From Galway to a college celebration - what craic;)

Am happy to say have just gotten back from a musical society choir that I think I can keep a permanent position in - hooray! We're going to be competing in a choir show-down thing in New Ross (a few counties south)in a few weeks, hopefully taking one big bus down and dominating the highway with song. =) There's a big map of the world on the rehearsal room wall and someone's stuck a sort of penpal profile on Australia. It looks so brave and independent a country if I ever did see one.


Last weekend I caught a pretty snazzy but packed train over to Galway to stay with my friend Aisling; who of all things lives next to a castle ruin. We went trekking through the paddocks around it and for my exploration I was rewarded a lovely deep cow pat underfoot, having been distracted by a manic swan having a fit on the lake. +( My poor cons are certainly on their way to heaven by now..
I was treated to an extreme weekend of 'the irish like to turn in late then get up and have lunch at 3pm', getting ample opportunity to sample Gaelic nightlife, and even getting an aussie song (Men at Work's 'land down under') played for my honour by Aisling's boyfriend's pub band. !
In the time we weren't up and out about, I found myself scrapping about on a spare guitar they had, and ended up being able to take one back with me *awesome* -so now my new project is teaching self to play it! Felt like a real indie musician carting it back on the train, with me, then waiting alongside it for the bus in the city. Hoping not too many people would notice the fact it only had 1 string ;)


Up to more current events; who says uni balls are not for au pairs? Thanks to host aunt working at the uni and generously deciding to do some ticket scouring, I scored tix to the '09 University College Dublin ball/ rock concert on friday!! Went and helped the student council guys set up in the morning, doing odd things like arranging fruit bowls in the artists' rooms (including S Club 7) and trying to make triangle formations out of coronas. Come the night and the grey clouds loom threateningly overhead. The whole venue is an open carpark, so when it starts to rain, typically irishly, the party rebells on, and my au pair friend Bianca and I give our best scoffs at the people seeking comfort in their hoodies as we let drenched-wet hair propel around us and threaten to take out any irish youth in our dance jam. Bring on the rainstorm!!

A rock'n roll Easter

Happy Easter guys!! I've got some aussie chocolate! It's comfortingly good to taste aussie chocolate again. My mum brought over a few little things of chocolatey goodness with her when she came last week and I'm doing a pretty good effort with pacing their consumption. It's not that Irish chocolate's any worse, it's just a lot creamier; like their cows are not self-conscious about their fat percentage or something.

So, Mum and I have been up north for a week, doing the whole road trip in a rent-a-car thing, this time with no snow and an aussie flag fluttering on top of the car instead to announce our arrival. I learnt my lesson big time last trip when I tried to blog it, so am sticking with a simple album for this one.



http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?v=feed&id=848515383#/album.php?aid=244125&id=848515383&ref=mf

Can't view it? Get facebook! :P

The host family had been away at grandad's farm across the country so I've been house-sitting with the cousins' dog. She's a beautiful black fluffy something like a border collie and great with the kids. I decided to take her and me for a jog on the weekend. Seeing as Irish suburban backyards are so massive and all.. Once we're off on the streets runnig I start to notice all those 'You must clean up after your dog' signs that have become regular background viewing here. Of course I didnt have a dog up til now.. and now I have no pooper scooper, no bag, and definitely no will to actually do the scooping. So whenever poor cooped-up dog crouched on any patch of lawn, I would cringingly turn a blind eye and keep sprinting. Sorry dog, but I can't wait for you! I have no idea how many trails we left behind, but apparently the fines are something like 500 euros (a grand in dollars) if you're super unlucky - yikes!

Yesterday I was at an easter brunch (in Ireland, an organised brunch is regularly scheduled after midday) with the extended family, all pleasantly chatting away and being entertained by the toddlers' antics, when some lolling un-self-conscious singing starts up at irregular intervals. Everyone's exchanging baffled looks when a head pokes up over the ivy-laced wall, looking like a red-headed Bono and sounding like Bill Nighy. "Scuse me, scuse me," he says, "could i ask a question". He wants to 'borrow' a bottle of gin. "Scuse me, could i talk to the owner 'ere?" he says when the bottle has disappeared. "D'you mind if i join you all 'ere for a bit?" Well we all raise our eyebrows but this is all part of good craic it seems! "This is soo rock'n'roll!" One of the guests whispers. Over he comes unstably over the back fence, holding hostess's gin bottle in hand. My gawd he does remind me of Bill Nighy. The rock'n'roll swagger, the gawdy rings, the rolling accent. Someone explains to me that a member of the Irish band The Pogues lives next door, but no-one knows who the hell this guy is. Some random guest. He gets us to put on his Pogues cd he's carrying and casually sings along to the thumping old folk music now heaving from the living room inside. He keeps mentioning his Pogues buddy, who I gathered was still sleeping next door. This is so awesomely random. The kids and the dog didn't really think so though.