I thought I would do a quick update on the latest with us.
I am happily back at work, where I have been enjoying spending entire unrushed days with my three little lovelies, basking in all the summer glory that Ireland has to offer (though not so much with the summer part). This is all about to come to an end as school starts back in a couple of weeks, and so it'll be back to rushing them everywhere and dealing with loads of traffic from everyone else also rushing everyone everywhere.
Jared has nearly clocked Red Dead Redemption, as he's been between jobs since late June (97% and counting ;) ). Though he's had several interviews and verbal offers of jobs, the actual part where you sign on the dotted line has not yet materialised. There are promising leads in the pipeline for two jobs, but neither have come to fruition at this stage. We're hoping to hear back in the next week or so, but then that's what recruiters have been saying for the last couple of weeks.
He did have a job lined up, but the start date got postponed, as banks aren't funding anything and everything willy-nilly like once they were. The contract was to be for a QS role on an apartment building construction site, which Dublin sorely needs more of, so it's not like there's not going to be a market for them when they're complete.
(Perhaps if more people like us are considering returning to their country of origin the housing crisis here will abate some?)
We've taken advantage of the time off to explore the country a little more, heading up to Donegal and doing the majority of the coast line in that county. I'll do another post outlining exactly where we went in more detail.
Ireland saw 174 cases this Saturday just gone, as there's been outbreaks in Direct Provision facilities (where they house refugees and asylum seekers) and also in meat processing plants in the counties that surround Dublin. Thankfully, with the 3 affected counties in lockdown, the spread seems to have slowed, but it is certainly not eliminated, and cases continue to trickle in by the day... another 40 cases Wednesday, 91 cases yesterday. So, we're well on our way to a second wave.
Having said that, we've been thoroughly enjoying the freedom that has come with being out of lockdown, and been availing ourselves of some great eateries, including bottomless brunch last weekend, and our Canadian friend Sarah and I went to Howth for a stunning Saturday in the sun. I was lured into the water by the balmy temperature, only to discover that the water temperature was 'bloody Baltic' as the Irish would say.
'Refreshing' I believe is the correct parlance here. I think I need to invest in a 7mm wetsuit to fully enjoy next summer. These Irish are harder than me!
Book is sitting just shy of 50 000 words. Hopefully some/most of them are worth keeping, but time will tell with that. I'm working on a new blog, which is why I've not been posting here much, with exciting details to come.
We now find ourselves in the awkward place between treading water and creating wealth, with enough to keep afloat, but without 2 steady incomes, the question becomes how long can we continue this? We have indulged in rich-people activities recently such as going to the dentist, buying a computer, and actually taking a holiday, but these may turn out to have been an overindulgence and I'm back to stalling on when I buy my next set of goggles so I can go swimming and see, or avoiding buying new underwear because current set... well the holes aren't really that big, right?.
Where is the line where we say enough is enough, and run away home? Thankfully, Jared qualifies for the Covid Payment here, otherwise we'd already be heading home. My wage barely pays the rent.
I have just made it to a year in my current job, although of that year, I've only worked 9.5 months. The family I work for have been so kind and generous throughout the year and especially throughout Covid, so I'm really grateful to have employment still, and employment with such lovely people.
This immigrant life is fun, exciting and adventurous, but it is also nerve-wracking, precarious, lonely, and can mean forever feeling like an outsider, or caught between two worlds. There's no guarantee that even if we went back to NZ now, that we would be able to easily pick up jobs, so our position might get worse before it gets any better.
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