The one in which we debate on how to properly pronounce "Galway..."

Our first Wednesday and Thursday in Dublin were fairly non-eventful and mainly full of lectures. We did see our first theatre performance on Wednesday night: Molly Sweeney by Brian Friel on the Gate Theatre stage. We were required to read the plays before our trip and this particular one was the one I enjoyed reading the most. But it was a severe disappointment on stage. The story revolves around a young woman named Molly Sweeney (obviously) who was born blind but now in her prime years, has made the decision (mainly forced by her husband and doctor) to have a series of surgeries done in order to correct her eyesight. The plot is told in monologue style through the perspectives of Molly, her husband, and her doctor. Molly is first excited about the prospect of finally being able to see, but as the plot progesses, we soon realize she was much better off in her own world of blindness. There is no other scenery on stage besides an empty room, a light, and three chairs. While the story is interesting, I expected a little more from the stage production. But I'm no theatre critic yet so we won't go there.

 On Friday morning we hopped on a bus and took a 2 hour ride to County Galway, part of the countryside of Ireland, an Irish-speaking county, and one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen in my life. Our accomodations were in a place called Corrib Village which is part of the student housing at the National University of Ireland, Galway. Like Trinity, they open their student housing up to tourists and guests over the summer. There, we had a TV in the living room and in our bedrooms, I had my own bathroom, and lo and behold we had Internet for 2 and a half days. I probably could have stayed there for the remainder of the trip. Friday afternoon was spent exploring downtown Galway and all it had to offer. Their huge arts and music festival was going on at the time and even though we were unable to purchase tickets for any of the events, the thrill and excitement of the times could be felt all around. We went to several different pubs that night just to listen to all of the music. Galway prides itself on tradition and almost every pub offers very traditional Irish music each night. I think that night was probably one of the best I had throughout the entire trip simply because I got to experience the liveliness of the people and how much they care for their heritage. And yes I danced around a good bit as well.

Thinking on this led me to remember the "dance-off" I had with a young Irishman the night before we left for Galway. We were of course looking for directions that night and there's no one better to ask than a local. We stumbled across some nice Irish fellows who were heading to a pub called The Workman's Club and decided to follow them to see what kind of "craic" was to be had. Conversing with these guys was really interesting and even eye-opening. They said they had lived in Kansas for quite some time and had very high opinions of America. However, they did not have such high opinions of Charlotte, NC and kept trying to figure out more about SC. After some conversation, and yes, a pint or two, I noticed one of our companions was attempting to do the "Twist." He was doing surprisingly well and anyone who knows me, knows that I can't pass up an opportunity to dance so I walked over and joined in. It somehow turned into a "show me what ya got" type of face-off so I showed him what us Americans do best. And of course, I won. Pictures were taken, many laughs were had, and several of us still argue that that was one of the major highlights of the entire trip.

But I digress...back to Galway. The part of the trip I was most excited about was our trip to the Aran Islands on Saturday which will be discussed next.