So, I got off the bus and started walking down the hill with an older man. He seemed to be in his sixties or seventies. His Irish was superb and he was a genuinely nice guy. About half way down the hill, he arrived at his accommodation. I continued on for a while until I noticed another group of people behind me. I stopped to let them catch up to me. There was: a human rights lawyer from Dublin who worked in London, A PhD student from Wisconsin, and a lecturer in Computer Science from Boston who now works in St. Louis.
When we arrived, Liam (the person who runs Oideas Gael) was already going at full speed. I had been warned about his method for testing your Irish. It is so simple and so effective. All he does is talk to you in Irish until your Irish has run out and you must switch to English. The longer that is the higher your level of Irish. I had all but forgotten this as we piled into his car with our baggage and he drove us around to our accommodation.
I had expected to be put in a bothy with an older couple. I was pleasantly surprised to be put into a modern B&B with en-suite bathroom. My landlady (bean an tí) was very very nice and, as I would discover, a fantastic cook. I would highly recommend her B&B if you are ever in Donegal for the summer (if you email me, I will provide details). I got a room to myself for the first week.
After I had settled in and had a sandwich and soup. I walked around a bit but I did not go too far as I did not want to become lost. Instead, I unpacked my things into the drawers and had a bit of quiet time before going to the general introduction meeting at 8:30 pm that night.
Wow, this is rather becoming long winded and just about the first day. I will try to wrap this up and take the week as a whole rather than a day-by-day approach to help with the reading overload.
posted by Chris #5:43 PM | 0 comments |
