Ninth Week in Ireland

This past week we had a rugby/softball tournament, traveled to Waterford, and went to Tom Keith’s house for a barbecue.  Throughout our time here in Ireland, we have been fortunate enough to experience Irish culture thanks to the people we have met.  However, several of our encounters have led to misunderstandings with the Irish people.  Similar to Maire and Yolland in Translations, we wanted to understand their culture, language, or mannerisms, but it was difficult. 

Beginnings of a Hershey's Kiss

A prime example of miscommunication or cultural barriers happened during our rugby/softball tournament.  Although we had about four times to practice and learn the rules of rugby, it seemed like every time we played, there was a new rule.  It reminded me of when our neighborhood used to make up a game and the rules would not be clearly communicated until something happened to break the rules.  Almost like they were just made up on the spot.  Obviously, there are clear rugby rules, but they were definitely foreign to us Americans.  Nonetheless, the Irish rugby players felt the same way about softball.  We attempted to explain all the rules to them, but while we were playing different situations would arise with a rule we had forgotten to mention.  Additionally, it was extremely difficult to explain the rules when they did not really know softball lingo.  While they tried to explain what ‘knock ons’ and ‘tries’ were during rugby, we had a hard time explaining runs, strikes, balls, and player fouls.  Even so, they did pretty well on the softball field, considering a few of our outfielders were multi-tasking with their gloves in one hand, their ‘fags’ in the other.  Regardless, we were able to have a great time learning and teaching one another the games.

JFK memorial

On Friday, we went to the Waterford Crystal Factory, the Kennedy homestead, and a famine replica ship.  It was really neat being able to see the crystal being made, especially the actual blowing of it.  While we were there, they were working on designing a piece for the upcoming Olympic games and the Hershey factory (woohoo Pennsylvania!).  Next, we went to the Kennedy homestead where some of JFK’s distant relatives actually live and hold tours.  Also, JFK visited there just a few months before he was killed.  Then, we toured a replica famine ship, where we were each given a name of a passenger traveling to America.  The famine is a huge part of Irish history, because it led to the loss of almost half of Ireland’s population due to starvation and emigration. 

Less than nine days left in Europe.  On Thursday, my roommates and I will begin our journey to Munich, Germany and Salzburg, Austria for five days.  I’m very excited and lucky to have this opportunity! Also, I’m happy to return home to see family and friends on May 10^th. 

Eighth Week in Ireland

             Brien Friel’s Translations is set in Ireland during the year 1833.  The play focuses on the British’s rule over Ireland, and their push to Anglicize all Irish place names for military and taxation purposes.  In Translations, the characters have very different responses to colonialism.  For instance, Manus, whole-heartedly opposes the British colonizing and changing Ireland, while Owen does not resist, but instead joins the British.  Manus wants to hold onto their Irish heritage and uniqueness. 

Cliffs of Moher

Aran Islands

      During our many trips around Ireland, including our trip to Galway this past weekend, we have encountered numerous people who hold the same views of the Irish language as Manus.  Our bus trips to and from Galway were commentated by our bus driver.  During his explanations, he would often share the Irish names and meaning for different places.  For instance, as Tom Keith has shared with us many times, our bus driver pointed out that many towns in Ireland begin with the prefix “Kil” (Kilkenny, Kildare, etc.).  This is because “Kil” means church or land of churches.  Additionally, he highlighted all the towns that start with the prefix “Bally,” which means town or place of.  Thus, as we learned in Irish language class, Dublin in Irish is “Baile Atha Cliath,” town of the hurdled fort.  Additionally, we have met numerous people always willing to share Irish meanings for the Anglicized place names.  These explanations clearly display how proud the Irish of their heritage, and how the English rule has unfortunately stripped the Irish of their purely Irish or Celtic tradition.
Along with learning about the Irish language, during our trip to Galway we were able to see numerous sights that are the epitome of traditional Ireland.  We were able to visit the Cliffs of Moher, the Aran Islands (Innismor), the Burren, Coole Park, and Yeats’ tower, all of which were incredible.  However, the Cliffs and Innismor were my favorite.  Although they are now areas that primarily rely on tourism, they still represent that untainted, isolated, traditional Ireland. 

Seventh Week in Ireland

            This week, we have focused on Joyce’s Dubliners.  In The Dead, Joyce portrays Gabriel as somewhat of a continental elitist.  Gabriel does not have much interest in Ireland or its culture and history, because he chooses to associate more with “the continent” (Europe).  Miss Ivors requests that Gabriel visit western Ireland, Galway to learn more about his homeland. He declines because he does not understand why traditional Ireland is so isolated.  In this request, it is understood that Galway and western Ireland have always been associated with traditional Ireland from the language to the culture and history. 

                This past weekend, we visited the western coast of Ireland, in Kerry.  Through this visit, we were truly able to experience what traditional Irish life is like.  Unlike Dublin or even the town of Dungarvan, Kerry was the epitome of rural Ireland.  We stayed with one of my roommate’s second cousins, which allowed us to immerse ourselves in Irish life.  As a result, he took us to the farm he lived on as a child.  It was incredibly interesting to learn about how they were basically self-sustaining when it came to food.  They had chickens, pigs, cows, a garden full of vegetables (including lots and lots of potatoes), and horses. 

