Ireland's calling

A frequent question that travellers or expats get asked by the locals in their new location is, ‘Do you not miss home?’ 

It’s no different here in Colombia – the Latinos' strong sense of family often has many of them scratching their heads as to how some of us Westerners can just take flight indefinitely, seemingly without a care. 

'A few of our favourite things.'

The immediate response then, of course, is that we miss our family and close friends (well, those few who remain in Ireland) – honestly, we do. There are times, though, and these vary, when we long for other, what we’ll term less emotional things. 

So for the time of year that’s in it – the St Patrick’s festival that is (why just celebrate one day when you can make a week or more out of it?) – we’re going to take a look at some of the aspects from Ireland that we miss every now and again. Some of these, as you’ll discover, are purely specific to the old country, others a bit more generic.

Draught Guinness

Can you hear us St. James’s Gate?* Please send over a few kegs of your finest black stout – this ‘draught in a can’ never worked. 

In any case, it’s too expensive to buy here, so we stick to the local beers. They fill the void somewhat, but a proper pint of The Black Stuff from time to time would see us right. There’s a growing market for it here from what we can see (at a reasonable price, that is). You know where to find us. Oh, and in a sop to our Belfast days, a keg of Harp wouldn’t go astray either.

Just not the same in a can.

Seasons

Right, in terms of weather these days, Ireland might only have two seasons – rainy and rainier. But it’s the daylight changes we’re referring to here. This time of year back home is generally a more positive one – yes, even for the Irish – as the days grow longer and a bit warmer and we anticipate the ‘hot’ summer days ahead (we like to dream). Yes, we have to suffer the dark, cold winter nights, but we get through them with the thoughts of the ‘brighter delights’ from May through to September.
 

The yearly sameness in daylight hours and weather (it’s either sun or rain, no more) in this part of the world is a bit stale as far as we’re concerned. This might explain why nothing changes that much, in terms of doing things that is. On the other hand, it may also explain why some of the people are a bit emotionally unstable, to make up for the boring seasonal conditions.

Snow, super snow!

GAA

The old craic and banter of an Irish sporting summer – in terms of our native sports that is, Gaelic football and hurling – is hard to beat. 

Hailing from a mediocre county (Roscommon – no sniggering) in terms of our football prowess means our championship run doesn’t last that long – but there’s always our neighbours Mayo to fill the void of heroic failure that bit longer when our own boys, true to form, tamely exit.
 

We do miss playing as well, of course – the pantomime of the local club championship is where it’s truly at really. We’ve suffered more bad days than good on that front, but it’s all about character-building, right?

'When we were kings'. Well, not quite.

Driving

Not at all specifically Irish this, but it is another thing we miss from the home sod nonetheless, considering it was the last place we drove for any meaningful length of time. 

Spinning along the open road with some good tunes can be a nice way to relax. You just have to avoid other road users, the potholes, cattle and/or sheep, the Gardaí (not that we’d be doing anything illegal, but it’s just good practice to dodge them at all times) and, for your own safety and that of others, the pub.

Grub

As we’ve written about before we have no problem with the food in Colombia,** however, there are a few old Irish staples – preferably cooked by mammy – that you just can’t replicate in these parts. 

Bacon and cabbage for one would certainly go down well on the many rainy Bogotá evenings. Same goes for a hearty Irish stew; although we have experimented with our own meatless version of this and it fills a hole at least – an average alternative, we’ll call it. 

Then there are the tried and tested Sunday roasts – beef, lamb, pork even, with all the extras. Snack wise, some decent brown bread (O’Hara’s of Foxford, your only man!) wouldn’t go astray as well as a good lump of soda bread. Um, guess there’s a reason we’re losing weight these days.

Tasty!

Countryside

Again, it’s not like this doesn’t exist in Colombia – far from it, of course, you’ve some of the best untouched countryside on the planet here. 

However, due to work ‘commitments’, the concrete jungle of the country’s sprawling, smog-filled capital is where we spend the majority of our time right now. So having relatively unrestricted access to wander carelessly (or, when we’re feeling energetic, kick a ball) around the fields and bogs of our home place is something we do miss. As long as, that is, we don’t have to do too much physical work on them.

Home sweet home.

Bookies

Might seem like a strange one, but being able to pop into Paddy P – er, I mean Ladbrokes, the old employer (see the parting screen, below) – on the odd occasion and waste away an hour or so while losing a few euros has left a little gap in our lives. 

Yes, you can gamble anywhere in the world now with the online facilities, but it’s just not the same as handing over your money, usually never to be seen again, in person. 

Plus, a bookmaker (for the uninitiated, this is a place where you can gamble on sports and much more besides) is what you might call a ‘healthy’ buffer between the house and the pub.

Leaving Ladbrokes :-(

Just for the record, Barry’s Tea would have made the list, too, had it not been for a special delivery of same from Ireland in January – plus we were gifted Irish tea last year, too, that kept us tied over on that front. Cheers Podge, David and Olivia – much appreciated!
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*For those wondering, St. James's Gate is the home of Guinness in Dublin — The Black Stuff has been brewed there since 1759.

**As for previous snippets about Colombian food, see 'Six of the best in 2012 (well kind of)' http://bit.ly/VQGxxo & 'Horse it into ya' http://bit.ly/WhbuAE.