coming to a close

Life has indeed gotten better, but it's also brought change with it. It's nearly November and, given the way life has worked out, it's also nearly the end of my residence here in Ireland.

Since August the hours at work have become increasingly light, making life nearly financially impossible. In combination with the end of my Master's program, this means that there are now more things pushing me away from here and pulling me home to California than keeping me here.

So off I will go mid-November, a mere three weeks from now.

October was still pretty good, though. Arad came for a two week visit, and besides hanging around Cork we made our way around Dublin, Howth, and Kinsale. Badminton has started back up with university, and so I've been seeing more of my lovelies.

The highlight, of course, is the Irish ISBT in Limerick. It was this past weekend, and we had an extra day of insanity thanks to the bank holiday. The theme for this year was '3'. As follows, you can see the group photo of UCCers' costumes:

I was the Holy Ghost. See if you can spot my Trinity counterparts!

Badminton trips always, ALWAYS constitute the highlight of my life here. It's a high that's hard to come down from--playing badminton, partying, and sleeping just enough to begin the cycle again the next day. The craic is unbeatable, as is the company.

So for this very second, I'm stuck in that stage of wanting to stay longer, reminded of all the reasons why I do love this country and why I moved here in the first place. But I also know, even if I don't currently want to remember, that this is the best time for me to make my exit.