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.