the Green Dragon

So the buzz in Galway this week is the Volvo Ocean Race. When Jim was here, we saw signs for it and he asked about it. I didn't know what it was, so I told him that it was a foot race across the ocean. Well, it's actually a sailboat race around the world! One leg of the race is from Boston to Galway, and that leg finished last night. Ireland's team in the race is on a boat called the Green Dragon, which I just think is a cool name. (So I bought a t-shirt! More on that below.)

Anyway the exciting part... last night, the Green Dragon finished third in this leg of the race! Very cool. The next leg of the race doesn't start for twelve days, so there are events on all week. Because of the race, Galway is all gussied up... and renamed in places, oddly.

(Click to embiggen!)

The tricolor and the stars & stripes, flying side-by-side!


Volvo Ocean Race banners and a new signpost. These new signposts have gone up all over Galway-- there's one at the entrance to the college-- and they point toward fairly touristy attractions. This one also points to NUIG and the hospital, for some reason.


More flags! Right to left: EU flag, County Galway flag, Ocean Race flag, Irish flag.


Map on the door of a pub. This is the new thing in Galway-- the shopping streets in the city centre are now called the "Latin Quarter." It amuses me that a city as small as Galway can have "areas" or "quarters." It would take maybe ten minutes, tops, to walk from the top to the bottom of the area highlighted as the "Latin Quarter" on that map.


So, since I figured this is a pretty rare and cool event, and since the shirts looked cool, I decided to buy a Green Dragon t-shirt. It's neat looking: the name on the top right, and on the side a dragon that wraps around from the front to the back.

it's that time of year again...

Yes indeedy, it's that magical time of year that transforms every student into a caffeine-fueled pile of stress that is just this far from a nervous breakdown. I'm speaking, of course, of finals.

I have one essay turned in already, one started, and one that I don't even know where to begin. (It's history, my weakness. I haven't taken a history class since I was 14, and I haven't the slightest idea how to write a history essay.) So I won't be giving you anything insightful this week, I'm sorry. My last essay is due on 10 December, next Monday I believe, so if I don't give you an update next Sunday that's why... but I'll make up for it with something substantial later on. Our class is going to Dublin on Thursday for a "research field trip"-- we'll be going to the Royal Irish Academy, the National Library of Ireland, and the National Archives of Ireland for presentations on how to research their material. I'm excited, if only because I love Dublin. A lot of people here don't care for the city, but in the short two months I lived there, I really fell in love with it.

Anyway, to make up for the lack of content, I give you a panorama of Galway that I made. (Click on the picture for the full size!)

Galway city at dusk, from a hill near my house. You can see the bay and the dome of the Cathedral.

Righty-o. Back to work.