by Cate Oliver (Gonzaga University)
I FIND IT SO HARD TO BELIEVE that it has been less than two weeks since we arrived here in Armagh. Maybe it is because we all live in such close proximity to each other, or the face that we spend all of our time together, but I just feel that everyone in the program has really bonded. Sitting in the study room with everyone last night, talking and laughing, telling stories, and sharing experiences, I realized that everyone was just so real. There was no shyness, or uncomfortable silences, it was just us, students and professors alike, having a great time and enjoying our short time here in Armagh.
I think that the fact that the Irish are so accepting and accommodating to our group is one of the main reasons that we have all accepted each other and bonded so easily.
I think that the kindness of the Irish was very well depicted this weekend when we attended the Flaghd. Upon arriving I was a little surprised at the atmosphere of the festival. I was expecting to see traditional, colourful Irish dancing costumes prancing in the streets to the upbeat tunes of pipes, banjos and drums. I had my dancing shoes tied tightly and I was ready to shake it up and down the streets, with a little liquid influence of course. Instead though we pulled up to a large parking lot with children secluding themselves in corners concentrating deeply on whatever performance they were preparing and a school type building with a sign stating the cost of admissions. Slightly disappointed and not prepared to be cooped up inside of a school building, a few of us hit the town and decided to see what the scene was in a few of the local pubs.
My disappointment quickly disappeared upon our entrance to the first pub. There was a crowd of people all clapping in unison to a catchy Irish tune blaring through the speakers, and cheering on two individuals having somewhat of a dance-off in the middle of the bar. As soon as our group spotted an empty table and plopped down in the corner there was an Irish man plopped down next to us introducing himself and shaking our hands. The kindness of the Irish, combined with their ability to talk for hours, never ceases to amaze me. The rest of the day pretty much followed this pattern, sitting at a bar and making new friends. Besides having no cultural bias for us Americans, I was also pretty shocked at the fact that there was no age bias either. The majority of the people that we were conversing with at the bar where at least 45, but they talked to us as if we were peers, and even invited us to stay at their house. That was something that I really appreciated. I feel that if we were in the U.S. that would be seen as inappropriate, and that they wouldn’t have given us the time of day. I guess that’s the beauty of our current situation though, the cultural differences that have made me feel more at home than I do in America.
Talking for Hours
