Saturday, September 15, 2007
Friday, September 7, 2007
Pictures!
Pictures!
(here's some scenery ones, I'll put people one's up later)
Go to ImageShack® to Create your own Slideshow
(here's some scenery ones, I'll put people one's up later)
Go to ImageShack® to Create your own Slideshow
Yeah, I'm back!
Everything that has happened to me over the last couple of months has truly been incredible. Even everything that happened before I went to Ireland was amazing because I was able to experience kindness and support from people I’d never even met, and that alone helped me realize how important it was for me to go to Ireland. Honestly, after I placed in the mid-west Fleadh, I didn’t think I’d even be able to go to the All-Ireland championship. Altogether I really shouldn’t have been worried though, because with a lot of great friends and kind hearts, it all worked out and I can’t thank you all enough for it.
People keep asking what my favorite part of Ireland was, and I really find it hard to answer with a short response. Every day there it was a completely different story. Even from the moment I arrived to the very last day, I don’t think I’ll ever forget any of it. I thought I’d mention the highlights of my trip to let yas know how the whole thing went on (I could write a book about it! But not right now... that's what school's for ;)
The first week I was there I stayed with my aunt up in Churchill Donegal- an absolutely beautiful little town. That week was really fantastic, but the day I arrived was really intense. You see, my grandparents came with me from Georgia and stayed there as well. The same day we arrived in Donegal, my Grandmother got sick and had to be admitted to the hospital for a week. Now, originally my grandmother is from Donegal, so you can imagine what sort of welcome back that would be! Though, there was good that came of it when friends and family came from all over to visit her in the hospital, and I was able to meet relatives that I haven’t seen in years. So, I really thought my first couple of days there were fantastic, especially because of my aunt. The reason being is she really helped me out with my Ulster Irish. Since my Irish teacher back at home only teaches Munster Irish, I wasn’t very familiar with the Ulster accents. So, she really beat the Donegal accent into my head, and I’m still trying to convince myself that it was a good thing. Another thing that really got to me that week was realizing how much we all missed my uncle, because he had only just died of cancer two weeks before we arrived. He was a fantastic musician himself, and even before he got sick he told me he was going to help me with my singing when I got there. So, you could imagine how strong my aunt had to have been to hear me practicing. She was a great example to us all, and that’s something I’ll never forget.
The middle of the first week in Donegal was great too because of all the wonderful people I got to meet. I was even able to meet some of the musicians who lived up there. One of them was Martin Crossin, an Uilleann pipe maker up in Falcarraigh, and his wife Mary, who were a really lovely couple. Martin was also able to fix my bad Uilleann pipe reed, and that was a relief because it hadn’t been working properly since I arrived in Donegal. I met a load of other musicians at some of the sessions around town, and that was great because I got to see a lot of them again at the Fleadh itself.
Altogether, I think Donegal was the most difficult to leave. I had been there almost two weeks, and yet to me it felt like I had been there a year. I learned so much there- yet it was the things I had already known that were able to flourish in my heart. For the first time ever, I was able to sing songs that I’ve been singing for years and actually mean every single word that came out of my mouth. For too long I had been singing songs about places and happenings in Donegal in English and in Irish alike, and I really didn’t know what I was talking about, since I’d never really known a love for the place. But after being there, getting to know the people and places, the mountains, lakes, and animals even, I totally fell in love.
