CF Invite and Immigration

To follow my trip back to the US to become completely legal, I had to register with Garda and Immigration. I spent last Thursday waiting in lines with all of the other aliens hoping to get my Irish equivalent of the "green card." I also had to register to get my Irish PPS number (SSN equiv). I spent from 8 in the morning until 3:45 in the afternoon in transit and waiting in lines in order to get my documentation in order. After all of that I was still unable to open a bank account because I did not have a letter from the PPS office saying I did actually have an address in Dublin and that I am legal to be there. After running a few other errand I ducked in for some craic and a pint of Guinness at a bar that was established in 1108. It had a really interesting atmosphere and there was quite a bustle about it. After arriving to work the next morning, I was informed of a little bit of drama my absence had caused. Only my boss knew that I was going to be gone and he had given me the 'ok' to get sorted. Catching up on his work after having the flu run rampant through his 7 child household he had locked himself in his office all morning. The women who sit around me noticed my out of character absence and kept wondering where I was, asking each other and raising the general level of concern. One of them approached my boss asking him where David was and if he was ok several times and my boss seemingly blew it off. She then asked him to call David because wouldn't he want someone to care if his son was in a foreign country and didn't show up for work. So my boss called David reaching his voicemail and left a pretty sarcastic message asking him if he was ok and to check in with Dina when he got a chance. Turns out the David my boss had called and thought she was referring to is a fifty something Irish doctor who is the medical adviser for several of our products. He was equally confused my my boss was asking him if he was alright. It was very amusing situation and it also lets me know that skipping out on work will not go unnoticed...

Crossfit Ireland also held a competition on Saturday. Although it was small (~25 people) there were crossfits from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Manchester represented. It was a very fun and exciting day.

Workout One
Tabata Mash Up
Deadlift, 100Kg 220lbs
Pull Ups (chest to bar)
8 rounds of each, alternating. 20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest. total wod time 7 min 50 secondsq
I did 61 deadlifts and 44 pullups finishing second in this event.


Workout Two
As Many Rounds as Possible in 10 Minutes of:
3 Snatches, 40Kg (96 lbs)
6 Toes-to-Bar
9 Calories on the Rower
I completed just over seven rounds and finished second again.

Workout Three
3 Rounds of
1 Minute Max Thrusters, 45Kg 108lbs
1 Minute Max Box Jumps, 24″
1 Minute Max Kettlebell Swings, 24Kg 1.5 pood 53 lbs
1 Minute Rest
I think my third wod I scored like 161.

The third workout came down to me and another guy who is a powerlifter. We were tied for first place going into the final event. Two rounds done in the third event he and I were still tied and I managed to squeak out 4 more reps than him. It was really intense and fun. I ended up winning the competition. It was a good time. I was fortunate with the draw for what the workouts were. 16 of us went out for dinner and then to a couple pubs to celebrate.


Sunday was spent recovering and walking around Dublin. One of my favorite things to do here is to wander around and explore. The city has a lot of different pockets that each have their own unique flavor. There is a bubbly energy you feel walking around. One interesting thing to me about Dublin is that the tallest building is 16 stories I think. Most are less than 5 or 6 so it has a much different feel than most US cities.
-Starbucks everything is the same price number as the US only it is in Euro and not $ so that 5 dollar mocha frappa carmellata is much closer to 7.50$ most of the chains feel a little different but Starbucks looks/ smells/feels exactly the same
-A gallon of gas is ~7.50$
-A lb of lunch meat from the grocery store is ~15$/lb

Our soccer team also won its' first game tonight. Very exciting to get that goose-egg off the board.