Sara left yesterday morning. I saw her off to the bus stop and gave her a couple more hugs than necessary... I always hate saying goodbye. It was wonderful having her here. I took a couple pictures, and so did she, and when both of us get around to uploading them I'll post 'em here.
Mostly we just wandered around Galway, shopping, drinking coffee, people watching. I was able to take her to a couple of shows-- local indie bands, for the most part, as well as poetry readings. I could talk about Galway's indie "scene", but I feel that's a topic for a separate post. On Tuesday we went to Dublin for the day-- took the train in, wandered around and went shopping, walked through St. Stephen's Green, and took the train back in the evening. On Friday we went to the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher. On Saturday, we got tattoos.
Normally, my tattoo tradition, since I was 18, has been to get one at the end of each "academic year"-- usually in April or May. I have made exceptions to this rule, but not too often. However, when Sara arrived she said to me "I want to get a tattoo with you while I'm here!" I have had a design ready for months, and so I decided to bend my rule for my oldest friend. Sara got the phrase "Not all who wander are lost" (a J.R.R. Tolkien quotation) in a very lovely script around her ankle. I got...
on my right upper arm. (Click the picture for a slightly higher resolution.) "Téigh sa seans" is "Take a chance" in Irish. Specifically, "take" is in the 2nd person singular Imperative mood, so it's a command-- "You take a chance!" The script is the traditional Gaelic lettering. I am very happy with how it turned out, and I would recommend Irish Ink to anyone looking to get a tattoo in Galway. (The tattoo artist is a middle-aged French man. He's wonderful.)
Anyway, Sara is gone home now, and I have a whole 'nother week of Easter break. What will I do with my time? Write, or at least start, a final, I suppose. I actually tried to start my Irish Literature final today, but the library was closed, being Easter Monday. People keep referring to "Post-Christian" Ireland... yeah, right. Maybe "Post-Oppressively Christian", but there is a definite culture of religion here unlike anything I've seen in the 'States, even growing up as I did in a small conservative Dutch Reformed village.
