Mom left yesterday morning, after spending the week at my apartment.
(All pictures taken by my mother.)
The first two days, Sunday and Monday, were mostly spent shopping and eating at nice restaurants. We had originally planned on spending a couple days visiting Belfast, but then decided we really didn't have enough time, especially with the days so short right now-- the sun goes down around 4pm these days. Instead, we went to the Aran Islands on Tuesday, to Connemara on Wednesday, and spent Thursday cooking Thanksgiving dinner.
Tuesday's adventure to Inis Meáin, the least touristy of the Aran Islands, didn't go quite as planned. The girl working at the ferry ticket office told us that plenty of things would be open-- she specifically mentioned B&Bs and a restaurant. So we decided we would spend the night on the island. Well, we got there Tuesday morning, the only visitors on the ferry, and spent the first hour wandering around looking for a place to stay. Gradually we realized that none of the accommodations were open... then we began to realize that nothing at all was open. Not a single shop or restaurant. Not even the pub. The only place of business, other than the school and post office, that seemed operational was the Knitwear Factory. The Knitwear Factory has a shop, but at this time of year you have to knock on the door and ask someone to open it. We did this, partly because by that time we'd been wandering around in the cold for over two hours, though we did manage to find some really nice scarves and sweaters to buy. Luckily we had brought some food with us, so we didn't go hungry, but we spent four of our five hours on the island wandering around in the cold. Of course, we did get to see a lot of beautiful rugged lonely island landscape...
Tuesday night, we went back to my apartment and cooked a big hearty dinner, before getting up the next morning for a tour of Connemara! The tour was beautiful. I have never really been up through that area, and we were both a bit blown away by the beauty of the countryside.
Thursday, we slept in a bit, then went shopping. We both got a bit of Christmas shopping wrapped up, then picked up groceries for a Thanksgiving dinner! Since there were only two of us, we didn't bother with a turkey, and instead bought a few turkey breasts, which we roasted with stuffing. We also made butternut squash, turkey gravy (from a mix), garlic-parsley mashed potatoes, and a pumpkin pie! Mom actually brought a can of pumpkin from home, since pumpkin is hard to come by here. There was no green bean casserole or Green Jello, but it was still a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner. And, since neither of us has ever cooked Thanksgiving food for two, I ended up with a crapload of leftovers, and have had another delicious Thanksgiving for the past three nights. :-)
Friday was the culmination of mom's visit-- my graduation! I am now officially a Master of the Arts. Or possibly Mistress. There was a lovely reception beforehand at the Irish Studies Centre, with wine and cheese and our theses on display; Louis gave a nice speech, though he mentioned my name enough to be a little embarrassing. (All good things, but still.) The conferral ceremony itself was nice, with just the right amount of pomp and circumstance (and just the right lack of "Pomp and Circumstance.") And the reception after the ceremony was nice too, with a cornucopia of buffet tables and mulled wine. (Yum!)
(Class photo, of about half of the MA Irish Studies class of 2008!)
(Me smiling like a dork with Dr. Nessa Cronin and Dr. Louis DePaor, Big Sister and Fearless Leader respectively to the Irish Studies Centre. Ok, their official titles are "Programme Coordinator" and "Programme Director," but mine are more accurate.)
(Since I talk enough about him... me with Dr. Lionel Pilkington, thesis advisor extraordinaire.)
Mom and I went out dinner that night with my friend Jenn and her father, who is also visiting Ireland for the graduation. We ate yet another delicious meal before turning in rather early, as mom had to get up very early Saturday morning to catch her flight. I accompanied her to the bus station and gave her a hug goodbye... that was considerably less tearful than normal, because I will be seeing her in a week!
Yes, this week I am coming back to the 'States for Christmas break! I fly to Chicago on Thursday 4 December. I'm going to spend the weekend there with Jim before taking the train up to MI on Monday 8 December. I will be on vacation for a whole month, leaving on 3 January! I'm really looking forward to the break. Of course, before that comes I have to write a whole conference paper this week...
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