Friend comes to Ireland

My friend Elise and I were writing and sending letters out to each other and each of her letters was sprayed with her perfume which was pretty strong that I had to hold the letter away from me. It was that strong.  I always was surprised to get a letter from Elise because she really is not a writing person.  She prefers to make that connection verbally.  So she was telling me that she was going to start sending me tapes of her voice, which was a good idea and probably would be a lot quicker so I tried that, trying to fill both sides up.  It was definitely quicker than writing word by word especially when you just don't feel like writing.

It was around 1993 and my mother and her boyfriend (now husband) were going to come over to Derry.  So I was discussing Elise why doesn't she come on over for the holiday since she wasn't working and she wanted to come over to see me as well as what Derry was like.  She didn't have enough money only half the money of the fare. I remember having left over money in my bank back in New York.  I told my mother if she could close my account and use that money for the other half of Elise's ticket.

Before Elise came, I told aunt Maggy and her husband about Elise and her problem with her leg which was short than the other and one of her shoes has an extra sole on it to level her feet.

So Elise finally arrived and stayed with my aunt Maggy which was where I was staying at. After the first week and a half of Elise's stay, they noticed that Elise wanted to do this and do that. They knew I didn't have the money for going to places and they confronted me to make sure that Elise wasn't taking me for a ride so to speak because I didn't have the money to continuously go places.  She should be lucky that I paid half of her fare to get to Northern Ireland.

I have to laugh right now.  One day we were all eating dinner and Elise was asking for a steak knife. I looked at her knife and kind of giggled. I told her it was a steak knife and she wouldn't believe me so she asked Maggy if there was a steak knife. Maggy told her that "was" a steak knife. Elise kind of felt stupid and said  "Oh".

For some reason Elise all of a sudden started talking to me about children, meaning our children to be.  She also mentioned that she didn't want any of the children baptized. My mouth dropped.  Excuse me?  It was starting to become uncomfortable for me by her saying that.  So I said Whoa back up.

If there are children to be in this relationship (which deep down I seriously down because I had to talk to her about something) then I would prefer all my children to be baptized.  She kept arguing with me about its against her religion of getting baptized (because she is Jewish), so I kept throwing it back at her that it is against my religion of children not getting baptized. But she didn't know about my secret and I didn't tell her until the last day.

So it was Elise's last day, and I had to tell her something that could be shocking to her. That was the time I came out to her but wanted to remain friends. She was a bit confused and a little disturbed when she heard
that.  I told her take it or leave it.  I wasn't changing for anybody because they didn't want me to be the way I want to be.  So she accepted it.  "I was guessing at the time"

The lingo

Just because I had parents who lived in Derry, didn't mean that I understood what my relatives or other Irish friends and what they were saying. I had a hard time understanding them which I took them literally but they only joked about a situation.  It took some time on  adjusting but I eventually got used to knowing the Irish lingo. I also took everybody literally, meanwhile they always joked. It wasn't that long until I started to talk with an Irish accent. Here are some of the sayings that I started to pick up.

Is that you? If you're asked this, please don't answer with "Of course it's me, you idiot!". They only want to know if you've finished whatever you're doing.

Are you away? Again, no stupid sarcastic answers. They're asking if you are going out / leaving.

That's wile. It's a terrible thing

What about ye? What's up, How are you?

Catch yourself on! Wise up.

Dead on! Great. Perfect, Really nice. (Often used to describe people.)

Away in the head. Lost his senses. Stupid.

Away on! You're kidding!

Sound. Also a word of praise generally used for describing people.- 'He's dead sound!'

Wait till I tell ye. This is difficult to translate. It's a way of starting a conversation or introducing something important or interesting into the conversation.

I tell a lie. It's what you say when you've realised that you said something wrong!

Class, Cracker, Grand, Stickin' out, Magic, Smashing, Brilliant. Just a few more ways to say something's great.

Ta, Ta-ta, Cheers, Thankin' you. And a few ways to say thanks.

Are you gettin'? Have you been helped / served?

He/she/that/this 'Does my head in.' Drives you up the wall.

Mucker. Mate, friend.

Steady/Steady on. Similar to saying 'Behave' or 'Watch it!'.

I'll do you! I'll kill you.

Clattered, Lamped. Hit, Punched.

Eejit. Local pronunciation of the word idiot.

Bog. Bathroom.

Boggin', Mingin', Mankin'. Messy and horrible.

Snog. Kiss.

One night stand. In N.I. it can mean anything from a kiss, to going all the way.

Yous. Plural of you.

Ach! Oh, or Ah. As in 'Ach, What about ye?'

Aye. Yes.

Crack/Craic. Fun.

The Black Stuff. Guinness.

Dummy. Pacifier.

Pram. Stroller.

Nappy. Diaper.

Biscuit. Cookie.

Poke. Ice cream cone.

Scone. A sweet biscuit...of sorts.

Bun/ Wee bun. Sweet roll, danish.

Round. One portion, i.e.. 'round of toast'.

Gravy ring. Ring doughnut.

Bap. A bun or roll. Used mainly for sandwiches.

Ulster Fry. A fried meal with eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, soda bread, potato bread, beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, etc. ALL FRIED.

Sweets. Candy.

Your man/woman. That man/woman.

Cheerio. Good-bye.

All the best! Good-bye, wishing you all the best.

Making a decision

Three months has passed and I still wasn't ready return to New York.  Why was I not ready to return?  Well I was having so much fun with my relatives and meeting new friends.  Also the thought about returning to the dirt smelly air where there are a lot of attitude, I just didn't want to go back to that again.  To be honest, I don't like how the Americans live with being judgmental and as my Uncle Maurice would put it "talk a lot of bullshit" because that's what it was.   I was getting fed up with that atmosphere.

My aunt Maggy was talking to me and she asking me what I was going to do because I would need to go to my aunt Ann's house so she and her husband could take me to the airport.  So I made that decision which was already decided since the first day that I arrived in Derry.  But I was a little confused on thinking about those "what ifs".  What if I made the wrong decision?  What if I went back would I miss my family and friends?  All these questions was entering my brain.  I knew I had to make a decision so I chanced it because it seemed that the answers to my questions were more on the Derry side rather than the New York side.  So told aunt Maggy that I wanted to continue to stay, so she was pleased and thought that was great.

I think it was 3 months later after that, I started to get unemployment money which they called the brue (sounds like brew). I believe that I had to sign every week but I would get my unemployment check every two weeks  in the mail. Some of that money went towards my aunt Maggy for rent.  I wasn't a smoker or drank much so I was able to save a little money.

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An American arrives into Northern Ireland

I decided to create this blog to share my experience as an American who lived in Derry, Northern Ireland. I do have relatives who live in Derry but I didn't really got to know them until August 1992.  That was when I made a decision on visiting them for 3 months and then return to the United States. I thought it would be really nice to see them and get to know them during the 3 month period of my staying with them.  But still at that point I wasn't sure if I wanted to stay in Derry or return to New York after my 3 month period.

I guess my mother was concerned on me leaving the house and I remember her telling me that she was going to put me through Photography school because she knew I enjoyed taking photos.  I suppose she was trying to talk me out of going to Derry, but I told her my mind is already made up.
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