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.