Getting ready to move
This time last week, we were on our way to Dublin for Mike's immigrant visa interview. His stamped passport arrived back to us on Friday morning, and I booked our flights to America.
I have mixed feelings about moving home. I've made some great friends here. I also enjoy Galway's literary scene, which is younger and more active than what we have on the Vineyard. Living in the middle of the so-called city, with no need for a car, has also been great. I love being able to walk to the library and the grocery store in less than five minutes, and wandering down Shop Street with Nova, saying hello to all the dogs and babies and listening to the buskers. I'll also really miss our view of Galway harbor and the bay beyond, all the way over to the mountains in Clare.
I will not, however, miss the constant noise and light pollution that comes with our view. Right now, for example, something is beeping out there as a crane piles clattering scrap-metal onto the heap. I won't miss the sorry selection of vegetables at the local grocery store. I know that the prices and selection won't be that much better at home, but we'll be able to go off-island and practically anything. I often complain about the lack of selection in Ireland's shops, whether it's food, clothes, or books, but the small size of the Irish market is probably the main culprit, not the fact that so few people here seem to have any interest in trying new things (particularly when it comes to food).
I dread having to drive everywhere, especially for the first few weeks until Nova gets used to the car again and Mike gets his drivers' license. On the other hand, although we'll be in a car a lot more we won't have to look at so many of them, or dodge them all the time when going out for any kind of walk. I'm also not looking forward to going back to work. I have no idea what I'll do, and I have a nagging suspicion that it won't be worth it, financially or personally, until Nova is a bit older, but I know that I'd get no end of grief for trying to be a "stay at home mom" over there (in Ireland, women get the guilt trip for going back to work, instead of for staying home). Living on the Vineyard is going to be a lot more expensive than living in Galway, at least for us, if only because of the need for a car and possibly health insurance.
I would say that I'll miss Ireland's generous social welfare system, but I can see that it's not a healthy thing for this society. I think it's really, really good that Ireland, as a country, doesn't let people starve, become homeless, or go without medical care (after ridiculously long waits to see specialists if you're in the public system, of course). I think it's a bit messed up, though, that a family on the dole can make more than a family where one person has a full-time job, and that even single people on the dole can be almost as well-off financially as their working peers. The system rewards people for not working, which, as everyone says, is really going to slow down Ireland's economic recovery.
There are a lot of things I'm looking forward to in America. First, I really think it will be great for Nova to be living on the family compound there. We'll have instant dogs and chickens (courtesy of my brother, cousins, and my parents). We'll be in the woods, where she can muck around with dirt and climb trees. We'll be able to have a garden, too. She'll be able to run next door and hang out with my parents almost whenever she wants to. We'll be living in a kind of extended family hamlet, which will be very different from the situation we have here with its semi-formal weekly dinners with each grandparent.
I'm looking forward to the peace and quiet. It will be good to see my friends from home again, although I'll miss Galway's constant social whirl and my friends here. I'm looking forward to a bit of warm weather and going to the beach a few times this summer, or even camping out there with Nova on hot days. Right now, I'm most excited about setting up our "own" house. That includes fixing up a bedroom for Nova, unpacking my millions of boxes of books, and setting up a kitchen where I'll have all my small appliances, pots and pans, etc. I'm also ready to get back to our much better public library system. Galway's library might be right across the street, but its collection is no bigger than what they've got at West Tisbury, the books are mostly falling apart, and you can only check out four at a time.
It's also going to be a big change of scene for Mike, and it will be interesting to see what kind of work we both rustle up in the first year there, and what we wind up doing eventually. He seems to be looking forward to the move, too.
I think the move to America will be good for us, as a family. Now I just have to pack!
I have mixed feelings about moving home. I've made some great friends here. I also enjoy Galway's literary scene, which is younger and more active than what we have on the Vineyard. Living in the middle of the so-called city, with no need for a car, has also been great. I love being able to walk to the library and the grocery store in less than five minutes, and wandering down Shop Street with Nova, saying hello to all the dogs and babies and listening to the buskers. I'll also really miss our view of Galway harbor and the bay beyond, all the way over to the mountains in Clare.
I will not, however, miss the constant noise and light pollution that comes with our view. Right now, for example, something is beeping out there as a crane piles clattering scrap-metal onto the heap. I won't miss the sorry selection of vegetables at the local grocery store. I know that the prices and selection won't be that much better at home, but we'll be able to go off-island and practically anything. I often complain about the lack of selection in Ireland's shops, whether it's food, clothes, or books, but the small size of the Irish market is probably the main culprit, not the fact that so few people here seem to have any interest in trying new things (particularly when it comes to food).
I dread having to drive everywhere, especially for the first few weeks until Nova gets used to the car again and Mike gets his drivers' license. On the other hand, although we'll be in a car a lot more we won't have to look at so many of them, or dodge them all the time when going out for any kind of walk. I'm also not looking forward to going back to work. I have no idea what I'll do, and I have a nagging suspicion that it won't be worth it, financially or personally, until Nova is a bit older, but I know that I'd get no end of grief for trying to be a "stay at home mom" over there (in Ireland, women get the guilt trip for going back to work, instead of for staying home). Living on the Vineyard is going to be a lot more expensive than living in Galway, at least for us, if only because of the need for a car and possibly health insurance.
I would say that I'll miss Ireland's generous social welfare system, but I can see that it's not a healthy thing for this society. I think it's really, really good that Ireland, as a country, doesn't let people starve, become homeless, or go without medical care (after ridiculously long waits to see specialists if you're in the public system, of course). I think it's a bit messed up, though, that a family on the dole can make more than a family where one person has a full-time job, and that even single people on the dole can be almost as well-off financially as their working peers. The system rewards people for not working, which, as everyone says, is really going to slow down Ireland's economic recovery.
There are a lot of things I'm looking forward to in America. First, I really think it will be great for Nova to be living on the family compound there. We'll have instant dogs and chickens (courtesy of my brother, cousins, and my parents). We'll be in the woods, where she can muck around with dirt and climb trees. We'll be able to have a garden, too. She'll be able to run next door and hang out with my parents almost whenever she wants to. We'll be living in a kind of extended family hamlet, which will be very different from the situation we have here with its semi-formal weekly dinners with each grandparent.
I'm looking forward to the peace and quiet. It will be good to see my friends from home again, although I'll miss Galway's constant social whirl and my friends here. I'm looking forward to a bit of warm weather and going to the beach a few times this summer, or even camping out there with Nova on hot days. Right now, I'm most excited about setting up our "own" house. That includes fixing up a bedroom for Nova, unpacking my millions of boxes of books, and setting up a kitchen where I'll have all my small appliances, pots and pans, etc. I'm also ready to get back to our much better public library system. Galway's library might be right across the street, but its collection is no bigger than what they've got at West Tisbury, the books are mostly falling apart, and you can only check out four at a time.
It's also going to be a big change of scene for Mike, and it will be interesting to see what kind of work we both rustle up in the first year there, and what we wind up doing eventually. He seems to be looking forward to the move, too.
I think the move to America will be good for us, as a family. Now I just have to pack!
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