Lots of Laughs!!

June 13th...

Words cannot explain. Okay, so I'm in Dublin. That's the first bit of excitement. Well, in making plans for this trip I registered on couchsurfing.org so that we could find a place to stay for free. I figured that it would be too good to be true, but it would be the only way I could afford to come to Ireland. I ended up getting just a few positive responses, and I chose for us to stay with a man named Derek, who lived in a small cottage near the City Centre. He'd emailed me directions to his house, so Tracey and I took an AirCoach there after we got off our plane. Walking up to his door, we were both a bit nervous, now knowing what we were getting ourselves into. We knocked on the door....and no answer. We both just looked at each other, having no idea what to do. We didn't have a phone and we didn't want to walk with our heavy luggage to find one. So Tracey sat with our luggage at a nearby bus stop and I went searching for a phone to use. I was feeling really discouraged. Reality started to set in and I thought I'd been so foolish for thinking that this would actually work. Then I heard, "Are you from Kansas?". I looked up and there he was on his bike. I felt so relieved!!

Derek, Tracey, and I walked up to his nice little home, and words cannot describe what we saw. I'm going to do my best to provide an accurate description, but I guarantee you still won't be able to grasp it all. It was like a completely disheveled playhouse, with masks, crazy hats, and other random things on the shelves and walls. He had pictures of himself and other random images hanging randomly, the couch took up the entire living room, and everything was just completely random. His bathroom had "Ken" Barbie dolls, walnut oil, and a suit of armor. Yes, you read that correctly! I could keep going for hours writing about what we first saw and that would barely scratch the surface! Most people would probably think to themselves..."What have I gotten myself into? I cannot stay here for a whole week!" On the contrary, Tracey and I instantly felt completely comfortable. While his house may be a bit eccentric, Derek has such a genuine kindness that is very comforting. That night we had a dance party, complete with dress up, dolls, and a disco ball. I haven't laughed so hard and so long for a long time!