As Aisling put it....if you can't beat them....

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Funny how sometimes things just suddenly make sense!

This morning on my way to work I fell in love...with a Jaguar XK....siiiiiiiiiiiigh......

I woke up with a dirty great hangover this morning and it was fantastic!

I have had one of my special headaches for a couple of months now....it just won't go away...but this morning I woke up to a headache that I thoroughly deserved!

Colleen just left for Italy - so last night we had some serious fun! Jameson, Luca's cooking, Fergal trying to wind me up about politics, poker and then I became a consultant packer....aka I lay on my bed and watched Colleen throw things into her suitcase :)

Ti voglio bene! Have a good trip :)

Photos :)

Smiles before and tension during the Ireland V Scotland match....sorry again to anyone who tried to converse with me during both the rugby games...but well...it is rugby!



hmmm....she's a bit Molly eh?! Of course not you Bruna :p


aaaaaaaw...they could almost be Irish! I think it is the pint glasses ;)


Bruna shows she is ready to join the Happy GN ;)


At Collins' barracks and the Brazen head...with the original Petroula ;)



Dublin castle with the FrenchCanadian part of the Canadian invasion ;) and Jake of course!!


PS...it is sunny in Dublin today :) yaaaaaaay for spring and sunshine and daffodils

(yes Magnus Daffodils not falafel ;))

How could I forget!??!!

Is it because I am pink?!

Can it be another week gone! Just like that?! Granted this week hasn't been the most highly productive of my term, nor indeed my life but it does however mean that I am one week closer to the end of this year! Don't get me wrong I'm not counting down the seconds here but if we were to convert it then it would be something like 846 7200!! Or roughly 14 weeks! Which is well not very much time at all really! MC selection next week...we get to help Aisling put together the puzzle for next year :) happy days!

Had fantabulous lunch today with Julia and a tour of the Google offices...very cool indeed....they have a games room! and bean bags...I know Colleen and I would appreciate one of those for our office!

This time last week I was looking for time to read my stash from the library and today I am more than half way through...I guess in some ways I have been productive :) :) Aisling has promised to bring my Ross tonight too so that will for sure keep me entertained for the weekend! Oh oh! and I get to see Evie tomorrow :) haaappy days!

Still waiting on Paddy's day photos...once I have some I'll post them :)

Chattage with Prue...as always produces something to think about! Today the point being synchronicity.....

Arthur Koestler, paraphrasing Jung, defines "synchronicity" as the "seemingly accidental meeting of two unrelated casual chains in a coincidental event which appears both highly improbable and highly significant". The people that come to you are the very people you need in relation to your commitment. Doors open, a sense of flow develops, and you find that you are acting in a coherent field of people that may not even be aware of one another. You are not acting individually any longer, but out of the unfolding generative order. This is the unbroken wholeness of the implicate order out of which seemingly discrete events take place. At this point your life becomes a series of predictable miracles.

Now I am not entirely sure I agree with all the previous paragraph...but there is a certain element of truth or more familiarity about it. Particularly living in the tiny AIESEC microsubsystem that we do...Where mutual friendships are always found, things rarely change from generation to generation and everybody who commits to certain level goes through the same crisis at the end of their @XP..

But beyond that have you ever met someone in a random set of events and known instantly that they would be important later on in your life? Or heard a name, had a friend tell you about someone, read a random blog post or comment and felt somehow that this person would eventually someday walk into your life?! That feeling of familiarity that you get from some people that you have just met....I mean it is natural when it happens at conferences or when you meet AIESECers...there are always going to be people or experiences in common...but I mean genuine random moments :P

Not too sure what to write...

I know I want to write but for the first time in a long time I 'm not sure I want to share everything I have to write...there is too much going on in my head right now. Personal and professional. And in truth where are those lines drawn anyway. Especially in AIESEC.

Torn by what I know to be the right thing and what I feel is what I want...hmm...could I be any more vague?! Added to that random thoughts brought about by (if you will believe it..) the loss of a mitten and patchy communication with someone whose presence I would dearly love to be in for half an hour...just to be sure?! Oh yes and also a rather new obsession...those of you that know me well know those come and go...but yes there is a new one! Confliction about my stand toward lots of things. And of course there is the minor problem of a headache that refuses to go away....right now it is taking more of a toll than it has in recent times (not a word out of either of you Franky and Prue) and ya I think that is more or less it! hmmm....well no it isn't but for now I will love you and leave you...go make a mug of tea finish HP2 and start a grown up book :P

And at the back of my head is this feeling of stange happiness...I'm not sure what it is that is causing it but I am truly grateful for it at the moment :)

Thursday Night - the start of the weekend?

