i’m going to skip some more-than-worthy material and write as if you’re all up to speed. i’ll fill you in on the rest later.

i’m at a hostel in galway, located on the coast opposite of dublin. it’s a college town, though and through. breifly sampling it’s nightlife yesterday was well worth the 10euro spent on a pint and small portion of food. i couldn’t even tell you the name of the pub, but there was trad (traditional irish music) echoing through the doorway, which is what made me wander inside in the first place. great environment.

amplified only by a hanging omnidirtectional microphone (something The Pips might sing into), four or five lads crammed themselves into the front corner of the pub and played to their hearts content. some songs, i found, were improvised… in a sense. one member would lay down a rhythmic pattern and repeat it over and over. the other members would join in with something that complimented the first. as time went on they would shift the initial option from member to member. it was all very organic.

this is my first stay in a hostel. not just on this trip, but in life. if anyone reading this hasn’t had the pleasure before, just think dorms… but more cramped. the change in company is very welcome (i.e. before this, i had none at all aside from hosts). and the spread of the clientelle is something of a marvel; babies to the ederly. i have seen three infants so far and the old couple kicked my ass at scrabble last night.

being packed in a small space with 6 people you don’t know can be a risk, any shared taxi ride will tell you that much. but all my roommates are kind enough. running into americans has become somewhat of a trend, and i won’t complain too much about it. however… it would be nice to meet some folks from a country i didn’t grow up in. just for a change pace, is all i’m saying.

while this update is (again) lacking pictures, i have taken a few. (i.e. 200 or so). and i will upload them at some point. most likely when i get to a friend’s house in sterling, UK. though, that might not be for a week or so. watch my flickr page or the portolfio page on this site.

cheers.