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.

belated pictures from Cork

A while ago, I went with the NUI Galway Orchestra to Cork. My friend Sarah just emailed the pictures she took of the weekend, so I thought I would share a couple!

(Click to enlarge!)

Me and Liz, a cellist. This is what Cork looks like-- very urban-- so I was surprised when we got to the University College Cork campus and it looked like this:


Very peaceful, with footbridges and lots of grassy areas and pretty flowering trees.


Me and Sarah, violinist, in front of the UCC quad.


The orchestra and one of the choirs, playing one of the Mozart pieces. I'm hiding behind my stand.


The orchestra in action! I'm again hidden behind my stand, but at least you get a good view of the conductor Hugh's awesome ponytail.


Orchestra standing. There I am, back row in the center!

hiberno-english

Having visitors from America always makes me see the little things that I take for granted about living in Ireland. Things that, to me, seem perfectly normal and which I might not even notice will stand out as particularly "Irish" to new visitors. Jim's recent visit, for example, has had me noticing slang more than usual. So I decided to include a few of my favorites...

Cheers: people say "cheers" to mean "thanks," informally or casually. This is one that Jim pointed out, after he held a door for three young Irish men and they all said "Cheers!" to him.

Lads: used the way an American might use "guys"-- as a gender-neutral informal form of address. My friend/fellow PhD James says this a lot, even when he's talking to a group of women. "All right, lads, what are we doing?"

Deadly: very good. I was hanging out with some Irish friends last night, and one was talking about taking his dog to a new vet. The other said "Oh, I've heard of that vet! I've heard she's deadly." Then they both started laughing, and clarified "deadly good."

How're you keeping? Instead of "How's it going?" I'm never quite sure how to respond to this one, actually, because my stock quip answers don't apply here! When someone asks me "how's it going?" I respond "It's going!" But saying "Oh, I'm keeping" doesn't quite work...

Jim's visit!

When last we spoke, a radiator had just fallen on my legs. (I still have very colorful bruises! And if I'm lucky I might end up with some scarring on my right ankle.) Since then, things have been considerably more exciting, because my lovely wonderful boyfriend Jim visited me!


Us in Salthill, above Galway Bay. I love this picture, despite my squinty-closed eyes!

Originally, he was only going to stay about four days. Then he made a Big Sale (or something) and his boss gave him the rest of the week off! So he changed his ticket and stayed a full week instead. With the extra time, we talked about going to Dublin or Cork for a day or two. We talked about taking a day tour to the Cliffs of Moher or Connemara. In the end, all we did was wander around Galway, go out to eat, and hang around in my apartment. And it was fabulous. Really, whenever I get to spend quality time with my love, it's a good time. ♥


I would ramble a lot more, but I have a history exam to study for... an exam. This actually really annoys me for a couple reasons. First, I'm a PhD! Ok, yes I took classes this semester, but we're not supposed to be actually evaluated on anything. That's what the PhD thesis is for. And, second, I'm a LITERATURE PhD. We don't take exams, we write papers! I wouldn't mind writing a final paper, I can bang that out in a day if you want. But taking an exam means I have to actually know things, like names and dates and places. As a literature person I'm used to looking up anything I might need to know, and then citing it appropriately. Actually memorizing things is just so foreign to me! Annoying.

the hazards of spring cleaning

Today, I did some pretty heavy spring cleaning. "Spring" is a good description for it, because it was a beautiful day-- I actually opened my windows for the first time since I've lived here! I did laundry, swept, and mopped. Weirdly, I always enjoy mopping. It's kind of a pain because I have to move furniture around (and my back hurts from couch moving), but it reminds me pleasantly of my college summer job cleaning dorm rooms. I didn't enjoy the early hours-- 6 am is an unnecessarily cruel time to start work!-- or the idiot management, but I never minded the actual cleaning.

Anyway, while cleaning, I managed to get some cuts and bruises! I have a space heater that looks like a miniature radiator... it's on wheels, but it's very heavy, so much that I can't actually lift it. Having mopped, I was pushing it back against the wall, and I guess the wheels must have gotten locked up or something, because suddenly it fell forward and landed on my feet and legs. Bare feet and legs, I was wearing flip-flops and capri pants. There was a moment of shock, where I just thought "Oh no, I hope that didn't chip the tile!" and "That was loud!" ... and then the synapses caught up, and then it hurt like a bitch. There were scrapes on both legs and the tops of both feet, and two cuts on my right foot. I hobbled to the kitchen, washed the cuts with antibacterial soap, and stuck on a couple bandages. One cut is about a half inch long and isn't too bad; the other is over an inch long, and 9 hours later hasn't stopped bleeding. I just changed the bandage because the first one soaked through.

I feel bad complaining about this, because my friend Susan just got hit by a car and had to get stitches! (She's ok, just had a cut on her leg that needed some stitches.) It's honestly not that bad, just kind of painful. I anticipate some spectacular bruises. There was a scrape on my right foot, between the cuts, that was purple instantly!


Taken right after I got done bandaging. Instant bruising! (Also note my hairy unshaven legs and flip-flops that I got for €2 from Penneys, or Primark to you tea-sodden football hooligans. I actually hate flip-flops and only wear them for cleaning and hostel showers.)


The culprit! (It didn't chip the tile, luckily.)


It looks innocent enough...


... but look at those scary sharp edges!

I've only used the thing like once, it was left by the previous tenants. I realize that I just posted pictures of my space heater, which might set a record for inanity of pictures on the internet (though I'm not sure if anything can top beedogs.com.) If the bruises are as good as I'm expecting, I'll take more in a couple days.