Around, About, and Abroad

More about the Gaeltacht...

2008-08-13T15:05:00.001-07:00

Right so. I feel bad…again… about not explaining more about the Gaeltacht. To be honest the college wasn’t anything I had expected. You see what I was told was that a gaeltacht school is where you go to an Irish speaking part of the country with a bunch of other kids your age and learn irish. What I wasn’t told was that aside from the Irish-classes we had everyday from 8:30 to 2:00, we also had planned activities scheduled for each evening followed by a Ceili every night. Each class would last about 45 to 60 minutes and then we’d have a 15-20 minute break in between. Our first class of the day was usually with Pol, the most difficult teacher, but a lovely man all the same! He was always involving grammar and verb conjugating and new vocabulary. The second class of the day would usually be with Colm, who was usually the favorite teacher because everything he said made so much sense. He taught us more everyday sort of Irish phrases and facts and stories and what not, he also taught us a few songs over the weeks. The third class of the day usually was some sort of guest teacher or speaker that would either give a demonstration or give us something hands on. Colleen, the principal taught a few classes and she was a lovely teacher as well, she taught us more about the Irish folklore and history behind the Irish language. Gavin, the other Principal or Headmaster would’ve been the favorite teacher when it came to everything in general though. Mainly because he’s a bit famous in the sense that he stars in an Irish soap called ‘Ros Na Run’ that even I and some Americans would even be familiar with from watching tg4 online. So, whenever he would teach something or go to an event with us or call a ceili, whatever it was the room always seemed so much brighter! After the classes were over at about two each day, we’d walk home; and right when we walked in through the door our bhan-o-ti would start off in her normal routines, though getting us all to sit at the table was a but tricky sometimes. And when we were finally seated, she would stuff us to the brim with soup, or fresh bread, and the best fries you could ever put in your mouth! She always called us her ‘Ionis’ which is Irish for birdies because none of us girls were really big eaters. Especially since she had always been a bean-o-ti for boys, she was used to cooking a lot of food. So, I’m sad to say that a lot of food would’ve gone to waist because most of us would try whatever trick we had up our sleeve to get out of eating all four courses she tried to feed us!!! I know I’ve said that before but we really were way too well fed! After we’d have lunch we’d have another event at 3 or half 3 which usually involved taking a bus somewhere; whether it be to the sea or the town or mountain climbing or going to a ceili at another gaeltacht; the thing about them all is that they were always in irish! For instance, I remember my first day I was there we went down to the beach. And of course I was a bit concerned, especially since I had missed class that morning due to arriving a bit later in the day. I was soo urgent to learn as much irish as possible, and here we were…at the beach? And just then, Colleen, the principal comes up out of nowhere and pulls me into a circle of some of the kids and starts saying things in Irish which at that time I really would’ve had a hard time understanding because I wasn’t used to the dialect yet. I did get a few words about baseball, and rules, and games and such… so I knew what she was saying but I wasn’t sure what she was asking me. Also, just before then one of the girls I was with was caught speaking English and got a ‘carda buidh’ which in English is ‘yellow card’ which would be a sort of strike. So, say if you got 4 carda buidhs, you’d be sent home. You could imagine that I was terrified that if I said anything in English that I might get a carda buidh my first day! And of course I really wanted to make the best impression possible being that in their perspective, I would’ve come all the way across the sea to be there, and also since they had never had an American at the college before. So, back to the point… Colleen was obviously asking me about baseball and hands me a bat, cones, and a ball…. So I decided that she might’ve been asking me how to play baseball…. I took the stuff and right after I did there would’ve been an awkward silence. I realized that everyone was staring at me…. Therefore I would’ve slowly started explaining how the game worked, in Irish… eventually getting fed up and using a bit of English… which I found out later I wouldn’t have gotten in trouble because it was my first day! Anyway, we attempted to play baseball on the beach and most of the kids were completely clueless! I thought it was absolutely hysterical… but just by doing that, I learned at least 20 new words and phrases. I found myself taking situations like telling a team member to RUN!! Or STOP!! Or left, right, come over here! Catch it! I mean I honestly didn’t have a clue how to say those before that but just by asking someone beside me during a game, ‘How do you say this…?’ or ‘what does that mean?’ It was little things like that that stuck with me and still stick with me now. So, I’m sure that everyday whether I realized it or not, I really did learn a lot. What I realized mainly was that yeah I learned a lot in class, but most of it didn’t stick as much or at least as easily because we really didn’t get a chance to USE it like we would when we were out and about during the events. It’s times like NOW that I’m learning from the classes themselves because of studying all the notes I would’ve taken at the classes.