The next place I went was Sligo to visit some of the Yeat’s country and then Clare, to visit some relatives, and after that was the final destination- Tullamore. I arrived in Tullamore on the 19th of August because that was when Scoil Eigse Started. Scoil Eigse is the summer school that I received scholarship to go to for getting first or second in any of the categories at the Mid-West Fleadh. Well, when I got there, it was nothing that I had expected. I was put in a house with the nicest family in the world and my room mate, Aine, from Cavan- Ireland, ended up being the niece of a great friend of mine back in Georgia. The both of us hit it right off because she was a singer (in Irish and English), button accordion player, and she also spoke Irish really well. Since we both had some Irish, we made a point to speak in Irish everyday until we ran out of things to talk about, and I really thought that it was neat because I’ve never known anyone my age that speaks it. Scoil Eigse turned out being different then what I thought it was. I thought it was going to be just the kids who placed at the qualifying fleadhs, but it turned out being all of those kids plus anyone who wanted to come and take classes. So, the first night ended up being about three hundred kids from all around the world in the same room playing the same music, which was something I never imagined could ever happen. It was grand. The next morning was when all of the classes started, and for the first couple of days I did singing classes, which were extremely intense. The teacher would even punch our stomach to make us use our diaphragm! She taught us breath control also, which is nothing that I would have expected because most traditional singing classes only work on singing ornamentation, styles, and songs. This teacher ended up teaching all of it in one! That was really fantastic. The last two days I switched over to the Uilleann pipe class, and the teachers gave us really good tips and some really fun new tunes.
Altogether, Scoil Eigse was yet another great learning experience as well as a great time. I learned so many new things and met so many new people whose friendship I know will last a very long time.
Last but not least came the All Ireland Fleadh. I remember when Saturday came along, the entire town of Tullamore was completely full of people (230,000 and more to be honest!) it was incredible. You could walk along the street and in every corner, every shop, every pub, there would be musicians playing. There were also a lot of really neat events going on. After all the fun of playing music in sessions and meeting new people from all around the world, was when my competitions began. Right about then I had to come back down to earth, and everything seemed to hit me like a brick. I was a little home sick for one thing, I missed Donegal, my Grandmother was sick again and back in the hospital (some trip this turned out to be for her), I was about to compete with the great friends I had just made over the week, and I had just found out that three of my competitions where at the exact same time in three different places. But when I thought about it, none of that really bothered me. I knew that if I gave it my all, did my best, and had fun than that’s that counted, because I knew that all of my friends and family back home were rooting me on. So, that’s what I did. Unfortunately, I didn’t actually end up placing in anything (except in flute because I tied scores with the girl in 3rd, but they gave her the medal), but I’m ok with that. I know I worked really hard to get there and that’s what counts. For a while I felt like I let a lot of people down because before I left, people were saying how they couldn’t wait for me to come back with a bunch of trophies and medals. It was after I remembered everything I did during the trip that made the difference, not the trophies.
Obviously, I can’t thank you all enough for enabling me to have the most unforgettable month of my life. If it weren’t for all you and your support, I wouldn’t have been able to go at all. I wish all of you the best, hey, and maybe next year I'll bring you guys back some trphes and what not, now that I know the jest of things ;)
Beannacht,
~MaRy
(ps: I'm trying to make a slideshow of muh pictures, I'll post it on here when I'm done)
People keep asking what my favorite part of Ireland was, and I really find it hard to answer with a short response. Every day there it was a completely different story. Even from the moment I arrived to the very last day, I don’t think I’ll ever forget any of it. I thought I’d mention the highlights of my trip to let yas know how the whole thing went on (I could write a book about it! But not right now... that's what school's for ;)
The first week I was there I stayed with my aunt up in Churchill Donegal- an absolutely beautiful little town. That week was really fantastic, but the day I arrived was really intense. You see, my grandparents came with me from Georgia and stayed there as well. The same day we arrived in Donegal, my Grandmother got sick and had to be admitted to the hospital for a week. Now, originally my grandmother is from Donegal, so you can imagine what sort of welcome back that would be! Though, there was good that came of it when friends and family came from all over to visit her in the hospital, and I was able to meet relatives that I haven’t seen in years. So, I really thought my first couple of days there were fantastic, especially because of my aunt. The reason being is she really helped me out with my Ulster Irish. Since my Irish teacher back at home only teaches Munster Irish, I wasn’t very familiar with the Ulster accents. So, she really beat the Donegal accent into my head, and I’m still trying to convince myself that it was a good thing. Another thing that really got to me that week was realizing how much we all missed my uncle, because he had only just died of cancer two weeks before we arrived. He was a fantastic musician himself, and even before he got sick he told me he was going to help me with my singing when I got there. So, you could imagine how strong my aunt had to have been to hear me practicing. She was a great example to us all, and that’s something I’ll never forget.
