1) Saturday (1/22): Bus Tour of Cliffs of Moher and the Burren.
Wellsley (
W) and I decided to go adventuring to the Cliffs of Moher. (Holyoke's friend was visiting from Dublin so she didn't join us; my roomies/everyone else from the apartment decided to go to the Aran Islands, which was fine by me; I'm reluctant enough to travel with loads of people, even more so when they are lots of people that I know). Verdict: Ireland is gorgeous and I'm not big on group traveling! Both of which we already knew, but.... Actually, the tour wasn't that bad. Full bus, mostly American students, but they weren't all that obnoxious (read: only a handful were legitimately noisy) and the places we stopped were fairly empty except for us, so I didn't have the underlying embarrassment of being part of a huge group of invaders. The guide was an older man who'd been giving the tour for years and years, so he knew his stuff pretty well. Some good stories, good background on the places we stopped. To spare you the dismal fate of reading a step-by-step guide of where we stopped, I will tell you that we saw a few castley things (smaller than I'd imagined), a few
martellos (which
W and I had just learned about in our
Ulysses class!), lots and lots and lots of stone walls, a "mountain" that was not at all mountainy, more walls, some stone structures that looked epic on the brochure but turned out to be photographed from below to make them LOOK epic, and a bazillion stone walls built during the Famine --not because they keep anything in or out or cleared any land for farming, but because they were something that people could be paid to do. Hence pointless walls all up and down the "mountain." We also saw the Cliffs of Moher (surprise!) which were really quite amazingly gorgeous and also amazingly windy. My favorite bit was probably this really pretty moated grove we stopped at on the way. No idea what it was called --I wasn't paying attention and I can't find it online. I'll ask
W tomorrow, though. The circle of trees (complete with knotty roots) was straight out of a movie, as was the white horse that I'm pretty sure was only there to be picturesque. We did NOT see the high crosses at Kilfanora because there was a funeral taking place. ("Michael O'Sullivan was my great friend...") Also, amazingly enough, it didn't rain until the ride back.
Highlight: taking pictures of us mimicking the "do not" signs at cliffs of Moher.
Lowlight: feeling carsick on the way back.
2) Friday (1/21): Library! Wandering other bits of Galway.Um. I got a library card and wandered other bits of Galway. No, really. I have no idea why I thought it was important to elaborate on this. The library is libraryish. It is right across the street from my flat and has a decent children's section. It also has wifi. My library card is very pretty and is written in Irish. If I ever post pictures, I will post a picture of it. The other bits of Galway were Galwayish (Galwigien, technically). I hadn't really been on the other side of Eyre Square (officially known as JFK square, for his visit, but no one *actually* calls it that) before today, save right off the bus from the US. Most of the shops/restaurants/pretty sights are on my side of the square, so it's nice to know what else is around but that's about it, no real need to go back.
3) Thursday (1/20): No idea! Physics class, Irish, Celt myth
So I guess I'll tell you a bit about these classes now.
Physics is actually "Nuclear and Plasma Physics," and...is getting more interesting. A bit of overlap at the beginning, but I'm hopeful that things will get a bit more complex.
Irish is Irish! I think I may actually have talked about this a bit before now. We had a smallish class but today it morphed into a mediumish class. Meh. We're learning basic phrases right now. The hardest part is that people from different parts of Ireland have different accents, and it is hard to know exactly what to be practicing and how to get my ear to hear it. Actually, that's rather a comment about Irish accents, too. There isn't really a standard one; instead there are bazillions of different ones (or maybe a dozen, but still). All cool, though.
Celtic Mythology is actually "Celtic Mythology, Folklore, and Religion." Wednesday classes are taught by the House-like professor, and focus on the religion and folklore aspects. Thursday lectures are taught by the more casual professor who wears mostly black with bright skirts and focuses on the mythology aspects. I like both sections quite a bit, although her two lectures overlapped a lot; I'm looking forward to tomorrow, where we're discussing the Book of Invasions. We had to read a (translated, of course!) portion for class, and she gave us her summary of it as well. It is hilarious (and very much mirrors my thoughts as I was reading the more original bit). For example, from her summary: "Armairgin tries to invoke Eire by singing praise-poetry to her, and it works, they are allowed to re-enter the island. Here follows some seriously obscure poetry. Donn, meanwhile, utters..." and "There is another battle, and as everyone is busy hacking each other to pieces, they don't see the gigantic wave that is looming, and so they all drown, except thirty of Nemed's children with three chieftains who divide Ireland between them. However, they are afraid of the Fomorians and leave Ireland. Disregard the lack of logic in that we have been told that the Fomorians are already dead, because obviously not all of them are." I very much like this professor. (Keep in mind that this is a freshers course, so taught at a fairly low level.)
