Hurling

In Canada, hurling means throwing up. It took some time for me to get used to the fact that here in Ireland, one of their national sports is called hurling. According to wikipedia:

Hurling (Irish: Iománaíocht / Iomáint) is an outdoor team sport of ancient Gaelic origin, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association, and played with sticks called hurleys and a ball called a sliotar. The game, played primarily in Ireland, has prehistoric origins and is thought to be the world's fastest field team sport in terms of game play. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, number of players, and much terminology. There is a similar game for women called camogie (camógaíocht).

The object of the game is for players to use a wooden stick called a hurley (in Irish a camán, pronounced [ˈkamɑːn] or [kəˈmɑːn]) to hit a small ball called a sliotar (pronounced [ˈʃlɪtəɹ]) between the opponents' goalposts either over the crossbar for one point, or under the crossbar into a net guarded by a goalkeeper for one goal, which is equivalent to three points.

Personally, I've never really enjoying watching sports. When our (non-Irish) friend suggested that we attend a hurling match, I only agreed out of curiosity and a sense of cultural duty. The match was on a Sunday afternoon in Cork. Cork played Tipperary, and the stadium was packed. Apparently there were over 36,000 people in attendance. Interestingly, there were no TV screens or electronic music-making devices. In fact, the audience cheered a lot, but they had relatively few Canadian & American-style sports chants.

The match was 70 minutes long with a break at the halfway point, and I surprised myself by not being bored! I actually had a great time. The game was interesting, and watching the characters in the audience was really the highlight for me.

Oh, and Cork won. Up Corcaigh!

Paddy's Day

Last year was our first St. Patrick's Day in Ireland, and we dove in head first. We were full of enthusiasm, and we celebrated until we could not celebrate any more.

This year we were a little more relaxed about the whole thing. Amazingly, the weather cooperated again (no rain for two years in a row is a big deal around here). It is a day off work and school for everyone other than some bartenders and restaurateurs, so we went out with friends the night before and completely wiped ourselves out. After sleeping in on the day itself, we had a nice brunch and caught a bit of the parade mayhem. Then a friend mentioned that he was thinking of driving out to Youghal, a seaside town about 40 minutes outside of Cork City, to go for a walk along the beach. We decided that a little afternoon trip out of the city and some fresh air might do us good, so off we went.

We parked on one end of the beach and walked for about 40 minutes along the sand to the other end, where we sat in a hotel restaurant. Although the beach was quite empty and we saw no revellers in Youghal, at the hotel restaurant on the beach some of the kids had Irish flags and shamrocks painted on their faces. St. Patrick's Day managed to infiltrate even the quiet little corners.

After sitting down for a bit, we walked back along the beach to the car and our friend drove us home. It was such a nice little spontaneous getaway.

rrrrrrrrr

Canada vs Ireland Snippet:
In Toronto and most of Canada, the way people pronounce the letter "r" is "are". Here, they say it more like "or". We sometimes listen to an Irish radio station called RTE and I find myself repeating their name out loud, trying to perfect my Irish accent.

Being Showy

A few week ago J & I decided that we would like to see more theatre in the upcoming months. Cork has a lot of cultural events to offer, so we thought we'd check out some shows. We live a few steps away from the Cork Opera House, which is a major hub of drama, music, dance, comedy, and opera. After checking out their program, we chose to buy tickets to the musical Rent and to the Cork Cine Club, an art house cinema club. We have already enjoyed two of the Cine Club films, and this past Friday we went to see Rent. For those of you who don't know about this show, here is a bit of background from wikipedia:

Rent is a rock opera with music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson based on Giacomo Puccini's opera La bohème. It tells a story of a group of impoverished young artists and musicians struggling to survive and create in New York's Lower East Side in the thriving days of Bohemian Alphabet City, under the shadow of HIV/AIDS...The musical is largely responsible for helping to increase the popularity of musical theater amongst the younger generation.

It won heaps of awards, including a Tony award, and in 2005 it was also made into a movie with most of the original cast members.

To be perfectly honest, I was expecting a mildly entertaining evening. I just didn't think Cork City in 2010 was necessarily the best place to see a show that was so very NYC of a few decades ago. I was willing to give it a chance though, and it paid off. What a great show. The music is catchy, and I guess it's even more famous than I'd realized because I knew a few of the songs! This was the one I knew enough to sing along with, and the one that was best performed in my opinion.

Here is another one that was really good, and now that I looked up the movie version it may even be better.

