Co. Clare Excursion

So, on Sunday, we (that is, the API group) were taken on a tour of East County Clare, heading to Bunratty Castle and folk park, Kilmacduagh Monastery, and Coole Park. We drove first to Bunratty Castle, built in 1425 and refurbished within the last couple centuries. It was the home of the O'Briens (descendants of the high king Brian Boru), Earls of Thomond, until it fell into disrepair around the 17th century. Now it's been fancified with all sorts of gorgeous Medieval furnishings and tapestries, although not all Irish, sadly. Still, you get the feeling of the times. There were gigantic, perfectly preserved antlers of Irish Elk (long extinct) on the walls that were found in a bog. Isn't that just cool? You also get an idea of how much shorter everyone was then! Doorways were tiny, and the spiral staircases barely held the boys - you had to call up the stairs when you wanted to ascend to make sure no one was coming down already, and vice versa. Being in places like this is incredible to me, as an American, because of how very old they are. We barely have buildings from the 18th century at home, let alone the 15th! (or the 7th, like the tower at Kilmacduagh) It's just mind-boggling sometimes. Anyway, the castle has several staircases all branching out from the Great Hall, and they have lots of rooms decorated that you can walk through and photograph. One of the rooms above was the Ladies' Gallery, where they could hang out and, through a small square hole in the wall, watch what the men were up to in the Great Hall below. After the castle tour we walked around the village, set up to look like old-timey Ireland. We were much taken with the farm animals, which is why you'll see quite a few pictures of them. Short anecdote: about two minutes after I took the picture of the ducks, who were standing right next to our group as we admired the pigs and things, the male duck (the darker one) leaped upon the female duck and... well, you know. We were all rather taken aback, as you can imagine.

Then it was finally time for lunch, so we put that incident out of our minds and drove to the village of Gort. We ate at Supermacs, which is a fast food chain with very tasty food. We filled the restaurant. Trays upon trays of chips (fries, to you Americans) were frantically brought out to us (imagine, if you can, the anchovies swarming in that memorable first episode of Spongebob Squarepants). Later, when no one had ketchup, I went up to the counter to ask and received a box full of packets. I turned around and asked if anyone wanted ketchup, and about 2.5 seconds later I was left holding the box with three lone packets remaining.

Kilmacduagh is made up of a round tower (that now leans to the side) that was constructed in the 7th century as a safe place for the treasure and manuscripts of the monks against the threat of the Vikings, who nevertheless succeeded in pillaging and looting. There is a monastery, chapel, and bishop's residence right around the tower, all from between the 14th and 16th centuries, I believe, and all now in a ruined state. Cows grazed next to one, sheep another. All around the tower is a cemetery filled with the gorgeous high crosses you saw so many of in my pictures. Ireland is remarkable in many ways, one of which is that you can drive along past ordinary houses and fields, then suddenly you come upon a stunning place like this, with stretches of nothing to either side, and beyond that more ordinary houses. They just set up the new stuff next to the old, no problem. I love it here.

Coole Park was the home of Lady Gregory and was something like the Mecca of Irish writers: William Butler Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, J.M. Synge (everyone with three names!) would come to the Park to hang out, soak up the tranquility, and write brilliant things. The house no longer stands (as a sign of English nobility in its design, I am given to understand, it was apparently destroyed by angry mobbing poor people during some time of oppression or another), but the park and turlough (lake) are kept up and open to the public. Many many families bring their bike-riding children to travel along the trails (all the bikes were pink, I should add) and picnic on the lawn. The autograph tree was very exciting to see, as it holds the initials of all these famous personages. We went into the woods to walk the trails down to the lake, and Finn took us into a fairy ring (with fun curvy trees!) to make a wish. The woods are spectacular, as I have rhapsodized in an earlier post (it was late at night when I originally wrote that...) and the lake incredibly tranquil. All in all, it was a marvelous day in all senses of the word.

I also started archery this week, which was very fun. I could use some more work. Still, everyone in the club is friendly and has a good time, so there was no pressure. I just happened to be in a group with naturally talented people - had I been in the group next to us, I would have been stellar by comparison. Ah well. No more posts for a few days... Shaina, Julie, Jaye (all API girls), Anne (Shaina's flatmate), and I are going to Cork for the weekend!

A Swaggle of Swans

The visual evidence of my exploration from yesterday (including my swan fascination) is in the "Galway Pt. 2" album on shutterfly. In case you wanted to see it. The pictures of the sea are quite lovely, if I do say so myself.

