18 Days 'til Ireland...8 Days 'til Irish Fest!

So yeah, there's 18 days until I leave for Ireland, but more pressing is the fact that Milwaukee's Irish Fest begins in 8 days! For those of you who don't know, Milwaukee's Irish Fest is the largest celebration of Irish music and culture in the world. Can you imagine? Four days of singing, dancing, storytelling, drinking all in celebration of the Irish! I look forward to Irish Fest more than anything else. I've established a nice tradition with my friend Becca. The deal is, I get to stay at her house in Milwaukee (saves me from driving to and from Madison every day), and in return, I serve up chub to her family and be generally Irish the entire weekend. It works out well, and her family is so wonderful to be around!

Last year I performed with The Shinigans at Irish Fest as well as the Shamrock Club. This year, however, I will only be playing with my pipe band. The Shinigans are still performing, and I highly recommend seeing them. They will be at the Harp Stage on Saturday at 6:30, the Castle Garden Stage on Sunday at 2:00, and again on Sunday at the Harp Stage at 5:30. Seriously, these guys are an amazing collection of musicians and put on a great show.

The Shamrock Club Pipes will be in the parade every day, but our stage performance is on Sunday at 11:30 at the Crossroads. The parades are on Friday at 6:45, Saturday at 4:30, and Sunday at 4:00. The parade stretches across the entire park and you can't miss it.

Some other groups I recommend are Baal Tine, Ce, Cherish the Ladies, Leahy (this one for sure!), Rising Gael, Scythian, and Tossers. Also, Gaelic Storm will be performing (as they always do). Seeing as how everybody in the entire park is there for GS's show, I don't feel the need to mention going to see them. But I do feel the need to suggest that inbetween Gaelic Storm's sets, you turn towards the Hibernian's pub (the big balcony in the back, righthand corner of the area). I'm not going to promise drunken bagpiping by yours truely, but there will be drunken bagpiping by yours truely.

Anyways, I hope you can make it to Irish Fest. It is by far the greatest time of the year and...dare I say it?...probably better than St. Patrick's Day!

20 days to go!

So I have 20 days until I leave for the island. And yet, I still don't think the whole weight of it all has hit me yet. Don't get me wrong, I'm freaking out big time, but it's hard to wrap my mind around it. Four months in a foreign country, away from my family and friends, basically on my own. Actaully, scratch that last part. I have my friend Amanda coming with me. Thank God, too. I'm counting on her to keep me sane, and luckily we're both on the same plane, so we can get lost together.

But still, this is definitely a defining moment in my life. I hear people talk about their study abroad experience and how it was the best thing they've ever done, and I don't doubt it, but I'm still nervous. I know I will love it, but I am scared out of my skull. I supposed that's only normal, though.

Oh, another thing. Right now my biggest fear is money. The other day, I received a letter from NUI saying that we can expect about €700 per month living expenses. That's almost $1000! How crazy is that?!? I don't have that much money. Either I need to be as frugal as a Scotsman this fall, or work illegally in Ireland. That latter wouldn't be so bad, actually... maybe I could work in a charming local pub, or perform on the streets for beer money. Ah well, we'll see how it all works out. Either way, it is going to be one helluva trip.