The next show that I'd love to go to is the Kodo drummers. Here is a bit about them from their website:

Exploring the limitless possibilities of the traditional Japanese drum, the taiko, Kodo are forging new directions for a vibrant living art-form... The sound of the great taiko is said to resemble a mother's heartbeat as felt in the womb, and it is no myth that babies are often lulled asleep by its thunderous vibrations... Since their debut at the Berlin Festival in 1981, Kodo have given over 3300 performances on all five continents, spending about a third of the year overseas, a third touring in Japan and a third resting and preparing new material on Sado Island.

Kodo strives to both preserve and re-interpret traditional Japanese performing arts. Beyond this, members on tours and research trips all over the globe have brought back to Sado a kaleidoscope of world music and experiences which now exerts a strong influence on the group's performances and compositions. Collaborations with other artists and composers extend right across the musical spectrum and Kodo's lack of preconceptions about its music continues to produce startling new fusion and forms.

The videos look gorgeous and sound cool. Hopefully we'll get tickets.

November's News

November was eventful for us here, with our first year in Cork quickly nearing its end and our married life just beginning. It feels like the universe is reminding me that the cycle of life just keeps on spinning, always changing and moving forward.

We spent the first weekend of November on a mini-vacation in Amsterdam with our close friends L & C. It was definitely too short, but it was also really cool to just skip over to Amsterdam for a weekend! Woah, Europe, I love you!






A few days after we got back from Amsterdam, we went on a 5-day trip to Malaga in southern Spain. We didn't know much about Malaga when we booked the flight a few months ago. We were just looking for a cheap vacation to a place that would be warmish in November, at least compared to Ireland. So, we chose southern Spain and then I did some research. First I decided that we should stay in Malaga as opposed to going to the many other (great) places in southern Spain because we were looking for a more restful vacation. Then I found out about a nice-looking hostal (a small guest-house) called The El Riad Andaluz in the heart of Malaga's historic city center. This place turned out to be a godsend. The family who owns it are amazing - really warm, outgoing, and helpful. The husband, Flo, spent ages when we checked in telling us about his favorite spots in the city for food, music, drinks, and other things. Every time we went to one of those places they turned out to be truly wonderful. The restaurants were delicious, the flamenco show was breathtaking, and he was absolutely right that Saturday afternoon should be spent on the beach eating paella or freshly grilled sardines. He also helped us to arrange a day-trip to the Alhambra, and got us out of a bind when we realized during our day-trip that we had forgotten our credit card at a restaurant the night before (ack!). Our entire vacation in Spain was....for lack of a less cheesy word... magical, and it was in large part due to our great hotel owners. I'm so glad we found that place!
These days I dream of returning to Malaga. In my mind, it represents sunny days, delicious tapas, peaceful beaches, dramatic flamenco, streets full of people, wild Picasso paintings, and gorgeous fashions.









After all our travels, we stayed in Cork for the rest of November. However, our adventures continued nonetheless! On Nov 13 we had lots of fun at The Good Wine Show at The Clarion Hotel, only to find it was absolutely pouring rain (lashing, as they would say here) when we left to go home. The rain didn't stop all night, and eventually it actually flooded a large portion of Ireland.
Floods are not completely unusual here since it rains so much and since many rivers cut through the towns, but the flooding in the last few weeks has been some of the worst southwest Ireland has had in decades. Luckily we were not affected much by it, but some of friends had no water at their homes and many of the businesses that we frequent in the city centre were badly flooded. In fact, the flooding was only a block away from our building - crazy! Also, one of the walls of the river simply collapsed (rather than overflowing) and it was just outside Jon's work. Here are some pictures we took in the morning when everyone was out on the streets looking at the water in shock:







Our friends Alex (from Quebec) and Fraser (from Scotland) got married on November 27th. It was the first wedding we've attended since our own in late September, and since it was a civil ceremony it was actually in the same place that we had ours. The woman who married us remembered us and we had a nice chat with her. Cork is just so friendly.

This week our good friends Lyne & Charles are leaving to go back home to Canada. They were in Ireland for a year and now they are ending their adventures abroad. It was very sad to say goodbye to them, and will be strange here without them. We had such nice Sunday wine & cheese days with them, and they were like our extended family here in our home away from home. It feels like the end of an era.

We are going home for a visit too, luckily - Yay! - on December 16th. I can't wait to see everyone. In fact, I'm secretly hoping that all the airplanes break down and we get stuck there. Just kidding. Well, kinda.

