I've tried this blogging thing once before, but it didn't last and I couldn't really be counted on to write in any consistent manner, my only consistency might be said to have been the ranting manner in which I wrote... perhaps write.
I chose the title "In the Land Beyond, Beyond." one day when I was talking to my sister and reminiscing on an old film The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958). In the film, the famous adventurer Sinbad is tasked with his final voyage to rescue his princess, to make a long story short(er) there is a genie in the film who could be summoned if his lamp was stroked while saying the words "In the land beyond beyond, in a world past hope and fear, I bid you genie now appear." Somehow I remembered and identified with the beginning of this line and now as a young adult find that it holds a meaning for me that it did not when I was a child.
I am the middle child of 5, having grown up in the rural United States I have always been used to finding my own amusements. Being from Maine, a state with more in common with rural Canada than with states like Massachusetts and New York, I grew up learning things that could keep me quiet and occupied, though my mind was ever wandering. I taught myself to knit, crochet, make jewelry, tat, macrame and other such fiber arts all while listening to Irish music or watching films. I read a lot growing up and enjoying classic and fantasy novels, rather nerdy films and computer games I grew up to be quite nerdy, not the clever type of nerd that makes something of themselves one day, just the normal rather awkward type that likes to try everything but rarely excels at anything.
My dream growing up was always to leave, to get out of Maine and see the world. Ireland and Scotland were always my top destinations, though something always made me want more than just a visit. Before I even went to high school I was looking up colleges, I wanted to go to Trinity College in Dublin or St. Andrews in Scotland so I thought. At that age I don't think I even understood that to go to these Universities I would need to 1) Chose a major, and 2) Achieve good enough grades to both get in and earn Scholarships. All I knew was that one day I would go to one or both of these countries and stay, but college was far away at this point so the nerdy little bookworm of a homeschool girl that I was, listened to Enya and Loreena McKennit as I finished off lessons, I attempted to learn violin and I took Irish step every year while I volunteered at the local summer art festival. It wasn't until I was almost through with high school that I learned that Irish studies, Archeology, Interpreter, Music and Dance studies and Marine biology were none of them for me. Being from a low income family I realized that I not only needed to love my job and be good at it, but that I also needed one that could one day pay off the massive college loans I would need to take out.
Knowing the only way to get out of my little town and its rundown high school was to graduate and do very well, I did just that. I did as many extracurricular activities and Advanced Placement classes as I could and despite the school not having weighted grades I managed to make 4th in my class.
Having realized that attending a University abroad was unlikely as an undergraduate I then set my sights on a school that would allow me to study abroad while having a good reputation in the field of my chosen major. I attended the University of New Hampshire, where I started working on a Dual degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders and Linguistics. My University experience was a mixed one, of lovely and not so lovely moments, but all in all it was a pleasant and worthwhile growing experience. I was able to study abroad to the University of Limerick (UL) in Ireland and it was the best 4 months of my life. In order to return to Ireland and also reduce fees on my undergraduate education I decided I had to reduce Linguistics to a minor and thus was able to graduate a semester early with a BSc in Communications Sciences and Disorders, after which I returned to Ireland with a year long Working Holiday Visa. After a rough year, at which time I was rejected by the UL not having received my graduating paperwork on time and having no luck finding jobs, I had to return to Maine until I could return to Ireland as a student. A month before I left Ireland I received notification that UL and all of the Universities in the UK that I had applied to had accepted me and were offering me a place in their Master's programs. So I was assured my return to Ireland as a student and to get me farther along in my career as a Speech Therapist.
So at the end of January of 2013 I left Ireland for 6 month stint of living at my family home. Not having lived at home long term since I was 18 made the adjustment difficult and though I was glad to be home with my family again it still took some getting used to. I became a substitute teacher for the rest of the school year and picked up crocheting again. The first few months were the hardest but thank goodness for May, my friends came home from college and the weather improved so I once again was able to have a life outside of the local schools, my yarn box and Skyping my boyfriend back in Ireland. May brought not only my old time friends and good weather, but also my sanity and two of my friends/family from Ireland. So from May through to my departure from the US back to Ireland the end of July I was insanely busy and when I wasn't busy I was either crocheting or swimming in one of the many nearby lakes.
Now I'm back in Ireland and have been for about two weeks. I have never been homesick for Maine before, in my many years of living away from Maine I think I had forgotten all the things that make me love it there, that make it home, but in the last few months that I was home I was not only reminded of the many reasons I might go insane if I stayed there but also the reasons I love it there and can't wait to go back when I can. It's sad how Maine is one of the states in the US that has never really prospered, it has always struggled economically and much of that has to do with the purely seasonal profit that is made there due to people living there only in the summer months or tourists from all over the world, but even sadder is the fact that I have and in my future perhaps even more so will be one of those tourists/summer people. Things I love and miss about Maine include : The smell of the sea, lilacs and apple blossoms, fruit pickig, being able to swim in almost every body of water in the state and the quantity and quality of every one of our bodies of water, the sweetness of my family's well water, the clear nights of endless stars, fireflies, night peepers, authentic ethnic foods from all over the world, collecting sea-glass, lemonade and ice tea, long sunny days and thunderstorms. I love and miss all of these things, things I took totally for granted when I moved to Ireland the last time and some of them things I had forgotten. Hopefully in the future I will find a way and have the ability to balance my life between the two places I hold dear and all my loved ones as well.
Now I am faced with new adventures and what makes them more exciting, scary and wonderful is they are mine and I know I have set them in motion. I am not sure what exactly I will discuss in this blog and it is more than likely only a few of my closest friends might ever read this, but I thought it might be a good way to document my adventures, my crafts and my musings all in one spot. I am fed up with social networking sights like Facebook and the like (unfortunately, in my case they are necessary more than enjoyable).
To any Irish -------> PS. Also in case any knowing and more experienced people do read this post I really must find a craft supply store in Ireland. All I have been able to find is Arts and Hobbies shops and they are not what I need. I do beading and wire jewelry and fiber arts. I do like to meddle in other crafting mediums but those two are the most important at this stage. Thanks bunches if you have any recommendations.
