"What's the crack?"...

... he asked Tiffany and me. We were sitting there in the bus station yesterday, minding our own business, and out of nowhere an older gentleman inquired about our.. crack? Well, not one to jump to conclusions, I asked him to repeat himself, thinking maybe I had heard him incorrectly. "What's the crack?" he asked again. Noticing the puzzled looks on our faces, he asked us, "What's the crack? Are you familiar with the Irish expression? You're American, right?" He went on to explain that he was just asking how we were, what's up (and it's spelled CRAIC, it means "fun"). We immediately began laughing at our blunder, thanking him for teaching us something new. He wished us well, and we soon boarded the bus to Castlebar where Tiffany is attending college.

On the busride over, I began to ponder the peculiarities of this new country. Some of the most interesting, and obvious, differences, lie with the people. Firstly, Irish idioms and words are different. Most people know this. The trunk of a car is a boot, a party is a revelry, liquors are spirits, shopping carts are trolleys, etc. "Cheers" is the official goodbye, and cursing in public is as en vogue as skinny jeans. Speaking of fashion, it is so different here. Black is worn with brown (my younger sister would hate this), girls wear heels everywhere and dress to the nines all the time (I am completely uncomfortable with this, and therefore I stick out like a sore thumb), and guys have the chic "I'm too cool for fashion but I look good anyway" thing going on. You can't really tell what's in or not in style here. The only conclusion I have made about clothing is that layering is the most fashionable, and it's incredibly practical; you never know what the weather will do, except it's bound to rain at least every other day. Despite the precipitation, men and women of all ages straighten their hair (not good for my stubbornly curly head) and girls as young as eight wear makeup. If older women go out without makeup on, prepare to suffer public scrutiny. That one makes me feel completely comfortable too.. not.

Besides fashion, personalities are different. People generally keep to themselves. They are all very friendly, but they won't strike up a conversation first. The culture is a little more reserved than the cocky Americans who are stereotyped as being too bold and rude. And though I'm not completely sure of this, it seems from observation that men and women do not hang out with each other unless they're dating or married. Mixed gender hangouts appear to be lacking.

One of the most frustrating things I've found here hit me upside the head within the first ten minutes of being in the country. Everyone here has a cell phone. That's no shock, cellular technology is everywhere. BUT because everyone has a phone, no one wears a watch and clocks are hard to find. And it's nearly impossible to find watches for sale in stores. Because my cell doesn't get signal here, I've been without a time piece since Thursday. I've been asking around, only to get different answers every time. If it's 4:30 pm, I might hear "4:30" or "16:30" or "Half four" or any number of other slang phrasings. My head is readjusting. Finally, today in Castlebar I found a watch at a grocery store. It might have been the highlight of my day.

So, people talk, dress, act, and tell time differently. They also keep up with American politics and television. I've seen two news reports and three different newspapers in two days giving their opinions on the race. Let's just say McCain isn't regarded fondly. Hmm, what else? Everyone smokes. Everyone drinks. There are no street signs. I have yet to see one bad looking car, almost all are luxury vehicles. I saw a guy washing his BMW today in the 55 degree weather....

I PROMISE I thought of more on the bus. I'll have to start carrying a notepad around with me and jotting everything down. For now, I have to get to sleep. It's almost half past one here, and I have to meet with my department head in the morning to lay out my class schedule. Cheers!