L

This past weekend was a bank holiday in Ireland (a 3-day weekend), which coincided with the Guiness Jazz Festival here in Cork. Over 120 acts appeared on 28 stages around the city, in theatres, hotels, pubs, and lounges.

On Friday night we joined J's workmates at South's, the bar of the Imperial Hotel, for some big band and types of jazz. The place was packed, mostly with tourists who had come just for the Jazz Festival!

On Saturday night a couple of my Quebecois friends invited me to see one of the headline acts, which they heard was a band from Montreal. We were excited to support our fellow Canadians! When we arrived at the Jury's Hotel it turned out that the show actually consisted of two bands from Montreal, the Francois Bourassa Quartet and the Alain Bedard Auguste Quartet. Both were good, and I especially enjoyed the first quartet.

Next week is another major festival in Cork, the Cork Film Festival. It runs Nov 1-8, and we leave for Amsterdam on the 6th, so I'm hoping to catch a few films before we take off. They look very appealing.

So, to end off this time, here is a little taste of Irish pop culture. This is a song by an Irish singer, Julie Feeney, that has been playing non-stop on the radio around here lately. I just saw the video for the first time tonight , and I like the cool headpieces. Enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI1TGrkNUmg&feature=player_embedded

Cork Heritage Open Day

I just found out that this week has been Heritage Week in Cork, and one of the events today was Cork Heritage Open Day. Luckily we found out about it yesterday, so today we were able to take part in it!

Here is how the website explains Cork Heritage Open Day:

For one day only over 30 buildings open their doors free of charge for this special event. Members of the public are allowed a glimpse of some of Cork’s most fascinating buildings ranging from the Medieval to the Military, the Civic to the Commercial and the Educational to the Ecclesiastical.

This is very similar to an event I love in Toronto called Open Doors Toronto.

Today we started our tour at the Courthouse, which simply blew me away. I walk by it often, and had never guessed the magical grandeur of what was inside, nor the scary sad spaces set aside for those accused of crimes. It evoked such dissonant feelings for me.








Our next stop was the Masonic Lodge. Masons are a sort of secretive historical society, and the visit lived up to the mysterious strangeness surrounding their reputation. They talked a lot, but didn't really say much. One phrase they seemed to like to repeat was "We are not a secret society. We are a society with secrets." Hmm...ok then, guys.




After that we headed over to the Webworks, a commercial technology building that was built in the location where the old railway station used to be. It still has an old wall from that time, while the rest of the architecture is extremely modern and minimalist, with only small splashes of bright colours here and there. A large spiral staircase in the main lobby, for example, is a shade of green that reminds me of crayons:




Last, but definitely not least, we stopped at The National Sculpture Factory. This place was another wonderful surprise. The website describes it this way:

The National Sculpture Factory was set up in 1989 by four local artists as a response to a need from artists for a large scale well equipped studio space where they could work. The National Sculpture Factory is a national organization, dedicated to artists, which advances the creation and understanding of contemporary art. Specifically, it provides and promotes a supportive environment for the making of art, opportunities for commissioning new works, collaborations, residencies and other artistic interventions. Its objectives include supporting the individual vision of artists, fostering partnerships and creating international opportunities for artists, acting as a flexible catalyst for ideas and raising awareness and debate about visual culture and acting as a practical resource to artists and others involved in making art public.

We arrived just as the open house was supposed to be shutting down, but the main man there seemed to really get a second wind and gave us a full tour. He was amazing! He used to work on a shipyard, so he does a lot of the heavy-lifting required for the large sculptures (some are HUGE), as well as the work that requires some engineering. He was so excited and passionate to show us the art and to tell us about the artists, it was really inspirational. Even though we were all a bit exhausted and wanted to get away from his speeches by the end of it all, we all loved him and loved the sculpture factory! Here is a little peek inside (the sculptures are by the artist who enthralled me the most, Nuala O'Donovan):

Cockles and Mussels

We met a couple at the communal Passover Seder that I mentioned a few weeks ago. We've hung out with them a couple of times, and it turns out that they really enjoy singing. He, in particular, has a great voice and actually led the Seder ceremony. They told us about a weekly singing session they go to at a pub called An Spailpín Fánach. Every Sunday night the Cork Singers' Club meets on the 2nd floor of the pub and people take turns singing. The only rule is that people must not use instruments - Voices only.

Jon and I just watched, but we had a great time! One man led the evening, letting people know when it was their turn to sing. Most people seem to be regulars but newcomers were welcome as well. The majority of people were middle-aged or older, but nobody seemed to care about us being there. It was all very casual.