The middle of the first week in Donegal was great too because of all the wonderful people I got to meet. I was even able to meet some of the musicians who lived up there. One of them was Martin Crossin, an Uilleann pipe maker up in Falcarraigh, and his wife Mary, who were a really lovely couple. Martin was also able to fix my bad Uilleann pipe reed, and that was a relief because it hadn’t been working properly since I arrived in Donegal. I met a load of other musicians at some of the sessions around town, and that was great because I got to see a lot of them again at the Fleadh itself.
Altogether, I think Donegal was the most difficult to leave. I had been there almost two weeks, and yet to me it felt like I had been there a year. I learned so much there- yet it was the things I had already known that were able to flourish in my heart. For the first time ever, I was able to sing songs that I’ve been singing for years and actually mean every single word that came out of my mouth. For too long I had been singing songs about places and happenings in Donegal in English and in Irish alike, and I really didn’t know what I was talking about, since I’d never really known a love for the place. But after being there, getting to know the people and places, the mountains, lakes, and animals even, I totally fell in love.
The next place I went was Sligo to visit some of the Yeat’s country and then Clare, to visit some relatives, and after that was the final destination- Tullamore. I arrived in Tullamore on the 19th of August because that was when Scoil Eigse Started. Scoil Eigse is the summer school that I received scholarship to go to for getting first or second in any of the categories at the Mid-West Fleadh. Well, when I got there, it was nothing that I had expected. I was put in a house with the nicest family in the world and my room mate, Aine, from Cavan- Ireland, ended up being the niece of a great friend of mine back in Georgia. The both of us hit it right off because she was a singer (in Irish and English), button accordion player, and she also spoke Irish really well. Since we both had some Irish, we made a point to speak in Irish everyday until we ran out of things to talk about, and I really thought that it was neat because I’ve never known anyone my age that speaks it. Scoil Eigse turned out being different then what I thought it was. I thought it was going to be just the kids who placed at the qualifying fleadhs, but it turned out being all of those kids plus anyone who wanted to come and take classes. So, the first night ended up being about three hundred kids from all around the world in the same room playing the same music, which was something I never imagined could ever happen. It was grand. The next morning was when all of the classes started, and for the first couple of days I did singing classes, which were extremely intense. The teacher would even punch our stomach to make us use our diaphragm! She taught us breath control also, which is nothing that I would have expected because most traditional singing classes only work on singing ornamentation, styles, and songs. This teacher ended up teaching all of it in one! That was really fantastic. The last two days I switched over to the Uilleann pipe class, and the teachers gave us really good tips and some really fun new tunes.
Altogether, Scoil Eigse was yet another great learning experience as well as a great time. I learned so many new things and met so many new people whose friendship I know will last a very long time.
Last but not least came the All Ireland Fleadh. I remember when Saturday came along, the entire town of Tullamore was completely full of people (230,000 and more to be honest!) it was incredible. You could walk along the street and in every corner, every shop, every pub, there would be musicians playing. There were also a lot of really neat events going on. After all the fun of playing music in sessions and meeting new people from all around the world, was when my competitions began. Right about then I had to come back down to earth, and everything seemed to hit me like a brick. I was a little home sick for one thing, I missed Donegal, my Grandmother was sick again and back in the hospital (some trip this turned out to be for her), I was about to compete with the great friends I had just made over the week, and I had just found out that three of my competitions where at the exact same time in three different places. But when I thought about it, none of that really bothered me. I knew that if I gave it my all, did my best, and had fun than that’s that counted, because I knew that all of my friends and family back home were rooting me on. So, that’s what I did. Unfortunately, I didn’t actually end up placing in anything (except in flute because I tied scores with the girl in 3rd, but they gave her the medal), but I’m ok with that. I know I worked really hard to get there and that’s what counts. For a while I felt like I let a lot of people down because before I left, people were saying how they couldn’t wait for me to come back with a bunch of trophies and medals. It was after I remembered everything I did during the trip that made the difference, not the trophies.
