There is a saying: “time flies when you’re having fun.” I have certainly had a lot of fun since moving to Ireland, but I still can’t believe I’m nearing the three year mark since arriving here with two bags, a temporary place to stay, and no ticket back to the U.S of A. Despite never visiting the island before moving here, I settled in and felt at home in Sligo very quickly.

Just over two years ago, I wrote a post about some of the things I’d noticed in my ten months of living in Ireland. You can read that post here, if you’d like. I thought it would be fun today to write about a sampling of the ways I’ve become Irish in the past three years. (For the record, I still have difficulty deciding whether to wash my hands with glacial melt-off or water rolling out of the tap at a near boil. The struggle continues on that particular point!)

1.       Tea is not only a beverage; it is a coping mechanism. I never used to drink tea. When I lived in Afghanistan, I got used to drinking green tea (and the joys of trying to avoid drinking the leaves from my cup). I occasionally drank black tea with milk in the years leading up to my move across the pond, but since being in Ireland, it has become a near necessity. During an emotional crisis in August, I realized all I wanted was a cup of tea (and perhaps a hug). Unfortunately, my flat had no power that day, and the thing I wanted most in that moment was unavailable. The crisis was much more difficult to endure without the aid of tea… 😛

2.       The way I speak has changed. I now catch myself putting tom-ah-toes on my salads instead of tom-ay-toes… (I still don’t understand why it doesn’t work the same way with pot-ay-toes, but I say tom-ah-toes anyway.) I eat aubergine and courgette instead of eggplant and zucchini and mince instead of ground beef. Fries are chips, and chips are crisps – unless they’re tortilla chips and then they remain chips…? I arrange to meet people in the car park instead of the parking lot, and on occasion, I will go to the cinema to see a film. I have begun to do washing instead of laundry and washing up instead of dishes.

3.       Spelling has also changed. Don’t be surprised if you notice in my posts an extra “u” hiding in some words or a “z” replaced by an “s”. I realise sometimes that some favourite words are spelled differently than they used to be.

I’m sure I’ve changed in many other ways over the past (nearly) three years. I’m still an American, but I am also still more at home here than I’ve ever felt anywhere else. I don’t know what the future holds, whether I will stay here forever, go back to the States eventually, or maybe end up somewhere else. Only God can see where the road ahead might lead. What I do know, though, is this place and my life here have changed me. I’m not the same girl who arrived in this place in March 2014, and this island will always have a large piece of my heart.