Guinness Cork Jazz Festival 2010!

Hello there friends and family!  This past weekend was quite the "Jazzing" weekend.  The Guinness Cork Jazz Festival brought tons of people to the city and definitely made the weekend something to remember!  This festival is known as one of the biggest/best, if not the biggest/best jazz festival in the world.  There were jazz musicians from all over the world including several BIG names in jazz.  For example, Herbie Hancock, Charlie Haden, Charles McPherson, Ernie Watts, Maceo Parker, Steve Winniwood, etc....(I know that these names may not mean much to many of you reading but WOW - just agree!)  At the same time, there were also tons of nationally acclaimed jazz musicians, local musicians, etc.  Pretty much every pub/venue around town had a gig going on all afternoon/night from Friday to Monday.  It was ridiculously awesome!  I will just give a little rundown of what I was able to get to over the weekend and then if you're interested in seeing how much was going on check out the website:    http://www.guinnessjazzfestival.com/

University of North Texas!

On Friday, I caught the University of North Texas jazz band in the afternoon! Absolutely Amazing!!! They have been nominated for 6 grammys and let me tell you they were honestly the best big band i have ever heard in my life!  At night, a few friends and I started off by going to the Imperial hotel and the Clarion Hotel to see some free gigs.  The Sax Sisters (a saxophone quartet from Poland, Germany, and Britain) were playing at the Imperial Hotel and were fun to listen to, but the place was soo packed we went to the Clarion.  At the Clarion, the Pat Eglart Band entertained us thoroughly.  The group consisted of a group of relatively older lads who were awesome!  haha...they were loving what they were doing that's for sure!  The drummer gave a pretty sweet solo even though he was probably around 75 years old! (Not saying you can't be a musician when you're older! I thought it was awesome and it shows how musicality sticks with you through your entire life if you want it to!)  After that, Jordan and I left to go to our ticketed event for the even better stuff!!! And, it was super cool what they did at this hotel.  At the hotel, there were four different stages (ballroom, side room, bar, and another ballroom of sorts) that each had a group playing throughout the night!  You paid a little bit of money to get in and then you could just walk around to whatever show you wanted to see.  There was a variety of shows from quartets to big bands to singers, etc.  We ended up watching the Blues Brothers Banned, a group from Britain that literally could have been the Blues Brothers I think for a big part of the night.  But also caught a few other gigs too.  It was just an awesome atmosphere!

Pat Eglart Band!

Blues Brothers!

The Jivin Aces

Onto Saturday:  This may have been the highlight of the weekend -The main venue, where the major world jazz musicians played, was the Everyman Palace Theater, and on Saturday at 2 I went to a Double Bill concert consisting of the Charles McPherson (top saxophonist in world) quartet and then the Charlie Haden (top bassist in world) quartet who also had Ernie Watts (Another amazing saxophonist) in his quartet. This concert was simply amazing.....I have nothing else to say about it.  It was just so unreal to hear Charlie Haden talking about how he recorded this or that song with Ornette Coleman or John Coltrane or some other ridiculously well known names in the jazz world.  I couldn't get over the fact that I was witnessing what I was witnessing!  haha.  The only down part to the day was the fact that I didn't get to share it with anybody and that got me down for a bit afterwards but oh well!!! It was awesome!

Charles McPherson!!

Then, Saturday night, a few of us caught some more gigs at the Imperial Hotel and then at a pub, but there were so many people in the pub we had to leave because we couldn't breathe! haha.  So we got milkshakes and watched Phantom of the Opera! Good choice!

Even on the streets!!

On Sunday, I had to catch up on a little bit of work, but then in the evening, Amy and elena and I went to a spectacular event that involved some great swing dancing!!!  It was called Cotton Club night.  It was supposed to be set in the 1920s/1930s in New York at the Cotton Club so people came all dressed up in suspenders, funky hats, and other stuff! The night began with a little bit of a swing dance lesson of sorts, and then they brought out a band and the swing dancing began!  haha...I felt a little bad at first because the girls had to teach me some moves, but by the end of the night I was starting to get it!!! After a little while, they also put on a few little acts for a break that included a comedy skit, a few dancers, the Cork swing dancing club put on a little show, and a singer.  Then, the dancing continued! All in all it was super fun!! Sometimes, I really wish I lived in that age where swing dancing was the thing...it's soo much better/more fun than the "dancing" people do these days!!  Afterwards, I wished my friend Chelsea a happy birthday and saw one other gig, and then headed back to the apartment to watch the Packers beat the Vikings via skype!

