Rain, and more rain... with a side of rain.

Maggie McCarthy. Go there. Now.
This girl is about to graduate from UCC and we got to see her senior recital the other day. Did I mention she performed at the White House for President Obama on St. Patrick's Day? And I got to hang out with her.

Things have been pretty low key here in Cork for the past couple days - Monday was classes and recitals (those were awesome). Yesterday we had more lectures and lessons, but we got to play the Javanese Gamelan which was incredible. I had never seen nor heard of this instrument before, but UCC is home to the only one in Ireland and it was custom made for the school. It's a whole bunch of gongs and xylophone type keyboards, plus drums and other percussive pieces... it's really too much to sum up in a sentence. Basically, we just sat at our different little stations and Mel, the instructor, gave us each a tiny little piece to play - some people hit the gong, others had a couple notes to play on the keyboard thing - but when it all came together, all those simple little sounds made a really amazing full musical idea. Definitely a very neat experience.

After playing Gamelan we went to the English Market to have lunch at Farmgate Cafe - easily the best traditional Irish food in Cork. I had the most delicious Sheperd's Pie I have ever tasted. This restaraunt was just absolutely unbelievable. It was quite a treat to get to eat there. I had to be back at UCC at 5 for a whistle lesson, so for the rest of the afternoon I wandered around Cork with a couple people and finally got my hands on some PEANUT BUTTER!! It's not very good, but with a banana and a rice cake, I can sort of feel like I'm back in my normal eating patterns.

We went to the Corner House Pub last night for sessions... what an awesome little bar (conveniently located right next to Sin-é!). Cheap drinks, plus I was introduced to quite possibly my new favorite beverage - Hot Port. Hot water, honey, port wine, plus an orange slice and cloves. Delicious... and very good for my clogged up sinuses.

Ashley and I with our Beamish moustaches

shaky-face goes international

betcha can't beat THESE mad skills

After a quick lecture this morning, we took the bus over to Blarney. Having already kissed the Blarney stone once before, I decided not to climb a freezing cold castle in the terential downpour and instead holed up in a little pub and finished reading Revolutionary Road. Being that my personality these days is pretty much a non-stop raincloud, I really liked this book. It reinforced my recent discovery that relationships are nothing but a charade.

However, there are still some of you that I sort of like, and Blarney is where I got your presents. We spent hours and hours in the shops at the old mill... lots of traditional Irish goods, the kind of place my father would hate. After I made my purchases, I sat down on a couch and talked with an old man from New Zealand for a while. I hope I'm as nice as him if I live to be in my 70's, although the chances of me being a bitter old woman are ever-increasing. I think the constant rain is getting to me.

Tonight I get to see MEGAN at The Gables. We're going to another session that promises to be very exciting - my flute instructor, Aoife, will be playing. I'll get some pictures of her hopefully and I'm definitely excited to meet Megan's fiance, the infamous Paul Corkery! Maybe they'll be a ray of sunshine on my dismal outlook on successful relationships, but that remains to be seen. Hey, if they can survive for years with an ocean separating them, maybe there's still hope for the rest of us.