Well one of the main reasons we came here was to help out with the Earagail Arts Festival, which has been an entertaining string of artistic events, performances, artist exhibits, and things of that nature. I've volunteered for a couple events so far, the first being at the opening art exhibition of local artist Locky Morris. His main thing seems to be turning to really simple material to make a big statement. One piece I found interesting was a piece of his living room carpet, on which his daughter took off the tag of her school uniform and dropped it; this piece of the carpet was encased in glass (with the tag still laying there) to preserve the memory of his daughter's first day of school. Simple, but an interesting approach to art... A lot of his art also represents aspects of The Troubles here in Ireland. I wish I had some pictures to show you.. but I don't.
Back to the exhibition opening.. Our job was simply to pour wine. Ok well, I've never poured alcohol for the public before and a normal person would use their common sense but of course I have all these questions. How much wine do I put in their glass? Can they have refills? How many can they have? Can I have some?
This was funny because one of the guys.. who had two or three glasses.. was telling us he hoped we got to have some. Upon telling him I was too afraid to ask, he yells "Are ye kidding me?? It's IRELAND!" Haha. It made for a nice cultural realization.
Following the exhibition, a group of us volunteered at the Carnival Parade which was kind of like a kickoff event for the festival. Well, my wine pouring mate was with me, but there was a whole group of people that were missing. I'm just like wow, they're really late..then all of the sudden they emerge out of the crowed in these insane, like.. ludicrous. outfits. I guess when they showed up some lady was like Aye! go get your costumes on! Haha. It's going to be real great when I get back to the States with this Irish accent. Anyway, so yes they we're dressed up like clowns, and I got to wear a neon vest. Our duties were simply to walk along side the parade to make sure people weren't going into the street and that everything was going smoothly. It was a great parade people were dressed up like crazy animals and dancers and there was music and dancing and huge floats. And we just walked all the way down the main street in Letterkenny and back.
These are two events I've volunteered at, and I've also attended some events. We checked out the carnival the next day at the park- first time discovering the park! That was exciting. It was mostly just grass and paths.. which lead my thoughts toward: well, this country doesn't need jungle gyms, sand, and swings because they're happy enough just running around in their extremely green grass and using their imagination. Just a cultural observation. Not saying they don't have parks with swings, but well, I haven't seen one. The next weekend we went to The Glebe Gathering, an event about a half hour away that was having another art exhibit for kids mostly. We took a tour of artist Derek Hill's house. He was a quirky guy. His house was filled with art work from artists all around the world, like a plate from Picasso, and a bunch of other crazy stuff like huge beetles encased in glass, beaded stools that his mother made, a victorian-like chair just for his dog, a decorated toilet bowl, a painting that changes color when the sun shines through it, etc. Very cool house. Then we went to Glenveagh castle and national park!! (one of 6 in Ireland). Yes, I've been in a castle now. We took a tour and I think we only got to see about 1/4 of the castle, but it was beautiful. and deer-themed. and haunted! and cursed. So I feel pretty lucky.
More recently, I went to a kids play called Star Boy, starring Joe Brennan, the topic of my documentary. He is a local storyteller and actually wrote this play without words to approach a different way of telling a story. It was cute, very good. I felt kind of ridiculous, I was literally the only one my age there. The audience consisted of parents and 2-9 year olds. I also went to see a performance by Solo Cissokho who is also a storyteller, and a musician of Souther Senegal in Africa. He played the griot (beautiful instrument) and told an old story from a village by his hometown.
That about sums it up for my volunteer and festival activities for the time being. Some fun cultural things that may be obvious but I'd like point out: They have a deep appreciation for their sheep here.. seriously, it's theme on the souvenirs.
Guiness is also a prominent theme in the culture, as well as music (much more so than in America); it is a much larger focus in the schools here.
Thanks for reading!
"Wait. Speaking of Jews... The goblins that work at the bank? Totally the jews of the movie."
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Hey guys.. Can we still be friends after this weekend?
