Sunday, 18 August 2024
☕️💭🖼️

The sky is grey today. And while you’re probably reading this thinking, ‘Well, that’s Ireland for you’, it’s actually been almost sunny most days this summer. Summer this year has definitely been more enjoyable than last year. Ken thinks it’s because we’ve acclimatised to the 20-degree “heat waves”. I think it might have to do with the fact that we’re in the city now – everywhere you go there is something new to explore and you have to walk in the ‘sunshine’ to get there.

Last summer, we were living in a double bedroom in a disgustingly dirty shared house. It was a 10-minute walk to the mall where we worked, and there wasn’t much else to do in our town besides go to the mall. Yes, we did still wear our jerseys every day of the season, but there also wasn’t much to do in the little bit of sun we got.

Now, we’re used to the constant chill in the air. And our days are spent exploring the bustling city of Dublin.

Usually, our Sundays begin with getting ready for church, but with no service this week, we decided to enjoy the last day of our holiday week, gently exploring.

We grabbed a quick bite to eat from Cafe Nero (a well-designed yet usually dreary coffee chain) on our way to a pop-up market in Charlemont Square.

The market was quaint – displaying the usual goodies you expect to find at a local market – crocheted goodies, hand made pottery, paintings and prints, antiques, and vintage clothing.

The food and drink side of the market was lacking somewhat, with only one baked goods stand (that happened to be vegan) and no coffee in sight. But the vibes were great and made us feel like young artists living in the city.

Places like this always make you feel like dreams are possible. Want to make jewellery – go for it! Do you love baking – sell it! Are you an artist trying to get out in to the world – then set up a stall!

The world of small businesses thrived during The Dreaded C, and I’ve often wondered if the world of capitalising on your hobbies is dead. Maybe it’s the age bracket I’m in now, but everyone seems to be settling for boring jobs they don’t care for.

When you come out of university – everyone believes they can make something great of themselves. They’ve spent 4 years learning and meeting like-minded people and they all dream of making their own way – not caving into the system of corporate schedules.

Or maybe that’s just South Africa.

When you live in a country where more than HALF of the working population is unemployed – you feel you have no choice but to make a job for yourself. All my friends I went to university with (besides those who became teachers and doctors) have started their own businesses. I miss living in that world. Where only certain jobs guaranteed stability and they were very hard to come by. So everyone was accustomed to the hustle-culture and they believed they could make something great.

In a country where the lowest-income jobs are still liveable, people don’t dream of starting businesses or making crazy life-altering decisions, they find their adventures in the old-fashioned way; travel.

I feel myself losing some of my ambition here. In South Africa, I never would have settled for a corporate job. I worked my day job and had a small business. I also did freelance designing and editing on the side. I was a hustler. A more-than-survivor. But I feel I’ve lost that here.

But markets make you dream. And I have nothing else to do with my time right now except try – so I might as well.

We ended our gentle-exploration by trying a new coffee-shop and accidentally falling in love. 📍Brother Hubbard has the best coffee we’ve tried in Ireland so far! It’s creaming and gentle on the tongue. The flavours are nutty and full. (And they serve their sugar in vintage baking-powder tins which just reminds us of Afrikaans tin-aesthetic – taking us home.)

We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying our favourite TV show as I prepared for the week of job-hunting ahead.

I hope your week is full of dreams.
With love, from Dublin.
Chey