Weather and words

When I arrived, Ireland was in the midst of the "best" summer in forty years, if "best" can be defined as hottest and driest. However, I should have known that it couldn't last. It's now been raining for a week. I was going to head to the cliffs this morning, but when I woke up at 7am (on a Saturday, no less) I was greeted with approximately twenty feet of visibility. Hopefully it clears up later.

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While we haven't had too many language difficulties here, since they do speak English, or something at least similar, I have encountered some interesting rough spots.

For example, the people from Cork: you just have to give up because you're not going to understand them. We have one acquaintance, who is not from Cork, but is also strangely the only person here I can't understand, even though I can understand his brothers and sisters.

Since we get transportation from other people, I need to make sure I call this service "a lift." To say "ride" has overt sexual connotations, and then people look at me weird.

A common Irish word is "craic," pronounced "crack." If someone asks why you're at a place, and you mean you're just there for a good time, you would say, "I'm here for the craic." Our Irish friend informed us that he got some strange looks when he used this phrase while visiting America.

Here's the breakdown from Wikipedia:

Craic or crack is fun, a good time, good company, good atmosphere and conversation. If you are enjoying yourself, it is good craic.^[30][31] The word may also be used to refer to events, news, or gossip, as in the phrases "What's the crack?", "How's the craic?", "Any craic?" or "It was good crack." It can also be used in a negative context: "That was some bad crack there last night."

Hopefully my trip continues to be good craic.