I love Ireland. I love the camaraderie, the banter the fresh air and endless open space landscapes to explore. I love the ease of being in a pub with music in the background. Always music. These are the things I love and much more.
Ireland is going through a rough time. I get it. Our bubble has been burst in the cruelest of ways and we are left to pick up the many many pieces. And now is our time, to show the world we are not going to stand for it. We are not going to listen to the endless waffling of our incompetent leaders-we are worth more than that. And yet, here we still are. I went home for 3 weeks and while it was just lovely being back and seeing everyone-the obsession of this situation was a bit unsettling. We talk and we talk and we talk. We love to talk. While Egypt was out on the streets, still we sat, talking. I want Ireland back. I want us to stop talking and start doing.
I live in Vietnam and I am surrounded by positive people-every where I go, smiles, hellos, upbeat energy. When I was home a couple of incidences of aggression left me reeling, out of sorts and sad that this has just become a sort of way of life. These incidents were minor enough but while I was witnessing them, I felt a sort of fear like anything could kick off. This is something I never encounter here. Me writing this is not proclaiming Vietnam as being better than Ireland-this country has it's fair share of problems and downfalls too, believe me. It's just interesting for me how different I feel here, how my mindset is more relaxed-like I'm not stressed out like I am at home. I think negativity breeds negativity and I think this is not the way forward. I would love more than anything for Ireland to shake off the negativity and try to focus on a positive solution. I heard my most philosophical of friends tell me there is no hope, like we are all destined now to just put up with it and so the cycle continues. Maybe it's easy for me to say all this being so far away, living here where people put up with far worse than what people at home are going through. This morning, I heard about one of our children who has a tiny room for a home and parents who can scarcely make a living. And yet this boy is one of the happiest, positive children I have had the pleasure of meeting here. To me it puts it all into perspective.
On a more positive note-my feelings for Ireland will never change, despite this dark cloud we are under. I will always love it there and I want to go back and live there in hope. There is always hope.
