Hello faithful readers!
I hate to disappoint this week, but I don’t have too much to report this week! On Sunday evening, I came down with a terrible cold. I was sick Monday and Tuesday – I stayed in, rested, and took care of myself. Exciting, right? It mainly consisted of sleeping and watching BBC’s Robin Hood.
On Wednesday, I felt well enough to go back to class. I thought our lecture was at 9:30, so I climbed the hill up to the Music department. I waited until about 9:40, and no one showed up! I had no idea what was going on, so I returned to my room. After opening my UCC email, I realized class had been moved to 3:30. Sigh. I had checked my email before leaving, and there must have been a problem with the system, because I never got that email. Oh well – the plus side? I got to take a nap before the lecture, which was great!
The lecture that day was the final lecture by Daithí, our main tutor. We wrapped up the various forms of musics in Ireland, and discussed how they all came together: from Turlough Carolan and Sean Ó Riada to Moving Hearts and U2, the music of Ireland and the Irish identity is constantly evolving and changing to reflect modern influences. During the last few minutes of the lecture, we learned what our exam is to consist of: two essays. Easy peasy.
Wednesday evening found me in bed early, as I was still recovering. I was able to get about 9 hours of sleep, which helped me wake up feeling even better than the night before.
I decided to start on one of my two papers for the Early Start Semester. The topic? ‘Evaluating the Irishness of Georgian Dublin’. I walked over to the library on UCC’s campus, found 4 books for sources, and found a nice cozy reading nook to start writing. I read approximately 40 pages, found some quotes, opened up my computer… to the dulcet tones of a rock band that set up right outside the reading room. I had to relocate. Where to? The music department of course! I walked over to the department, set up in the canteen, and wrote about ½ of my paper right then and there.
Our final lecture of the program was about Irish song, and began at 4. We learned more about Sean Nos singing – the old style of singing. To end it all, we sang two songs – one in Gaelic, one in English. I don’t remember anything about the Gaelic song except that it was about a raging goat. Yes, you read that correctly, a goat. A raging goat.
I went home cooked some dinner, and then set out again – this time to our group’s open mic night at An Spalpin Fanach, a local pub. We had the upstairs of the entire pub to ourselves! Most of our tutors and a few local musicians joined the 23 of us. Everyone was required to do something for the night. Given the fact that I was still sick, and I didn’t have Lawrence, my incredibly talented accompanist who never fails to make me smile, I had to do something simple. However, I wanted to make it relevant to what we had studied – so I chose Handel! I did the first half of Bel Piacere, an aria from Agrippina. Even though I was still sick, I managed to do alright, or so I thought. Apparently, I did … very well. Everyone told me that they had no idea that when I said I was a singer, I meant it. I was the only person that evening who didn’t need a microphone, and I still blew them away. It was … not my idea of fun, but I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.
On Friday, I finished up my paper (minus editing) in the morning. Relaxation ensued for a few hours, part of the time at my place, the other at a m friend’s apartment across the city. At 9:30, we set out to see Lazik – the same group I saw last week. Again, their eastern European tunes blew me out of the water. Besides the link I just posted, feel free to check out the videos I took that night. They aren’t the best quality, due to the low light and background noise of the pub, but you’ll get the idea. It was great. I didn’t get home until early this morning, and I’ve spent today hanging out, taking it nice and sllllllllllllllow.
Anna, Emily, Keavy, and I
Sorry about the poor lighting, but its all I could do!
I am looking forward to this next week. Classes begin on Monday, and I look forward to being in real courses. My schedule will look something like this:
Monday:
Intro to Geology 10 -11 (Lecture)
Optics, Mineralogy, Crystallography 2-4:30 (Lecture and Lab) – First 6 weeks
Geophysics and Plate Tectonics – Second 6 weeks
Tuesday:
Intro to Geology 9-10 (Lecture); 2-4:30 (Lab)
Choral Society 7
Wednesday:
Optics, Mineralogy, Crystallography 2-4:30 (Lecture and Lab) – First 6 weeks
Geological Society 5
Thursday:
Geohazards 12-1 (Lecture)
Friday:
Intro to Geology 2-4:30
Optics, Mineralogy, Crystallography 11-12 (Lecture)
Sometime during my free time on Wednesday or Thursday, I’ll have a Renaissance Vocal Ensemble. I can’t wait – I’ve never been part of something like that, and I look forward to it!
My excitement is slightly dampened by a touch of anxiety. My time here has been wonderful, but many of the students I’ve interacted with don’t seem to have the same passion for knowledge and learning that I and many of my fellow Macalester students have. I enjoy reading articles, going to lectures, and talking about whatever we just learned in class outside of class. There are several students I have met that I do think have this same sort of mindset, but unfortunately I won’t be taking any classes with them – as you can see from above, I’m taking all geology classes, while they are going to be taking social science and humanities classes. I will just have to spend as much time with them as I can outside of class!
That’s all for now. L’shanah tovah to everyone celebrating a new year!
Emma
