I've been holding my breath the last few weeks as we waited to learn whether MCC's Study Abroad Ireland Program would make. I found out Thursday from SAI's director, Barry Vaughan, that we have fifteen paid participants. That's enough for us to offer the program. I'll be teaching The Irish Storytelling Tradition, Barry will be teaching Irish Religion, and our colleague Bob Farwell will be teaching Digital Photography. This will be my fifth year teaching in the program, and it’s been a great privilege.
One of the reason’s I’m especially excited to return this summer is that I’ll be taking part in the second annual Three Rivers Storytelling Festival. I’ve had a part in pulling it together, but the bulk of the work has been done by Athlone storyteller, Danielle Allison. We started the festival to increase storytelling in the Midlands, and also because I wanted my students to hear as many Irish storytellers as possible. I’ll write more about our featured tellers in a later post.
I’m planning my wardrobe, thinking about who I’ll see, and where I’ll tell. I’m anticipating 60 degree weather in June, glasses of Guinness, and glorious gardens. I love the very different lifestyle that I have while I’m there – only the clothing, technology, and coffee accessories most essential to maintain life! I do miss Mark and my cats, but Mark will be coming near the end of June for a couple of weeks.
Mark took the picture of me at the top last summer as we were getting our rental car.
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