For over a month now, I was beginning to think we'd been completely bamboozled. I mean, I knew the weather in Ireland would suck, but I really didn't expect to still need a winter coat, gloves, and a scarf to go out to get lunch at the end of May (and I still felt cold even under all those layers). And yet, every store at the mall was stocked with skimpy sundresses and beach-wear. Really, it felt like a big hoax. There was even hail. 

But then, when we were just beginning to believe that there is, in fact, only one season in Ireland, and its name is Cold, the sun came out. It began to heat up. Almost overnight, it went from winter, to, well, a warm Spring, if not a mild Summer.

And apparently, the entire city of Dublin has lost its ever-loving mind.

Everywhere you go, there are women in tank tops and short shorts. Every patch of available green space in the city is crowded full of people sitting in the sun. Everyone at the office keeps smiling at me. Jorge just went into town at 8 tonight and said it's like Mardi Gras out there - every pub full, the streets packed with people, the parks full of revelers drinking beer.

It's pretty clear that people don't expect this nice weather to last long - or else, why would they be living each day as if it were their last? I'm happy at least that the Irish women will at least get to wear their inappropriately revealing new clothing once before having to consign it away for the season. Come the weekend, we'll be joining the throng as well, I'm sure. After all, I'm sure by the time June arrives it will be 50 degrees and raining again.