We're official & Great Craic

We had our appointment with immigration and we're officially legal to stay here til June. It was a pretty painless experience and I'm glad it's done with. I had to print some things out for it at the University and it took me over an hour to do it. Only because I had to go to four different places to get it to work properly. Not sure if I'll get used to those differences in the coming months.

We've been going to sessions pretty much every night. This was taken at Dolan's here in Limerick. It was mostly undergrads from the University playing and they were amazing! Our first night out we met Eanna and Mary, two ladies whose energy astounds me. They go to sessions every night. Eanna because she's a musician who's learning to play the fiddle, and Mary because she loves the music & the people. They gave us a list of sessions to check out every night and we've been with them quite a bit this week.

Last night we went to a session in Kilkisheen (accent on the middle syllable) in the middle of the country and it was something else. I'm not sure I can describe it for you. It was in the old kitchen part of an old pub. the owners, pat & nanci in their 70s and puttering around helping people out. Every one knew every one else and they played and sang-and asked us to play and sing and it was delightful. Pat came in starting about 1:15 a.m. yelling for everyone to go home and half an hour later everyone's still around chatting. Mary told us if we waited around Nanci would serve us tea and sandwiches, but we were pretty beat. We got home around 230 a.m. What a lovely night. I wish I could describe it better for you...just know it was great craic there (say "crack"), which means that the people were friendly and joyous and the music was lively and the feeling of being there was welcoming and warm. Well, we've slept in (for good reason) and are now heading off to the Saturday market in Limerick. Love you all and I'll write more soon.

A little later.... Just got back from the market and it was lovely! Got fresh veggies & yummy pastries and beautiful cheeses. We took two of our pastries to a pub right outside the market and had tea & coffee (I'll let you guess who had which ;0) and a wonderful snack. It's a fine day (that means there's bouts of sun between the clouds & mist) and I'm going to go out for a ramble along the river. Kind of getting into this Irish thing. Good to know there's a warmth here that makes up for the weather. Thinking of so many of you at different moments that I know you'd love to share in and I'd love to share with you. Lots of love!