Yes, so the accents took some time to get used to, as well as the blatant staring, but also the friendliness of the people; the surrounding of vast green pastures filled with sheep or cattle is new and the lack of ranch dressing in the country has been rough. But I think the weather, more than anything, is still taking its toll on me! It's cold here.. for the most part. Ninety-five percent of the time it is overcast, with the sun shining through maybe a total of 60 minutes a day.. Most of the time it's cold and windy, but sometimes it gets pretty hot! for a few minutes. You just never know what it's going to do and it's definitely one of the things I'm still getting used to. Today, for example, I grabbed by umbrella, rain jacket, sunglasses, and wore flip flops.. Ya just can't know.
Oh but it's so beautiful here. I really can't emphasize it enough. This past weekend, we spent the weekend in Galway and the Aran Islands, and it's hard for me to put in words just how gorgeous the land is.. Galway has a mix of atmospheres: Shop street was filled with small pubs and shops of Irish souvenirs and SWEATERS!(don't feel like explaining this). With Galway Bay just a short walk through there, you have the sand and the waves and the jellyfish right at your fingertips. I spent the night in a hostel for the first time- not like the movie at all! We all agreed it was like a big sleepover! I think the best part of this was when I accidentally walked into the other girls room at 2 in the morning thinking it was ours. Oops. Always make sure your door is closed all the way..
The next day was the Aran Islands (Inishmore), which we took a ferry to. We rented bikes upon our arrival and rode around a big chunk of the island for most of the day. I think this has been my favorite experience so far.. We had beautiful weather and clear skies; we saw horses and donkeys, we climbed rocks and saw dolphins- it was absolutely perfect. Oh.. I can't forget how we ended the evening. The group participated in an intense kereoke singing contest, winning of course, and bonding like no group of people has ever bonded before. All I can do now is pray that those videos will never surface.
The only thing I regret of the weekend was not having enough time in Galway.. It's definitely a place I would like to return to.
Our next trip is to Derry in a couple of weeks. These days we're beginning to adapt our short stories to a screenplay and gearing up to help out with the festival. I'm very excited to start work for the arts festival, to meet more people in this town and learn more about the culture. The people here are absolutely amazing. Besides a snooty, depressed waiter we had on the island and the boys that yell from their cars, everyone is ridiculously friendly. Fun fact- they think Americans are the friendly ones because we always say "have a nice day." But the Irish are genuinely friendly and genuinely concerned if you're having a nice day or not. It seems.
Cheers
"I left my sweater swag back at the B&B."
Oh but it's so beautiful here. I really can't emphasize it enough. This past weekend, we spent the weekend in Galway and the Aran Islands, and it's hard for me to put in words just how gorgeous the land is.. Galway has a mix of atmospheres: Shop street was filled with small pubs and shops of Irish souvenirs and SWEATERS!(don't feel like explaining this). With Galway Bay just a short walk through there, you have the sand and the waves and the jellyfish right at your fingertips. I spent the night in a hostel for the first time- not like the movie at all! We all agreed it was like a big sleepover! I think the best part of this was when I accidentally walked into the other girls room at 2 in the morning thinking it was ours. Oops. Always make sure your door is closed all the way..
The next day was the Aran Islands (Inishmore), which we took a ferry to. We rented bikes upon our arrival and rode around a big chunk of the island for most of the day. I think this has been my favorite experience so far.. We had beautiful weather and clear skies; we saw horses and donkeys, we climbed rocks and saw dolphins- it was absolutely perfect. Oh.. I can't forget how we ended the evening. The group participated in an intense kereoke singing contest, winning of course, and bonding like no group of people has ever bonded before. All I can do now is pray that those videos will never surface.
The only thing I regret of the weekend was not having enough time in Galway.. It's definitely a place I would like to return to.
Our next trip is to Derry in a couple of weeks. These days we're beginning to adapt our short stories to a screenplay and gearing up to help out with the festival. I'm very excited to start work for the arts festival, to meet more people in this town and learn more about the culture. The people here are absolutely amazing. Besides a snooty, depressed waiter we had on the island and the boys that yell from their cars, everyone is ridiculously friendly. Fun fact- they think Americans are the friendly ones because we always say "have a nice day." But the Irish are genuinely friendly and genuinely concerned if you're having a nice day or not. It seems.
Cheers
"I left my sweater swag back at the B&B."
