Leprechauns have yet to be seen...

Some things about Cork:

It's a real place. I was expecting something... magical, perhaps? At least, I never imagined the not-so-pleasant parts. To show you I am not in Nirvana actually, this post is to update you on the persistence of human comedy.

There is dog "foul" all over the sidewalk. And it smells awful! I thought the first time must be an anomaly, but it kept popping up, over and again. I thought perhaps there was no pick-up-after-your-dog rules here, but no, this happens despite warnings of a 150 Euro fine on the spot for dog fouling.
The people don't seem as insistent on wearing deodorant as those in the US do. Maybe they think it's ok in the cooler weather? Granted, in Would be Much worse in 105 degree heat.
My shower head is broken. I have a system here where you turn on the general water with the top knob and the hot water with the bottom. You can set the temperature by degrees Celsius, with a maximum of 48 at which my knob turned out to be stuck. Couldn't be too bad, I thought, I like hot showers... well 48 Celsius is 118 Fahrenheit and is far too hot, even for me! I told one of the mangers of the apartment complex: "stuck at 48 (fartee-eht) degrees, is it?" he said with a lilt and a chuckle, though he promised to help me get it fixed.

But the sun came out today as I was walking back from the market with my new friends, and it was warm. I had a delicious meal. And this is the view from my room... I think there is some magic here.