Cheers to New Friends!

When I left Reno I was so hoping that anyone coming here would call me if you're in the area so we could meet up. It's lonely moving this far from everyone you know. And making friends at my age isn't really easy. I guess it's because I fit in better with the professors than the other students. But this past week...I made a few friends.

It was a bit over a week ago that I got an e-mail from 'Tonia4483' who told me she's never met me but read my columns and was going to be in Galway on a bus tour of Ireland and wondered if we could meet up. And so we did.

"Are you Tonia?" I said popping my head into the lobby of the Imperial Hotel on Eyre Square. I was out of breath because I'd overshot the hotel not really knowing where it was , so of course I was late.

"I am!" said the bubbly blonde. "And this is Emily from Portland. We just met on the tour."

"Cool!" I said, "let's go!"

I am in no way a tour guide, but I have learned that it's the little pubs that pack in the best live music. So we had a starting spot at Taaffes on Shop Street and went from there. The small places also attract the real Irish folks rather than the tourists which meant I was able to introduce Emily and Tonia my new friends to John and Tracey from Tullamore, (in the midlands of Ireland) that I had just met at the bar. And we all heard some great local stories over the local music there.

An hour later we left the Irish folks behind. And after a couple more stops and a great meal I left them behind and headed home. But think about it, sometimes new friends really are just people you haven't met yet.