We are the Mighty, Mighty Pioneers!

I finally got to see Megan and Paul! They met me last night at The Gables and I'm proud to say that we closed the place down and then went out for another round! We walked in to Old Oak and heard the very familiar sound of - WAGON WHEEL - there was an American band playing at the bar that night. It was such a small world moment... out of all the songs and all the places in the world, we just happened to walk into a bar in Cork, Ireland where a band was playing basically the quintessential Appalachian song. Megan and Paul were very entertained by my excitement and ridiculous dancing (I was the only one dancing... for real) and the band came up and talked to me afterwards because they knew that with that kind of reaction I had to be American.

Megan and Paul walked me back to the hotel, but not before we stopped and got ourselves some Hillbilly's Fried Chicken! It was a very memorable night with a great old friend, and Paul is such a great guy. He loves Megan so much and he also really loves the whole Robertson family and Boone... it was so much fun to talk to him about growing up in Boone and all the stories Megan and I have from our childhoods and all the various things our families did together over the years. I felt like I was back in my good old, beloved hometown. And we had a bunch of laughs, especially the incident that sparked the comment, "oh my god, MEGAN!"

I didn't get back to the hotel until almost 2 and I finally felt like a college student again! Luckily, I didn't have to be at UCC until 10, so I got to sleep in for an extra hour and walk to campus in the surprisingly nice weather. Oh, but don't fret - by 1 it was back to downpour status. I had my last lesson with my flute teacher and then we had a lecture on traditional Irish music and it's recording and broadcast history - very interesting. That lecture reminded me of how interested I am in preserving traditional folk art and it makes me really excited to get hands on with Dust-to-Digital this summer.

After a quick lunch at a nearby convenience store, I came back to campus and got on the computers, and that's where I am now. I have a couple pictures I'll try to upload later tonight - I should have plenty of time because we have a free night, dinner on our own and no required pub session. I'll probably try to get in touch with Megan again and see if we think Cork can handle us two nights in a row.

Tomorrow is our last day of classes at UCC and we'll be taking dance lessons from Patty McTaggart for the better part of the morning. I can't even describe my excitement for that - I love dancing, obviously, and I've always wanted an opportunity to learn some Irish dance. Then we have our little recital and it's bye bye to UCC. I guess we'll be visiting Kinsale and Killarney before we head back to Dublin on Sunday afternoon, so I'll be updating about those trips.

Hope all is well... I know some very exciting things have been happening back in the states, so if you've had a good week I'm happy for you. Or at least I'll pretend to be.