Emma in Cork 2007 / 2008 - Part 1

She came, she saw, she conquered.

Young Emma Heany was not put off by the thought of travelling alone at the tender age of 18. Her three bags packed and heavily laden with the things that will get her through the year away from home (sweet home) and Delano (sweet Delano), she flew over from Cape Town to Windhoek, from Windhoek to Gatwick and from Gatwick to us in Cork.

Delano and Cape Town's loss was Cath and my gain -- and we tried to show her a good enough time to make her want to come back soon. I think we did. Cath will insist it was her bacon and chicken dish that'll see Emma back soon, but I reckon it was the morning chats (with me) and gym sessions.

The post-it with 'The Emma room' had been stuck to the spare bedroom's door for a while -- as we made it clear to our friends that whoever came to visit us first got the room named after them -- so Emma knew she was free to make herself at home when she saw her name on the door.

And she did.

I'd told her that she was going to have to 'pay her way' by doing dishes, sweeping, making me tea, etc. Despite this, I found that while she was around, instead of a clean wash-rack, there were MORE dishes for ME to wash, more hair all over our floor and less food in the fridge. I did get tea made for me fairly often though, and Emma doesn't doubt me anymore when I tell her I drink about eight cups of tea a day.

The weather was crap and only now that she's been here can Emma understand what it is to live in a place where you have to put on your jacket over your warm top, get your gloves, scarf and beanie - all just for the three minute walk to work. Oh for the Cape Town summer.

But the weather didn't stop us doing stuff - and one of our first points of call was to make a trip to Fitzgerald Park for a bit of camogie / hurling. Emma's a naturally gifted sportsman -- she's almost as good as her oldest sister -- so it was no surprise that she took to it like her brother to the FHM calendar...

... despite a brief alteration with her hair flying into her mouth...

Cath then decided that she needed to show Emma who the alpha-female was, and demonstrated her own prowess with the hurley.

And then Emma got her own back...

I, of course, was fantastic too --but that goes without saying. But I'll say it anyway.

After the hurling / camogie, we rewarded ourselves with a few cuppas and cake at a local coffee shoppe before returning home.


While both Cath and I took a few days off from our jobs, once we were back to work it was Emma and I in the days and Emma and Cath in the eves. But before Cath headed back to work on tweede nuwe jaar (second New Year - January 2 in Cape Town), we had a few nights together to wander around and do a thing or two.

We went to Shandon to ring the bells but in typical fashion, it was closed for renovations.
But the Christmas lights were still up and it was pretty cool to see some of the lights after a bout of Thursday night shopping.

Speaking of shopping, the girls got up to a bit on their own too, and tried on some hats in Penneys, where more than one item was bought to add difficulty to Emma's baggage problem (carrying it all when she eventually returned to england).

They also came across this white geezer - who wouldn't have been out of place in South Africa - at the cricket in front of the sightscreen.

And in typical Heany tradition, if it wasn't shopping, it was eating. But at least Emma was eating mainly good stuff - which is more than can be said for Cath and I. She was quite tickled by what she reckoned was the world's largest carrot, which we found in Tescos.

That's enough for now... check out 'Emma in Ireland, part 2 and 3' ... coming soon!