Ealai and more sightseeing

Today I made some new friends: Virgil and Enid. I had some free time in the afternoon, so I decided to walk along the other side of the bay that I hadn't really seen yet. As I was walking along, I came to a spot on the river where some of the smaller boats are tied up, and all around - swimming in the water, walking along the wall and sidewalk - are dozens and dozens of birds! Swans, seagulls, pigeons, and other seabirds just hanging around, preening, poking each other and whatnot. I didn't really linger, but took some pictures and moved on. As I kept walking, I saw, backed by the mountains across the bay, a lighthouse I never knew existed. So I strolled that way and discovered a long concourse leading out the the lighthouse, flanked on either side by rocks (it was low tide) and, farther out, the sea. There were also several people (it looked like a family) climbing around in the rocks gathering mussels or something along those lines. It was so lovely to smell the sea! You'd think, being right on the bay, you'd smell it all the time, but you really don't. Only when I got to the beginning of the concourse, which seems to be a popular walking spot for the people of Galway, could I really smell the salt tang. You can only walk so far along the concourse, so you can't actually get to the lighthouse, but it was so pretty! On my long walk back I decided to sit on a rock near where all the birds were and just look out over the water, and that's where I met my new friends. They are, of course, swans (ealai), and not people, but we bonded anyway. Virgil had a bad wing but a neck like rubber, which he used to great effect in cleaning every part of his back and his neck itself. He was sitting about three feet from me, but luckily the birds here, as I mentioned, are pretty mellow and not prone to attacking random bystanders. Enid sat a little behind him, closer to the edge of the wall and the water. When Virgil stood up a little later, he walked over to Enid and poked her in the back, but she was unmoved. Ice queen.

Saturday we went on a tour of the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher. Our bus driver and tour guide was Desmond, who was an adorable old man with a slightly dirty mind who knew everything about everything he showed us and had a slight habit of repeating sentences. When we left Galway, it was a beautiful sunny morning. As we drove along, the sky turned dark dark gray and it started raining. As we came in sight of our first photo stop (Dunguaire Castle), it was starting to clear, and a few minutes later it was a beautiful day again. After we left it stayed cloudy the rest of the day, but at least it didn't rain anymore. We saw some really beautiful countryside and adorable towns. One of my pictures is a sort of blurry shot of a man waving, surrounded by sheep. He had been feeding them in the pasture adjacent to his house, and as a unit the girls on the bus all exclaimed over the adorable lambs that were running up to him for food. Of course, the entire side of the bus whipped out cameras to photograph said cuteness and, noticing this unabashed display of tourism, the man waved cheerily at us. The Burren is a really incredible area just covered in limestone left over from the Ice Age glaciers and is the home of Poulnabrone, the tomb you saw photographed. I was just typing out the details of ancient Celtic burial practices, but thought better of it.

After a delicious lunch at O'Connor's pub in Doolin (whose walls are covered with police and fireman patches, many from Massachusetts, as Ethan was pleased to discover) we headed out to the Cliffs of Moher, which are really just incredibly stunning, and you really all need to go see them if you haven't yet. It was very windy by O'Brien's Tower (especially when you walked through the little doorway), but it wasn't nearly windy enough for us to worry about being blown off. O'Brien's Tower is to the right, and if you go to the left you eventually reach a stone wall with signs telling you that you can't come over here because of danger or something. Obviously, we climbed over. Here it was a mud path - the rest was paved - and there was no guardrail, so you could get right up to the edge. One of the other API boys who was there, Dan (or D-Mac), sat right on the edge with his feet dangling off. There were a couple other groups who had flouted the sign as well, but it's sort of the off-season now. I'm sure during the height of tourist time they actually enforce the danger zone. We made it home in the end (the roads are all very narrow, and Desmond drives like a maniac) and spent a quiet evening eating food and (for me and the boys) preparing for Sunday's outing.

Sightseeing, Pt. 1

This weekend was full of sightseeing and fun things, and I'll give you more actual details about my trips later on today or tomorrow, but for now I need to ramble for a bit. Just to warn you. Pictures can’t really do this country justice. I know that sounds trite, but it truly is that way. I look at the pictures I have, and they’re gorgeous, but the actual thing was far more intricately beautiful, full of little things, and so connected to the entire setting, not just what you can capture within the frame. For example, standing on the Cliffs of Moher: in the pictures, you realize that they are very tall, but then you look along the tops and realize that those weird little dot things are people walking along. After we hopped the fence and started walking along the mud path on the section of the Cliffs with no guardrail (standing just a little too close to the edge for pure safety, but a perfect distance for pure thrill), you see how far down it is, how that little white thing halfway down is a gull flying, and far below are huge waves sending spray. Pictures of the water show waves moving around, but the actual crash – far taller than a house – is just breathtaking in its savagery.

