Random Thoughts Post-Galway

THE DISEMBARKATION PROCESS.

 It was amazing how well coordinated our departure was from the ship yesterday.   A couple of things you need to understand: 1) Most folks were leaving the ship for excursions or Field Labs that had been pre-arranged with definitive starting times from the dock.   2) Those folks who were going on overnight trips needed to take their passport (which are kept for us by the ship's crew), but those of us who weren't traveling overnight (like Jayne and I) did not need to take our passports.  3) We did not dock in Galway, which meant we had to be tendered to the dock from the ship in the lifeboats (which hold about 150).

People were called to the faculty lounge (7^th deck) in a sequential fashion if they needed to pick up their passports.  Then, depending on which trip you were going on, we gathered in the Union on the 6^th deck for our departure to the 2^nd deck to get on the tenders. 

The tenders did not look like they would be much fun to ride on but – what can you do!! Off we went!  We were on the small boat about 20 minutes from the ship to the shore.  It was very smooth going over this morning.  Coming back was rough!  Lots of bouncing!!  The crew really held on to us as we got off. 

AN INTERESTING ENCOUNTER WITH AN IRISHMAN           

We ate lunch in a pub in Doolin.   In the toilet, I was a bit surprised to see a condom machine….in this thoroughly Catholic country.  I commented to an Irishman in there about my surprise.  He said, "Yes we've sunk back into pure paganism."   He said the dispensers been there for years, but that in the beginning the owner had been afraid to actually put any condoms in the dispenser.    But people complained about putting their coins in and getting nothing in return.  "I'll bet the local priest complained the loudest," I said.  He got a big kick out of that.   

I was interested in his comment about paganism.   Our tour guide (about whom I will have more to say later), had said to Jayne and I that Irish Catholicism was always very shallow (unlike Italian Catholicism).  "You scratch us and underneath the Catholicism we're pagans at heart," he said.

LUNCH OR NO LUNCH?

There was a bit of controversy on our excursion yesterday as to whether or not we had already paid for our lunch in the fee we paid to the Institute for Shipboard Education (ISE) for the excursion.   Our trip-liaison from the ship had a description of it that said lunch was included.   Our tour guide said it wasn't. We ended up having to pay for our lunch (about 12 Euros or $15).   Also, according to the materials distributed before the trip we were to be back at the dock at 2:30, but in fact our hour long ferry ride to the bottom of the cliffs of Moher got back to THAT dock at 2:30 and it was 5:30 or 6:00pm before we were back to Galway.

This illustrated the complex and difficult coordination that this whole adventure involves.  The ISE, based in Charlottesville, negotiates prices and trip details with tour operators in our various ports.  Then they publish that in a long list for each port.  Apparently what happened in this case was that details got changed in the negotiations, but the published description we used in picking the trip didn't get changed.

No complaints about the lunch, though.  The meal was very hearty – we each ordered a bowl of Irish Stew with a slice of brown bread.  All very tasty!  Must have been 8 oz. of beef in each bowl.  Very tender – Jayne did not eat much of hers – just too much.  Bread was very good. We each had a pint of Guinness Stout.  Served in it’s own special glass.

We went next door and meet a very pleasant woman selling delicious homemade chocolates.  Of course we had to have a bit. 

OUR GUIDE

We had an incredible guide yesterday: a young Irishman (in his 30s?) with degrees in history and archeology who is a primary school teacher.   He was incredibly knowledgeable AND he presented that knowledge in an understandable and entertaining manner, with lots of personality.  

He was also something of a comic!  On the way back, when we were passing sites he had already told us about, the comedian in him took over.    I got the distinct impression, that Irish storytelling is a little bit on the bawdy side!

He also had us almost convinced that there was a breed of cattlesheep in Ireland that was the result of mistakenly leaving cattle and sheep together in the same field without keeping a careful eye on their access to Guinness.  He suggested we were about to see a field filled with examples of this genetic anomaly.  Turned out they were alpacas.