This weekend was such great fun...friends old and new, tension to the last second of the France Vs Scotland game and of course Ireland's win over Pakistan on Saturday!

Sample of conversation this weekend, on getting into the lift in Newmarket Hall...

Dimitris to Bruna: so what was his name?

Bruna: Look

All: Look at what?

Bruna: Looooooooooooooook

All: Looooook where?!

Bruna: His name was Luuuuuuuuuuuuuke

General laughter :) :)

Now all I need is the time to actually read....

After weeks of telling myself (and the girls) that I needed to go to the library, I finally made it there! And brought home a stash including Harry Potter 1-3. The big re-read is ON! Now all I have to do is find time to sit and read...I know once I start there will be one or two sleepless nights until I am all caught up again but it will be worth the insomnia to be as familiar with the halls of Hogwarts as I am with the corridors of my life again ;)

Hmmm...time.....it certainly won't be happening this weekend that is for SURE! Currently in the MC office waiting for some of our Paddy's Day guests to arrive back from exploring the city so I can go home and finish cleaning the flat before the others arrive tonight! Party at Chez l'MC tonight except I am the only MC available... poor Colleen has to work and Prue is at WENALDS! Then tomorrow it is up bright and early to head to town so we can miss the parade traffic and get a decent spot in front of a very large screen where I can watch Ireland (hopefully) beat Italy in the 6 Nations giving us a shot at the title :) After that who knows? The Ceili mor perhaps?! Home, change and head out once more to enjoy the spirit of the festival...Sunday - some sightseeing with Bruna et al and that night the Skyfest :) Monday is the Denny Big Day out which is allegedly for children...hopefully of all ages ;) I am also apparently making Irish Stew on Monday evening so that should be....interesting to say the least!

And next week, OMG next week is already looking quite busy between the already scheduled skype chats and the ones I am trying to line up...phew! Oh and the fact that the team is back together properly for the first time in a month! Let the good times roll!

Photos of this weekend as soon as I humanly can I promise :)

Also I have a secret that I am super excited about but I have been sworn to secrecy....but I am super dooper excited :) :)

And the other exciting development...Franky is ACTUALLY using his blog these days! Almost a year after it was set up :) wooooot! I guess it can take a while to get into the habit :p


Happy St Patrick's Day to one and all!!

tsk who says facebook can't be deep/inspiring?!! Not I, for sure! Found on the original starbar, Shirley S Ma's page under the heading of fave quotes:

Inside every person there lies a gift, and in that gift lies their destiny.

-- Virgil [Mighty Max]

Now if only I could figure out waht that gift is....

As if Paddy's Day didn't already have enough sporting action!

March 17th - everyone is Irish right?!

Paddy's Day can be spent in many ways; the parade, walking barefoot up a moutiain on the west coast, in the pub or for the sports fan there is another way entirely (all though this can also be combined with the pub option)

Traditionally the GAA club championships come to an end on this the most Irish of days and this year is no exception. Crossmaglen v Dr. Crokes in the football final and Ballyhale Shamrocks v Loughrea in the hurling. Both to be aired beo ar TG4 :)

Add to that the exciting prospect of Ireland winning the 6 nations tournament for the very first time! England beating France yesterday put us in with a chance at least :)

And now I discover that March 17th at 13.30 GMT Ireland will take on Pakistan in the Cricket World Cup!! How exciting! ANOTHER Happy GN sporting clash....this time I will not be making bets on Franky's behalf...Although who knows the Luck of the Irish might prove invaluable.

And of course there is also F1 with qualifying for the Australian GP....but that one is all more puxa Asturias than Eireann go bragh!

and so it continues........

Home well over a week now and yet there is a niggling feeling left over from IPM that just will not leave me alone....I've been reading through things I wrote while I was in Egypt and the same themes keep popping up again and again. And to be honest I still don't have answers. Reading some friend's blogs and of course actually talking to them lately means that I know I am not alone in this feeling. What is more, I am absolutely sure this happens on an annual basis! what was it Maria Ocampo said to one of the external's at IC...Every AIESECer has a long term vision for their life, few know what they are doing next year...