Sometimes, driving along, I can forget for a second that I’m in Ireland, because we’re passing a development that would be at home in New Jersey, or a section of trees and plant life like anything you see along 81, but then suddenly you come across a small cottage – architecturally in the old style, although the roof is no longer thatched – with a car in the driveway, and the half-ruined remains of a pre-famine house in the side yard. Acres of small stone-wall-enclosed pastures house groups of sheep or cows, occasionally horses. When you come into mountain country and the Burren, the limestone is everywhere, sheeting the ground and glistening from the damp. When you walk on it, it is pitted and swirled, with perfectly circular pools of water sunk into the stone and its edges worn into intricate waves. Lines running up the mountains are Famine walls, built by starving sufferers looking for a day’s wage from a government that would give no handouts, only pointless labor so the money would be “earned.”

I took a million pictures at Kilmacduagh Monastery, where the crosses fill the graveyard and the tower leans a bit to one side, but the crosses - some centuries old, and most covered in white lichen, which shows the purity of the air – against the tower needed to be shown from every side. Walking among the crosses, you hold your breath slightly from the solemnity of it all, until the sheep across the wall start calling to you.

In Coole Park, the pictures show the forest, but they can’t fully capture the rocks lining the path, each covered in a soft green moss, with a stream of ivy coming from somewhere to flow over it. The pathway is rocky, but the thin layer of moss makes it feel like a carpet. The sun slanting in onto the ivy glistens slightly next to the dark shadows where the trees stand. We hop a stone wall to get close to the lake, and looking out over the still water the sun falls at just the right angle through the trees around you, and the softest breeze moves through the tall, damp grass at your feet as ducks fly in formation over the ruins across the water. There are trees in the forest that are several trunks in one, splitting and twisting out into magnificent spreads of dark, rich wood, large enough to live in, if you wanted. When Finn takes us into a fairy ring where the trees bend out in a strange way, you half expect to see a little fairy face peeking out at you. Being at Coole, I can understand why Yeats, Shaw, and Synge came here so often to unwind and to write – we all agree that if we had that place to visit, we would all write beautiful poetry too. It’s in the air – I don’t think you could help it.

Some observations

Just a few things about Ireland I feel like talking about: walking, fashion, and commercials. I really do love it here, and there are many cultural differences that I find really cool and interesting. Some, of course, are weird, but that comes with the territory. I've only been here for three weeks - I certainly haven't seen much yet, but there are some trends I've been picking up on, and I like you all to feel connected, so I'm going to share.

Coming to Ireland, I knew they drove on the left side of the road, all strange-like. What I didn't realize was that this translates to them walking on the left as well. We do the same thing at home: drive on the right, walk on the right - down the sidewalk, up the stairs, etc. It's a very strange sensation, and even though I try to walk on the left, in solidarity, I always eventually drift back to the right. It feels counterintuitive, especially when on stairwells. Of course, just like in America, you get plenty of people walking wherever the heck they feel like all over the sidewalk, but the general trend is to walk to the left side.

Fashion here looks similar to what you see on American college campuses, albeit with far fewer people wearing sweats (and almost no one in pajamas). One of the biggest looks for girls is a dress or skirt with colored leggings or black tights and boots or flats. You see this look at home too, but most girls here seem to dress like this. For both girls and guys their clothes fit a little closer, or the fit is a little better. They told us this in our preparatory packets, and I shrugged it off, but it really is true! They just look nicer, on the whole. Many of the boys also coif a little more here, with the spiky look being popular. Mike and Ethan find this amusing.

Finally, commercials. Commercials here are weird. They are often rather horrific, or really obnoxious, or mystifying because the commercial had nothing to do with the product (like the commercial for Qatar Airlines, which features the right side of a woman's face smiling enticingly at you as a soothing British male voice says the name of the airline). Commercial breaks occur usually only once or twice during a show, but they're longer, so we have more of them to sit through. I'll give you a few examples of some of our favorite horrifying commercials: in the mouthwash commercial, we are looking down into a sink, and several consecutive spits ask you, in red letters, if you're spitting blood (spit), because that's a sign of gum disease (spit, tooth falls in with a clatter), as is losing teeth. Therefore, you should use their awesome mouthwash. Then, in a commercial about fire safety, a little girl tells you how her daddy loves his car (shows dad locking his car securely in the garage) and her mommy loves her jewelry (mommy locks away her valuables), but she doesn't think they love her (girl in bed, asphyxiating from smoke as a fire burns her house down). Good times.

Ceol agus Craic

Or, music and fun, for you who speak no Irish. I started up my Irish class yesterday and loved it, of course. It's for beginners, so we went through the basic comhra (conversation) for a while (hello, how are you, what's your name, etc.), which I already know, so I helped the people near me. The teacher's name is Ailish Bhreathnach (same last name as me! In Irish, anyway), and she's from the Connemara area. Their Irish is a bit different from what I've learned at Pitt, both in pronunciation and phrasing. But I find it very interesting to learn the differences, so I've been practicing my Connemara speech, full of gutterals and rolled r's.