Monday, June 27, 2011
Carey Mulligan is beautiful
Ballyraine Campus
Apartment number 8
Bedroom
I was traveling alone up until New York, but I thought I was going to be alone all the way until Ireland- a terrifying thought for a naturally nervous person such as myself. And I always think I'm more competent than I am until I'm actually in these situations. Where the hell do I go when I get there? How do I find the bus station? Is it at the airport? What if my luggage isn't there? What if I miss the bus? What if I'm the last one to arrive because I'm an idiot? Well luckily, other people in the group were connecting in New York, and I had them there to lean back on.
The flight was alright, except I got the aisle seat which means I won't be sleeping, basically. I watched Wall Street and read a book called "Round Ireland with a Fridge", which is pretty entertaining. It is about 8:30 am when we descended into Ireland, and I just see green- light greens and dark greens and little spots of white. It was a different feeling than China.. I didn't keep repeating in my mind the country I was in (Ex- "I'm in China. I'm in CHINA!") (x20). It wasn't like that; it was definitely more calm. I like to reflect on how I react to new things, if you can't tell. I think I learn a lot about myself.. and because I like to think my life is a movie, I think it foreshadows the future.
Anyway, as mentioned before, Ireland is super, super, super green. Extremely green. Very very very green. I know you think you already knew that, but you don't really know. It's pretty clean too. We find our bus stop pretty easily, we have to wait about 45 minutes. I go back inside to a different part of the Dublin airport to go to the bathroom and emerge to see a group of French hockey players.. each one with a perfect face. Seriously, I couldn't stop staring- it was embarrassing. The bus arrives and here begins my love story...
Which I'm not going to describe in the blog. The bus ride is loonngg. Its about 4 hours. Which I didn't mind at all because I love bus rides, and I was so excited to see more of Ireland. We go from Dublin to Letterkenny with 4 other stops on the way. This is the one and only bus ride I have ever been sick on. I got horribly ill, I thought I was going to puke on the guy next to me several times. You know when you're in class trying so hard not to fall asleep but its inevitable? As its happening you're falling and you slam yourself up and look like an idiot? This happened to me around 10 times. I tried so hard not to sleep, I just wanted to keep watching the scenery (which, actually, if someone kidnapped me blindfolded me, and flew me to Ireland where I opened my eyes, more often than not, I wouldn't be able to tell I was in a different area). There were a lot of hills, A LOT of cows and sheep, and again, a lot of green. The houses are different.. very spaced apart and in unusual and unique shapes. They also have a billion of roundabouts, and oh yeah! They drive on the different side of the road on the different side of the car. I didn't notice this that much because the bus was so big and I was all the way in the back sitting in an aisle seat. I think I got so sick because it was so hilly, I couldn't see out the other windows that well, we were going really fast, and I had about an hour of sleep.
Long story short.. which hasn't been that short (sorry), the town of Letterkenny is just adorable. It's kind of small, said to have only 15,000 people. It's not a big touristy place, which I like a lot. A few people I've talked to we all surprised a group of American students would come to Letterkenny on vacation. Which I then proceeded to tell them we weren't on vacation really. I'm here in my apartment with my two roommates who are also from OU, Brenna and Christina. I think we all get a long pretty well, same goes for the whole group. Since I was here first I got to pick a room first (Yeah! We have our own rooms!), I picked the double with its own bathroom. I just had to. They hate me. We get a living space and a kitchen as well; its much nicer than I expected. There is no full length mirror though. Isn't that ridiculous? Sure, provide the kitchen with sugar but no full length mirror. But that is my only complaint.
In future blogs, I will get in more detail about the work we'll be doing here, which I'm also really excited about. Besides assignments, we'll be volunteering for the Earagail Arts Festival, a huge festival in the town featuring local/famous artists, bands, readings, movies, several other events through out Letterkenny and Donegal.
Other fun things:
-The Euro is ROUGH.. Say something is 20 euro. Cut it in half and add the half (10) to the original amount and that is what it is in dollars.
-The weather is sketchhh. And by that I mean, its cold. Its on average 50-60 degrees here. The sun rarely shines. But it fits Ireland. It's still so beautiful. It's pretty windy too. The locals say it rains most days but it hasn't a lot yet.
-It's a 7 hour difference so it's almost 6 am in the states.
