Hey ya'll!!
Long story short...I moved up to Galway, and its an AMAZING city!!!! More music than you can shake a stick at, and of all varieties!! There seems to be some sort of festival here every weekend!! Though the city is absolutely awesome, I don't really get to participate in much of its fun activities...unless of course you count becoming a connoisseur of coffee shops, then I'm doing loads of that!! But even that, I really only go to two of them. One has cheap eggs, decent coffee, and Brazilian waitresses, while the other has amazing coffee, good bagels, and French waitresses. I've become such a regular at the French place that I now get free coffee!! Its great!!!
My days are spent, well...let me just walk you through one.
- Wake up around 9; check email and take allergy pills (when it doesn't rain during the summer, Irish plants grow really fast and produce gargantuan amounts of pollen); perhaps take a bikeride to stretch the old knee; head to the café on the quays for cheap eggs and coffee and spectate the tourists; come home and either work at my computer for hours on end doing verbatim transcriptions of interviews I've done (slightly mind-numbing, but exciting when you get to the good parts), or gather a stack of papers and books and head to the French café to sit in the window, read and watch more tourists; take a break/come home and play the fiddle until I get frustrated, then try to tune my guitar till I get frustrated, then go back to work/go back to the café; dinner; back to the café for more coffee and reading; home around 12 or 1, email/facebook; watch some Father Ted; bed. This is roughly my schedule, though the order does change, and somedays there is more or less fiddling. Now that I've been in this routine, its actually kind of enjoyable. Its still stressful, sure! But seeing progress and coming to the conclusion that I actually know what I'm talking about and could even be post something about the bouzouki on wikipedia and it would be reputable. Yeah, I've thought about that...
I've also had the epiphany that I'm lucky as hell to be doing what I'm doing in the environment and circumstances that I'm in. I mean, I'm in Ireland, around the corner from the sea, 5 minutes walk from the main drag, I have so much music within striking distance its ridiculous (and honesly, there are maybe a few cities in the U.S. that can boast the equivalent), and all I have to do is to work on a project about a musical instrument that is awesome, versatile, fun to play, has a very cosmopolitan and interesting history, and has found its way into my hands as well. Though it can be a fairly lonely existence, and the ol' knee doesn't get along with Irish weather patterns, I can't really complain. I'd be a fool to. I'm learning more about the world than I ever thought I would, while still being in an english-speaking (somewhat) Western nation. I perception of the world has changed, my perception of music has definitely changed, and I'm feeling a passion well-up inside me that I've never felt before. Don't really know how to explain it, but I can't ignore it. I see that the world is a smaller place than I once thought, and that the possibilities are greater than I could have ever imagined. I will admit, part of me does think about not going back to the states. The European way of life, and way of understanding and thinking, is much different from that of the U.S.
Its interesting to see the mode in which Ireland functions. (positive generalization) Its based on happiness, friendship, exploration of thought, a love of history and an acceptance of the problems and mistakes of the past. Then comparing that mode to the U.S. and those nations that the U.S. has so greatly economically and culturally affected. China being one of them. So hurried to "modernize", so in a rush to keep up with the rich, but dysfunctional, neighbors across the street/sea. Granted, no place is perfect, but there are definitely things that can be learned from those who have learned from the mistakes and tragedies of their past.
Ok, I've deviated from my schedule long enough. It's time to run errands, walk the housemate's dog, and go to the French café for my morning fix. Love to all you who read this. I'm off to Greece in a few days for a much needed recharge of the old batteries! I will be 30 in a couple weeks, the batteries do need recharging in my old age.