The streets at night! haha

The jazz continued on into Monday, and since it was a Bank Holiday, there was no classes, so I went to see Mitch Winehouse (Amy Winehouse's dad....no joke) and his band at a very cool pub!  He sounded like Frank Sinatra! Super good!  And then, the rest of the day worked on paper and watched movies and booked tickets to STOCKHOLM SWEDEN!!! Woohooo!

Now I am in the midst of getting my first big paper done which is due Friday, and then off to County Wicklow  with the Christian Union for a retreat!  It should be a grand weekend for sure!  The last week has been greatt but also tough at times because I think I am at the stage where everything doesn't seem as cool and new anymore...ive been getting homesick quite a bit...but I'm trying my best to stay positive and remember that I will be home before I know it!  It's just hard because Jordan and I both agree that these experiences are simply awesome, but it's hard wanting friends and family to enjoy them with you!  But, oh well, we must enjoy it while we can!

All for now!  Thanks for reading!

Trip to Lancaster/Edinburgh

Hello!  So, this past weekend was my visit to see Connie at her school in Lancaster, England.  It was a superb trip that went by way too fast!!  Here is a little rundown of the weekend:

Airport!

I left Thursday evening from Cork airport on a 9:45 pm flight! (Gotta love Ryanair: cheap but not exactly the easiest times!) I got into Liverpool airport at about 11, and Connie was waiting for me there!  We spent the next 4-5 hours chatting it up, attempting to sleep until we had to take a taxi to the train station.  Our train left at around 5:00 am and we got into Lancaster city about 2 hours later, walked to the bus station, and hopped on a bus to get to her campus.  As you can see, I had the lovely opportunity to literally take every mode of public transportation: plane, bus, train, walking...haha! It was fun though!  The reason we had to leave so early was that she had class at 9 in the morning, so she went to class and I slept!

The rest of the day consisted of checking out the campus, walking around when she had a class in the afternoon, and then getting the formal tour from her after class! haha!  She is in quite a different experience over there in England.  The campus is actually like a College campus where everyone lives on campus.  Very different, but in a good way!  I tried my best to not get attached to that feeling of actually having a campus life because it just isn't like that here in Cork. However, I must admit Cork campus is much prettier, and the campus life is there, just in a different way!  That night, we just hung out at her townhouse playing games with her townhouse and such.  Just lovely!

Connie: in her element! haha

Hahahahahaha: just for a few laughs!

Saturday morning, we woke up bright and early and hopped on a bus to Edinburgh, Scotland!  The school provides day trips on the weekends to various places! Anyways, it was absolutely beautiful!!  The city was very cool, and we enjoyed climbing the Crags (as they were called) which gave us awesome views of the city and surrounding area: check it out!  I couldn't help but love the various people walking around in kilts or the random bagpipe playing throughout the city.  It was something else!

Edinburgh castle! Soo cool!

The streets!

Mel Gibson?

Up we go!!

On top of the crags!

Whiskey fudge...mmmmm!

Sunday was a lovely relaxing day that involved watching movies and just being alive!  In the evening, she took me into Lancaster city to show me around a bit and see the castle (which is apparently a prison) and other various memorials!  Then, we went to mass at a beautiful church!  We concluded the evening with a great dinner and skyping with family!!! Great times!!

Lancaster Castle!

Hahahah!

Monday was hard leaving again, but I got to take every mode of public transportation imaginable again! haha!  I arrived back in Cork in the afternoon and walked straight to class...haha!  The last couple days here in Cork have been good, just trying to take it all in and live in the moment still!  This weekend is the Cork Guinness Jazz Festival which is going to be simply amazing!  It is a world renowned festival that brings in jazz musicians from everywhere!  I am only just beginning to realize (after doing some research on the website today) how huge it is and how awesome it is going to be!

Thanks for reading! Ill keep you updated on the various jazz musicians I see!  It should be fun! Peace!