Funny and all as I find that, it doesn't really help right now...I am still left pondering. I watched the Illusionist last night, it was decent entertainment/distraction for the evening but lying in bed afterwards my mind was racing back and forth between what I had to do today and what I want to do post transition. Suddenly realisation dawned. All these things I've been considering, they aren't options, they are opportunities. It isn't that I assumed that whatever I applied for I would get - not at all, I have met far too many talented AIESECers to be so presumptuous...but I suppose in a bid to make things simpler for myself (and my little head) I had told myself that all I needed to do was to make up my mind.

So now instead of making up my mind I am left with the task of prioritising my opportunities. A list which grows longer with every person I talk to! Which should be a good thing right? I mean it is nice to have so many opportunities but it makes my head hurt just thinking about them! and we all know that hurts a little too often to begin with ;)

I'm not even sure where the indecision comes from. What shall we say is the proverbial chicken and what is the egg? And so I come back to the questions I scribbled at the side of session notes:

Is this still something I can be part of?

What is stopping me?!

Why do I need so much fricking reassurance? Shouldn't I have realised by now that it just pushes people away?

Let go, to let come?

Should I stay or should I go?

'nuf said right?!

IPM 2007 wooo! IPM 2007 woo!

As usual I am a little behind on the proceedings...as with IC this is not quite IPM live but it is a summary of the very best of two unforgetable weeks in Egypt :) My introduction to this amazing country? Arriving at the hotel just in time to hear the 5am call to prayers!

What better way to start IPM then with what by now almost feels like family...in terms of AIESEC it was the last hooray for me with Lara, Laura, Lars, Davinia, Cisco, Hinny, Chris, Aron, Erica and Louise, Thordis, Nava, David and Francois, Juliana, Shirley, Carly, Jorien and Elie!! We do of course have a very WENA Christmas to look forward to :)

WENA spirit was as ever present, doubled in fact by an awesome bunch of elects...including my very own JK - so cool to spend time catching up with him and of course sneak the occassional hug:) Crying on day 1 was kinda unexpected! but lets go with it.... Of course we had Rob with multiple personality disorder...where do I belong...AP?? WENA?? As if there was ever any doubt :p

There are of course the tales of the hotel staff taking a liking to my little Aisling during the premeeting..well one member of staff in particular :s Floods in bedrooms, blackouts and lifts that defy logic! And of course late night chats with my Frankybaby that seem far too long ago now to last until December!

The Opening ceremony was a stark reminder that we were definitely no longer in Europe! Smoking allowed in the auditorium :( ick ick ick! Of course the Spanish delegation took full advantage ;) ;) Some rather random debating that really missed the point and the first of many rugar chats with Ryan!!

On to IPM proper :) The Happy GN goes global!! with Petroula as director :) First legislation Pakistan and the UK become full members...

What better way to enjoy time with friends than over a coffee or two or seven :)

Two of my fave AIESECers FINALLY get together :) :) :)

Lots of speeches and so much diversity in the delivery!! Unashamed pride for our WENA candidates - even those that pretend to be from other GNs already ;)

A new PAI!! and she's a girl :)

H4TF Tracks - what if I don't want to go yet?! Sound advice from some awesome externals though:) had fun even mindmapping with Franky!!

This conf also gave me some of the most personally challenging days in quite a while...so much time to reflect not so good for Aine :( lucky I had the most wonderfully amazing friend to help me through!!

Formal dinner - a memorable speech for so many reasons! the happiest of happy tables with karaoke, sparklers and dancing 'round the kids pool :) Director announcements -- my Lobbie is WENA Director! Shirley Ma is going to AP!! JC to Africa! Juan (from Ireland) is homeward bound to SS! Ivan to CEE and of course Tamer gets to continue the dream in MENA!

Roadmapping saw me?! join a finance working group!! Wonders will never cease!

Legislation - is it just me or should there be a limit to the number of notes voting countries are allowed to send so as not to distract from the proceedings?!! 10 hours of legislation - too m ch even for me! VP announcements on the beach was particularly emotive!

Last days of conference are unusally the least clear for me...turmoil on the last day that has yet to be resolved! An unusual end to what could be my last conference....

Another post to follow with details of the Irishtani adventures in Cairo :) and of course some photos!!

PS... soo excited to just get an email from Abdo....newly selected VP on the Egyptian MC 07/08!!!! woooooooohooooo!!