Sunday, January 25, 2009

People of the Book


It's literacy month at Haralson County High School, and teachers are supposed to be putting up posters for students to see what we're reading. My main accomplishment of this weekend is reading. I bought this book at the Richmond Airport after finishing the book I was reading on my way up there. The book by Geradline Brooks is just a tad confusing (at least to me) with the back-and-forth from historical past to contemporary times. However, this is totally worth the mild irritation because this Pulitizer Prize winning author weaves a wonderful story based in truth with the tiny embelishment of some historical fiction. She does it with fabulous verbage that makes someone who appreciates vocabulary, giddy. It's a rich embroidery of religious intersections in the name of art. It's a lovely book that makes me want to read more by this author.

The other thing I've done is to make my spring break time a planned reality. It's a real thing. I'm definitely going to Ireland. After researching, and researching, I've decided to fly into Shannon rather than London and commute from within the country as opposed to commuting across all of England and then crossing the Irish Sea. Too many changes of travel. Surprisingly the cost of going from here to JFK in NYC is rather more expensive than I'd imagined. I can now spend time figuring out what I want to go see, and when and how. I will be exhausted when I return, and have planned a whole day to collapse and sleep, but I suspect my butt will be draging the following week. I have it on good authority that (1) the Irish like Americans (always a plus when traveling in Europe), (2) they speak English (way better than flailing around with phrase books and sounding like a truly IGNORANTE and REDNECK American (PAR LAY VU ANG LASE? That was the UGLY American in France let me tell you!) and (3) the economic troubles of America are an infection that has spread around the globe and so the Euro / Dollar exchagne is better than it's been in a long time. Given my willingness to rough it in youth hostels and eat pub grub, I think I can get through the week without dropping too much money. So, I have my next adventure to dream about.

All thouse with travel advice on what to see in Ireland, are welcome to send me suggestions!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

When my grandmother went, their main things were kissing the Blarney Stone and seeing where Waterford Crystal was made. Other than that, don't know what to tell you to see.

They did say that even though they speak English, the accent is sometimes so thick that you can barely understand or simply cannot understand what is being said.

Oh, if you're taking your cell phone, be sure to take the proper stuff to plug it in (not just an adapter usually). I think I still have the links to info from where we went to Russia, let me know if you want to read up on that.

Anonymous said...

Forgot to say - EXCITED FOR YOU!