Last night also kicked off my societies: Choral and Traditional Music. Shaina and I went to Chorus, which is in the chapel, and I sort of made an Irish friend! Her name is Mary, and we sat next to each other and chatted, but afterwards she sort of ran away, so noluck there. Choir was fun though; the director (also a student) is a very nice and enthusiastic guy whose name might be David, I'm really not sure. We warmed up for a while, finishing with a round of "Hey ho, anybody home," complete with hand motions. We were all excessively uncoordinated, I'm happy to report, but we sounded pretty. Then we started a real song - Down in the River to Pray - and we were basically amazing, of course =P

Later, it was time for the TradSoc (traditional music society), which involves going to the Crane Bar and listening (or playing) some traditional music whilst quaffing your cider or stout. Ethan and I set out without actually knowing where the place was, although he had some vague idea. After much wandering about, we decided we couldn't find it, and turned around. We explored in a different direction that it might have been in, and there it was! Of course, there were no musicians there, because we got there at 9:30, when they told us to come, and everyone else is on Irish time and planned to start at 10, half 10 at the earliest. So we settled down to wait and met... an American from Michigan (oh I wish and wish and wish again...). She was there for TradSoc too and had brought her flute. Eventually more people came - including a banjo man with a Red Socks sticker on his banjo case (he and Ethan got along famously) - and we found that our seats were actually in the musicians' nook. Should we move? I think not! So there we were, nestled comfortably between the flautist and the accordion player (who looked a bit angry) and surrounded by an Uillean pipe/tinwhistle player, 3 banjo players, 3 fiddlers, and 2 guitarists. Soon another accordion girl came, and when yet another banjo player turned up we found ourselves kicked out to stand with the other nonentities. We had been talking about our own musical backgrounds and wishing we had instruments (he plays guitar). So, inspired by our unceremonious ousting, we decided that next time we came we would be proficient enough at instruments to be welcome in the inner sanctum. Ethan resolved to learn the bodhran (a type of drum... Mary Clare has one on her wall) and I the whistle. All that time learning the pipes will finally pay off... in a smaller, more-practical-for-bringing-to-the-pub-and-on-a-plane kind of way. Oh yes, Crane Bar... next time, we will dominate you with our newly acquired yet oh-so-astounding musical skills!

Finally, laundry. The kids in Menlo have washers and dryers in their apartments, but we have to pay for our laundry service (2 Euro to wash and 3 to dry - inconceivable!). So, Ryan, one of the other API boys in Corrib (funfact: he's Australian but lives in Texas) asked Finn if there was any way we could get reimbursed or something, since we're all paying the same price for the program. Finn basically told him (in nicer language) to suck it up, since we're so much closer to campus than Menlo, but she got in touch with API HQ, and they're going to give the Corrib group a healthy stipend for laundry! Score.

Hey ho, the wind and the rain

This weekend we had crazy, crazy weather. While the winds were not quite 70mph here, they were about half of that, which was plenty to be going on with, and the rain blowing at you from the side was fun as well. I had gone for a walk on Saturday to get a few things from the store, and the wind was at my back as I walked to the store... I was very nearly lifted and was pushed along several times at a faster pace than I had planned. But I had my rainboots! Which were magnificent, thanks Briskeys! Anyway, coming home was a different story: at several points along the way the wind gusted and left me immobilized because it was pushing against me so much. Like I said, crazy times.

Sunday Kristen and I went wandering downtown to look at books and stuff (Charlie Byrne's! Fabulous place!). After spending a happy while lost among the books, we walked down the street to Mister Waffle and ate probably the best waffles of our lives. Tine, we're going there! I'm getting to know my flatmates better now, and it's really nice to have them around. Kristen and I talk a lot, and I hang out with the boys very often, and I'm glad all of us are so compatible. Not that they'll replace my Pitt people of course =) but they're a lovely substitute for my time here.

I went to the Cathedral for mass, and it's a strange setup. The Church is shaped like a cross, with the altar at the crosspoint, and the altar facing the long leg (bottom of the cross), but you can sit on all four sides, so some people get the side view and others see only the priest's back. Still, it's very pretty. I took a surreptitious picture before mass started, but blogger doesn't want me to show it to you, so you'll have to wait for the next round of pictures. Also, they still use the communion rail, which was a completely new experience for me, although not an unpleasant one. They said the Our Father in Irish (Caithfidh mé an “Ár n-Athair” a fhoglaim as Gaeilge mar ní feidir liom é a rá, agus bhí bron orm) and after mass I heard quite a few families speaking to each other in Irish, which was all very exciting for me!

