This morning we dove up the coast a bit from Clontarf to see a potential short-term rental. It wouldn’t be a great fit, and it’s a hike from Clontarf…as well as a long bus ride to the schools for the girls…but it would give us a place to live temporarily while we wait for the housing market to open up a bit more in Clontarf. We’re waiting a couple more days & then we’ll probably move on that if nothing else works.

(You might remember that I’d mentioned yesterday that we were scheduled to view a place, but found out it was rented…I just received another email from the landlord saying it is available and she’ll be showing in on Sunday…It’s too late & I’m very confused.)

After that we had some errands to run…deposit our US Dollars in Liz’s new bank account. ($1.22 on the exchange rate!!) Go to the post office…stuff like that.

We’d called the girls school a few times (we need to buy their texts books & we needed a copy of the lists). No one answered so we decided to just drive by & see if anyone was there. The only question I was asked by a certain daughter about the school had to do with the dress code. (Mt. Temple is one of the few schools in the city that does not require uniforms)

Mt. Temple Comprehensive School in Clontarf 

Next stop was to drive over to where we are hoping to live and walk around and pray for Clontarf.

Méabh, which direction to the apartment? 

This next picture is only here because I thought Méabh was especially cute!
 

It was an extremely windy day, but the sun was shining, and it was warm. We walked down Clontarf Rd., recognizing places that we’d seen for rent previously. We were all taking in the scenery as we walked and prayed. Liz noticed the architecture and the flowers…Méabh noticed all of the dogs.

Then it got weird.

Last week when we looked at the house where the agent never showed up, one of the neighbours came out and told us to go talk to the Auctioneer on Vernon St. Since we were down there we decided to stop in.

He has us sit down, asked a bunch of questions and told us what we already knew, there is nothing available in Clontarf at this point.

As he explained a bit about how renting work here in Ireland, he asked where we worked. This is an awkward question. I’m being paid by people who are supporting us back home (through the Ithaca Vineyard)…but over here, I don’t have a job. (Although I’m sending in a CV in the next day or so.)

So I just said, “well, we worked at a church in NY, and they are still currently paying us to come over here and start another church.”

What would you guess his reply would be?

Did you guess that he would say, “The Vineyard?”

It was at that point that my brains started spinning…”did I mention the name of the church? I don’t think I did. How did he know that?”

Then he said…”We heard you were coming.”

One of the things we’ve heard since arriving is that Ireland is a small country and everyone knows everyone else. But come on…that’s crazy, isn’t it?

Well, it turns out, he is the Vice President of the Clontarf Resident’s Association. And after I followed them on Twitter, they followed me back. (Then I had to think…have I posted anything stupid lately here?)

My head hurts.

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The other big news from today is that we all received our PPS numbers. Liz & I even got our cards in the mail.  It isn’t that exciting, but each step like that makes this whole thing seem a bit more permanent.

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Tomorrow, the focus is on finding a car.  I have never bought a car from someone I didn’t know…I think this is above my pay grade.