Obviously, I can’t thank you all enough for enabling me to have the most unforgettable month of my life. If it weren’t for all you and your support, I wouldn’t have been able to go at all. I wish all of you the best, hey, and maybe next year I'll bring you guys back some trphes and what not, now that I know the jest of things ;)
Beannacht,
~MaRy
(ps: I'm trying to make a slideshow of muh pictures, I'll post it on here when I'm done)
Thursday, August 16, 2007
wake up and smell the rainbows
well, I'd say today got off to a great start...
But I think I'll write more about stuff from a few days ago... One thing I forgot to mention yesterday was that on our way up to donegal from tullamore (clara) last friday, we stopped by knock, which was absolutely beautiful (exept for the weather)
<-- That's a part of knock (there were 3 other churches and monument sort of buildings)
Sunday was great also because we got to go to mass at the cathedral, which was absolutely beautiful. I just wish I would’ve brought my camera to take pictures of the inside. There was so much beautiful art work and sculptures it would totally blow your mind. And the mass was very beautiful too, not fast as lightning like they say mass is in Donegal, it was nice and solemn (and the music was modern music, like the music we do back at our church at home) the funny thing was, the guy who did the music reminded me of my dad all the way. It was really great.
After mass on Sunday we didn’t do much else because we ended up going to the hospital to visit my nana for pretty much the rest of the day, but that was fun cause she had a lot of visitors that day and I got to meet people I’ve never met before, like relatives and such (two of my cousins were Mary and Anne). And I got to sing some songs for her, so that was fun.
So, Monday finally came around, and I think it was a great day because we got to do a bit of traveling. See, this day also continues the pipe fixing problem. See, back on Saturday when I visited Eamonn Corrin the pipe-maker, he couldn’t fix my reed at all due to “lack of equipment” ;), and so I decided to give Martin Crossin a ring to see if he could fix em, and he was way more than happy to. So, that morning I mostly practiced my music stuff and also my irish and later that evening was when we went to Martin’s to get the reed fixed.
So, the evening finally came and we headed off to falcaraigh (which was the best drive I’d had so far because of all the scenery and mountains and such, and falcariagh is also by the seashore which was also wonderful) Anyway, we met martin at the ramada, and then he led us on up to his house (which was up on a hill, and was really a cute little house). His wife, Mary, (yes, another one!) met us at the door, and she was as sweet as she could be (blonde hair, blue eyes, and a very lovely warm smile). They both were very cordule with My aunt, grandpa, and I. I mean, Mary even made us tea! Which of course is what most people do here because they’re all so nice, but this was really good tea… Anyway, when we sat down, Martin had a look at the bad reed and started chopping away at it, and then he got one of his previously made reeds and fit it into mine, which we thought would do better than mine anyway! So, that’s what ended up happening… I just got a new reed altogether and it’s better than it’s ever sounded! Hehe, I mean, last night I was practicing and my nana came in and thought I was playing the fiddle! I suppose that’s a good thing, cause I really love the fiddle- anyway, after he fitted the reed I tried a few tunes on it, and then him and myself had a few tunes of our own, and that was really lovely too. So, altogether I think we all had a great little afternoon with the Crossins. They’re a lovely little couple and I can’t wait to meet them again!