Coming soon: This weekend is our first API excursion to see fun things in County Clare, so I'll have lots of pictures and hopefully some fun stories about that. The flatmates and I may also spend a day at the Cliffs of Moher. This week I start archery and my societies, so I may have some new Irish friends to tell you about... all this and more, so stay tuned!

Pictures!

Just letting you know, that the first wave of photos is up on my shutterfly site: nmwphotos.shutterfly.com

Registration, Pt. 1

First of all, my sister Abby is 8 today, so happy birthday! If you see her (and have a handy loaf of bread), give her a thwack of birthday love for me =)

I've developed quite a taste for Bulmer's cider over here. Last night we went to the Front Door and to Quays, where there was a really good band playing, and we met up with some other API people for an impromptu dance party. Today was classes and stuff, but I also finally became a real student with an ID card and an email and everything! Before I had it, Socs and things were rejecting me: "Oh, you don't have an ID? You don't have a number? You can't sign up for anything without a number..." It was rough, but I think I'll recover. I'm still not registered for classes, so I can't get any information or readings from the Blackboard system - we don't finish registering until the 26th or something.

Yesterday was Stefania's birthday, and today she made us pizza and cake! Her friend Irena (I belive that's how she spells it) and her roommates came over to cook and eat, so we had a nice evening full of eating and more eating. Irena's roommates are cool girls; one is from France, and the other's from Missouri. The pizza was absolutely delicious of course, and they made a whole bunch of them, which we took care of quite handily. Some had tuna on them, which is apparently a normal thing in Italy, and were really really good, and the others had ham, also delicious stuff. The cake was chocolate, which is always a good decision.

We've had relatively good weather so far: rain, of course, but mostly warmish weather. Tomorrow, however, is a different story: there's some huge storm coming from the sea across the west and northwest of Ireland, which is supposed to give us 70mph winds and 35ft waves... crazy stuff! We had wanted to take a day trip to see the Cliffs of Moher tomorrow, but the idea of being blown OFF the cliffs is not as appealing, so that will have to wait for another weekend I think. BUT the rain can go ahead and come, because my second suitcase is coming tomorrow along with the storm, and it has my rainboots!

I love you, family, and will be with you in spirit tomorrow.

Socs and Blues

Well, sorry I took a day off (not that I expect any of you to read this compulsively...), but I'm back now, with plenty of geekiness to make up for the gap. Just to keep you updated, the hunt for suitcase number 2 continues! I faxed them a detailed description of the bag and its contents today, so let's all hope for the best. Yesterday was "Soc Day," where all the societies (like clubs and groups) put out little booths and bowls of candy and entice you to their table to sign up for activities. I signed up for "TradSoc," a group that gets together once a week to go to the pub to hear and (if you can) play traditional Irish music, as well as the "Celtic World" society, which does Celtic-y things and plans to take a trip to the Aran Islands at some point, and a Choral society. Today was "Club Day," where all the sports put up little booths and entice you to their tables with lollipops. For two Euro you can kayak, play ultimate frisbee, learn Tae Kwan Do... I signed up for archery, which is something I like to do but don't get to do very often, so that should be fun. The boys at the table seem like they'll be cool, and they were all Irish, so I may finally make some Irish friends too!

Also, I've been to most of my classes by now (all but one), and I already like all of them. I'm taking two Lit courses and three Celtic Civ courses through the Scoil na Gaeilge. It's actually really sad how excited I am for my courses, but hey, why would I want to take boring ones? My Lit classes are a modern Irish literature class (Joyce, Wilde, etc.) and a Post-Modernism course (Nabakov, Lawrence, Woolf, and the like). The Irish courses are Celtic Civilization and Culture, Poets and Courts (Celtic literature from 1100-1700), and Celtic Mythology, Religion and Folklore. If Caomhan is reading this, I have Kikki for half of the Celtic myth courses, and she's just as great as you said! Kikki Ingridsdotter is one of the Irish professors, and I've been hearing rave reviews, both from people at home and many people here.

We finally went out for fish and chips tonight, and it was delicious! I'm usually not a fish eater, but this was good stuff. I know you were all dying to know about everything I eat... We met the boys who live downstairs last night, a whole pack of Irish first years, and they seem nice enough, although they really really like going to dance clubs to find girls. They amused us =) We're going out tonight as well, probably to hear some music.

Finally, I just wanted to say that my Grandma, Eileen Marie Matthew Prial Meagher, died on Tuesday morning, and she will be greatly missed. Thanks to everyone who's been so supportive of me and my family =) "She will be greatly missed" sounds so stupid, but I can't really think of anything else to say. I loved her very much. We used to swap books. We sang harmony and swooned over Richard Armitage together. She had an excellent collection of hats and another of spoons. She got more mail on any given day than most small countries. She was always up-to-date on the activities of her 11 children and their spouses, her 28 grandchildren and their spouses, and her 6 great-grandchildren (all of whom are too young for spouses). She will be greatly, excessively, horribly missed.

