Anyhow.
I went to the céilí on Saturday night week (translation: last Saturday). It was fun. Even if I didn't know how to do most of the sets...and by most I mean all of them. Although, Irish set dancing is very repetitive, so it's sort of easy to pick up after a while. We set out at 9:30 to meet our driver -- an old Corkonian, probably around 60, who runs a produce stand in the English market and who none of us knew his name until partway through the night. We joked about it being a kidnap attempt...and who would be sacrificed. Morbid, and yet hilarious...as usual, with that sort of subject.
I thought it was going to be a rather small affair -- like 50 people -- but we were informed by our driver, that this céilí was usually attended by 400 to 500 people!
It was crowded, it was loud, it was super hot -- but it was also terribly fun. There were also some amazing dancers (young and old). It was nice to be coupled with them because a) they know the steps/moves you're suppose to do & b) when you get the hang of it, you feel like a pretty good dancer yourself. Ego-boosts are always nice. Although, the one young (& American) guy we managed to wrangle into coming & I did quite well with the Connemara Set. I don't remember the steps, but I'm sure if I saw it again I could manage to dance it rather well.
The best part, however, came just before midnight. They turned on the lights, several tables appeared and tea was brought out -- and scones & little sandwiches.I felt like I had time-traveled to the Regency period -- to the Victorian era -- to any time that the accepted hospitality was to give refreshments ("supper"). It was brilliant.
And probably the closest I will ever get to feeling like I lived in Jane Austen's world.
After the "supper" we danced one last set & got home around 12:40 am. Apparently the céilí usually goes until 2 am!
The rest of the week is terribly boring, especially in comparison. I went to class (well, expect for when I was a bad child & decided not to go to two of them on Tuesday). I had a cold...which I'm almost over now, thankfully. Oh, yeah...and it rained almost the entire week. Seriously. I've seen the sun thrice the entire week -- and each time it was merely for a handful of hours. I can't wait until the "rainy season" is over (I've decided to give it a name, 'cause I'm awesome like that).
Work on the bibliography (the very preliminarly bibliography, mind you) is going well. Although it's slightly unnerving that I have nearly 4 pages worth of books that I should read/look at.
Also, I stumbled across this site: http://www.new7wonders.com/index.php. You can vote on the New Seven Wonders of the World. I thought it was cool & so voted (it's free, you just have to register on the site). Something to waste some time on, if nothing else.
Sadly, there are no Irish sites.
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