The people who sang were amateurs, but some of their voices were unbelievable. So beautiful! The songs they chose varied widely (love songs, war songs, humourous songs, etc), but they seem to like songs with a repetitive chorus so that everyone can join in and sing along. Some songs were performed in Irish.

We'll definitely go back. It was really fun and very Irish!

And now, I leave you with a great traditional Irish song (everyone here knows this song):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXKLkLcdtjI

House of Light

I've chosen to stay home on this Saturday night, and by some lucky fluke the radio is having a full hour of Roy Orbison. Mmm, just the right atmosphere.

Next weekend is a long weekend here because May 1st is what they call a Bank Holiday. It means we get a 3-day weekend, which is great timing since Jon's parents arrive on that day. After some research, we decided to spend those days here.

For those of you who don't feel like checking out the website, the short story is that The Irish Landmark Trust restores old properties:

The Irish Landmark Trust Ltd. was founded in 1992 with a remit to save interesting and unusual 'landmark' properties throughout the whole of Ireland and to re-use them, once restored, as good quality self catering holiday accommodation. At its heart is the principle that the structure iself is of prime importance and any interventions must respect this.

The landmarks include castles, schoolhouses, mews, lighthouses, and others. For geographic and financial reasons, we chose a property called Loop Head Lighthouse. The landscape there looks gorgeous. However, it is quite remote. We actually have to bring our own drinking water. That part is a bit of a pain, but overall I'm excited! Check out the description on the website:

Perched proudly on an enclosure at the tip of Loop Head stands the lighthouse station. Surrounded by birds and wild flowers, cliffs and Atlantic surf, Loop Head offers holiday accommodation with all of the spectacular appeal of the rugged west coast. The surrounding coastline is of a dramatic character with cliffs sculpted by Atlantic storms where rock ledges and caves are home to seabirds, seals and other maritime animals.
Loop Head Lighthouse station is a major landmark on the northern shore of the Shannon River. The Lighthouse station is built on a clifftop with 300 degree views of the sea down to Kerry Head and Dingle and across to the Cliffs of Moher.

Here are some photos:

Awaiting Ima & Aba's arrival!

Some random thoughts:

1. I listen to RTE radio a lot, and I noticed that at 6pm they always say "... and here are the angelus", followed by what sounds like church bells and then the news. I actually thought they were saying "...and here are the angels" at first.
I used google to educate myself:

The Irish national broadcaster RTE broadcasts the angelus bells at 12pm and 6pm every day on the national radio station RTE Radio 1 and at 6pm on the national television station RTE One. The television version of the Angelus at 6pm consists of a bell ringing for the duration of one minute and is accompanied by images of people pausing in contemplation.
Source

2. Sheep are one of my new favourite animals, especially when there are lambs involved.



3. Orange juice here comes with JUICY BITS or NO JUICY BITS. Doesn't that sound like some part of a dirty joke?



4. Jon & I were interviewed over lunch today by a newspaper journalist doing an article on the Jewish community in Cork. Crazy, no?

5. Tomorrow night Ima (my mom) & Aba (my dad) & Jon & I are going to a community seder. A seder is a Passover meal. I'm eager to meet the Jewish community of Cork and to celebrate Passover with them. The whole thing sounds very quirky.



6. Everything that mentions a mother here in Ireland says "Mum". Not Mom, Mother, etc - but Mum, spelled with a U.



7. The head of government for the Republic of Ireland is the Taoiseach. This position is the equivalent of a prime minister, and the word itself is an old Irish word that means Chieftan or Leader. Taoiseach is pronounced "Tee-shock". (source) .

The Cork Opera House

When we left Canada for Ireland, our goodbye/welcome gift from Abbe & family was particularly creative. She researched theatres and culture in Cork, and ended up giving us a gift certificate to the Cork Opera House. Fantastico!





Last night we used the gift certificate to see a musical play called Michael Collins, based on the true story of the famous Michael Collins who fought for the liberation of Ireland from British rule.



The play was great - It was a full house and we were in the fifth row! For me, it was both enjoyable and educational. Michael Collins is a key figure in Irish history, so I'm glad to have seen a version of that history recreated before my eyes.

Videos from St. Patrick's Day

Leprechauns, Shamrocks & Beer: St. Paddy's Day in Cork

Introducing Jen!















Our friend Jen arrived for a visit in Cork the night before St. Patrick's Day. We took her out to a pub that night, and the three of us were in slight shock at the bedlam on the streets. The pubs were *completely* packed, and the streets were full of stumbling drunks - particularly teenagers. It was very misty weather, making the whole scene rather surreal.