The rural area just seemed so isolated, but peaceful.  Although Gabriel probably would have viewed himself as superior to these people, I loved experiencing Irish rural life.  We were able to go on a boat with some Irish fishermen to a very small island with just a house, sheep, and a small monastery.  Additionally, as Yeats depicts in The Dead, we encountered Irish hospitality, which included numerous feasts, throughout our stay. 

                This coming weekend we will be venturing to Galway to explore even more of western Ireland.  Hopefully we will encounter some Irish speaking individuals so I can practice my oral language skills!

Fifth and Sixth Weeks in Ireland

Goya's Dance of the Majos at Banks of the Manzanares

      The past two weeks we traveled to Madrid, Spain and started our new Plant Science class in Dungarvan.  While we were in Spain, we were able to take in so many sights thanks to our Metro passes! Other than the tapas and sangria, I loved the art museums.  We visited the Prado, Reina Sofia, and the Thyssen-Bornemiza, all of which were magnificent and filled with all different styles of art.
     
       While reading and discussing Yeats' poetry, we classified much of his earlier work as Romantic style, while his later work transformed into something completely different.  It changed and assimilated to fit the Modernism time period.  Goya, a famous Spanish artist, seemed to go through a similar drastic change with his artwork.  The Prado was filled with Goya’s earlier and later works.  Similar to Yeats, Goya’s earlier pieces were much more light-hearted, colorful, and romantic.  However, there was an entire section of Goya’s “Black Paintings,” which were completely opposite of these earlier pieces.  Walking through the museum, it was hard to believe the same artist completed such Romantic pieces, and then a few years later created such heavy, dark paintings. Yeats’ transformation greatly reminded me of Goya.  Although I am not an expert on Goya, I would assume he either went through some psychological transformation, or he became fed up with society and chose to criticize it through art, like Yeats criticized the Irish people.  Either way, such a transformation from both artists left me gobsmacked (Irish slang is wonderful). 

Goya's "Saturn Devouring His Son

     Along with artwork, we were able to take a cable car around Madrid, shop at huge outdoor flea market called the "Rastro," and visit various plazas.  Additionally, we took tours of the bullfighting stadium and Santiago Bernabeu stadium.  Unfortunately, we could not actually see a bullfight because they only occur from May till October.  Bernabeu stadium is the home of the famous soccer team, Real Madrid.  Rinaldo and Kaka are two key players on Real Madrid.  Further, we were lucky enough to be able to see a Flamenco show.  The Flamenco dancers were incredibly exciting to watch.  Not only was their footwork amazing, but their faces displayed the deep emotional connection and passion they hold with dancing. 

Fourth Week in Ireland

  During our fourth week in Ireland, we studied plays and writings by the famous Irish writer, Oscar Wilde. Many of his plays, including Cathleen niHoulihan and The Importance of Being Earnest, were featured in the Abbey Theatre, a famous theater in Ireland. The Abbey Theatre promoted Irish actors and playwrights by showing numerous one act plays, which were very inexpensive compared to multiple act plays.
   Last night we were able to witness Stags and Hens, an English play, performed by the local drama club.  The Dungarvan theater was small and charming, much like what I would have envisioned the Abbey Theatre to look like years ago. Not only was the play a great way to experience the culture of Dungarvan, but our Irish language teacher, Seamus, was part of the cast!
   Throughout the play, I could not help but think about Wilde's writing style.  Wilde was famous for including numerous epigrams in his literature.  He specifically focused on criticizing the upper class for their superficial and shallow ways.  In Stags and Hens, there were numerous examples of satire revolving around
Irish language.  For instance, one of the characters, Bernadette, continually poked fun at marriage as being "the end of your life and fun." However, later on in the play, she emphasized how her marriage really isn't all that bad, and she encouraged Linda that marriage was the right thing to do.
  Further, we are learning a lot of Irish (the language) from Seamus.  We have learned greetings, numbers, a few professions, several verbs, and family relations.  I've really enjoyed learning the language, but it is much more difficult to learn than French.  There are certain rules, but there are way more exceptions! Also, the majority of the words aren't really pronounced like their spelling. For instance, go raibh maith agat, which means thank you, is pronounced ga rev ma agut.  Also, the numbers for counting are different according to the object you're counting.  For example, some of the numbers change when you're talking about time and when counting people or objects.  Basically, Irish is a tricky language!
  Also, we acted out the play, Cathleen niHoulihan, by W.B. Yeats and Lady Augusta Gregory.  I was the wife and mother, Bridget (a few pictures are on Facebook, I couldn't get them to load onto the blog).  The play focuses on an Irish family that receives a visit from an old woman the night before their son's wedding. The woman is a representation of the nation of Ireland.  She speaks of all the men that have fought and lost their lives for her, and those who have been forced to leave her for far away lands.  It is a well known Irish poem, which somewhat critiques yet encourages Irish nationalism depending on how you read it.  Although I'm not the best actress, it was a great way to study one of Yeats' plays.
  We are leaving for Madrid tomorrow morning for five days! There is a national strike day there today so hopefully that won't affect our ability to travel! I'll have lots to talk about and more pictures in my next blog!