-It doesn't get dark here until 11 pm
-The accents are as wonderful and as mesmerizing as you think they are.
Quote:
(about the town)
"If you're going to break a window, everyone in Letterkenny is going to know about it."
Apartment number 8
Bedroom
I was traveling alone up until New York, but I thought I was going to be alone all the way until Ireland- a terrifying thought for a naturally nervous person such as myself. And I always think I'm more competent than I am until I'm actually in these situations. Where the hell do I go when I get there? How do I find the bus station? Is it at the airport? What if my luggage isn't there? What if I miss the bus? What if I'm the last one to arrive because I'm an idiot? Well luckily, other people in the group were connecting in New York, and I had them there to lean back on.
The flight was alright, except I got the aisle seat which means I won't be sleeping, basically. I watched Wall Street and read a book called "Round Ireland with a Fridge", which is pretty entertaining. It is about 8:30 am when we descended into Ireland, and I just see green- light greens and dark greens and little spots of white. It was a different feeling than China.. I didn't keep repeating in my mind the country I was in (Ex- "I'm in China. I'm in CHINA!") (x20). It wasn't like that; it was definitely more calm. I like to reflect on how I react to new things, if you can't tell. I think I learn a lot about myself.. and because I like to think my life is a movie, I think it foreshadows the future.
Anyway, as mentioned before, Ireland is super, super, super green. Extremely green. Very very very green. I know you think you already knew that, but you don't really know. It's pretty clean too. We find our bus stop pretty easily, we have to wait about 45 minutes. I go back inside to a different part of the Dublin airport to go to the bathroom and emerge to see a group of French hockey players.. each one with a perfect face. Seriously, I couldn't stop staring- it was embarrassing. The bus arrives and here begins my love story...
Which I'm not going to describe in the blog. The bus ride is loonngg. Its about 4 hours. Which I didn't mind at all because I love bus rides, and I was so excited to see more of Ireland. We go from Dublin to Letterkenny with 4 other stops on the way. This is the one and only bus ride I have ever been sick on. I got horribly ill, I thought I was going to puke on the guy next to me several times. You know when you're in class trying so hard not to fall asleep but its inevitable? As its happening you're falling and you slam yourself up and look like an idiot? This happened to me around 10 times. I tried so hard not to sleep, I just wanted to keep watching the scenery (which, actually, if someone kidnapped me blindfolded me, and flew me to Ireland where I opened my eyes, more often than not, I wouldn't be able to tell I was in a different area). There were a lot of hills, A LOT of cows and sheep, and again, a lot of green. The houses are different.. very spaced apart and in unusual and unique shapes. They also have a billion of roundabouts, and oh yeah! They drive on the different side of the road on the different side of the car. I didn't notice this that much because the bus was so big and I was all the way in the back sitting in an aisle seat. I think I got so sick because it was so hilly, I couldn't see out the other windows that well, we were going really fast, and I had about an hour of sleep.
Long story short.. which hasn't been that short (sorry), the town of Letterkenny is just adorable. It's kind of small, said to have only 15,000 people. It's not a big touristy place, which I like a lot. A few people I've talked to we all surprised a group of American students would come to Letterkenny on vacation. Which I then proceeded to tell them we weren't on vacation really. I'm here in my apartment with my two roommates who are also from OU, Brenna and Christina. I think we all get a long pretty well, same goes for the whole group. Since I was here first I got to pick a room first (Yeah! We have our own rooms!), I picked the double with its own bathroom. I just had to. They hate me. We get a living space and a kitchen as well; its much nicer than I expected. There is no full length mirror though. Isn't that ridiculous? Sure, provide the kitchen with sugar but no full length mirror. But that is my only complaint.
In future blogs, I will get in more detail about the work we'll be doing here, which I'm also really excited about. Besides assignments, we'll be volunteering for the Earagail Arts Festival, a huge festival in the town featuring local/famous artists, bands, readings, movies, several other events through out Letterkenny and Donegal.
Other fun things:
-The Euro is ROUGH.. Say something is 20 euro. Cut it in half and add the half (10) to the original amount and that is what it is in dollars.
