So it's kind of cold and windy here on the west coast of Ireland, and I'm just slightly under-dressed for it. But the Dunnes Stores will provide, in the way of a €1 pullover cap that made the walk home from the store much nicer than the walk to it.
The new photo at the top of the page is more or less the view I have across the street from my apartment in the Salthill area of Galway. I'm in the brick-façade building here:
During my last two trips to Ireland, I stayed in hotels, so grocery-buying wasn't really an issue. But with this trip, I need to buy food and cleaning stuff. And it's really expensive. And I don't always know what I'm buying. I spent about 5 minutes picking out a laundry detergent, and another 5 trying to decide which facial tissues to buy. It's not just trying to figure out what the best deal is; it's sometimes as simple as trying to figure out what the item is. Some brands are the same here as in the States, like Kleenex and Activia and Snickers. But Fairy is a brand of soap--and it's all kinds of soap, kind of like Ivory in the States. You have to be careful to buy the right thing.
Today at lunch I heard my first nearly incomprehensible accent, as I overheard an elderly couple talking to the grandson of a third man who walked in. I understood about two words. And I stopped into a music store and asked if they could recommend a good top-end bodhran teacher, and they gave me two people to call. So there's another thing to give a try. I did bring my new Albert Alfonso bodhran with me...which reminds me: Today's shout out is dedicated to my parents, who gave me the instrument as a Chanukah gift. I packed it carefully, and it survived the trip well. I already know how to play Kerry style pretty well, though I can always improve that as well.
Tonight's goal: I must find some pub music.
The new photo at the top of the page is more or less the view I have across the street from my apartment in the Salthill area of Galway. I'm in the brick-façade building here:
During my last two trips to Ireland, I stayed in hotels, so grocery-buying wasn't really an issue. But with this trip, I need to buy food and cleaning stuff. And it's really expensive. And I don't always know what I'm buying. I spent about 5 minutes picking out a laundry detergent, and another 5 trying to decide which facial tissues to buy. It's not just trying to figure out what the best deal is; it's sometimes as simple as trying to figure out what the item is. Some brands are the same here as in the States, like Kleenex and Activia and Snickers. But Fairy is a brand of soap--and it's all kinds of soap, kind of like Ivory in the States. You have to be careful to buy the right thing.
Today at lunch I heard my first nearly incomprehensible accent, as I overheard an elderly couple talking to the grandson of a third man who walked in. I understood about two words. And I stopped into a music store and asked if they could recommend a good top-end bodhran teacher, and they gave me two people to call. So there's another thing to give a try. I did bring my new Albert Alfonso bodhran with me...which reminds me: Today's shout out is dedicated to my parents, who gave me the instrument as a Chanukah gift. I packed it carefully, and it survived the trip well. I already know how to play Kerry style pretty well, though I can always improve that as well.
Tonight's goal: I must find some pub music.
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