Eighteenth Day

It was back to WIT with Seamus today! He is one of the funniest guys I've met. Today, Mimi told him that he looks like Corey from Boy Meets World, and of course, he had no idea what Boy Meets World was. Lindsey brought up a picture on her iPad, he studies it for a minute then says, "I can live with that." We learned plenty of Irish today. I have to admit, it's a little awkward for me in class. Because I'm auditing, I don't have to get the book or do homework or take tests, so I am sure I will fall behind in my speaking capabilities since Seamus still decides to call on me for answers! At least I'm not the only one. On the upside, Seamus taught us how to say I like boys in Irish: Is maith liom buachailli! Now watch how I write these out to pronounce them, its kind of amusing since I'm clearly clueless/confused: "Iss mah lyum bohalley" See if you can figure that out! Also, "Would you like a drink?" is "Ar mhaith leat deoch?" or "air (wy? - still confused about the second word) ly-at deeochk." I will probably never ask someone that in Irish.

Dr. McFee came with us to Waterford because he was invited to give a lecture. He's an ethics teacher and I'm not sure what his major was, maybe religious studies or philosophy, but the lecture was on humanism or something like that. Dr. McFee is a hilarious guy...really all my professors here are so funny, we lucked out. He is also a fan of CCR which is a bonus!

After class, I worked on my presentation for Irish Lit. I presented on Modernism, which was a major movement, but I obviously decided to focus on modernism in Ireland specifically. I learned some really interesting stuff about it, actually. Modernism in Ireland was unique because Ireland was still under the rule of the English when it began. The political and cultural movements that sought to gain independence were also the movements that desired to hold on to the Irish past (before suppression) and revive it. Modernism as a movement overall, by definition, was a breaking with the past, which seems contradictory to the very conservative situation in Ireland at that time. Ultimately, Irish modernism appeared to be a combination and at the same time, there was a tension between the old and the new.

Mitchell, Dr. McFee's nephew, arrived today from Dublin. He's from Colorado and he's staying until Friday, so a few of us took him to the pub next door and had a pint. I had water, because I'm 1) getting sick, 2) tired, 3) have class tomorrow, and 4) have yet to finish my homework. How lame is that? Oh well, there's always Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Yes, I am rubbing it in that I have long weekends here!