Bag o' Chicken

So, today was definitely a rollercoaster sort of day, but I'll only mention the highlights. Except for one lowlight: I seem to have damaged my foot in some sort of obscure way, and my right heel puts up quite a fuss when I put any weight on it... there is also a mystery bruise involved. I've been walking sort of on my toes, but only on one foot, giving me a rather rollicking gait. Yeah, fun times.

I wanted to make chicken and rice today, so I had to go rootle around for some ingredients. The mini-market in the village was very obliging with the soups and rice I needed, but for chicken I would have to walk way far away along the neverending bridge of doom and navigate my way through the roundabout of peril. So, I went a different way, hoping to find some sort of store, and I was in luck! A little butcher's shop was conveniently placed much closer to me than Dunnes. I bought my chicken, but - the weird part - he put the chicken in a little bag, and that bag into another little bag (and mailed it to myself...), and then just handed it to me. Holding a good handful-sized bag of chicken is a weird sensation, let me tell you. If you haven't tried it, well... you'll be ok.

A little while later, the courier calls me with the news that he has one of my bags, but has no idea where Corrib Village is. Neither do I. Well, I can get there, but to give driving directions from some unknown location, certainly not. The API kids were all headed over to campus for a meeting with Finn (Fionnghuala, our on-site advisor), so I told the courier I'd meet him there. I have a suitcase! Opening it later was like Christmas... "my raincoat!"... "warm sweaters!"... "pants!" A thrilling experience, truly. The still-missing bag contains my sneakers and rainboots, sweatshirts, and all of my electronic accessories, like the cord I need to put pictures up, so hopefully it'll turn up soon.

I had my first actual class today after our API meeting. I was very excited (in my own little geeky way) because it was Celtic Culture and Society, and I really like learning about that sort of thing, so I go to my class (still lugging my suitcase along - not the best part of the day) all brimming with anticipation. It was full of... Americans, of course. While waiting for the professor, a girl stands up and asks if anyone's here for Celtic Culture, because they switched the day for it. Groans from nearly all of the room, including me, who, it seems, will never actually have a class and therefore never meet real Irish people. I asked the woman in front of me what class she was here for, and she said it was Poets and Courts... which is convenient! I was going to take that class anyway! There's hope yet! It turns out the two just switched times, so that works for me. Plus, that woman is Irish, and an Irish friend of hers (a cute guy, by the way) turned up a minute later and, to talk to her, sat next to me. We didn't get to chat, but as class started, she pulled out a roll of throat lozenge things to have one, then passed the roll to him to take one, and he passed it to me! Clearly we're on our way to becoming best friends. It was a tasty lozenge, too.

First Day of (No) Classes

Corrib Village is full of cars. The once (by which I mean, last week) quiet village is now overflowing with Irish and full-year students, who all moved in last night with great merriment and hoopla, which continues tonight. The boys in the apartment downstairs seem to be having a constant party, and take it in turns to run around the village, ring doorbells, and return to their thumping music. Campus is full, and it's strange to see it like this after getting sort of used to it being empty. We had a bit more contact with Stefania (I honestly still don't know how to spell her name), and she's a commerce major, which translates to economics. She came to Ireland to work on her English, and (understandably, being from Italy)is not overly fond of the constant rain. Still, she seems to like it here, and she's been giving us some tips and tricks for different things.

Today was the first day of classes, and I had two on the schedule: History of the Roman Empire at 10 and Studies in Modern Irish Literature at 4. Irish time, you must understand, is different from other kinds of time. Things always start a little later than you think they will. For example: when we had orientation last week, the program said it started at 9:30, so most people were there by that time, seated, drinking their complimentary juice box, and awaiting the speaker. She comes to the microphone, and in a voice of genuine astonishment thanks us all for being there so promptly, and says that they put 9:30 on there in the hopes that we'd all get there to start at 10 or so. Ah well, now at least I understand my family's chronic lateness: Irish time, I'll tell people, we're just running on Irish time. Similarly, the classes here are slated to start and finish on the hour (10-11, or 2-4), but you have time to reach your next class if they're back to back because they don't actually start until about 10 after. I rather like this system, but I worry that I'll get in the habit and keep to Irish time when I go back to Pitt.

