Day 17, 18, & 19 - So Much Story So Little Time
On Tuesday my migraine is gone and I am feeling well enough to go to class. Still not 100% but hey can't waste too much time being sick cause it is Ireland and there is too much to do! In class it is time for our second stories and I tell a story called the Three Questions from Glassie. In this story a Shepard who is beholden to a Bishop for giving him a chance stands up to a new invading "chief" and answers 3 questions to keep the Bishop safe. 1st question: "What am I thinkin in the morning when I get up?" Answer: "What am I goin to eat for breakfast" 2nd question: "How much sand is in all the beaches of Ireland?" Answer: "Enough to fill one cart, if the cart is big enough." 3rd question: "How much am I worth?" Answer: "29 Silver pieces" The chief puzzled by the last answer asks the Shepard how he came to that conclusion..the Shepard answers, "Because our Lord was worth 30 and surely you are not worth more than him!" The chief lets both the Shepard and the Bishop live..
On Wednesday we have Liz Weir in class. I have been lucky to have met Liz before at events in Phoenix and she is a wonderful person and amazing storyteller. This is her 7th time in Athlone telling for our Liz in her class. She is really good about answering questions from the class and she tells some good stories.
On Wednesday evening we head to the Sheraton to see the Three Rivers Storytelling Concert. The festival has been taking place all of June with great storytellers in the schools all around 3 counties of Ireland. Liz Weir and Eddie Lenihan will be the featured tellers with Liz Warren as the emcee.
I take a cab and Michelle Fish joins me so we can split the fare. I am still feeling odd so the cab is a good idea! The Sheraton is a nice venue and Michelle and I are early so we wait in the bar. She grabs a beer and I have a coke and we enjoy people watching as we wait. Finally we go upstairs and get the chance to sit with Eddie Lenihan for a while. I wish I had gotten a good picture of him to show you because he is one of the strangest looking men you will ever meet...quite the character. Black (greying now) bushy long hair, glasses, and a mustache and chops that he has let grow into beard length. On this night he mentions that he is not feeling well cause of some problem with his knees and that he has taken some medication...he is very sweet and autographs everything that we purchase. I get a book for myself and one for a friend and he inscribed both in Irish.
The concert gets started and I am disappointed that the local audience didn't show up as hoped. The SAI program makes it feel pretty full but I know they would have liked to see more locals. The concert is fun and the styeles of the two tellers could not be more different! I apologize for the lack of pictures on this blog..for some reason my camera "ate" them!
On Thursday, Eddie comes to class and we get more stories. Eddie has been collecting stories especially in the West of Ireland for years. He finds and records stories from the older members of the community and these are stories that more local in nature. Lot's of stories about the Other Crowd or the Good People (fairies) which is a very serious business here. Even the most skeptical of the Irish will not completely deny the possibility that Fairies exist and that you should not mistake them for the Disney prototypes of small and friendly creatures.Without Eddie many of these more local stories would be lost forever and he is creating an amazing legacy for the Irish people and I hope someday they will realize it and acknowledge Eddie for his work.
Next: Off to Northern Ireland...even though I am sick!
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