I would say that I was too busy recovering from St Patrick's revelries to post. That wouldn't be honest. My 9 am archaeology course was only 50% full, so I know many international students were themselves recovering. That said, I did have an action-packed Paddy's Day.
First, let me say that in Ireland, it's not just St Patrick's Day--it's St Patrick's Weekend. The streets were blocked off all weekend for a street festival, complete with food vendors and a stage set up for trad with ceili dancing out front. Lots of energy, great craic.
St Patrick's Day itself is a national holiday. This meant no classes. Instead, a few friends arrived at my apartment around 11:30 that morning, bearing gifts of Ireland-themed face paint and cheer, prepared to deck ourselves all out for the parade downtown. Green t-shirts, tacky budget scarves, flag-capes, and hairbands with flags sticking out of the temples like feelers. Fun with face paint, culminating in Wymana's face-turned Irish flag. It's the only time in your life--no holding back. I was flaunting more spirit for Ireland than I've ever flaunted for the US.
Walking downtown, I felt out of place. Could I possibly be...more spirited...than most? The first time in my life that I have ever been more conspicuously spirited for anything, disregarding the Harry Potter premier? When we arrived downtown, the place was so packed that I couldn't feel awkward. Green everywhere, people crushed against each other on the sidewalk, heavily-accented swearing. Good thing I am taller than most--even then, it was hard to see the parade.
The parade lasted for 2 hours and by the end, we were all ready for food, drink, and trad. We ended up at a pub across the river called Sin e, one of Cork's heritage pubs offering live trad music til late. It is a small, atmospheric place lined with posters, seats clustered together (you better like your neighbor), and just dim enough to make you feel like you're drinking at night. Downstairs for music, upstairs for large student groups in Paddy's gear brandishing beer and hugging boxes of snack cereal. A group of French guys were drinking a round of whiskey, their friend asleep on the table. A bored-looking bartender came by and woke him up. We decided downstairs next to the music was best. I wished that I could contribute, but unfortunately pre-requisites in that particular setting actually include "being able to sing."
After returning to my place to make a more-or-less traditional meal of colcannon and sausage, my friends and I decided that we wanted to go out. Turns out that clubbing in unicorn leggings was so fun on Friday night that I was really bummed when the bars all kicked us out around 2:30...all weekend, I couldn't stop thinking: Wymana still has moves to bust. Paddy's Day we did not find dancing until late. We did, however, in our search hit a few more heritage pubs. The Holy Cow, the Bodega, the Crane Lane, and finally ended our evening in the Bailey. The Crane Lane looks like a theatre-converted bar. Packed with people, cool atmosphere, excellent music, no dancing. The Bailey's a go-to for the dancing when we can't find anywhere else. Twas fun. However, I think Americans party harder on St Patrick's. Which in a way makes sense: after the Great Famine hit and emigration really accelerated, New York had a larger Irish population than any city in Ireland. And St Patrick's has become a celebration of Irish heritage.
In sum, I expected St Patrick's to be crazy here. Definitely people were out in droves, hitting the pubs that afternoon. But the day itself wasn't crazy--people almost had more energy for the weekend festivities. The most surprising thing was probably the sheer number of couples snogging on the sidewalk...and how many students seemed energetic in archaeology the following morning.
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