Of course, arriving on time is a moot point if you reach the class and absolutely no one is in the classroom and the door is locked. I had heard some classes didn't start until next week, and apparently this is one of them. That class was sort of a toss-up anyway, and I think I'm not going to take it after all. So, there I was all ready for the day, so I decided to take Finn's advice from our first group meeting and "lose myself" in Galway. I wandered into town and took streets I'd never been on before, winding my way through the crowds down past Nun's Island, back and forth across the river on different bridges, to the docks and the bay before returning to the part of town I know. The sun was at the perfect level, and I took some lovely pictures (to follow) of the town. The strange thing about the sun here (at least at this time of year - I don't know about the summer) is that it doesn't pass overhead during the middle of the day... it rises and sets on the same side of you, forming an arch (points) over there, so that your shadow is always on the same side of you, rather than on one side, then tiny and in the middle, then on the other. It's a strange sensation, actually. So yes, I walked all through Galway, discovering many pubs, restaurants, charming shops, and bookstores as I went. I spent a good two hours looking around, trying surreptitiously to take pictures of everything that excited me (which, if you know me, was pretty much everything) without getting too many strange looks from the locals. I was very bad at being stealthy.

Later, when I went to my second class, they were using the time for the info session for the third-year Irish students, so I don't have that class until Friday. So, I went home for tacos. Finally, the airport called me tonight saying that one, or posssibly both (he wasn't completely sure, since a whole bunch of luggage is coming in small groups), of my bags have been located and will be sent to the village tomorrow afternoon!! Woot, huzzah, and yea verily =)

Rainy Days and Soup

It's technically Monday morning, but this is about Sunday. It rained and rained all day, and much of my day was filled with puttering around on my computer, arranging my schedule of classes. We go to whatever classes we want this week to see if we like them, then actually register for them the following week. The registration process for things like English seminars and History colloquia (the more specialized classes rather than the large lectures) is not as simple as handing in a paper though... you have to queue up for 9 o'clock, which means people turn up at 3 am, clawing and scratching Black Friday style, to get the class you want. Guess who's taking all lectures?

The bar has been raised on dinner: Saturday night we made baked potatoes, which were tasty, but tonight Mike made a Portuguese-style soup from scratch, with sausage, spinach, potatoes, and onions, and it was sooooo good! Ethan has promised a dinner of pancakes, and Kristen has dibs on tacos, so I need to think of something delicious to make... We're becoming such a little family. Also, our fifth flatmate arrived tonight! Her name is Stefania (it might be a ph...) and she's from northern Italy. She has a really thick accent and she's super cute, but she went to bed soon after she got here, so more details to come. She seems really nice, so hopefully she'll fit in with the rest of us. She was here last semester, and it's probably really hard to have lived for 4 months with a group of people, leave for Christmas, and come back to a bunch of new people who have already made themselves at home... at least we're not obnoxious. In fact, I'm rather fond of us =)

I went to mass tonight at the chapel on campus, St. Columbanus, and it's a cute little place. Instead of pews, they have individual cubes of wood with cushions on them set up in rows, so that was a little different. Also, the choir wasn't there this week, so I didn't have a chance to sample the music stylings of NUIG yet. I really like the priest, Fr. Diarmuid, so now I'm torn between going back there next week or trying mass at the Cathedral... decisions, decisions...

Voltage, Tea, and Navigation

Yesterday was a rather normal Saturday, I suppose. Why bother telling you about it then? Well, just because. Kristen and I went shopping, and I am happy to report that I successfully navigated us through Galway on my own for the first time. I added a few new pieces to my wardrobe, and then we bought food! Dunne's has a good selection of cheap food, and we found a big box of tea for 67 cents (score!). We purchased apartment food as well, like sugar and a bag o' potatoes and cheap wine. We think our Italian roommate, if she really exists, will be horrified by our wine choices when she gets here. We were delighted to find Oreos, which we didn't think they had here, and I did a happy dance upon finding Cadbury eggs.

Later, the flatmates were getting ready to go out (two nights a week is plenty for me at this stage), and Kristen's hair straightener (we blame the voltage) melted itself. The boys and I were in the living room, and she came in with the plates falling off, tethered by oozing bits of melty plastic. Good times. So yes, all in all not an overly thrilling day, but they can't all be red letter. It's been raining all night and into today, so I'm missing my raingear...

Me, on a Pub Crawl?

Well, sort of, in a way. Those of you at home know what a crazy party animal I am (Kelly and Beth, I can hear you laughing from here...), so last night was a bit of a change for me. The apartment and two friends of ours from the next building trekked into town to Taaffe's to hear some live traditional music (yes, Dad, as opposed to dead). On the way, someone threw an egg at us from their car and hit Shaina square in the back, which sucked, of course. To make her feel better I told her about my experience in Pittsburgh with the paintball outside the movie theatre. Always fun to commiserate over street cred, don't you think? Anyway, we stopped off at the College Bar on the way to hit the bathroom, and she ended up leaving the outer shell of her jacket in the bathroom so she wouldn't smell like egg. She said it was an old jacket anyway.

