About time for an update...

So, the last time I updated this thing was April I think so I'll start from there...

April:
Last month before course work was due. Pretty much this month was spent in two main ways, procrastinating work and then actually doing it. Went to Cork for the weekend of the 18 for the National Band Championships with the Boherbuoy Brass and reed band who I was researching and playing with for my thesis. It was a great weekend filled with victories, food, drinking, and a bit of craic (fun). The next day after the competition I flew to Norway (Trondheim) for a Dance Research Conference paid by the EU. It was an interesting, yet stressful trip as most of our coursework was due less than a week after we returned from Norway.

May:
All of our work was in so it was time to get down to the dirrrty of writing a 15,000 wrd thesis. Pretty much that is all I did for this month with the other highlights of having to move 2 times once to Jena's then to Paddy's, and having lovely friends from home visit the weekend my thesis was due and I was defending it. It all worked out well and managed to get a very good grade and review on my thesis.

June:
Jen Schratzmeire from home came to visit! During which we went as far as co. Mayo and a bunch of other places around Ireland. But in addition we also managed to go to Paris where we caught up with the lovely Erik J. and Andrea V. from Ithaca. It was a great time there, but then we moved onto Barcelona. Unfortunately we mostly slept there but it was still lovely. Then we ended up in London, which was amazing minus the walking home for 3 hours and getting in at 5am. After Jen left, Andy and I climbed Carrentuohill the highest mountain in Ireland, on a rainy horrible day.

July:
First weekend was spent down in West Cork, Clonakilty for another but for fun band competition. Again it was spent with loads of drink and food. The rest of July was spent trying to figure out what I was going to be doing for the following semester and what country I would be living in.

August:
Turns out I was given a few hours teaching undergraduates at the university of Limerick, so in my best interest I stayed on to teach. But that didn't start till September and I had the whole visa situation to work out in the mean time. Mostly I was a lazy ass who just cooked a lot...

September:
Went home for 1 week to secure a visa, visit family and friends, and just have a damn good time. Overall that is the pg version of what happened. Details shall not be included in this lovely blog entry. Two days after arriving back in Ireland I was into the deep end of teaching and figuring out what I was doing for the semester. Other events in September include playing a gig with Montuno the Salsa band minus Ernesto which was very sad and not as good as previous gigs and Gay pride weekend which was just a great time had by all to say the least.

October:
All that happened was teaching with the highlight of Andy's niece 21st party on Halloween. I went as an Irish American and it was hilarious again a very good night.

November:
Guess what, more teaching. But also Alicia from Ithaca came to visit which turned into a great weekend. There were the additional concerts here and there, but nothing too major. Mostly just preparing for exams and the holiday season.

December so far.....
Mostly spent correcting and giving exams or calculating grades... and preparing for the many concerts of the holiday season. As of right now the plan is to go home in June, but not sure if I will be staying for too long or coming back to Ireland. Hopefully these updates will be coming a bit more frequently.

Keep in Touch! :)