We packed up and sold our place in DC, closed on March 30 and spent several days getting the Newark Airport where we were scheduled to depart on our business-class, one-way flight the Dublin.  The business-class is important because it meant that we had almost double the baggage allowance of economy (3 70-pound bags each, rather than 2 50-pound bags).  That meant that during our three-day journey to Newark from Washington, we were crammed in a rented compact car with many of our prized possessions; more was prepared for a shipment to Ireland (once we had an address) and the rest was stored in anticipation of our eventual return to the USA in a year, maybe more.

During the preparation for this trip, a lot of people asked:  "Why are you doing this?" and early on we found the answer that summed it up pretty accurately:  "Because we can."  We told people our plan was to "spend at least a year, maybe more"  in Europe, maybe even going to Spain or elsewhere after this first year in Dublin.  After this first ten days, I hope that proves to be true. 

A summary of things I learned here over the past ten days will suffice to set up the challenges we face:

• I learned that in Ireland, Easter (indeed any Christian or "bank holiday") is a serious affair.  This year Easter fell on the 8th, but the holidays started on the 6th here and people pretty much stopped working on the afternoon of the 5th and didn't return until mid morning on the 10th.  We were able to get a phone the day after we arrived but otherwise, any business other than retail, was out of the question.
• I learned that you don't want to need a doctor anytime during a "bank holiday" period in Ireland because not only the doctors are not available but many of the hospitals are also closed!  A resurgence of shingles in a big way on Monday morning meant an emergency room was the only option for treatment.  I went to the only hospital in Dublin that would take my US insurance and discovered that the ER was closed.  Well, not 'closed' exactly, because I could get into the facility, and even saw the unlocked 'meds room' but there was no one there.  It was really closed!  That meant a taxi ride to the hospital that was open where I paid 300 Euro (about $400) to see a doc and get the meds I needed for the pain.  
• I learned that if you don't have a permanent address, even if you have an account in an Irish bank, you are not able to draw any money from your account unless you visit the bank personally -- and they don't call them "bank holidays" for nothing.
• I learned that it's not as easy as you think to draw money from your US bank to an "offshore bank" so getting more money from the USA is not going to be that easy.  Fortunately we opened an Irish bank account before we left, but only put in enough for the first month.  Now our US bank won't wire, unless one of us is personally in the US bank, and the Irish bank won't talk to the US bank on our behalf.  This could be our undoing, we may be back before the month is out.  We are in the loop with terrorists and drug dealers and it seems money laundering is the major concern.  Of course, those people already know how to get around this, but we are stuck.
• I learned that you can't get anything but a pay-as-you-go phone without a permanent address, so also learned about frequent "topping up" to stay in communication, and boy oh boy if you don't "top up" in a timely manner, the phone goes off, without notice or any indication that you needed to top up before it happens.
• I learned that it's going to be hard to get a permanent address because landlords are very, very suspicious if you even suggest that you also learned that it's going to be hard to get your US money into the country!
• I learned that the famed Irish pub musical experience is not at all what you would expect.  Musicians are indeed in pubs, but they play for themselves in a little corner with no sound system.  You may or may not even hear a single note over the din of the patrons quite a lot more interested in their pints than in "traditional Irish music".  
• I learned that I'm still the person I've always been and all these learnings are not going to prevent me from trying my hardest to persevere.
• and finally, I learned the definition of persevere from www.merriamwebster.com:  to persist in a state, enterprise, or undertaking in spite of counterinfluences, opposition, or discouragement.

So that's the plan right now, to persevere... It's 5:13 a.m. I've been up for hours ruminating on my learnings, so I think I will take my pain meds and go to bed because I've learned that you are not going to get anything done in Ireland "at the weekend".