Raindrops keep fallin' on my head

Last night I caught the Aos Og concert which is basically all of the most talented musicians and dancers under the age of 20 from the area. It was a little like watching a high school talent show, except that the kids were actually very talented. There were a lot of dancers, most of which were decent, but nothing special...that is until the end of the show when this one teenage girl came out and totally blew my mind. Outside of Riverdance and youtube clips of Michael Flatley I have never seen dancing like that--she was like a machine. Very very impressive. There was also some Sean Nos dancing and Set dancing in the show. These are two older, more traditional styles of dancing that I have never even seen before, so that was very cool.

I took a taxi back to the B&B afterwards and the taxi driver got lost not once but twice. I almost refused to pay him, but that would be mean. He didn't speak English very well so when he asked me where I was from and I said Portland, Oregon he went "Oh yes, Poland!" yeah... Then the worst part was that I was in such a hurry to get out of the taxi at the end that I must have forgotten my sweater in there. OOOH NOOOOOZ. I realized that I didn't have it this morning and have been lamenting ever since. That was the best sweater ever. All other sweaters are sub-par. Alas. I will not be consoled.

As soon as people here find out I'm American they want to ask me all about Barack Obama. I guess they really like him...especially since his grandmother was from Tipperary (as they have pointed out to me many many times). It makes me a little embarrassed that I don't know anything about their political players...maybe I should do some research on that.

I feel I should take some time to mention the interior decoration of the B&B. It is certainly noteworthy. Every room has at least two or three framed pieces of Catholic iconography. My room includes a picture of St. Patrick with Mary and Jesus on one wall and a framed quote from the book of John on the other, but my personal favorites are the photograph of Pope Benedict in the living room and the butterfly-wing recreation of the Last Supper in the dining room. It's actually made of butterfly wings...words don't do it justice. It goes very nicely with the pastel floral drapes and the "scenes of Ireland" placemats.

Now that it is the weekend I realize why Market street is called Market street. It becomes a market. One stall was selling live cows...if only my suitcase was big enough... There is also supposed to be a lot of street performing today as part of the festival, so hopefully the sun comes out eventually.

I'm still in the internet-cafe scenario, but once I get to Limerick in a few days I think I will be able to get internet on my own computer and then I will be able to share a few pictures. Cheers.