time is telling her tale

yup, another week has gone by. Its crazy to even imagine that I will only be here another 2 weeks. The first chapter is coming to its end. Life is becoming so natural here. If I didn't have a major commitment ie. Uni then I'd ideally be here till at least the end of September. But I'm on a time limit.

Chara, friends and I ventured into NCADs' (national college of art in Dublin- duh!) graduating exhibit. Think about an all-art school of 600 hundred peeps with a beautiful tiny campus. I spent two days looking through it and didn't even complete te whole show. It was a good show but so different from the Montreal art. I'm more into the Montreal scene. The art here was pretty darn literal which is fine but leaves less to the imagination ( thats just my perspective on it).

The other day I went with my friend Stephanie to the Brazen Head. The Brazen Head is the oldest still standing pub in all of Ireland. It was first constructed back in the 1100's. It has such an authentic feel to it. It feels a bit like a vamped castle. The pub has loads of rooms. There was a little Irish band playing some real good music.

Walking to work is always a charm, unles its raining. Then it's just a battle. A few days ago I was walking home when for the first time in my life, I saw a Polo match. It was real cool to watch. Basically a mix of hockey and horseback riding.

Two days ago Chris (our flatmate) and I decided to go on top of our buildings' roof. But to the very top. We somehow climbed onto the very top of the roof. We could see everything! The sun was setting and the clouds were of gold. We were having so much fun being crazy until we noticed baby seagulls in nearby nests and then we were being warned by there parents. (First of all seagulls here are HUGE, they stand 2 feet tall. They look more like eagles if you ask me. They have huge beeks and piercing yellow eyes. They chill on my balcony in the early morning. They are monsters!) They weren't technically harassing us because there was no official contact. But man alive when your on the top of a square building with no where to hide, you become an instant target. They kept swooping down on us and freaking out. I guess they are really good parents.

Last night I slept over at Teresa's. She is the coolest chick ever. She's 26 and from Vienna, Austria. Anyhoo she lives across the street so that is always a charm. My other real good friend here is Karine who I'll be seeing back in Montreal. I sorta met her through Laurence minus the introduction. Karine is cool and everyone likes her because she's real, fun and non-jugemental. Besides that my other real good friend is Lenny. She hails from Moscow, Russia and she's funny and weird and 22. These are the people (besides Karine-haha!) that I will miss the most. And a huge reason on why I'm just not yet ready to leave. My heart says no! but my mind says go.

things are settling down just before I take off

yup life is definatly stablilising itself, 1 month before I leave. We live in a hippie hotel and I couldn't be happier about our location. I'm already planning on having a huge gathering in September at my place in Montreal,which will be an evening of photography and exploring the world of Eire. It's gonna be great craic.

Atleast once a week when I walk to work I pass by the Phoenix Park deer. They look just like Santa's reindeer. Anyhoo, about a week ago Chara and I where walking home from my work at about 10:30 pm and therefore it was only dusk in this part of the world. We were walking when we stopped in our tracks and noticed right infront of us a heard of deer. 10 feet away. To not scare them we laid in the grass. To show them that we sucumb to them and that we are their friends and not enemies. We were oh so close. I love communicating with nature- haha!

fire

The other night I was woken up by Chara at 1am.

'Chantal get up'
'mmm'
'Chantal seriously, get up!'
'mmmmmmm'
'Chantal there is a fire outside our window!'
'mmmmm.... that's nice.....@

I was really tired.

Then we looked out the window and there was a huge fire right outside our window on the neighbours roof. Probably from a cigarette. The flames where about 12 feet high. The sky was red and smokey. I just wasn't paniking. We called the Garda and they showed up 25 minutes later. They suck. Canadian firefighters will be there in 5 minutes not when they feel like it. By the time they finally showed up the townspeople had put they fire out themselves by throwings pails of water on the roof. This was a big fire. Im still confused.

NEW FLAT!

So ya, our landloard peaced us to another flat. But we dont mind because it's SOOOO COOL! Imagine the most hippie flat possible. That's our flat :) We live in a penthouse with a porch on top of the building. Sometimes it reminds me a bit of the Common Loaf but even more intense. The walls are brightly painted and art is spralled across the walls. We also have a new cool flatmate from France. He's very clean. Part of the appartment even looks like a hotel. Its a weird kind a place but it apeals to me loads. Chara and I share a room with a king sized bed. We have a huge bay window and wooden floors. The sun just fills our room with light. I am so happy here in our new flat. I feel like a robin in the most comfortable of nests. Perched so high that I am practically unattainable. I'm comfortable.

Since I'm feeling good, art is starting to flow through my thingers again. But this time it's different. It's a little more Jenny Saville, a little more Francis Bacon, a little more raw. Except my paintings are Alive. No dead people business here.

I also bought some Neil Young and Bob Marley CD's, which is unleashing, once again, the creative side.



' Did you ever go to art school?'
' No, thank God' - Francis Bacon

What goes around comes around.

Because of my weird work schedule, the times that I have access to free internet are scarce. Therefore resulting in random moments of intense catching up via the blog.

I love the people at my job. We all really click well. I adore my boss. She is the most beautiful woman I have ever met both in and out. I strive to act more like her when I work because she does it so gracefully. My manager on the other side is a pain in the butt. Because of his duo-personnality and Bi-Polarness, he gets on our nerves. But I just shrug it off my shoulders because he isn't worth fussing over.

There are interesting trees around the restaurant and sometimes I pee in them. People can't see you no matter what. I'm going to draw them so you can understand their structure better. But when I am in them I feel like I'm in a circus tent. Or maybe just the jungle...

I yet have more to say : Wicklow

Although I am falling asleep I must continue on with my story. The other week Chara and I went to visit Wicklow. Every once and a while we just need to get out of the city. It's a normal thing that also happens to me in Montreal. Wicklow is a county south of Dublin. So we took a day trip on a tour. We visited this super cool craft mart where we ate the best porridge I have ever tasted. It was filled with cream, honey and berries.
We visited other things like the Bog Lands. Which are huge acres of land left from Glaciars. The land rots and decomposes making a charcoal-like mud substance. It is then cultivated and turned into bricks. Imagine a tiny little street (aka highway) surrounded by lands of mud and watery marsh. This is where Tolkein was much influenced for parts of his novels. Including when Frodo sees the warriors floating uder the marshy waters. Yup, Ireland is an Influence! Don't even get me started on the Gaelic :)
We also ventured into Gledelough which was breathtakingly beautiful. Imagine a meadow filled with trees and toombstones. The sun hits this little hidden area so perfectly. To the side there is a high and narrow tower. This is where monks would go to the top and watch out for enemies. All this was beside a forest and a a lake. All that is left in this area is what was made out of rock. No more wooden homes...

my life lately

I have been super busy with work and doing long huge 10 hour days because of the annual Bloom Festival which happens in Phoenix Park. Basically it is a competition where artists make up these fabulous and beautiful gardens. Thousands of people come to see this event which leaves us, thus, very busy. But that finished a few days ago. So life is becoming a little more normal.

I have bought myself a Luas ticket so that commuting to work isn't as difficult. The Luas is an above ground high-tech train. It's somewhat modeled after the Montreal Metro and the Vancouver Sky Train. Its nice and comfy.

Right now I am knackered, which is Irish for being exhausted. I don't feel like typing.