8 weeks in?? What?!!

Hello hello!  yes yes, I know I haven't posted in forever! I have been busy busy busy!  The fourth week of class is just about done already which is unreal!  (8 weeks total!!!) But I will take a few minutes here to just highlight some of the bigger things I've done in the past two and a half weeks here in Cork!

Two weekends ago, my roommate Jordan and I took a trip to the Comeragh mountains in County Waterford with the mountaineering club for a day.  They do day hikes every sunday! We just paid 7 euro for transportation and packed our own lunches/snacks etc.  And, it was absolutely stunning!! The pictures don't do it justice whatsoever, but they will give you  a good idea as to how beautiful it was!  The hike itself was actually quite challenging at points but thanks to my experience in climbing mountains (Philmont :) It was no biggy for me!  Some of the people that went were a little surprised I think and kind of lagged behind but it was great fun to meet a bunch of people as well.  Jordan and I were singing Disney songs up and down keeping some of those around us entertained (or annoyed...not sure..) But, what we did was actually go up one side of this mountain/crater...which was created by a glacier and then the glacier moved on out however many years ago and left a beautiful lake which you can see in the pics...then we walked around the top of the mountain surrounding the lake and came down the other side.  It was awesome!! Good day! Then, on the way home I had my first Irish coffee in a pub...a little strong for me but an experience!

Last week was full of fun things and settling in to the semester classes even more as my Gaelic class and my tin whistle lessons started up!!! Yes, I said tin whistle lessons! Look out, I will be surprising everybody when I get back!  And, the Gaelic class is going wonderfully...we are learning a ton really fast.  However, the language is quite difficult to learn...you pretty much have to throw out all pronunciation ideas because most words sound nothing like they are written! and i mean NOTHING! but its great craic learning! haha!  I have also gotten into a routine with going to a couple things such as a discussion group with the Chaplaincy on Mondays, Christian Union meetings on Tuesday, and Bible study on wednesdays followed by music in the pub, etc... In other words I'm keeping busy!  I have also been able to play piano at the music building a few times in the past week or so which has been great!

Last week was a good week that culminated with a retreat to West Cork with the Chaplaincy which turned out to be quite an amazing weekend!  There were about 25-30 Cork students (15 of which were international students: french, chinese, malaysian, American) that went...and then the University of Notre Dame has about 30 students studying in Dublin this semester and they joined us!  It was a great weekend of getting to know a bunch of Notre Dame students as well as other Cork students both international and Irish!  The theme of the weekend was Journey and it was quite a journey.  We got to see a variety of Christian/pagan sacred sites such as Drombeg stone circle, timoleague abbey, a Mass rock (where they said mass in secret during the times it was forbidden - this mass rock was in gulley right next to a stream = Beautiful), Skibbereen (Place where the potato famine hit hardest), and finally Gouganne Bara (The birthplace of St. Finbarre supposedly).  I can't really say enough about the weekend, other than it was great!  On Saturday night, we got to listen to some traditional music and learn a couple dances in the hotel which was great as well.  Overall, a great weekend!

Mass rock!!

And, the last couple days have been busy busy!  I finished up and turned in my two papers for my early start class, and then took the 3 hour written exam yesterday so I am officially done with that class! woohoo!  The discussion group was great on Monday and so was CU yesterday...now my focus has shifted to getting ready for my trip to Lancaster tomorrow evening to visit Connie! Woohoo! The weekend should be a good time to just relax and see a bit of Northwest England as well as a day trip to Edinburough, Scotland on Saturday!  Two countries in one weekend? You bet!  It should be great!

In conclusion, I must say that the last couple weeks have flown by, and I know they will continue to fly by even quicker.  Every day, I just remind myself to take it one day at a time and it all works out!  The opportunities that I am constantly being offered are absolutely astounding if I take a step back and think of it, so I am working on just taking it all in!  Cork is a great place!  Alright!

p.s. Ran out of time so sorry for lack of pictures! more to come later!!! Off to Lancaster!

Spain - Valencia and Madrid

Just a note: This may take you close to 10-15 minutes to read: be prepared and enjoy!

