Today was a very educational, interesting today. We spent the day touring the local countryside (Jenny was sick :( and unable to join us). P.J, our tour guide, has produced 58 CDs and written numerous books, as well. He knows so much about Co. Clare and its history. We went to an old church with him to hunt for a Sheila Nagig (I'm not even close to spelling that right), which is what Kate's project centers around. At the church he told us that the story about St. Pat running the snakes out of Ireland is really symbolic of St. Pat running the Coptics out of the country. He also told us that family members are buried on top of eachother when they die. Grave diggers excavate the family grave every time someone dies and reburies everyone. We saw bones poking out of some of the older graves!
I have had the chance to make some interesting observations since being out here. From most of my interactions, it seems that Irish people are not concerned with being politically correct. One of our taxi drivers has an intense dislike for Gypsies. I think he was actually teaching us derogatory names for them. It was intriguing to see that Gypsies do still live in compounds secluded from the rest of the population. Since being over here, its also been interesting to see the news reports on America's healthcare debate. While watching the French news channel (the only program in English), a very astute reporter made the comment that Americans would much rather take the risks associated with being able to establish their own businesses and manage their own futures rather than letting the government take over health care and offer security. It made me chuckle. He made it seem like Americans were crazy for wanting to be able to control their job options and money investments. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see the end of the report because when RTE wants to change programs it just changes programs without care to whether the show was over or not.
Its rather chilly today and my toes are frozen solid in my wellies, so I'm calling it a night.
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