Rome in so many words...

Entrenched in ancient history dating back centuries upon centuries; Rome is a city endless in its vast historical beauty. Each day we were there in the midst of the winter sun and chilly temps, we set for a historical journey back in time as we learned new stories and re-learned what we forgot from history classes. The Colosseum, Pantheon, Vatican, Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica, Spanish Steps, Fontana di Trevi, and San Clemente are just some of the spectacular sights we saw-each breathtaking in its own way.

Our pictures do not do Rome any justice-each photo captures a moment of our own awe as we clicked away about 600 photos.

We loved the culture--the food, wine, coffee, having an espresso in the morning, the accents, the pizza...Italians are very friendly, helpful, and ever grateful for any attempt we made at speaking bits and pieces of Italian. Being familiar with Spanish was very helpful in understanding a few words here and there.

The streets were lined with Smart cars and scooters; as with any big city, traffic and parking is a problem in Rome. In Rome, one needs a permit to drive/park in the City Centre and on certain days only certain license plates can drive in the city.

We enjoyed the pizza, coffee, and gelato (specifically Nutella gelato) almost daily-it was definitely a trip of indulging in guilty pleasures. Throughout the city, people were selling roasted chestnuts-another first for us. We were surprised by the taste-it's a lot like potatoes!

We learned that paying for a tour for the big sights is well worth the money and time-we were able to avoid long lines by being with a tour group.

One surprise that we were not expecting to see was grafitti--grafitti covered many of the city's walls and from what I hear, other parts of Italy is like that as well.

New Year's was fun--the fireworks were not spectacular, but being there was. We joined hundreds of other people, mostly locals, by the Colosseum for fireworks, company, people-watching, and a big champagne spray-fest at midnight.

It was an amazing trip...our pictures can be seen here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=69824&l=fae91&id=555906255

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=70029&l=087ac&id=555906255

Holiday Update...

Happy Holidays!

It is 52 degrees, partly sunny, and 3 days before Christmas…no chance of having a white Christmas or Hanukkah here! As various parts of home (Seattle and Chicago) are bracing for more snow, ice, and wind, we sit here wondering where we’ll take our snow holiday to quest our thirst for snow adventures in the mountains.

With the engagement, wedding, and move to Ireland, our lives have taken us in a different direction across the world. The experience has been a humbling, life-changing, and growing experience for us as individuals and as a couple. The very fabric of our lives has been carefully crafted since we were born; the move to Europe has stretched our fabric and made room for new craftsmanship, new dreams, new stories, and new space for the different realities we witness on a day-to-day basis.

Our adventures occur daily as we:
-walk through mad crowds of people who don’t walk the way they drive (on the left side of the road) and carry umbrellas big enough to cover 4 people
-go to ethnic restaurants to get away from the pub food only to find chips (french fries) on the menu
-go to market after market in search for cilantro to discover they actually call it coriander (did you know they’re from the same plant?)
-make room in our vocabulary to swear at the workplace, people do it here all the time (even the boss)
-pick up on the correct language to use when referring to specific things (trolley=cart to use in the store; boot=trunk of a car; laser card=debit card; courgette=cucumber; aubergine=zucchini; lift=ride; match=game)
-pick up on everyday words to use (brilliant, grand, thanks a million, loads, you know the way…, use the word “yeah” after each sentence to confirm that the person you’re talking to understands you)
-discover hidden gems in the city
-find fabulous restaurants that don’t have chips on the menu
-taste Christmas pudding (literally fruit bread with brandy and Guinness in it); it’s an Irish Christmas dessert
-taste Guinness for the first time
-bake cookies (American style) to share with our colleagues and see their reaction (they really are not keen on soft, chewy cookies)
-search for a bakery with delicious cupcakes (we know, there’ll never be another Trophy Cupcakes here)
-try to figure out how to work our water heater so that we can take hot showers right away
-live a life without tv and watch movies on our laptop
-live a life without football or ESPN

-figure out how much weight we are lifting at the gym or how fast we are running on the treadmill (the metric system is different)
-continuously find ways to live life to its fullest, enjoy each day, and laugh daily

We hope everyone is enjoying their adventures and embracing this holiday season…with or without snow.

Live, love, smile, embrace, hug, and laugh a lot…we look forward to keeping in touch!!

Love,
Rosanne and Brian
http://www.carter726.blogspot.com/
Skype IM: Dublin726

December is already here...where did November go?

