2 Weeks ’til Ireland
…and boy, do I need to get out of here. It’s affecting my mind — of course one never can be sure with someone like me. (sigh 
)
So I’m not sure if I am flying on the planelet to Tashkent or if the new bus service will be active by then. To be honest, the thought of a 7ish hour bus ride does not appeal to me. It also could potentially mess with my fuckoff time in Tashkent, both going up and coming back. I’ll definitely be motivated to get out of here, but if I get bumped on the way back maybe I don’t mind so much. Overpriced Sheraton aside, of course.
Here in a nutshell is my basic plan. I’m flying out of Tashkent the 10th to Dublin via Frankfurt. 3 nights in Dublin, wandering around, and then head down to the Dingle Peninsula. I don’t expect them to have berries, as it is reputed to be beautiful down there. Among other things, they have a friendly dolphin you can swim with. Yaay! Dolphins are cool. Hey! This is a great time for me to go back to something else, not really changing the subject per se, but switching gears a lil’ bit, as I like to do.
Dolphins are just damned neat. One could suppose they must be idjits, since they seem to like people * for some reason. I saw my first real live not in an aquarium dolphins 10ish years ago on a dive trip. They were pacing the boat, flying out of the water playful as can be. Amazing creatures. Last summer down in Galveston I saw some more. We were going to the beach and happened to see them further down. We walked out on the jetty for a closer look. Harder to see, since they water was a bit choppy. They disappeared, and we moved further up the beach. They came back! One can only assume they wanted to talk to me. So I walk-swim out into the water a good ways. Some people like beaches. I myself consider them a necessary step to get to the water. Although, I suppose that boats could eliminate the beach issue….
I don’t like boats, and I don’t like water. I’m a man, not a fish!
(1000 soum to the first one that gets it!)
Where was I? Oh yeah, in the ocean. Most of the rest of the family is not so adventurous, (and shorter) so they don’t quite go out as far as they can touch the bottom looking for the dolphins. Thus, their faith will not be rewarded. The dolphins are aware I am looking for them, so they wander over getting within 40-50ish feet away. They are hard to see because they are just gliding through the water, not flying out of it. The waves are getting high — I can stand in the troughs, and really have to hop not to get flattened as the peaks come through. Water is cool. Need to do something about that salt though, never have liked that. I keep going out trying to get to the dolphins but they are just teasing. They disappear again. When I am disappointed enough I see fins again. This time they get within about 10 feet from me. Almost close enough to touch! That’s all I get though, but it was enough. I wanted to go with them.
…and back to Ireland we go! On this nifty peninsula we have a bunch of views, cliffs, sites, and dostoprimachatelnosti. That’s Russian for sights. I have always liked that word for some reason. I expect to visit a pub or two also. Does anybody know if DMack is still on the radio there in Denver? I have an idea for something to send back that way if he is. Somebody let me know.
There a couple days, and on to Galway, then Derry, Portrush and the Antrim coast, Belfast, and back to Dublin to fly out. Spend the night in Frankfurt, and two nights in Tashkent on the way back. I need to wander some more there.
I’ll keep up (maybe) on the trip itself. I got a keyboard for my IPAQ, and it’s my concession to geekness to take it along. I will probably end up buying another digital camera while there so as to take pictures, since the individuals at the place in NJ don’t seem competent to get it back to me. I feel bad about doing something like that, as it goes against my nature, but I feel too much of the need to have one for recording the trip, and I have (yaay!) the money to engage in such foolish behavior. 
Anyways, I plan on making friends all over the world now. I think I am much more suited to being outgoing than I used to be. I still start a bit reserved, but the “getting to know and coming out of the shell” period isn’t anywhere near what it used to be.
*Not for eating, so far as I am aware.
Jeez — I had to make all sorts of edits for readability (hey, shut up) and emphasizability. What? It’s a word. < <—- Trust me, I know what I’m doing.
(ditto 1000 soum)
