The Illumination of Iced Coffee (In Ireland)
“If you have time I highly recommend you visit the General Post Office,” he said while we stood waiting at the counter of a small Asian Bun Shop. I turned to get a look at the young Irishman, short spiky red hair, light green eyes, freckles. Bet his family can trace their line right back to the Celts.
“Yeah, all of our tour guides have pointed it out” I said, I was eager to converse with a native.
He nodded, “It’s where the Rising began, you can still see the bullet holes in the facade.”
The Asian man behind the counter handed me my Iced Coffee, it was cold and drippy at the sides, the creamy condensed milk swirled through the golden bean brown crystal cubed depths, to a gorgeous ombréd effect. We all admired it for a moment.
And then I remembered the tour guide from the Northern Ireland tour we took, and come to think of it the tour guide from Kilkenny too. I had to ask him what was it with Dubliners and Bono?
He shrugged, “Bono can piss off”
I found the homegrown ambivalence and general unenthusiasm towards Ireland’s most famous Rock Star, curious. The chap allowed for the fact that Sunday Bloody Sunday was a masterpeice, and very “accurate”, as well as “Where the Streets Have No Name” (my personal fave).
He then veered the Rock band convo straight to Nirvana, the “greatest band ever.” According to him they were to play Dublin on a Friday night, but Kurt killed on himself on Wednesday, He showed me adequate internet proof to back up the miserable timeline.
“Feck that’s the time?” he said to his screen “I’m going to be late for class if I don’t leave immediately” He stated as he felt for his order on the counter aand reached for his leather satchel on the floor, while looking at me.
However, I couldn’t halt the intrusive story hound that lives in my brain from its dig.
“Teacher or a student?” I hope he doesn’t think I’m a nosey, boundary ignorant Yank.
“I teach. ESL. English as a second language,” he responded with an smile that assured me all was good.
Right then the dials in my brain and body turned way up, and the illumination occurred The world and all it contained was bright, clear and light.
English as a Second Language— Of course!
Accustomed to a nice bit of struggle when it comes to vocational matters, I was delighted by the ease of the the ensuing administrative steps to ESL certification, which is earned through an intensive three month course. I begin tomorrow.
I was last in school when Kurt Cobain was alive. At that time I embraced the slacker credo, and my attendance and academic output was proof of it. But I’m trying not to dwell on the amount of time it took me to get motivated. I’m here now.