We got to the very crowded Tigh Taaffe's at about 10 and pushed our way over to where the music was. Of course, we spent much of the set being shunted about by people heading to the bathroom. The music was very good, and we sang along with a few of the songs. The musicians had an... exuberant dancer with them, who also played the whistle, and when he would dance for a song he would start in the clear space, then move through the crowd, cutting a huge line as he went (and, of course, pushing my group into an equally exuberant group of middle-aged women, who were all doing "the bump"). We left after a little while to try a different bar and met up with a big crowd of the girls from Menlo (the other residence where API people are), so we went along with them to Quay's. Quay's is a really cool bar, with all different levels and rooms, and we were able to get a section and a few tables to ourselves. I had my first Guinness on Irish soil (pictures to follow), but I admit I only drank half of my pint. There was much dancing and merriment among our group, and we got to know the kids from Menlo better, since we're usually left to ourselves over in Corrib. We all slept in this morning, and there's a market in town today, so I may check that out this afternoon.

Fun fact: Nora Devlin told me last summer that some of the bars here have hair straighteners in the bathrooms, but I didn't believe her. Last night, I saw one in the college bar, and it rather blew my mind... 2 minutes for 2 Euro rental hair straightener. Crazy times.

Exploration Commences!

We had an API meal today at Milano's - yes, an Italian restaurant. The program paid, so we all ate a lot of pizza and tiramisu and other delicious things. Later, Ethan, Mike, and I went walking around Galway with my friend Shaina to get things like toilet paper and other fun things, but it was my first time to really explore the town, and it's amazing! We went to a few other stores, and Mike bought a kiddie guitar for the apartment (the big ones were too expensive). He's playing in the living room now. We're going out later tonight with some of the other API kids to hear some live sets at some of the bars downtown. Yes, I will eventually meet some Irish people, but the Irish students aren't back yet. We found out today that our mystery roommate is an Italian girl, although she hasn't arrived yet. Hopefully she'll be exciting and get along with us, because the four of us here already get along really well. I'll have pictures to put up once my luggage gets in with my camera cord. Tomorrow is a walking tour of Galway with some famous historian named Peadair (Irish for Peter) and then the market later in the day. Also, I was introduced to my new favorite store today: the 2 Euro store, where they have tons of useful things... and any Hannah Montana accessory you could ever want (does anyone ever, really?).

Fun fact! All of the people in my apartment sing, so now that we have the mini guitar it will be ALL SINGALONGS ALL THE TIME. I know all of you Meaghers would be proud =)

A Couple Days In...

And my luggage is still missing! Gah. After what seemed like the worst start to a trip ever (delays, endless layovers in Paris, luggage...) I'm finally feeling a little more comfortable here. The campus is really pretty, and what I've seen so far of the town is great. The trip started off with me, as usual, being a complete spaz when it comes to the security line. Although I did not bring any weapons with me this time (as I did in my affectionately termed "first flight fiasco" to Mississippi), I still can never manage to be prepared. It came upon me suddenly, and bystanders flinched and shrank away as I flailed wildly to get my computer, phone, camera, and liquids out of my bag and into little trays and my coat, scarf, shoes, and travel document thing into another. It was all over eventually, and I started on my way.

My convoluted flight plan brought me from Philly to Boston to Paris to Shannon (yes, I should have found a more direct flight, but I can't always think of everything...), and I got to Boston with no trouble. The flight to Paris was delayed by 4 hours, so my first interminable wait started. Meanwhile, two gates down, a direct flight to Shannon was leaving in an hour and a half, but they had no seats left. The flight to Paris wasn't bad: I was seated between three young, friendly, and attractive guys. One was an American who works in Paris, and he impressed us all by conversing easily with our AirFrance attendants. The second was a quasi-American who has lived in Munich most of his life and goes to school there now. The third was an enthusiastic Mormon from Utah who was on his way to Romania for two years of mission work. At the end of the flight, he offered me "the most valuable thing he had," which was a copy of the book of Mormon. I had to take it, of course, but now what am I to do with it? Ah well... My flight to Shannon was rescheduled from a morning flight to 5pm, giving me about 6 or 7 hours to hang out in Paris (by which I mean slump awkwardly over my backpack and sleep in multiple half hour increments). I eventually got there all right and made it to my apartment, which is Corrib Village. I had no sheets or towels, but I improvised a towel using a spare tank top I had handy. The sheets I had to buy the next day. My flatmates are all really cool: Ethan and Mike are both from Massachusetts, but they didn't know each other beforehand, and Kristen is from Tennessee, but she's not part of the API program. We also have a mystery roommate who hasn't come yet, so more on him/her later. Yesterday we had a group meeting and a campus tour, then API kids from Corrib Village went across to buy groceries at Aldis and to Dunnes to buy sheets (for me). Today we had orientation, and tonight's free, so maybe we'll go out. More later.