4) Wednesday (1/19): Archery! Mythology, ...something else. prolly. Oh! Irish!
Well, you know about Irish now, and Mythology. Archery is archery. Last week there were way too many people, because (a) a gazillion of us new folk showed up, and (b) the advanced folk were busy practicing for a competition that was this weekend. Apparently the team is pretty good and wins lots of awards and stuff. Rumor went around the beginner group last week "--see that guy? apparently he's the second-best archer in Ireland!" and I have no idea whether or not it's true, but it's still cool! The non-beginners are mainly guys, with a few girls, and opposite for the beginners. No idea why. Anyway, it's fun, especially now (today) that one of them more experienced archers actually bothered to tell us how to shoot, rather than just saying GO, like happened last week.
5) Tuesday (1/18): Busy, busy day: "Understanding Strangers." History, physics, Suas volunteering, Una ride back, choir, session.
Tuesdays are busy busy busy. Things I haven't yet talked about:
Understanding Strangers. A very kindly Brittish professor teaches this course. Should be interesting, if nothing else. We watched a movie yesterday, and I can't remember what it is but when I do remember I'll let you know, because it is worth seeing. I rather think I've already talked about this a bit, but if not, I'll elaborate more when it isn't *quite* so late.
History. "History of Two Irelands in the Twentieth Century." It is what it sounds like! Quite interesting, especially since I'm taking it together with the other Irish-focused classes and they all rather fit together (funny, that!). The lecturer goes at a pretty fast clip, but it is an essay rather than an exam-based course, so as long as we get the gist it will be fine. It's cool too because he gave us the internet link to transcripts of the various debates over Irish governments back in 1919-1923 time period. So cool.
Suas volunteering: Homework club involves walking a half-hour to an amnesty-seeker hotel, helping elementary-aged kids with their homework for an hour and a half, and then walking back. By "helping...with homework" I mean "trying to keep focused" and "trying to cut down on the shrieking." By "walking back" I mean "getting a ride with Una, a really nice girl who also comes to the TradSoc sessions" (see below). The kids are great, but have a lot of energy. A lot of energy. I enjoy it, though! I also enjoy getting there and back, as the other volunteers are Irish (except for a German Erasmus girl).
Choir: Funny how this one is self-explanatory! Unauditioned (or I probably wouldn't have done it!) and a nice group of people. They(/we!) do various events around campus during the semester and also take a couple trips to various other parts of the country to sing at competitions, which I'm looking forward to. Singing = happy.
Session: TradSoc is the Traditional Music Society, and they host a session (erm, kind of like a jam session, only with traditional tunes; anyone with an instrument can sit in) once a week at the Crane Bar, which isn't too far from my apartment. It's quite fun, not the least of which because I can actually play a long on a good number of the songs (mostly due to lessons with Pete all semester!). So much fun. The pub is fairly small, and is two stories with music on both stories (although we play on the ground floor). It starts out comfortably busy but by the end is just mobbed; if you're playing you've got a place to sit, but otherwise you'd better come early...
6) Monday (1/17): Medical sociology, Lit (aka Ulysses), dr. apt, the reading room in the library.
Medical Sociology is about how various health systems/ways of dealing with sickness/etc etc etc figure into Irish society (and other societies, for that matter; the teacher is originally from America). I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. The concept is really cool, but I've yet to be convinced by the lectures/reading. It's only the second week, though, so there's still time!
Modern Irish literature. Hmmm. The first half of the semester deals with Ulysses, which I'm really really enjoying so far, especially because bits of everything from my other Ireland-centric classes keeps fitting into it. The teacher is really enthusiastic, even though the class is huge and in one of the largest lecture halls. The second half of the semester will be dealing with drama and will have a different lecturer.
Doctor apt. Oh, right. Medical stuff here = just fine, because the health center on campus does blood draws (with the largest needles I've ever seen...yeeeeeesh) and sends over to the hospital nearby for results. This means that I don't have to search out the one GP in Galway that accepts my insurance, which is actually quite lovely. The doctor I saw on Monday last seemed to know what was what, and I think I'm in good hands here. I spent a lot of time waiting around for the appointment, but it gave me a chance to read a really interesting article on Philip Pullman (of His Dark Materials fame). (I go back for another blood draw tomorrow; perhaps the needles will have shrunk before then?)
The reading room in the library. No idea why I felt it was necessary to talk about this. It isn't a particularly interesting room. It is also quite cold. I spent a lot of time there last Monday, waiting around for stuff, and plan to be better occupied from here on out. They do have lots of different Irish/UK newspapers, though, which is cool.
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So! Caught up! Relatively, at least...you can continue to anticipate the "topics to anticipate." Also, pictures, which will happen sometime between now and the time I graduate from Middlebury. I hope.
