It has been over a year since I first moved to the fair city of Dublin, and what a trip it has been.
I arrived in Dublin on September 17, 2010 and I celebrated my one year anniversary participating in the Dublin Fringe Festival which is designed for "fringe" (new and up-and-coming) theatre. I made my shadow puppeteering debut and had a great time. I've since become a little obsessed with shadow puppeteering and making my own puppets. For an example of the kind of shadow puppeteering I'm referring to, watch the music video at this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yedD4JsZyT0
I also took a trip to Donegal and the Aran Islands in September. Donegal is pretty far North and has an unbelievably beautiful landscape. Four of us rented a car and travelled up to an area called Slieve League which is a mountainous area on the Western Coast.
We stayed at Dooey Hostel that was built into the side of a hill, and the woman who runs the place goes by the name "Mad Mary" O'Donnell. She's a chain-smoking 80 year old woman and she had tea waiting for us upon our arrival. The hostel is situated on a hill in a very small village on the sea called Glencolumkille and we fell asleep to the crashing of the waves. This was the picture I took from our bedroom window:
And this is what the place looks like when you walk through the door. The left wall is open rockface and the vines growing on it are real. It rained while we were there and the water came pouring out of the side of the rock in small rivers and into a little ditch along the cement pathway.
PS - The Donegal accent is the best in all the land. It's so beautiful and soft and you could listen to people read a flippin phone book and fall in love.
We stayed in Glencolumkille for one night and then we drove down through Mayo (where I got to wave hello to Croagh Patrick Mountain) and through Galway until we got to the port to take a ferry to Inis Mor, the largest of the three Aran Islands. Here's what Inis Mor looks like as you pull up to it:
Inis Mor (or Innishmor) is primarily Irish speaking (Gaelic, as we call it in the states, however Irish speakers prefer to call it 'Irish'). It was pretty great to sit in a pub and listen to all of the Irish speakers in the background. Of course there was also some trad music (traditional Irish music) and some great craic.
Since returning from our little trip last month, here's my update:
* I'm still in Dublin, and I'm planning on staying if the stars line up for it. I am waiting on my marks from my thesis and then I can apply for a work visa to extend my stay for another 12 months. I am currently looking for a job.
* After a little bit of a flatmate shift (My former flatmate Kelly is moving to Switzerland) I am now living with my buddy Melaine (Meh-LIN), a guy from the south of France who is studying his Masters in Development Practices. We have the best flat in all of Dublin.
* I'm in another production of Midsummer Night's Dream which will be performed at the end of November in the Samuel Beckett Theatre. I am reprising my role as Hermia, except this time it's set in post-apocalyptic 1950's. Awesome.
* I have a tremendous friend base here in Dub. I am surrounded by incredibly smart, talented and worldy individuals and I am often astounded at the opportunities I've had and connections I've made. It's changed my world forever. If you get the chance, hang out with some wildly educated and awesome people. It'll blow your mind.
* I live right above Occupy Dublin. Some of you may have heard of that little world-wide protest thing that's happening all over the world. The Occupy Dublin folks are camped out just outside of my window, and even though they're only about 60 people strong, they are toughing it out through some terrible weather right now. Every now and then I pop down and hang out with them, and sometimes a few of them come up and use our kitchen to wash some dishes or use a toilet. It's our small contribution to the effort. Solidarity.
* I have started singing in Dublin very recently. Played a gig a couple weeks ago and played another one two nights ago. It was my first Reggae set and it. was. awesome. I can't wait to do it again.
I think that covers most of my adventures for now. Today I'm staying in from this terrible weather and listening to some good tunes while I do some writing. Certainly Aunt Mary is on my mind today, but then again she is rarely far from it on any day.
So ends this blog, and I'll leave you with this nugget from the Clancy Brothers. It was a song Aunt Mary and I would sing together sometimes. So raise your pints and whiskeys and enjoy.
http://youtu.be/w97uEToBzJ4
