What a Week! (and a half)

Friday I indulged and made chocolate chip cookies, let me elaborate for a moment. The Irish don't really do cookies in the way that Americans do. They do biscuits and scones and are only recently discovering cupcakes and brownies. In fact, there is only one shop that I have found that sells semi-sweet chocolate chips and it's almost six euro a bag so they have become a luxury. As I was going to my friend R.'s for dinner I decided I would make them and give her half so that I wouldn't be forced to eat them by myself (tragic I know). We ate them with wine while we patiently waited for her boyfriend to make us dinner.

 Saturday I watched Ireland play France in a very popular rugby watching pub. Unfortunately we lost to France...again. We lost to France in the previous match and we lost to France when we played them during the last Six Nations. Do we see a pattern? I love France, they have lovely food and wine, fine art, fashion, they gave us ballet (amongst many other things), oh and they won our revolution for us (no big deal) and the little that I have seen of the country is beautiful. When it comes to rugby, however, I hate France. Especially the obnoxious French who watch the match and rub it in when they win.

Monday I was supposed to go to Lisburn for another workshop but that got canceled so I lazed around with a latte and crepe (see why I like France) and my copy of Ulysses that I have been laboring over but I am at the final section-the one where there is not any punctuation and it keeps going in one long sentence for the last 80 pages or so. I am coming down the homestretch!

Tuesday evening I went to the theatre. The Abbey Theatre (Ireland's national theatre) to be more specific and saw Curse of the Starving Class by Sam Shepard. I really enjoy his work and what kept me thinking about the play for days afterwards was how relevant the play, which was originally written and produced in 1978, is not only to an Irish audience, but to any contemporary audience. Set in a farmhouse in California, it follows a family on the brink of debt due to a drunk father and the downfall of the American frontier. Before the play began we were warned that there would be nudity and a live animal onstage. My friend K. bemused that perhaps the animal would be a goat but I said that as we were in Ireland it would most likely be a sheep. Lo and behold a lamb was carried onstage and it was adorable. I am sure it is very rare that one sees a lamb as part of live theatre, nudity on the other hand is completely blasé.

Wednesday I went to the community drama class that I have been working with since I first moved here. It is amazing how far they have come and how diligently they have been working. I cannot wait for the public to see all their hard work. Thursday I was in the office briefly, my boss has been on holiday so I've been trusted to look after things (ah!). Next weekend we are having a seminar in Leitrim so I am looking forward to that.

Friday I went to a party that S. was having as a fundraiser for her production that will be in the Fringe. There have been ads for it on buses and billboards and it is all very exciting.

Now Saturday (yes I realize I am behind and it's been over a week) but the most recent previous Saturday was a big day.  I started with a full Irish breakfast which consisted of a fried egg sunny side up, black pudding and white pudding (I know it involves pigs blood and I won't go any further than that but it does taste good), rashers (Irish version of bacon), a potato cake and, of course, tea. Then, drum roll, I saw my first live rugby match in Dublin's newly renovated Aviva stadium. Ireland vs. England, sure to be a fiery match due to the obvious rivalry and that fact that Ireland beat them in Six Nations. I have made it clear that I, not typically a sports fan, love rugby and I cannot remember the last time I was at a professional sporting match, so needless to say I was excited. And then I was quickly devastated as England won. England also played dirty, causing injuries that took Irish players out of the game, and finally the ref gave an English player a yellow card. I am not a sports commentator so I will leave out all the sports facts and numbers, but I think I have come to a realization as to one of the reasons I have come to enjoy rugby so much and that is for the Irish fan. The way they cheer on or jeer at their team is unlike anything I have experienced in my little amount of time in the realm of sports. Here are some examples:

When a player makes a bad play: "Aw, come on you muppet!"

General encouragement: "Come on lads!"

When anything is going badly: "Ah, for fuck's sake!" (This may be my favourite)

You get the idea. It's probably better in person. I certainly am not going for a career in sports commentary. I don't think cultural/lingual appreciation is really something they focus on, though maybe they should.

Then I met up with some friends at a concert by a contemporary Irish band called Kila which was really great and a perfect way to end such an Irish day. Sunday was a quiet day I visited a flea market that I had heard about but it was not all that exciting except for some antique radios and a juke box but I was sensible and refrained from buying any of them.

And here we are Monday, fully updated! Whew. I hope I didn't leave anything out but if I did I'll be sure and cover it next week. In other news I am glad that my friends in the US survived earthquakes and hurricanes, in fact most of them had pretty amusing Facebook statuses regarding the events.

Slán agat!