We arrived iun Dublin on Wed. afternoon and were greeted at the airport by Rhona, the aunt of my friend, Jacqui. Rhona is a nun of the order of the Sisters of Charity of the Immaculate Conception. She is here studying at All Hallows Universtiy getting a Mastgers in Supervisory practice. All this sounds very serious, but Rhona is not. She is a spitfire, who kept us going…taking Sam out for a walk so Niko and I could get ourselves settled, then taking us into Dublin to the tourist information, to buy bus tickets and shopping on Henry Street. Then back to her apartment for homemade porkchops and whiskey.
We start our meals with Rhona with a whiskey. Throughout the meal she has us laughing. Sam actually fell on the floor he was laughing so hard as she told us story after story of foods she cannot stand. Like the time she was invited to a special meal by some African friends. They presented her her plate with much enthusiasm and when she looked down, there was the head of a fish, eyes and all. To her friends it was a delicacy, but she thought she was going to die. Instead she drank her whiskey and downed the fish head.
It is not the story themselves, but the way this elderly nun tells thenm that keeps our sides splitting with laughter. She has this twinkle in her eye and an earthiness, mixed with a deep spirituality,that catch us off gaurd and make everything so much funnier.
Rhona embodies hospitality. She has welcomed us into her world, having never met us before and treated us like cherished family members. She is amazing with Sam, and perhaps a bit of a kindred spirit. She definitely keeps up with his 12 year old boy energy.
Sam has determined that his favorite time in Ireland is dinner time, when Rhona sits down with her glass of whiskey and tells us her stories and has us crying from laughing so hard.