So, it has been a week since I gave a substantial update. I apologize for that. Last Sunday the group took a trip up to Sligo, the home of William Butler Yeats. We ate lunch in the town and then visited his grave. I have never read any of his poetry, so this was not particularly exciting or meaningful for me. The highlight of that trip was the bus driver taking us to a beautiful waterfall he knew about around there, which apparently Yeats mentions in a poem about faeries kidnapping children or some such.
Sunday night was the big parade for the Galway Arts Festival. It was really spectacular. The theme was almost what you would expect of a Halloween parade, lots of skeletons and other such creepy things. The portion I enjoyed the most was the end, which was a series of clowns driving Mad Max-esque post-apocalyptic vehicles. Very nice parade. Natron would have loved it.
Unfortunately for the parade and much of the week leading up to it I had been feeling ill. I came down with a stomach bug that was really awful for a few days. Every time I ate I would feel severely nauseous, leading to me hardly eating anything solid. Monday I skipped my classes to go to the doctor. He prescribed me with some medications to treat the symptoms, but said it was viral. Unfortunately he appears to have been correct, as now Laura is experiencing very similar symptoms.
Wednesday and Thursday we had exams, which went quite well. This was followed up with our last geology field trip just down the road to Salt Hill. We took a walk along the beach and some of us chose to climb some sort of mound with a Gaelic name I've forgotten. It was extremely peaceful at the top. Again I was blown away by the freedom given to people in Ireland to hurt themselves. There was a path to the top of this mound, that led right up to the edge of a 35-40 foot drop onto a rocky beach and there wasn't even a sign to tell you to be careful. I find it refreshing that it is put in people's own hands to make sure they don't kill themselves.
This is not actually the one we climbed, but it is the same type of formation.
Laura enjoying the view:
Last night Laura and I went out with our apartment-mate Fares to have our last pint in Galway. We had a good time and ended up running into a local friend we made a few weeks ago named Kirk. He is from Minnesota, I believe, and recently graduated from college. He has been living in Galway for a while and has finally found himself an apartment and a job. Congratulations, Kirk.
So that about covers the last week up to today.
2 comments:
Dang, kidnapping children? Faeries are scary, why are we letting them handle our children's fallen teeth? I don't even want to know what they do with all of them. And to think they get them for only a quarter per tooth, what a steal.
I have to share a Yeats poem with you in response to your post. A lot of his poetry is "epic", but this little verse is pretty light. (A stare is the Irish name of the bird we call a starling).
The bees build in the crevices
Of loosening masonry, and there
The mother birds bring grubs and fies.
My wall is loosening, honey bees
Come build in the empty house of the stare.
We are closed in, and the key turned
On our uncertainty; somewhere
A man is killed, or a house is burned,
Yet no clear fact to be discerned:
Come build in the empty house of the stare.
Thanks for your blog. I love reading about your experiences.
Post a Comment