Brown as a Barry

Blogpost June 10, 2019

Brown as a Barry

            
Dia duit, friends, family, and frenemies,

I’m back where Tiztalk began ten years ago:  Ireland.  Bob is teaching a course, and I am the official writer-in-residence here in a student apartment in Galway.  So far, I’ve written two poems and a blog. 

Galway is a beautiful medieval city.  It’s a college town close to the size of Columbia, MO. 

Guess what?  It’s been cold, rainy, windy , and dreary here nearly every day.  You might wonder how I could be “brown as a barry.”  Those who know me know that I’ve never had a tan. Some readers may remember Terre Haute dermatologist Dr. Mason, who was in practice when I was in high school.  Not only did he burn warts off my fingers each month for at least a year, but he also gave me “tanning pills” and let me sit in an ultraviolet room. I never did get a tan.  No, I’m referring to my teeth.  I find myself drinking so much Barry’s tea, the most popular brand here, that I will need an industrial -strength teeth whitening upon my return.  I’ve thought of just using plain old bleach as a mouthwash; it does a remarkable job removing teacup stains, you know.  

The first day of class, our leader walked us down to the NUIG campus where the class is being held.  I plan to meet Bob for lunch on campus. Somehow I ended up chatting with a nice student about her upcoming trip to Berlin and, guess what?  I didn’t pay any attention to how we got to campus. Therefore, I’ve taken photos of the building and its environs.   I’m currently sitting in a coffee shop. Surely I can find my way back there in three hours, right?  Just in case, I was last seen at Mocha Beans Coffee Shop having what else?  A large pot of tea.

What can I tell you about Galway?  Well, part of Ed Sheeran’s video “Galway Girl” was filmed here at  -- where else?  --- O’Connell’s Pub.  After explaining --- more than once I I might add – to my travel companion just who Ed Sheeran is– I looked up the video.  Guess what?  It wasn’t a version of “Galway Girl” that I knew.  So, if you suddenly have an earworm from the one that’s in P.S. I Love You, put it out of your head if you can.  No, this is a 2017 song that is rather catchy, too.  I can’t believe that both songs can have the same name, but I’m told  that song titles are not copyrightable.  So, now you know.  I wonder if James Holzhauer knows all this. Maybe I should tip off Jeopardy for the Tournament of Champions.

Getting back to O’Connells Pub….We know exactly where it is as we visited it years ago with some  friends. Mike Juergensmeyer might recall the place as he was there. However, due to his Smithwicks consumption, he may not remember it at all.  Who knows? Anyway, we went there this week.  We asked if we could get a discount since our name is O’Connell.  Bob even showed his I.D.  No dice.  However, they did allow us to buy two souvenir tee shirts for only fifteen euros each. We felt special.  And I did see and interesting spirt I may have to go back and try: rhubarb gin.  Better yet, maybe I’ll just let super-hostess Teresa Foster create it for her next soiree. 

I’ll give you a tip about going into Irish bars.  Did you think you were going to learn so much from reading this blog? Bartenders generally don’t ask, “What’ll you have?”  or “Would you like to order?”  Instead they say, “Are you all right?”    or
“Are you okay?” This always kind of throws me as I think, “What did I do now?” or “Do I look that bad?”

Déjà vu  and New Irish moments:

Hooray!: 

McVitie’s biscuits (I mean a package of chocolate grahams for about fifty cents?  Yum.)

Sticky toffee pudding  (I’m a fool for this.  Yes, I know it’s technically British.)

Friendly people – they are everywhere

Oh, no!

Currants  (Who ever decided they were good?  What’s wrong with plain old California raisins?)

Scones (Could they at least wrap them in plastic so they aren’t so hard?)

Slugs – they are now invading homes.  We had one “visitor”.  How many teeth do you think a slug has? And, yes, I’m talking about a snail.  The answer: 27,0000.  Watch out for snails!

Well, it’s time for me to make my way across the river for my lunch date.

In case you’re wondering or you are a slacker and don’t care at all, Dia duit means “Hello, how are you doing?” in Irish.  

Taking a whirl as a Galway girl,

I remain

Tizzie/Tiz/Elizabeth/Liz/Mom/Tizmom/Grizzie