So all in all, it really was a great experience altogether… just thinking of how I came not knowing much at all, and having very very broken sentences, very bad grammar, and not much vocabulary… I’d say I came out having improved every one of those more than I ever could’ve just by studying or what not, in the length of time that I did! It really is pretty amazing now that I think about it…. Just to think that I could’ve learned as much as I did and also have had a great time while doing it! And maybe have made a few friends on the side as well! So I suppose I really am looking forward to using my irish more… perhaps at the fleadh… they always have certain areas of the festival designated for Irish-speakers or gaelic clubs and what-not. Of course now that I’ve been living with my aunt for a bit over a week after the gaeltacht we’ve been talking irish a lot, and we might not even realize it sometimes… it seems to be coming much more natural to me now that I wouldn’t really even notice it or try as hard as I used to- which is a great relief I’d say…

Right, so I have two more days here in Churchill Donegal, and then I’m off to Cavan to visit a friend until Sunday. So, Sunday we’ll head off to Tullamore together. And if I haven’t mentioned it, I’ll be going yet to another irish music school for a week, and the following Saturday will be the start of the Fleadh, or competitions! So as you might assume, I’m starting to get a bit nervous… You can imagine that I’ve been doing a lot of practicing as well! I’d say about every spare moment I get I spend practicing, whether it be singing, irish, English, pipes, or whistle… I feel so motivated because I want to have everything perfect for competing! Anyway, this week has been eventful as well. Mostly just because of random things around Churchill I’ve done, but most things I’ve done with the family. I’m just so in love with the scenery here though… and to think that saint Columbi was born here in this area where my aunt lives is just sooo cool… being that I would be very familiar with him from doing various readings and papers on him for my religion class at school. Right..well…I’ll try to keep yas updated! Thanks for your support as always and thanks for reading! I ask for any prayers I can get though, just for peace and patience in these last few weeks around the fleadh, it’s always very stressful, but I know it won’t be if I don’t let it be!

Love and Blessings,

~MarY`

Gaeltacht pics!!!!

2008-08-09T19:19:00.000-07:00

here's a bunch of pics from the Gaeltacht.... and remember to click on the photos to read the description and to stop them from moving.... enjoy!!!

Love,

~Mary~

Just Everything I can fit for now...

2008-08-09T17:57:00.000-07:00

“Everything that happens, happens for a reasons…” I am a firm believer in this phrase. I have been alive for 17 years and something I’ve learned is that every second of your life is precious. Like the choice between doing something right and wrong, there’s always a a different outcome depending on how you spend your choice. I’ve learned so much while I’ve been away from home… and being abroad itself gives you time to just think for yourself. The one thing that is really annoying me though is just that I’m so eager to learn anything I can get my hands on, but then once I’ve learned it, it doesn’t ever really stick. It’s sort of like I enjoy learning for the sense of accomplishment from it but I’m not really learning anything at all! I’m sure this isn’t entirely true, but it just feels like that right now.

As of this day today, I’m in Churchill Donegal- The one place out of every place in Ireland that I would call home. Every day I’m here I learn, do or see something interesting, new places, faces and ideas all the time… I really miss the gaeltacht, but I’m not sure if it’s for the right reason, because to be honest, I seem to be learning a lot more here because there isn’t quite as much distraction. At the gaeltach, sure, I had everything I need and all the opportunity in the world sitting in front of me, but then there were a million other distractions keeping me from using the lovely opportunity to its complete and full extent- which is very frustrating now that I think of it. See, the thing about most gaeltacht schools is that most of the kids who go are just going three weeks to get away from the parents to have a great time and do whatever you want oh yes and speak irish only because they make you speak irish. So I myself, having come only for the sake of the exact opposite of what every other kid there came for, was just having a bit of difficulty the first few days getting used to the situation. For example, the first couple of days I would ask a hundred million questions during class (stupid questions and all), and then I might be reading or studying notes from class during free time. So naturally a lot of the kids would approach me and say “Do you actually LIKE Irish or something?” and I’d be like…uh no… I’m just…doing homework? Haha, so then they just thought I might have done something bad to have to get homework to work on. Which is sad really because they really don’t understand how lucky they are to have such a wonderful tradition right in their midst, and they just see it as a burden. But all in all, I really did learn a lot of Irish. I met TONS of lovely new friends. I did more things in Gaoith Dobhair than I ever thought was possible. And most of all I just had a blast .

