Things have been a bit quiet around here for the last couple of weeks. That is, quiet on the blog but life has certainly not been so. There have been restless and sometimes sleepless nights. A busy mind and a tired body. Lots of last minute catch-ups with old friends, discovering new places with new friends. The last few weeks have been leading up to my time to say so long to Perth. For a short while, hopefully.
Perth, you have been truly an inspiration. You have introduced me to friends I will keep for life. You created a sense of belonging for me and never once treated me like a blow-in. You made me really understand and appreciate the meaning of what it is to be proud of where you come from. The people I have met in Perth are so proud and so they should be. Perth may well be the most isolated city in the world but when you’re here, it does not feel like it. The community in Perth is strong and thriving. Especially that of local businesses, local producers and the local farmers who I have come to know and respect for their ongoing hard work to make this place the way it is.
This will be my third consecutive St. Patrick’s Day away from the nest but this doesn’t mean I don’t get to celebrate, oh no! Where I have been living over the last three years, there have been copious amounts of Irish ex pats surrounding me. Before Perth, I lived in Doha, Qatar. Doha had a relatively smaller ex-pat community in comparison to what we have here in Perth but regardless of that, the Qatar Irish Society always threw the biggest ball of the year, aptly named The Irish Ball. Glad rags were donned and curls were pinned and we went out to celebrate our national day with 500 other Irish ex-pats living in the desert. I was pretty lucky that last year Orla, the organiser of the ball asked me to submit some of my recipes for the Ball programme. It was pretty nice to see some of the recipes that I inherited from my family in print.