-The weather is sketchhh. And by that I mean, its cold. Its on average 50-60 degrees here. The sun rarely shines. But it fits Ireland. It's still so beautiful. It's pretty windy too. The locals say it rains most days but it hasn't a lot yet.
-It's a 7 hour difference so it's almost 6 am in the states.
-It doesn't get dark here until 11 pm
-The accents are as wonderful and as mesmerizing as you think they are.
Quote:
(about the town)
"If you're going to break a window, everyone in Letterkenny is going to know about it."
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Stupid song made me think of you, I listened to it for a minute, but then I changed it & I'm getting a little bit stronger.
It's 2011. And I haven't said anything yet. That statement got pretty deep when I started thinking about it. That last sentence doesn't make much sense, but I like it anyway.
Once in a while, to avoid homework, I'll read fashion blogs. Boyy do I get jealous! The clothes! That these women compile together to make an outfit.. It's so inspiring.
There's a song on the Country Strong soundtrack (which I'm totally not embarrassed to proclaim my love for) that I cannot stop listening to. It's called A Little Bit Stronger- SO girly, so mainstream pop-esque, but I absolutely love it! I love her voice, and I love the melody and the country twang in there, but I think it may also be a strong connection to the lyrics. In days when I would be upset about those kinds of things.. (...guys..erughck)(that sound exactly) Simply getting out of bed, or changing the song on the radio, I never looked at those things as me getting stronger. But that's what it was, and I'm proud of myself as I look back on those times.
Once in a while, to avoid homework, I'll read fashion blogs. Boyy do I get jealous! The clothes! That these women compile together to make an outfit.. It's so inspiring.
There's a song on the Country Strong soundtrack (which I'm totally not embarrassed to proclaim my love for) that I cannot stop listening to. It's called A Little Bit Stronger- SO girly, so mainstream pop-esque, but I absolutely love it! I love her voice, and I love the melody and the country twang in there, but I think it may also be a strong connection to the lyrics. In days when I would be upset about those kinds of things.. (...guys..erughck)(that sound exactly) Simply getting out of bed, or changing the song on the radio, I never looked at those things as me getting stronger. But that's what it was, and I'm proud of myself as I look back on those times.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
And darling, you should know, I have fantasies about being alone
Whyyyyy do people blog? There's many reasons I suppose. Why do I blog? I think my thoughts are unique? And maybe I can somehow.. ugh. I can't do this. I do not want to talk about me. Every time i sign on here, I start talking about myself and I delete it and I get on facebook. By this I mean, the majority of what I write on the whim is me trying to figure out how my brain works.. or something like that. So I don't want to bore the cyber world with THAT. My drunk roommates want me to take them to WalMart. No. I hate dealing with my drunk friends when I am sober. Because that's what i have to do every time- deal with it. My lust to drink alcohol dissipates by the year. I could probably make a solid chart of my alcoholism from 15 to 21. It starts in the middle, spikes at 17-18, slowly declines until now, where its practically zero, and spikes back at 21. Well, I assume I will want to drink when I'm 21. I like to be allowed to do things. It becomes clear to me more and more that I hate breaking the rules, whatever they are. What a wet blanket I am! Well anyway, drunk friends are SO annoying. Drunk people are be funny, but drunk friends are just annoying. That's an almost solid fact I believe.
To the date, I have officially have been getting a period for 9 years. Woooooo! I know you were curious. Goodnight.