The next day we headed out to the Cork St. Patrick's Day Parade. It was great! The entire city seemed to be out on the streets, wearing green hats, wigs, tattoos, sunglasses, etc. There were lots of tourists but plenty of Irish people too. Even the weather cooperated - It was sunny and beautiful! Jen claims she brought the sun. Thanks Mrs. Tinning!


After the parade we met some friends at a pub, and for the rest of the day we bar-hopped with various friends. It was a fun day, full of hilarity and true St. Paddy's day craic!

Beer Sale

Yes, that's right. The grocery store next to our house is having a weekend-long 25% off sale on all beer. How Irish.

Not To Complain or Anything, But...

I know, I know.
I have no right to complain.
My life is good, my day was alright, my health is ok, etc.

So anyway, here is today's whiny complainy voice in my head:

Got up early to join Jon at the bank on campus before he began his workday. Radio informed me that a ceasefire has not yet been brokered in Israel/Palestine. More deaths. At the bank, we needed to add my name to Jon's account. It was very very cold and windy, and I forgot my scarf. The bank said that it opened at 9:30am but nobody arrived until about 20 minutes later. Then the bank would not accept my ID because "the only thing they accept is a passport". I walked all the way back in the cold with the laptop in my backpack, ready to start my daily job search. Instead, every cafe that had claimed on the web to have wifi access had no such thing. Over and over, I asked. Over and over, the blank stares from waitstaff. After this went on for over an hour, I gave up and am now at an internet cafe paying to use internet time. Bleh. Oh, and did I mention that we ordered internet for our home, but it takes 3 weeks to get it?? La di da.

So I feel irritated, yes.
But I know these are not *real* problems, yes.
And I'm grateful for that, yes.

Holidays, Birthdays, and Goodbye 2008

We're leaving in a few hours for London and I am still in my pyjamas, bags waiting to be packed, so this will have to be quick. Just a short note to say that the visit with Jon's cousins in Snitterfield has been really nice. Since Claes is Swedish, we celebrated Jul (Yule, aka Christmas) with them on the 24th. It included a lot of singing and eating and candles and gifts. I even got to dress up as Tomte, the Santa-like figure, and hand out gifts by the tree! What a good Jewish girl.





Since Abbe is Jewish, on the 25th we celebrated Hannukah with even more candles and food and gifts. Yummm! Abbe & Claes & Ella gave us fantastic presents. First they took us to see a "panto", a sort of children's show in which the actors interact with the audience. It was a lot of fun. Then, a couple of nights later, they sent us to see Romeo & Juliet at Stratford-Upon-Avon, along with a tour of the theater before the show. We got to go backstage and even stand on the stage. We absolutely loved it!



On the 28th it was Claes' birthday and we went for a lovely walk through the English countryside. It was so peaceful and pretty.






OK, I really have to run. I hope all of you are having a good vacation from work & school, and nice holidays if you celebrate any!

We're off to London for a few days - Fun!

Lazy Sunday

My random thoughts in list form:

1. Our place came furnished (as rentals do here), and I'm so glad the couch is comfy for napping.

2. We have no TV and no internet yet. Interesting how much it changed a lazy Sunday for me.

3. You need a license to own a television in Ireland.

3. In Cork, houses & buildings generally do not have front lawns. The doors open onto the sidewalk. Gardens (as lawns are called) are in the back. It makes the streets have a very different look and feel to them.

4. There are a lot of people from Poland in Cork. This surprised me, but I suppose during the Celtic Tiger boom Poles must have come to take advantage of the booming economy when theirs was not doing as well...? Does anyone know if I'm right? What's the story behind this?

5. The Lee River that we see from our window rises and lowers every day. It has a daily tide.... who knew?

6. When people say "your man" here, they mean "that guy". Example: Your man, the grocer, gave me too much change for my groceries today. = That guy, the grocer, gave me too much change for my groceries today.

7. They say Happy Christmas here. I have barely heard anyone say Merry Christmas.

8. There are a few goth teenagers around. I find them cute and ugly. I know this is not the reaction they are going for, and it makes me feel old.

9. We are leaving for Snitterfield, England tomorrow. We'll be spending Hannukkah & Christmas with Jon's cousin and her family there. They celebrate both holidays, so it should be fun. Then we may head to London for a few days to visit some friends, and we may be there for New Year's. Ooooh, New Year's Eve in London!