Okkk, so it has been pretty much impossible to upload pictures the past few days due to the slowness of this website so I probably won't include too many pictures here.  However, I continually put up my pictures of facebook so check them out! 

Anyways, about the trip to Spain:

We (Connie, Kelly, Alyssa, and I) left the Cork airport on Thursday evening around 7ish.  We got into London-Stansted airport about an hour later and got ready to spend the night there.  We flew Ryanair, which for those of you who don't know, is a very cheap airline over here in Europe.  It was quite interesting to see how different security in airports is over here.  For example, for the flights we simply had to print our boarding passes beforehand, check in at a desk and get our boarding pass stamped because we were US citizens, and then when the time came to board we simply showed them our boarding pass and passport quickly.  It was pretty crazy how the boarding process goes too.  There are no assigned seats so everyone lines up and its first come, first serve for seat placements.  You also have to walk outside to get to the plane, and then climb the stairs to get in.  It seemed so crazy to be doing it like that!  When we got to London, there was hardly any border control/security check...And I think this is mainly due to the fact that Ireland and England have this partnership or something I don't know, but all we did was show our passport and they didn't even take a second look, didn't even stamp it, and handed it back to us and said we were good.  On the way back from Madrid to London, they questioned me quite a bit more and I had to show my immigration card from Ireland and my acceptance letter from cork..soo it was interesting!!!

Plane ride!!

Sunset on Ryanair!

Anyways, our flight for Valencia left the next morning at about 7:30 or so, but it was a looong night in the airport.  It was very cold too!  But, we survived and got on the plane the next day and flew to Valencia!  The plane was actually delayed like an hour...so we ended up being on the airplane for about 3 and a half hours instead of 2 and a half which kinda stunk but oh well.  The plane ride was quite enjoyable..and it was great to have Connie sitting next to me the whole way!  Flying over the Spain mountains was so unreal...we had to continually pinch ourselves to remind ourselves we weren't dreaming.  We were actually flying over Spain!  We made it to Valencia around 12ish their time.  It was very neat flying into Valencia..seeing the ocean and the mountains in the backyard..very pretty!! As soon as we got off the plane, we started shedding clothing too...it was probably about 80-85 degrees the whole time we were in Spain! Another friend that the girls met in Lancaster actually met up with us at the airport then too.  Soo it was me and four girls.....

It was quite enjoyable to see everything in Spanish.  I loved it and it made me really remember how much I loved Spanish!  After getting situated a bit in the airport, we got on the metro.  Luckily, Connie and I had researched where to go so we could lead the other girls!!! After finding our hostel, we checked in and dropped our stuff off.  The people at the hostel were super nice and helpful the whole time! It was a lovely place to stay!

World map from a European perspective: Interesting right?

Then, we went out and about to find some food!  Finding food in groups of people is always fun...........
Nevertheless, we did find a place and it was good to see parts of the city at the same time!  Then, we walked down to La Ciudad de Las Artes y Ciencias! This is a group of a few absolutely astonishing buildings that contain science and art exhibits.  It was absolutely beautiful.  Connie and I ended up going to the IMAX theater in one of the buildings to see a show that we thought was going to be good...but turned out to be quite terrible..hahaha..oh well..it was an experience.

One of the various beautiful parks throughout Valencia!

Two of the Science buildings + Dinosaur!

Check out the imax futuristic headsets!

After that, we all walked through this park area down towards the port and got kind of lost.  haha! But, then I asked a woman at the bus stop (using my wonderful spanish) how to get back to where we needed to be.  She was helpful and we got on a bus that got us closer to where we needed to be...haha!  Then, we found some more food...it was really fun ordering in Spanish too!!! After, we headed back to the hostel and crashed!

The next day was highlighted by a trip to the Cathedral where we climbed the tower and got an excellent view of the city.  AND, of course, then a trip to La playa! or the Beach!!! It was quite amazing to think we were technically swimming in the Mediterranean!!!!! Connie and I went in a couple times to make the most of the day! It was grrrreat!

Top of tower of Cathedral overlooking the city!

