Hi, all:
My Irish friend (of the post about visiting the Belfast murals) is going to be in the U.S. again in March, and has invited me to share a beach house for a weekend-in San Diego! This will be about 5-6 people; Irish Friend, myself, and a handful of Irish's friends, including one mutual (make sense?) Assuming I can go (so far so good), I have some questions:
1. If Friend is renting the house on her dime, is it proper to ask what my share would be? If so, how do I put that? Or do I wait for her to say something?
2. How do I bring up getting from the airport to the house, and vice versa? I take it my friend doesn't have an international drivers' license and doesn't want to drive in a big city, anyway. I also assume that a cab for one is going to be outrageous. One solution would be to try to coordinate flights with others, and share a cab? Or if someone local takes on pick-up and dropoff duties? Is it piggy to ask about this at all, and if not, how to do this without hinting?
3. Is it proper to bring something like a hostess gift for this, or is there no clear "host"?
4. I should assume that I'm going to chip in for food, anything like that. Since most of us are flying a very long way for this, we'll have to get things locally.
5. If someone does pick me up and take me back, is it proper to give her some cash for tolls, gas and parking? Do I say "Oh, let me get this?"
I know we're talking 5 months out, at least, but of course my mind goes to etiquette right away

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