Sharing the Culture

This morning I gave a presentation on Irish music to SLU. SLU is short for "Society for Learning Unlimited" which is a senior citizen's learning program that hosts speakers and professors for weekly "classes" on various subjects. Last year, before I left for Galway, they gave me a generous travel grant to go to Ireland. Well, today I got to repay them for their generosity by giving a short presentation. I went through the different types of music, the insturments played in Irish music, and wrapped it up with a short concert by Jake (the fiddler in my band, The Galway Hearts) and I.

It was really refreashing to play to people tha genuinely wanted to listen to us. Since the weather has been nice, we've been practicing outside on the quad, but we're not always accepted warmly by the campus. Don't get me wrong, there hasn't been any confrontations or anything like that, but Irish music just isn't everybody favorite. But today, playing for people that came there just to hear me speak about what I love most, to play the music that I obsess over was a wonderful feeling. It's just nice to be appreciated once in awhile. It's nice to feel like people are interesed in what you have to say.

Tomorrow, I travel up to Oregon, WI to give a talk about Irish archaeology to the Rock County Chamrock Club. I'm looking forward to that one too. It won't be as structured as this one. This morning I had a PowerPoint presentation and I was very organized. Tomorrow will be more like a chat. I mean, it's set at a pub. Score.