Tuesday! Was fantastic too… I had a lot of great little adventures that day. Like in the morning I got up and my aunt wouldn’t talk to me in anything but irish! (hehe of course, I told her to the night before… but I didn’t know what I was getting myself into!) I think I made a right fool of myself! But I did ok with communicating I suppose… also I went off to practice for a few hours anyway and when I got up to take a break I went into the sitting and there was my good ol’ cousin Paul! That’s were it started getting funny cause when I walked in, alice started going off in irish and I just kept saying “is ea….is ea…” which means yes… over and over… and so finally she was like “mary! You’re not answering me!” and I had to start stumbling over sentences again… and paul was just like, eating scones and sitting tea and watching us try to make sence of each other in irish. See, the real thing is that mt aunt speaks irish with a really strong Donegal accent, an dI find it really hard to say what she’s saying, cause the words sounds totally diffen’t but I suppose you get used to it after a while, I think I’m slowly starting to pick it up. I think I’ll get her to “help” me some more tomarrow…
Anyway, Tuesday was great because I finally got to see my nana again (I was worried about her all day before) and Paul was the one who took me to see her cause everyone else had gone earlier. And it was funny cause the whole way up there he had country music blasting on the radio and was singing along with a southern accent, it was soo funny cause he has a Donegal accent and it just doesn’t sound right at all. And of course he thought that since I was from America that I was familiar with country music, so you could imagion I was just like “yeehaw?!” Anyway, later on a bunch of Alice’s friends showed up and we had sortof a ceili (I provided music, and my aunt ellen and some other’s brought up the dancing… hehe, by the way my aunt ellen is in her 80’s, soo, you could imagion how cute that was) at was really fun.
Later on that night we went to a really cute little session at a hotel in Churchhill Donegal, and that was pretty fun. It was really just a bunch of old guys who were mostly fiddlers, but there’s nothing wrong with that at all! There were about 5 fiddlers (typical in donegal), one box player, a guitarist, a banjo player, a few whistle players, harmonica’s, a mandolin player, they all sang along to my songs! So I thought it was really great. And there was also a bit of ceili dancing that the others played some polkas for (I didn’t cause I’m not much of a polka player ;) ya know?) There’s was also a little solo dancer that danced to some jigs. Here’s a pic of that session… (I'll get more up later)
Wow, I guess I just can't believe how fast this week has gone by now... at first it was all going by so slowly, but not anymore. today will be my last day staying here, and that makes me sad. So, I'm going to try my best to make tomarrow unforgetable. I'm really going to miss my aunt, and I'm going to worry about her because of her being lonely again (since my uncle passed away just two weeks ago) she's really strong though, and also my nana won't be coming with us to tullamore to drop me off to scoil eigse, so she'll have her company.
Well, I need to get off of here, the dial up is so slow and it's kept me waiting till almost 3 am to get this up here. hehe, well I'mm off for now. I'll try to put more pics up later. ;)
Love,
~Mary
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
I'm Here!
I’m sorry to say that this is the first blog entry I’ve made since I’ve been here (in Ireland, cause I’m Letterkenny Donegal right now) which has been since last Thursday- almost a week. Well, first off I just think it’s really lovely here. Since I’ve been here a week now I feel so comfortable living with my aunt. I feel like I could stay forever (but I’m really missing my family too). Anyway, everyday seems to hold some sort of surprise or unexpected visitor and that’s what’s keeping it exiting. Well, one thing for sure that was a surprise was last friday, right when we arrived at my aunts house, my nana got sick and had to be rushed to the hospital and it turns out she ended up staying until today! The poor thing, she’s been bored stiff at that hospital just sitting there doing nothing, we kept visiting her to keep her busy cause we missed her company back at the house but see, the thing is is that the hospitals just take longer here than what I’m used to back in America. Anyway, she’s fine now.
Right so, Saturday was a lot better because we new nana was ok, but my uilleann pipe reed decided that it wanted attention and closed up, so I couldn’t play it at all. I knew of this guy called Martin Crossin who’s up in Falcaraigh, and I asked my aunt if she knew him and she didn’t, but my cousin Aiden said his in laws lived right next to a pipe-maker (and when he called them, they said that it was Martin) so Aiden took me on up to his parent’s house and when we got there, you wouldn’t believe it. That’s where I saw the very first whole rainbow I ever saw… (pitiful huh?) that really made me happy for the rest of the day, just knowing that I had just seen the first full rainbow I ever saw…hehe anyway. We went on up (aiden and his father-in-law Vincent, who’s also a piper) and we went up to their neighbor-pipe-makers house. When we got there, there was no one home, but right as we were about to leave, this girl comes up and she’s like “oh, you’re looking for Eamonn?” and Vincent said yes, so me and aiden were just like, woah! Wait… Eamonn? Soo, yeah, this pipe maker wasn’t Martin Crossin at all. It was Eamonn Corrin (I think that’s his last name but I’m not sure…), it’s funny how it turned out though cause this wasn’t his normal home, he actually lived in Dublin or something and that’s where his workshop was so he couldn’t really do much to the reed without the equipment. But after talking to him for a while and playing on his pipes I realized that I’d heard of him before. He actually had a set of his own (that he’d made) with him, and he let me play the chanter. He even said that if I couldn’t fix my reed before I left for scoil eigse that I could barrow it. I mean I think it was the best thing I ever palyed, and it was made from box-wood too, not the normal African blackwood like most chanters. The neat thing was that he said that Martin Crossin (the piper I’d hear of) had taken some of his piping classes. So that right there says that this guys no bologna. Really great.
