Galway

It rained when I left for Galway yesterday, it rained when I arrived in Galway. It rained when I checked into my hostel and it rained when I walked around in town. It rained when I walked to Bar No. 8 for the marathon of projections and performances and when I left after an hour, having seen about half of the terrible program it still rained. I walked back to the hostel and went to bed. I couldn’t sleep because the ventilators in the adjoining bathrooms were extremely loud and every time one of my neighbours entered the bathroom it was as if somebody was trying to drill a hole in the wall. My neighbours loved their bathroom. They spend a lot of time in it, late at night, in the middle of the night and very early in the morning.
When I got out of bed it was raining. I took a cold shower because the warm water was finished. I received a text message saying that there might be a leak in my apartment in Cork since the water came through the ceiling of the downstairs apartment. I felt the urge to go back straight away but decided otherwise. I left the hostel, crossed the center, failed to see a multimedia installation in a church because the equipment didn’t work. I made a walk along Galway Bay in the pouring rain. My water-resistant shoes were soaked just like my pants and socks. I was hoping for some views but everything was grey and misty.
I just missed the 13.05 bus and the 14.05 bus was cancelled. I was first in line for the 15.05 bus but it didn’t run either so I was taken to a loaded bus and found a chilly seat just behind the emergency exit door.
It took a while to get out of the busstation because more and more people and suitcases were pushed in the vehicle. When we finally left it was still raining. And it had been raining like this everywhere because the bus had difficulties crossing a couple of flooded roads and was redirected from time to time. I had no idea where this bus was heading, I only knew it wasn’t Cork and the driver had promised me he would tell me when it was time to change busses. My feet were still wet and it was slowly getting dark.
Around five thirty the bus stopped and the busdriver told me to change to the bus at the other side of the road. I collected my things and went.
A few minutes later I found myself in an almost empty bus. It was warm and the seats were comfortable. I took of my shoes and found some dry socks in my bag. I had some wine left and bread and tuna salad and some mature cheddar cheese. I listened to Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater on my iPod and stared into the dark blue sky while sipping my wine and thinking “life isn’t so bad”.