such is the nature of goodbyes, really.

We had such an amazing holiday season, it was a perfect last Christmas in the States experience (a highlight being singing Mad Lib Christmas Carols, such as Frosty the Snowman becoming Bartholomew the Sleet Bison.) Seeing movies with friends, gathering last minute items for our travels like quick dry clothes, being introduced to hilarious Cards Against Humanity-users beware, this is a game not recommended for play with parents or boring people- since we returned in time for Thanksgiving it has truly been a whirlwind of people and experiences. The song 'I'll Be Home for Christmas' seems too fitting to pass up, and it's our theme song for the past month.

As amazing as staying with people has been, Austin and I are becoming increasingly ready for our own space to call home, even for just a month at a time. Being a continual/long term guest, no matter how gracious and wonderful the host, is still being a guest, and there is a something indescribably and intangibly 'not home' about it. I've decided it's the experiences like being able to walk around your house naked, eat what you want, do laundry when/how you want, decorate how you like, that quantify the experience of home, even if the reality of home is really just wherever you and your loved ones are together. We are increasingly ready for our experience and reality to converge. (Our mobile home waiting for us, or as the Irish would say, 'caravan', is sounding more appealing by the hour!)

As I suppose was inevitable, this season has brought a sort of challenge to our motivations and seriousness about what we're doing. Interacting with friends who love their steady jobs and can go out to eat frequently, babies popping out everywhere, annual Disneyland memberships, Laker games, church family and weddings we will sadly miss, are all silently asking 'do you really want to travel the world and leave all of this?' As I was getting increasingly emotional about leaving-and I'm sure I will still be a mess when we leave next Tues the 15th- Austin unknowingly helped answer that question definitively for me when he talked about cheese. He had gone to the store to get some Kefir, and came home last night excitedly relating how he had seen labne, a kind of cheese prevalent in the Middle East that we fell in love with while living in Turkey. He was inconsolably gleeful, and went into a joyful monologue about how much he loves Middle Eastern food, different cultures, new people.....and as I sat there listening, my heart knew as strongly as ever-Yes! I DO want to go experience places that eat labne, that believe different things about the world, that are less glamorous, less tamed-even if that means not having a Disneyland pass (which, if you know me, is a big deal.) So here's to the unknown, just around the corner! With T-8 days, we've never been more pumped and excited about our decision to quit our jobs and travel the world! This is our last post before we fly, so next post we'll be on the other side of the Atlantic.....!!!!!!!!!!!

Before we sign out, here is a quick picture version of our last few months =)

We stayed with our dear friends the Daltons in Santa Barbara

We stayed with my wonderful grandparents in Winchester

I got to say goodbye to my amazing friend Katrina, who just moved to Oregon

Reconnected with college roommate Tamara and her sister Erika, in Redlands

Went with my mom and stepdad to Long Beach waterfront to see Christmas lights

Had great times with my 'sister' Amanda in Santa Ana

Loved spending time with my grandma in Garden Grove

Caught up with college roommate Alyssa and her bf in San Diego-we saw The Hobbit!!

We got to babysit Austin's little brother, 2 1/2, while staying in Pasadena

Helped make poinsettia ornaments for the tree in Pasadena

  

A highlight of the season was going to the Rose Parade, where we got prime seats

Austin's brother doing what he loves most-pushing his red plastic car

Delicious cheese fondue for NYE dinner...mmmmm!

Sean himself

Had a blast with Austin's grandparents in Santa Barbara

Celebrated Christmas Eve with my dad and his family

Reconnected with my grandma and some cousins in Calabasas

Austin and his brother Gavin enjoying their Christmas Day loot-marshmallow gun shooters! And scary nylon beanie things

Celebrated Christmas Day with Austin's mom and her family in SLO

We have had a great time playing with my dad's children in Calabasas

Playing Temple Run, real life-I was a monkey in this round

Lounging girls

My dad took us all to the driving range/putting green. I learned I have some work to do before I go pro