November literally came and went...it's hard to believe the holidays are right around the corner. Before we know it, 2009 is here. Where did the year go?

For us, our year began in September 2007, when we first began thinking about our move to Dublin. From there, ideas became reality as the planning went underway. The rest, as they say, is history. March 2008-July 2008 seems a blur of excitement, stress, celebrations, change, transition, and mixed emotions.

Now, we're already at December 2008 and life has settled down, routine has taken place, and everyday remains an adventure.

In November we celebrated our first Thanksgiving together by celebrating with a small feast for 2--mini turkey, potatoes, salad, and carrot cake. We then celebrated Thanksgiving again 2 days later with new friends with a feast for 25! Our friend Stephanie, from California, and her boyfriend, Bob, hosted an amazing gathering. With a 25-lb turkey, 3 different kinds of potatoes, a variety of veg, bread, salad, candied sweet potatoes, desserts, all topped off with free flowing wine and Irish coffee, we were stuffed, happy, and enjoyed great company.

For the potluck we were each assigned to bring 1 dish--I was assigned the candied sweet potatoes and Brian was to bring "any American dish" (if you ask me, I say he got off easy). Much to my surprise, folks loved the candied sweet potatoes...must be all the sugar. Brian brought his amazing rice krispie treats which were also devoured...our favorite comment was made by Stephanie, "MMMM, you made these the American way!!".

We are so thankful for our family and friends and while we miss you all greatly, it was nice to celebrate together and reflect on how lucky we are to be and feel so supported by everyone even being miles and miles away.

November was my hardest month since our move; the 'honeymoon' phase of being somewhere new finally wore off and I felt the emptiness of being so far away. I realized that connections with people--family, friends, and community are very important to me and that without solid connections, it feels like I am really missing out on something so vital. Since then, we have made more connections with people, been invited to things, and are slowly building a circle of friends. Some times I forget that we've ONLY been here 4 months...seems like a lot longer at times, and when I remember that it's only been 4 months, I breathe a little and think, "WOW, we're doing really well...we both have jobs, a great place, friends, and we're living in Europe!" Brian and I are really enjoying our journey here and have grown a lot together as a couple...there's definitely something to be said for starting a new life together away from the security of home.

Some things we miss apart from the obvious, family and friends:

Brian:

-a good protein smoothie (Emerald City smoothie)
-flag football

-football

-football games on t.v.

-Tuesday night soccer

-scooter (Jason better be taking good care of it)

-sushi

Rosanne:

-Tuesday and Thursday night soccer

-The Biggest Loser

-sushi

-Trader Joes

-the rest of my shoes

-talking on the phone with friends and family

-celebrating all the fun milestones for those close to us--engagements, weddings, babies

-not being a part of things

Upcoming adventures:

26th December-1st January--we're going on our honeymoon! All the details are a surprise to me, so more to come after the trip.

We wish everyone an amazing holiday season...we are thinking of everyone and are celebrating with you in spirit.

Love,

Rosanne and Brian

The Carters' visit...just like home!

Michel and Rachel Carter came to visit us for 2 weeks; they came bearing gifts! Well, gifts of our things that we left behind. It is so nice having 2 pairs of my black and brown high heel boots again! Brian requested 4 pairs of his athletic shoes as well as a duffel bag full of football gear (yes, his helmet, shoulder pads, mouth guard, cleats)...we know, we owe them big time!

Their visit also marked the burial of Brian's grandma's ashes; Margaret Luebbers was born and raised in Belfast and left Ireland to follow her husband-to-be when she was in her 20s. Until the day she died she lived in the U.S., bore and raised 5 children, but always kept Ireland close to her heart. This is where Brian's dream originated from...to see, live, and experience the special place that his grandma always spoke of. The memorial service brought together many of the family members that live here...following the service was tea and pastries at Phyllis' house (Margaret's sister) followed by more tea and more tea. Afterwards, a dinner gathering was held at Phyllis' daughter's house with enoough food to feed a village. Wine, beer, and Irish coffee was flowing like the rivers. A fun time was had by all.

We enjoyed our time with Michel and Rachel and were sad to see them go...it felt like home for a brief period of time. We're ready for our next visitors...

The Elections...Go Obama!