THE TOILETS

Toilets is plural right?  There were none on the bus.  We took a toilet break in a small village outside Galway and were assured that there were toilets behind a small store.  The sign said "Toilets."  But it was one toilet and forty-seven people from our bus got in line.    It took quite awhile and that was a major reason our excursion got behind schedule. 

One the way back to Galway after lunch, a lad on the bus asked I there was to be another toilet break.  "No," said our tour guide, "If you were Europeans we'd just top and the ladies would got to a field on the right and the gents to a field on the other side of the road."

The lad indicated that he'd had two pints with lunch and he had to have a toilet break.  So we soon stopped the bus and the ladies were asked to "avert their eyes" and he had his break beside the road.

A NEW ZEALAND CYCLIST

Two of the excursions involved biking.  All the roads we saw were quite narrow with lots of tour buses and I was thinking that I wasn't sure I'd want to bike there.   Roads were so narrow for the bus - not as big as the road past our house - nothing as big as the Oak Park Road (except for the four lane motorway in and out of Galway).

At our toilet stop we saw a woman I would guess to be approaching 70 who was obviously riding some long distance.  Turned out she was from New Zealand and she was touring Ireland on a bicycle solo.  She had a tent with her, but was mostly staying in hostels along the way.  She told us she had toured Vietnam, Cambodian, Laos, and Burma on her bicycle.

She said she had thought about riding in the United States near the Grand Canyon, but had decided against it because of the great distances and deserts and the Mexicans.  I asked what she meant.  She said that she had read that people were reluctant to give assistance if you were stranded and out of water because they were afraid you might be a Mexican!

I asked I she'd ever considered the eastern United States and she said something about there not being much scenery there.  I corrected her on that, suggesting he ought to consider a ride down the Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway.  She seemed interested.

THE GUINNESS

I have long-ago stopped drinking Guinness for the most part.   There are many micro-brewed Stouts in the U. S. that I think are much, much better.  I had been assured that the Guinness in the Irish pubs would be quite different from the swill we get in cans in the U. S.  Well, my initial reaction is…..NOT SO DIFFERENT AFTER ALL.

Now, you experts out there settle down.  Maybe my palate just isn't sensitive or refined enough.   Be assured, I plan to conduct more field research in Dublin.   But, part of that research will involve some other Irish Stouts too.  ANY RECOMMENDATIONS?

WILDFLOWERS AND GARDENS

So many wonderful flowers everywhere, many yards were very nicely done, others a bit shabby – not so different from home.  Because it is so wet many flowers do well here that we cannot grow at all.  I have tried Lucifer an orange flowering plant that looks like a cross between a day lily and a glad.  They grow here on the roadsides like our river lilies!   Also fuchsia that looks as if it is an invasive plant here grows at least 3 to 4 feet tall it is beautiful.  Orchids also do well here.  We did not see any blooming.

PEOPLE ON THE SHIP

We continue to meet new and interesting people on the ship, especially among the students.

Yesterday, on the tender we sat next to the only William and Mary student on the voyage and a UVa Philosophy major on the way back.

Also on the way back I sat across from two girls from Tulane in New Orleans.  They were both quite upset about the situation there from the hurricane.  One's grandmother had been evacuated and her house was looted while she was gone.   They suggested the situation was worse than I had been aware.

I talked to them a bit about my visits to New Orleans since Katrina.  In the process, I mentioned the Ninth Ward.  "You've been to the ninth ward,"  one of them said!!??  She said she'd been there only once in her life and would never go back.  Her sorority had gone to do some post-Katrina work dressed in matching pink t-shirts and carrying shovels.  Their bus driver had taken them one block into the ward and stopped saying she would go no further!   They had to walk the rest of the way.  "There's no police presence; no emergency services, nothing there."   At dinner, we heard a similar reaction to the possibility of going into South London.   

There are only 147 on board now. 
 

SEPTEMBER 1

We have beautiful bright sunshine this morning with a few clouds in the sky as we sail to Dublin.  We had a good nights sleep, a bit choppier than we had expected.   Nice quiet breakfast with some of the faculty and staff.  They had granola today – first time it has been available – 4 of the 6 of us at the table had it today!  Hope the crew sees that!!