LIBRARYS and GROCERY STORES

Those who have been following this blog for a while know that I think of myself as more of a traveler as opposed to a tourist. I have been both and I have nothing against being a tourist, I just prefer being a traveler. A traveler has no fixed itinerary and no set plans, ready to change route at any point. Their flexibility is enviable. Hence my stories and photos are not of the “must see” sights you find in tourist ads or magazines.  You can google those and you will have a better photo than I could ever take of the country with my phone.

I forgo another castle tour and walk to the local Aldi’s one day to check out the regional grocery shopping. Ireland has a castle in every city I have been to and I tour one or two and feel like I have seen them all. Aldi’s will not be on the list of “must see” in any tourist brochure I have seen. But these are the things I like to take in when traveling.  Just local grocery stores.

They have Irish strawberries, yes different from ours, Irish soda bread, Irish yogurt, Irish Red Chedder, Irish butter and lots and lots of cod and halibut – breaded, battered, spicy, plain. I buy anything that has the word Irish written on it. The yogurt is out of this world, the soda bread I can do without.

I also visit the the neighborhood library on a regular basis. I am doing my own research on Ireland and reading all the books they have on Irish history. “How the Irish saved Civilization” is a favorite. No one can deny Ireland has a fantastic history. Vikings, Normand’s, Celts and of course last but not least the English. Gosh, those English were brutal to the Irish. They could not even speak their own language or practice their own Catholic faith. Of course, the English ransacked people’s languages and culture everywhere they went, including America. You have to hand it to the Irish in the way they fought back time after time and held their own.

 One drizzly afternoon I make my way to the library to read and a large group of high school boys from St. Patrick’s Catholic school walk in.  I learn that they are there to research American History.  Two boys sit down next to me and start looking up information on Elvis Presley. The teacher later tells me the students were allowed to choose any topic of American history and these boys wanted to research something interesting and not boring like the American Revolution.  

I let the boys know that I recently lived in Tennessee where Elvis has a home called Graceland in Memphis. They are beyond excited to know this.

It did not take long for word to spread that an authentic, live American was actually in the library and I am suddenly encircled by about 25 young boys.  They peppered me with questions of America and of course Elvis.   We all agreed that it was serendipitous that on the day they visited the library to do their research on American history, an actual American would be sitting in their small local library reading about Irish history.

The young librarian took a photo of all of us and later she invited me to a cultural event at the library on the upcoming Friday night.  I would not miss it for anything and I arrived the following Friday to a room full of local musicians and singers who came and performed.  The best part of the evening was watching the wee ones get up and dance for fun.  From 4 years to 10 years the kids got up and they could not stop their little feet from doing that Irish jig.  They had refreshments after and I was able to meet and talk to the musicians.

Check out this video which slightly resembles my event at the library, minus the beer, and slightly older musicians. The instruments and songs were the same. The young girl who gets up and dances about midway through reminded me of the children in the library.

Dervish – Traditional Irish Music from LiveTrad.com Clip 4

The video and my photo below shows a hand-held drum called a Bodhram.  Bodhram is actually the Irish word for deaf and dull sounding.  I was fascinated with it and talked to the gentleman playing it at the library and he allowed me to give it a try.

After the event the librarian’s fiancé offered to drive me home as it was getting dark. I found out his name was Anthony, and the librarians name is Laura- my own children’s names.  It is a sign, so I invite them to a nice dinner the following night.

Real Irish Nuns!