Many have asked us what the elections were like here, do the Irish follow American politics, and who did the Irish want to win...the answer is that the elections adourned the front page of the papers all week, coverage of both campaigns were written feverishly on a daily basis, and on the night of the elections many of the Irish stayed up to 4am to watch the results. Obama was the overwhelming vote for all of Ireland...could it be because Obama's great-great-great grandfather was Irish? Perhaps, but more so like the rest of us, Ireland wanted a better America.

Headlines in the paper following Obama's win:
"The day America became a little bit cool again"
--(indicating the overall view of Europeans that "the America we love is back"; a 'goodbye George' party was held in Paris; expat Americans were greeted warmly around the world once more)
--the above couldn't be more true; after Obama's win, we've noticed that people seem to take greater interest in us after hearing our accents...immediately they ask about Obama and our thoughts.
"Election fever hits one in six workers"
--1 in 6 workers will take the day off of work after sitting up all night watching the election.
--"This is the start of a new term and the start of a new era post-Bush and naturally it has everyone talking"

One newspaper did a tribute farewell to George Bush by printing a selection of his most famous quotes:
"They misunderestimated me." --Bentonville, AK; 11/6/2000
"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully" --Saginaw, MI; 9/29/2000
"Rarely is the questioned asked: Is our children learning?" --Florence, S.C.; 1/11/2000
"I didn't grow up in the ocean--as a matter of fact--near the ocean--I grew up in the desert. Therefore, it was a pleasant contrast to see the ocean. And I particularly like it when I'm fishing." --Washington D.C.; 9/26/2008
"Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream." --LaCrosse, WI; 10/18/2000
Farewell George...

Voting can easily be done via absentee ballots, but we also learned after the elections that we could have voted at the American Embassy here.

London!!

London was amazing! The positive energy and vibrancy of the city felt so ALIVE...the city was packed with tourists; we spotted quite a few from New Orleans and California, both loyal fans to watch their teams play at Wembley Stadium.

In just a weekend, we covered much of London by foot and the London City Tour Bus, a bus in which tourists can hop on and off at the sites they want to see. We rode the London Eye, visited the Queen at the Buckingham Palace, marveled in front of the Parliament, reminisced the old days at the London Tower, browsed the shops like tourists, cheered the Saints on to victory 35-32 (our cousin works for the Saints, otherwise, we are loyal Seahawks and Bears fans), and ate Cinnabon like Americans.

Wembley Stadium was packed with 82,000 fans for the Saints v. Chargers NFL game; this was the Saints "home" game, thus the reason for the stadium to be decked out in black and gold, the cheerleaders were there, a jazz band played at the NFL tailgate party, jambalaya was served, mardi gras beads were thrown around everywhere, the Saints parade paraded through the stadium, and beer was drunk by the gallons. It was fascinating for us to observe all the Europeans who came in NFL jerseys and who they wore...we spotted several Seahawks (3 Hasselbacks) and Bears jerseys (3 Urlachers) as well as every other NFL team. The NFL was well represented at this game.

Where to Begin??

Wow, this blog update is LONG overdue; I'm not sure where to begin...

I believe the last post indicated that Brian was waiting to hear back from ESB for the job he wanted, we were heading off to London for the Saints vs. Chargers game, and Brian's parents were coming to visit.

Done, done, and done. :)

Two days after Brian started with VHI, ESB called and offered him the job that he'd been waiting for. The job is doing asset management with our local electric company; it's a 2 year contract and so far Brian enjoys the work and his colleagues.

My work with Barnardos is a slow progress; I'm currently working with 1 mom who consistently shows up every week for our counseling session and with 3 others who never show up. There's hope yet...I'm learning on a daily basis the vast difference of working with families impacted by poverty. With poverty comes higher stress levels in the home, increased use of drugs/alcohol, increased probability of domestic violence, increased number of crises and trauma (abuse, violence) that children witness in the home, increased chances of children being subjected to physica, emotional, and verbal abuse, and decreased hope among families unless they get involved with community support systems and agencies/organizations (such as Barnardos). Tomorrow, I'll start working on my next batch of families, all self-referred, which is positive, it means that these are families that are seeking support and will commit to attending our sessions.

Brian recently asked me, "if I could abolish 1 thing in the world, what would it be?"...without giving it much thought, my first answer was poverty...with the hope that the issues I mentioned above would decrease as access to health care, adequate education, food, medicines would increase. What would you say...if you could abolish 1 thing in the world?