The fall of Fort America

Well, Fort America came down over the past two days and I think we have our place in a little bit of order now, complete with a new sofa, which is what that blurry tiny picture above is.  Barry has had to take the past couple of afternoons off to help me unpack and organize.  Honestly, I think he felt he had to after I threw a box of hats and scarves across the room in frustration by my never ending task of unpacking Fort America (I don't handle stress well).  Now, Barry says I aimed the box at his face, but I think he's being a little dramatic.  In all honesty, I was aiming at his groin nothing in particular.  (Barry, if you're reading this...I wuv u and kiss kiss!).  For those not sure what I'm talking about when I say Fort America, check out my last post here.

Anyway, most of the unpacking is done and after we worked a few hours on it per day, we've taken little strolls around the town.  Yesterday, we went "down the town" as you would say here and walked around before going in to an O2 shop to activate my new mobile phone (which has not been the easierst to use.  I'm a BlackBerry gal and having a new touch screen Android operating system is proving quite a challenge).  It almost seemed like a different town than the last time I was here (May 2010).  The last time I was here, the town was bustling with people.  It didn't matter what time of day it was, you'd always see a crowd, however yesterday was quite different.  It was extremely quiet in the town, down every street and in every shop...it was eerie almost.  Just a striking reminder of the pretty crappy economic times we're in right now. 

One of the really cool things about being here, at least I think so at the present moment, is not having a car.  Coming from America, we need cars to get us EVERYWHERE.  Here, not so much.  It is a nice feeling to know that I don't need a car and therefore don't have to worry about car payments, taxes, insurance and all the other headaches joys of being a car owner.  Of course, the first time I want to venture around the country, I'll be cursing the day I ever said I enjoyed not having a car. 

More good news, I was able to secure a facility to begin teaching Zumba classes here.  Hooray!  I've missed teaching lately.  Lucky for me, the place, Pilot's Row, is close enough to walk to since, you know, I don't have a car and all. 

Tomorrow will be another teeny adventure.  My National Insurance interview.  Not quite sure what to expect when it comes to that, but I guess I'll know soon enough! 

I'm going to build a fort

Exhausted, I arrived in Derry this past Saturday.  I went straight to bed 'cause I was tired and 'cause I was greeted by the fifteen or so boxes I had shipped over the past several months and that made me sad.  The thought of unpacking those boxes along with my suitcases made me want to sleep for days.  Which, I almost did. 

At approximately 2pm on Sunday, Barry summoned me from my snuggly bed to come down to the shop where two little girls were anxiously awaiting me.  They couldn't wait to practice their American accents on me. 

The little girls, who decided to call themselves Cindy and Jessie because they think that sounds more American than their actual names, promptly greeting me with a bouquet of tulips and showered me with their Americanisms which mostly consisted of "Yeah, Man!" and "That's totally awesome, Dude"!  Cindy even told me I sounded nothing like what she expected me to sound, so I think I disappointed them a wee bit.  I'll have to work on my American accent a little more.  Here we are:

And, here is my mountain of boxes, clothes, luggage and shit that I have to work on unpacking.  I think perhaps I'll build a fort instead.  And I'll name it Fort American and I'll go there to practice my American accent and perfect my Americanisms.  See ya in a few days kids--once my fort is complete.Or, maybe once all this stuff is put away.