It was called a Beer Bike tour, so I figured I’d better get myself a beer for the road. I popped into an Off Licence* and bought a can of Guinness for the ride.  (See how UK-literate I am there? 4 months ago I had no idea what an Off Licence was.) I was juggling holding the can in one hand and collecting people’s money for the tour with the other, so I put the (unopened) can in my backpack and placed the backpack on a bike seat until I could get around to drinking it.

A few minutes later the backpack slid off the seat and crashed to the sidewalk, and my can of Guinness exploded. The contents of my pack—camera, passport, money–were now swimming in a puddle of Guinness.

Back at the hotel, spreading out the contents of the backpack to dry out, I thought, that will teach me to drink. But then I got schooled by another resident.

“I’m afraid you have learned the wrong lesson. This incident should have taught you that you should never, ever put your drink down.”

Thanks for that, Gary. So much to learn.

Anyway, a fresh can of Guinness magically appeared at my bike seat, compliments of an anonymous donor. (Thank you, whoever you were!)  This is the kind of community I will be living in for the next 3 years – when your beer explodes, someone always has your back.

The next morning, I’m sitting at the public library, trying to stay out of the soggy Belfast weather while waiting for the shuttle that will take us to the ship, and my backpack reeks of beer. I’m hoping they don’t throw me out of here.

And thanks to my friend Katrina’s pictures, I have proof of my drinking ways.

*An off-licence is a store that sells liquor intended to be consumed off the store’s premises.