Coole High Harmony

Monday as a class we had to turn in our reaction papers to one of the visiting writers. I did Rita Ann Higgins b.c. she's a poet and I need to focus on poetry, but I wish I would've done Hugo Hamilton. I'd already written three pages before he came, so I just went with it.

We were supposed to hand in the paper before getting on the bus, so I went early at nine to campus... We were supposed to leave at 10:15, and had a problem printing my paper out, so I am glad that I went early. It was also drizzling as it does most mornings in Ireland. Right when I was getting onto the bus it began raining cats and dogs. We just made it and it was great to see people running around outside with no umbrellas and rain gear soaking like wet dogs then get into the bus and complain about being wet and how they didn't bring any rain gear. Um, jackass. It's Ireland. Always have an umbrella. It rains here a lot. Duh!

So we waited about 20 minutes for stupid people who have no concept of time then we actually went back to our apartments to find the stupidest girl who had begun walking home and I think didn't even want to come on the trip so she was pissed our professor came and got her... awesome. She was so soaking wet Katie and I had to disconnect eye contact for a half hour. I am just so sick of people who have no concept of time. I know I am anal retentive about being prompt but come on, when it's the same people late all the time, just leave them. How else will they learn to be on time? Someone else's mother who should be smacked, I think.

For the first leg of our excursion we went to Coole Park, pronounced "Cool" and it was the exact opposite. Warm and muggy... and buggy. Turns out the former estate of Lady Gregory, the woman who in essence created Irish Heritage and Literature for the modern ages is now just a forest preserve pretty much. Catholics and Protestants took turn burning her estates down, so there's nothing there. So the tour was a lot of us being shown where things used to be and not where they are now. "Here's where Lady Gregory's estate used to be" "Here's where they would've played cricket." "Here's where apple trees used to be." "Here's where a lake used to be..." That's right, where a LAKE used to be... Now gone. I'll spare you the pictures of where all these places used to be.

An interesting actual thing, however, was something called "The Autograph Tree." Lady Gregory was known as the patron of writers, artists, and poets in Ireland. So she invited many famous writers to scratch their initials into this copper birch tree in her garden including William Butler Yeats and George Bernard Shaw.

They wouldn't let me sign my name.... for some rude, Irish reason.

After Coole Park, we went to Thoorballylee. No joke. That's the name... Pronounced Thoor-bail-luh-lee. This is a tower that served as a home for Yeats and his family for a couple years. It was an old Normand fortress that he bought with the hopes of refurbishing, but of course didn't. So typical male, right? Anyhoo, the ground floor flooded every winter so the family kept having to move up floors ever so often. It's right on a river and is a lot bigger than it looks like from the outside.

It was very similar to Blarney castle, actually... A lot of twisting and turning staircases that got smaller as you went. I swear, Irish people WERE leprechauns at one point because they were SO small. Check it out: Keep in mind, I'm five foot one.

At night, as a class we went to see a play/musical as a part of the Arts Festival. It was called King Ubu, a modernization of an older play by the same name I guess. It was weird and crass and I didn't like it. They used the f bomb a lot which made me uncomfortable because there were nuns sitting behind us. The King was king of "Poo-land" and the Americans were the bad guys. What else is new?

After the play, Katie, Carrie, and I took a load off at Quay's and listened to some music. I guess after we left there was Irish dancing. We missed it. Oh well. Pub of the Year Award!

Tricia and Kelly are coming tomorrow. I am so excited. I can hardly stand it!