Rueckblick von der Woche

It's already been a week already since I last posted. I'd like to say I can adequately catch up on what I've done, but I can't -- there is simply too much! Here is a short highlights version:

1. Bloomsday -- Frickin' sweet! The weather held its own and didn't rain, which was fantastic. Had a €5 breakfast at Kilkenny's then went to Meeting House Square to listen to the readings from Ulysses. What was supposed to be a 11.00-14.00 reading turned out to be a 11-15.00 reading! I stuck it out to the end, though. Favorite readers -- the Irish male actors. They have helped to take away the American accent that narrates when I read the story of Bloom.

2. Literary Pub Crawl -- started at The Duke on Duke Street and continued on to three other pubs until we ended at Davy Byrnes! It felt like the whole tour was from America. Befriended a few women from Nevada and a young man from Connecticut. He has just finished a 2-year Peace Corps stint in Albania, teaching English. At the end of the evening, I ended up giving him a 20-minute mini-synopsis of Ulysses and Joyce's writing style. I didn't bore him too much, since we were able to meet up for a €5 Killkenny breakfast the next morning.

3. Met with Dr. David Little at Trinity College. Although our conversation was only 20 minutes or so, I was extremely pleased that he agreed to meet with me for that long. I now have a few really good publications on learner autonomy that he gave to me for free. Righteous!

4. Took a delightful tour of Trinity College after meeting with Little. Caught another cricket scrimmage at the cricket pitch.

5. Met up with n. kelly for a riveting France v. Italy football match. 20-20 fouls, an automatic red card against France, and LOADS of yellow cards. I'm impressed that Italy didn't annihilate France completely. Catch it on YouTube if you can.

6. Befriended some senior citizens on the train from Dublin to Galway. When they discovered that I was traveling by myself, they told me about a Swiss girl who was recently murdered in Galway. They made me promise that I would take great care with myself, so I have.

7. Befriended a young man from Tipperary at King's Head pub while watching the Sweden v. Russia game. Discussed EU and American politics, rugby, feelings of nationalism, animosities towards immigrants, Irish stereotypes in the U.S., etc. It was a decent conversation with a person I would probably never wish to consider as a strong friend (a bit too nationalistic for me to feel at ease), but it was pleasant to talk to some local folk.

8. Went on a riverwalk tour of Galway this morning. Again, I was the only person under 70 in my tour group (same as the #29 Georgian house tour in Dublin). It was all right, though. They haled from Scarborough, England and were great conversationalists. They're slower movements stretched out the tour, which was nice. The 'new' cathedral in the city (about 50 years-old) used to be the jail for the area. The handicraft inside is outSTANDING! They've used limestone from the county, Canamera marble, Cork marble, and some (gasp) Italian marble to make this place immaculate. There must be a lot of parishners, as I counted at least 8 confession boxes.

9. Went to Nora Barnacle's old house this afternoon. Had a wonderful 2-hour chat with an elderly woman who helps to keep the house for visitors. She was a wealth of information about Joyce and Nora's biographies, Joyce's works, and the Catholic church. If you get the chance, read "The Dead" and "Evenline" from Joyce's Dubliners. Very biographical regarding Nora's loves in her life.

10. Have gotten sick, but am not defeated. Am self-medicating with orange juice and throat lozenges.

All right. I'm about out of time at the Chatt 'r Net. Germany plays Portugal in 20 minutes, so I need to find a pub...