Post-Finals, Christmas Time

Well, I survived another season of finals. This one actually wasn't too bad. My assignments and exams were spaced out well; so, I didn't really need to stress too much. Still, it is great to have another semester behind me. Only one more to go and then I graduate. How exciting!

Now I am onto winter break, which, of course, means that I will have plenty of time to relax, read, strengthen my ankle, and, hopefully, to write my senior thesis. I have been working on gathering data for my thesis all last semester, and I think that I am finally ready to begin writing. The thesis itself is the capstone to my Religious Studies program, but it also deals quite a bit with Celtic Studies. I am arguing that, while many scholars render the Irish literary figure of Danu as an aquatic figure/goddess, in early Irish literature, Danu actually has more terrestrial than aquatic associations. 

I am actually really looking forward to writing this thesis. I get to interact with a variety of sources, such as writings of modern Celticists, Irish mythological texts, and even Sanskrit writings. I already know that it will be a lot of work to write and to put together most coherently, but I am excited to work on it.

In other news, my wonderful boyfriend got me an Amazon gift card for Christmas, which I used to buy myself the Teach Yourself Complete Gaelic as well as a nice vest for my Highland dance outfit. I am super excited about this.

I also finally found and bought a sporran.

My new sporran

It was a cheap buy, but it looks really nice. I am hoping that it can stand up to being slung about as I pas-de-basque to and fro.

Now all I need is a bowtie to complete my temporary dance outfit. Then I’ll be set for the show at the end of January!

Also, I have been on a Gaelg kick lately. For some reason, the Isle of Man excites me an unreasonable amount. I think it’s because the Isle of Man is so often forgotten or overlooked amongst the Gaelic nations that I feel a peculiar draw to it.

To help pacify my Gaelg kick, I bought Barrule Trio’s CD.

They are a Manx group, and a couple of their recordings are in Gaelg. The rest of the album consists of renditions of traditional Manx tunes, including Mylecharane’s March, which is has an amazing dance that goes along with it.

The CD is awesome. I really need to find more groups that do modern renditions of traditional Manx Gaelic songs. Perhaps that will be my New Year's resolution this year...

Blien vie noa dyt!

Bliain mhaith úr dhuit!

Bliadhna mhath ùr dhut!

Happy New Year!