#FirstDate #FirstDates #FirstDatesIRL #Dating #CountyWexford #WexfordTown #Wexford #WexfordHarbour #Ireland #LEGO

First Date #42 was with a Brazilian woman living near New Ross, County Wexford. We matched on Bumble. I remember starting up the conversation with her while I was helping out at a Drive-In Bingo. There has been more Bingo in my life since I moved to Ireland than I’d care to talk about. Anyhow, I remember it because chatting with her brought a smile to my face while I ran between cars honking their horns. And we immediately started chatting on WhatsApp. Women are usually reluctant to use WhatsApp quickly for good reason. You’re basically giving your phone number to a person you just matched with. She must have felt good about our connection – I did too.

Besides speaking Portuguese and English, this Brazilian woman also spoke Spanish. I took Spanish in High School  for three years, worked at a Spanish Language television station for seven years, lived in California for 50 years and was using Duolingo for over a year, and I still barely knew any Spanish. “¿Dónde está el baño?” is still about the best you’re gonna get out of me.  Although my pronunciation is pretty good for a gringo. Nevertheless, I always use any angle to impress, so I typed a little Spanish with her. And I mentioned my love (and never-ending quest in Ireland) for Mexican Food. FirstDate42 is a very active texter. She also sends voice messages through WhatsApp. So even before we met, I felt that I knew her fairly well. I think she could say the same about me.

I matched with her about the same time as First Dates 40 and 41, so I still had a rental car. Even though New Ross would have been closer for each of us, she had plans already in Wexford town on the date we chose, so we met there instead. Once again, this was still the first year of COVID, and there were still restrictions, though they had just been eased a bit. So, we first walked around Wexford. This was fine with me as I had never been there before. Like most of the places I’ve been to in Ireland, I really enjoyed it. We then went to a café for drinks. She talked about work, living away from Brazil in the UK and Ireland, and her love of dancing. At the end of the date, we hugged with masks on. What a time to be alive!

(First Date – 3 October, 2020)