List of Highlights at the gaeltacht,

My Bean O’ Tigh… Marie Sweeney is the name of the woman who took care of us 14 girls that lived in ‘Teach Sweeney’ for the remainder of the three weeks. Right when I stepped in the door of her house my first day, I felt so comfortable. She had a lovely smile and of course she never spoke anything but Irish unless I needed her to explain what she was saying in English or if she just was being casual or something. My heart really went out to her the time I was there because she NEVER left the kitchen! She never stopped working to keep us girls full to the brim which she believed we liked when most of us would rather just eat little bits here and there. She never slept, because firstly she has a 6 year old boy to look after all the time, a husband to keep happy, and 14 girls to keep from slipping out of the windows in the middle of the night! (and yes that actually did happen once with one girls who just didn’t believe in rules). But Marie was nice enough not to send her home. There was ALWAYS drama in that house. Whether it be about something the boys had done earlier or about something someone said about someone that wasn’t true or just something silly. I was always trying my hardest to be the big sister of the lot because most of the girls were much younger than me as well. So that would be a part of the distractions that might have kept me from learning as much as I could’ve. But all in all I loved my Bean O tigh, I loved the girls in my house and I loved the teachers as well.

So second highlight – My teachers. They were all extremely lovely and never failed to help you when you needed a question answered.

Another highlight would be the town itself and the long walks, whether it be to school every morning, or the long walk to the seashores in the evening. Even when we thought that the day was to yucky to do anything we were still outside playing in the rain if that’s what we felt was fun at the time.

Every single day there was an adventure and to be honest I couldn’t pick a favorite part because of that reason. I loved every moment I was there and I really hope to go back next year, especially being that I was offered full scholarship to come back.

I plan on explain my highlights of the gaeltacht in detail soon. I feel so bad for not writing on here at all. I’ve just got so much to say and not much time to say it! Like right now for instance, my clothes are all wet and my shoes are squishy with water in them because I went for a nighttime walk around the village of Churchill with my aunt. When we left the weather was gorgeous but by the time we headed home it started pouring down rain. To be honest though, I don’t think any other place in the world has more history in it than Churchill and Gortan (the lake in the middle of the town). During our walk my aunt explained so much of it’s history that I never wanted to get back to the house. But alas, I’m back… the fire is dieing and my feet are cold, hehe. So I believe it’s time to put this up for now before I catch a cold again! (oh yeah that was one of my ‘High-lights’ of the gaeltacht, I had a nasty bug the first few days… but of course my Bean-o-tigh babied me the whole time!

So tomarrow I’m planning on staying on task but also just enjoying everything about being here, being that I know I’ll be gone before I know it. Time is flying by so fast and I really wish I could just make it stop! But I do miss everyone back at home sooo much and I send my love and thank you’s again to all who have helped me along the way. You all mean so much to me and I offer all prayers and blessings to you all!

Gach Beannacht

~Mary~

2008-08-08T03:12:00.001-07:00

Hi Everyone! First I just want to appologise for not being able to write on here. I felt that when I left to come here I really was obliged to write, but I just haven't gotten a chance. But now that the gaeltacht is over I have a bit more time. So over the next couple of days I will be writing about the adventures I've had so far. Down below are some pictures I took in Gaoith Dobair (The Town I was in while at the gaeltacht college) while I was there. I'm staying in Belfast (Northern Ireland) right now so those who are calling my phone my be having trouble becuase the area code actually did change...after the sencond day I was here...hehe. Right well, I'm off to Stormant park to bring my wee cousins for a picnic (It's finally a nice sunny day. It's been raining for a week!)

Love you all very much and thanks for all the support!

If you click on the photos, they will stop and give a description as well.

3 Days!

2008-07-17T22:37:00.000-07:00

Wow, can't believe it's already been a year since I was last there... I'm just posting on here now though because I really just want to say thanks so much to everyone who has helped me get this far. Especially just to be able to get there. You all mean everything to me and you know I wouldn't be where I am without your support. I also appologise for not getting the concert to work. Emergencies happen, and they happen to me alot suprisingly. But not as much as blessings, so I do plan to do a make-up concert once I get back. I will deffinately keep yas posted. :).

Love,

~MarY~

some people pictures...

2007-09-15T19:20:00.000-07:00

Pictures!

2007-09-07T08:51:00.000-07:00

Pictures!

(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!

2007-09-07T06:06:00.000-07:00

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)

wake up and smell the rainbows

2007-08-16T16:43:00.000-07:00

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

I'm Here!

2007-08-15T16:27:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-04T21:51:00.000-07:00

I'm just testing this to figure out how to put photos up when I'm in Ireland.

;) ~Mary

<--- (That's Seamus Ennis by the way... the best Uilleann piper/singer to ever live)

Thanks for your support

2007-08-04T21:35:00.000-07:00

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