I made good on my claim of wandering off some afternoon. I traveled to northern county number five on my list and went to Omagh, Co. Tyrone on Thursday afternoon. It's about two hours to the west of Belfast and has about 40,000 people. I stayed the night at the Omagh Hostel just for the sake of getting out of Belfast for more than a day. From my past experiences at hostels I expected there to be at least a couple other people staying there, but I was the only inhabitant that night, except for the Vermonter who appeared out of the attic rather suddenly after I had been there for a couple hours. The hostel was about three miles out of town, so I didn't get to go out and experience the sparse nightlife.
The next day I asked around to see what in the town was worth seeing, and was surprised that even the locals don't talk up their town much. I found the memorial to the victims of the Omagh bombing of 1998 and took several pictures of it which are on my shutterfly page, along with the rest of the sites. I had heard that Omagh had some noteable music shops, but I only found one. I played their fiddles for the better part of an hour and tried out a tenor banjo for the sake of curiosity, but didn't find anything I couldn't live without.
I found my way back to Belfast that afternoon, but decided to be one of very few people in Ireland who didn't make a big deal out of Halloween. Wherever I was after dark, fireworks went off and seemed very close. A lot of the people I know here dressed up and even went all the way to Derry for the street parties, but I just played poker at a friend's house.
I went to the John Hewitt session on Saturday night because my friend Zach wanted to show his girlfriend Haley some real Irish music while she was here on a visit. The musicians welcomed me back like they have before, but I am still very slow at picking up their tunes. I am realizing just how high the learning curve is in this game, not just because of the very high degree of difficulty and quality in the music here, but also in my abilities, or lack thereof. I haven't been kicked out of the place or anything, but I have been humbled.
While at the John Hewitt, Zach and Haley were joined at their table by two couples from Cushendall on the northern coast. We ran into them later in the night, and they were an interesting bunch. Going to pubs and visiting with strangers "for the craic, the beer, and the banter, but mostly the beer" was something they took very seriously. They aren't at the pubs all the time, but when they do, they take all of their kids, and everyone has a great time socializing for the sake of it. It is their hobby. This is about as clear a contrast between Ireland and the States as I can imagine.
I spend quite a bit of time in my flat than I let on, cooking my college student meals and sometimes being studious. I visit with my flatmates during the week but they all go home during the weekend, leaving me with a very quiet flat. I entertain myself one way or another, and one of my favorites is listening to Prairie Home Companion on the internet. I've listened to it for quite a while now, and have made a habit of tuning in to pass the time during those long July Saturday afternoons spent on the swather. Listening to the news from Lake Wobegon, where the women are strong, the men are good looking, and the children are above average, is a very comforting reminder of home, even if home's in Montana.
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