La PLAYA

After the beach, we hopped on a bus back into town and found some Valencian Paella!  Quite delicious!  However, we had an interesting experience at the place we went to.  It truly seemed like everybody was staring at us..we seemed very unwelcome! However, our waiter was very nice and after we were done eating and we left him a tip he made this comment, "Thank you thank you, you not fat americans!" Strangely enough this is not the first time I have encountered this stereotype.  I've met a few German and French folks here who are surprised to find that all Americans aren't fat!!!! No joke!  I feel like I am doing our country a huge favor over here by breaking this stereotype in particular!! haha!  Anyways...so we felt a little uncomfortable but it was still fun!  We then walked back to the hostel and hung out before hitting the hay...our bus to Madrid left at 6:30 the next morning so we needed some sleep!

The next day, we woke up quite early, checked out, and walked to the bus station to get on our 6:30 bus to Madrid.  It was quite a gorgeous countryside on the way there!  We arrived in Madrid at about 10:30-11ish and began our walk to the hostel.  Connie had looked up the walking directions to the hostel so together we took the lead.  And, let's just say, it turned out to be quite a hike! hahaha!  However, we had the opportunity to see the various plazas/sights along the way so we enjoyed it!!!!! I can't speak for everyone in our group but Connie and I loved it!!!! After running into a construction zone and taking a little detour we finally found our hostel..which was quite amazing!!! We couldn't check in yet but we left our stuff in a locker and headed out to see some cool stuff!

The crew walking to the hostel from the bus station!

We went to La puerta del sol and La PLAZA MAYOR!!! Which, for those of you who don't know...the movie Vantage Point was filmed here!!! And if you have seen that movie, you would understand my excitement about seeing it!!!! It was great!  After seeing those two plazas, we checked out the Cathedral which was unbelievably beautiful!  Pictures don't even do it justice!  And, then the palace was right next door which was quite astonishing as well.  We also got into the Museo del Prado (Prado museum) for free later on too which was fun.....as fun as art can be...hahaha!  But, the architecture was just so unreal and Majestic!!! Connie and I kept on looking at each other and going "WE are in SPAIN!!!" hahaha...it was loads of fun!

La Plaza Mayor!

Inside the beautiful Madrid Cathedral

Palacio!

That night, we headed down to La Puerta del Sol and saw some great street performers and other interesting people...hahaha! The Spanish culture was just so different than anything I've ever seen.  There were soo many people out and about just hanging around downtown going shopping (yes shopping...the stores were all still open at like 11) until we headed back to the hostel at like 11:30-12ish.  It was super fun!

Guy from Belgium doing street magic! haha he was actually really good!

No idea

The last day, Connie and I did our own little exploration because I had to go to the airport sooner than the others and she came with me.  We walked around and saw the original gate entrance to the city, and then we found this beautiful park! (That's another thing about both cities: there were these beautiful gardens, walkways, and parks everywhere in the city.  And I mean Beautiful!)  We sat down this old Greek looking monument that had a huge pool of water in front of it and just took it all in! It was quite amazing to think where we were...and that we were there together!! It was wonderful to have her there with me!

Then, after grabbing something to eat, Connie and I headed to the airport.  The emotions that ran through my body that day were pretty detrimental to me...haha! i laugh about it now but it was not easy saying goodbye..knowing i had to travel by myself, stay overnight in the london airport, and then go back to Cork which isn't really my home just yet....it was tough!  It was a long day on Tuesday when I got back early in the morning...then had to go to class...but it ended well with a pizza party with the Christian Union Society.  The next couple days were pretty good too...but it has been tough too!  I am starting to see a little bit of a routine with my classes however and after this next week, I think I will feel even better about everything!

In conclusion of this massive post, I must say that the time spent with Connie was unbelievable...we were both here in Europe together! CRAZY!  It was soo much fun to travel with her and her friends.  It was definitely hard to live in the moment at times because it was hard knowing it would end and I would have to go back to Cork...but I think I got much better at it as the trip went on!  Now, I am in the process of really finding the routine here in Cork.  Finding what I can really get involved in, who I really am going to spend time with, and how I am going to live in the moment!  Before I know it this experience will be over...I need to take it all in!

Thanks for reading!  I'm off to Church shortly and then pizza/movie night and skyping with Connie for first time in a week (She has been in Rome - so jealous!) before taking a trip with the mountaineering club tomorrow!!  Love you all!