Yeah well I’ll write more tomarrow cause I’m really tired and I need to get to bed (I got up a 5:00 this morning and went to bed at 2:00 the night before cause we went to a session… I’ll explain later)
Beannacht,
~Mair
Right so, Saturday was a lot better because we new nana was ok, but my uilleann pipe reed decided that it wanted attention and closed up, so I couldn’t play it at all. I knew of this guy called Martin Crossin who’s up in Falcaraigh, and I asked my aunt if she knew him and she didn’t, but my cousin Aiden said his in laws lived right next to a pipe-maker (and when he called them, they said that it was Martin) so Aiden took me on up to his parent’s house and when we got there, you wouldn’t believe it. That’s where I saw the very first whole rainbow I ever saw… (pitiful huh?) that really made me happy for the rest of the day, just knowing that I had just seen the first full rainbow I ever saw…hehe anyway. We went on up (aiden and his father-in-law Vincent, who’s also a piper) and we went up to their neighbor-pipe-makers house. When we got there, there was no one home, but right as we were about to leave, this girl comes up and she’s like “oh, you’re looking for Eamonn?” and Vincent said yes, so me and aiden were just like, woah! Wait… Eamonn? Soo, yeah, this pipe maker wasn’t Martin Crossin at all. It was Eamonn Corrin (I think that’s his last name but I’m not sure…), it’s funny how it turned out though cause this wasn’t his normal home, he actually lived in Dublin or something and that’s where his workshop was so he couldn’t really do much to the reed without the equipment. But after talking to him for a while and playing on his pipes I realized that I’d heard of him before. He actually had a set of his own (that he’d made) with him, and he let me play the chanter. He even said that if I couldn’t fix my reed before I left for scoil eigse that I could barrow it. I mean I think it was the best thing I ever palyed, and it was made from box-wood too, not the normal African blackwood like most chanters. The neat thing was that he said that Martin Crossin (the piper I’d hear of) had taken some of his piping classes. So that right there says that this guys no bologna. Really great.
Yeah well I’ll write more tomarrow cause I’m really tired and I need to get to bed (I got up a 5:00 this morning and went to bed at 2:00 the night before cause we went to a session… I’ll explain later)
Beannacht,
~Mair
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Thanks for your support
Well first off I'm just testing this blog for one thing, but I want my first post to be mainly for thanking all of the lovely people who have made any sort of donation towards my trip. You've no idea how thankful I am and how greatful I am to have you all as friends. Some of you who have donated are people that I bearly know or even don't know at all! and that makes me realise how blessed I am to be given this opportunity. I look forward to getting there especially to learn a lot at the classes I'll be taking, and to visit some old friends- and meet new one's hopefully! I'm also looking way forward to seeing my aunt in letterkenny and improving my Irish in the gealtacht up there. I am very sad to annouce that I was greatly looking forward to seeing my uncle gerald, who was a fantastic musician and historian all-together, but I'm afraid he just passed away due to a serious case of cancer about a weeks time from now (may the lord rest his soul in loving peace). So, I just hope my aunt is doing alright, but I have decided to dedicate this trip and competition (whether I place or not) to my uncle and aunt. I'll be leaving this wednesday, and hopefully I'll be able to write as much as I can on here this journey!
Slan go Foill,
~M
Slan go Foill,
~M
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