My new home

I arrived in Bantry yesterday and was picked up by two other couch surfers. We had a few hours to kill before our host got back from work so we went to a pub and chatted over a couple pints of Murphy's. The male couch surfer is older and English and apparently has had quite the life. Opperated a late night bus for junkies, decided to get married on a whim and did that day and has done his fair share of traveling. The female surfer had actually stayed with me at Max and Mathilda's who frankly isn't that interesting and gets on my nerves. She said that mushrooms don't go well in stirfry and got caulliflower instead! Sheesh... ;) The house is accross the sea from the Beara peninsula (I think) and about a half hour drive from Bantry. It sits peacefully in the hills right next to the water, wet green all around. I am the only one here most of the time because there are no other couch surfers and the host works all day. I enjoy the quiet and the time to relax. I loved traveling all around, but it did get a bit stressful. Just two days ago I considered coming home early, but the next morning in the shower it dawned on me to just stay in Ireland, find peace and write, which is exactly what I'm doing. I will stay here until the weekend then go to Galway, then maybe somewhere else, then Dublin to fly home. The trip seems almost done!
I had an insane and scary morning, which wasn't the best way to start my time here. I woke up late and wanted to make some coffee so I put the kettle on. Then I started my laundry and when I came back the "kettle" was smoking! Turns out it wasn't meant to be put on the stove at all and had about an inch of plastic on the bottom. It caught fire and began to smoke even more. I couldn't find a fire extinguisher anywhere and didn't know the Irish equivalent to 911 so I opened up all the window and threw the kettle in the sink. The stove was still on fire and I knew you aren't supposed to put water on electrical fires but I did anyways and eventually the fire smouldered and went out. I panicked! My cell phone doesn't work here, there is no one around to help me and it took me a while to find my host's phone number. When I found it, I couldn't figure out how to work the phone. I was seriously set up for disaster. I tried to calm down though and when the stove cooled down I tried my best to clean up all the soot. I did a pretty good job and the kitchen just slightly smells a bit off. Everything is fine except for the kettle. I will offer to buy him a new one. I'm just glad that the whole kitchen didn't catch fire because it's mostly wood. I felt like an idiot, but it really was an honest mistake. How was I supposed to know? I've calmed down now with soft music and blogging, while snacking on Carrots and PB and soda bread and Nutella. My host will be back in a couple hours, what a day! What an adventure!