To the date, I have officially have been getting a period for 9 years. Woooooo! I know you were curious. Goodnight.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
I really have grown to love China and their taxi drivers
BCLU Dorm#17 Room 201
finished time 12:14 pm
I've battled the difficult language of Chinese. When in Rome, I've lived as the Romans do, in this case, the Chinese. I've waddled through the puddles with pee when it rained, and I've spent most every day sweating more than I ever have before. I've squatted the toilets, climbed their Great Wall, fist-fought with the Silk Market sales people (not really, but close), gotten fat over their food, sung keroke to a rap song all by myself, learned to scream waitress when I want to order/pay, I let Yu Laoshi get my heart beating 10000 beats per minute over his stupid memorization practice things in fear he would call on me. I've lived in a moldy room with a moldy shower curtain, been consistently verbally harassed in class by my gay friend whos in love with me, listened to at least 5 conversations about poop in Chinese a week, went 6 weeks without facebook, got swindled buying their traditional clothing, let a taxi drive away with my shitty cell phone, and been bench-pressed by a large Russian man. But I think the most challenging thing I will have to face in China is packing my damn suitcase! I've been obsessing about it for a week, up at night just imagining each souvenir one by one, and how they MUST fit together in one normal-sized suitcase; how I just can't bare to leave anything of mine in this country. I've thought about this for weeks.. what I will leave here. So far I have accepted that I will leave my jean jacket, one bra, and the perfume I brought with me (which i brought for the purpose of using up). Recently, I've realized I will have to leave more if i don't want to pay for two overweight suitcases. And for some reason, SO odd to me, I've almost accepted the fact that I have to leave my beloved converses, but I do not think I will be able to leave my conditioner (shampoo is whatever). This may or may not be because I want an excuse to buy new converses? Or because I'm insane. Rereading this whole thing has confirmed the latter.
Anyway, sorry to ramble about something as ridiculous as packing. I know you all were really curious. We received our grades today- for our final exam and overall- and I have managed an A. I have to be honest in saying that it really wasn't difficult. I believe our teachers really just wanted us all to get A's; everyone got an A or an A-. I am ecstatic to be done with this work and to be able to start 300 level Chinese in the fall... in 3 weeks; ugh.
Departing t-minus 15 hours. 15 hours to.. pack.
Some highlights:
Justin being asked "how much?" outside our Hotel in Xi'an.
Justin jumping on Kyle, taking down both of them and a beer pong table.
Mike getting arrested.
Mark being the first (this just to make him happy).
Yu Laoshi singing his heart out.
That actually pretty much rounds it all up.
Quotes:
Zenme shuo "bitches aint shit"?
finished time 12:14 pm
I've battled the difficult language of Chinese. When in Rome, I've lived as the Romans do, in this case, the Chinese. I've waddled through the puddles with pee when it rained, and I've spent most every day sweating more than I ever have before. I've squatted the toilets, climbed their Great Wall, fist-fought with the Silk Market sales people (not really, but close), gotten fat over their food, sung keroke to a rap song all by myself, learned to scream waitress when I want to order/pay, I let Yu Laoshi get my heart beating 10000 beats per minute over his stupid memorization practice things in fear he would call on me. I've lived in a moldy room with a moldy shower curtain, been consistently verbally harassed in class by my gay friend whos in love with me, listened to at least 5 conversations about poop in Chinese a week, went 6 weeks without facebook, got swindled buying their traditional clothing, let a taxi drive away with my shitty cell phone, and been bench-pressed by a large Russian man. But I think the most challenging thing I will have to face in China is packing my damn suitcase! I've been obsessing about it for a week, up at night just imagining each souvenir one by one, and how they MUST fit together in one normal-sized suitcase; how I just can't bare to leave anything of mine in this country. I've thought about this for weeks.. what I will leave here. So far I have accepted that I will leave my jean jacket, one bra, and the perfume I brought with me (which i brought for the purpose of using up). Recently, I've realized I will have to leave more if i don't want to pay for two overweight suitcases. And for some reason, SO odd to me, I've almost accepted the fact that I have to leave my beloved converses, but I do not think I will be able to leave my conditioner (shampoo is whatever). This may or may not be because I want an excuse to buy new converses? Or because I'm insane. Rereading this whole thing has confirmed the latter.
Anyway, sorry to ramble about something as ridiculous as packing. I know you all were really curious. We received our grades today- for our final exam and overall- and I have managed an A. I have to be honest in saying that it really wasn't difficult. I believe our teachers really just wanted us all to get A's; everyone got an A or an A-. I am ecstatic to be done with this work and to be able to start 300 level Chinese in the fall... in 3 weeks; ugh.
Departing t-minus 15 hours. 15 hours to.. pack.
Some highlights:
Justin being asked "how much?" outside our Hotel in Xi'an.
Justin jumping on Kyle, taking down both of them and a beer pong table.
Mike getting arrested.
Mark being the first (this just to make him happy).
Yu Laoshi singing his heart out.
That actually pretty much rounds it all up.
Quotes:
Zenme shuo "bitches aint shit"?
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