Ancient Civ Lesson

Yesterday Blayne & I along with our friend Sarah went out to the Burren which is a very rocky region west of here, not to far from the Cliffs of Moher. This is the Poulnabrone Dolmen. It's a tomb that was built around 4500 BC. It's stinking old! It's amazing to stand there and think of the people who lived there 6500 years ago and built the rock houses over their dead. It really is a strange and moving thing to see in this barren land-evidence of life here from so long ago. That is by far the oldest bit of human history I have ever seen...it's older than the pyramids. Then we went to a concert in Ennis that was one of the most bizarre cultural experiences I've ever had. I don't even know how to describe it, except to say that we were surely the only non-Irish in the crowd and I've never before heard a tall, clean cut fellow who looked like a rugby player pick up a guitar and sing in an Irish sort of choppy gruff pub style voice (but complete with intricate sean nos ornamentation) protest songs with a strong raggae influence. It was an experience that I would need to learn many more words in the English language to attempt to describe.

Well, we have an update on our church hunt. The church we went to this morning, Mallow Street Christian Fellowship is the most promising yet. There were about 80 people crammed into a small hall in downtown Limerick. We don't know yet about how we'll feel about the teaching part because this morning they had a special presentation from the man who owns the local christian bookstore, but in spite of older praise songs being the main music the service was promising. they did have a time where they opened the meeting for people to pray, share scripture, pick songs to sing, so it had a small meeting sort of vibe without being total chaos. We'll go check it out again next Sunday...maybe unless we're in Sligo next weekend. Turns out Halloween is a bank holiday in Ireland so Blayne won't have to do anything on Monday and he already has every Friday free, so we may head up to Sligo and Donegal.

I found out this past Saturday as we sat and chatted with folks at the market that it's easy & pretty cheap to sign up for Irish classes. I don't really expect to learn to speak it, but I'd like to be able to read it and pronounce it properly. All the history books I'm reading I come to a name like Niamh (which is one of the few I know - its pronounced nee-uhv) But there are so many that I don't know how to say and phoenetics don't come close to working in the Irish language, and also it'd be fun to learn to sing some songs in Irish.

We are making lots of friends. Life is just so very different here. We don't always have people over, since we have a car we're always the ones going somewhere, which is fine. Though, I am having some friends over for tea & chocolate chip cookies soon. My fabulous sister sent me 4 big bags of chocolate chips (Rosemary warned me you couldn't get them here and I still couldn't believe it). I made a batch for just Blayne & I and I ate almost 2 dozen cookies in 2 days. So, I've vowed that I'll only make them when I have more help in eating them. I just start craving comforts from home. All the subtle differences begin to add up and you just want to have something familiar. But 20 cookies in 2 days is taking that a bit far. I feel this post is extra rambly. It's a bit late, and my mind is muddled, but I wanted to share a bit. I'm enjoying Ireland very much and missing home very much at the same time. Or more acurately, I'm missing the people who make home home for me. Love you all lots!