I have said goodbye to my three friends and we've gone our separate ways. I won't be home tonight until after midnight, which is five a.m. Ireland time, which is another nearly 24-hour day. But one of the nicest things about leaving is getting home, no?
We had such a good time on the trip. Laughing at all kinds of things--at one gas station, the woman behind the counter asked me if Clinton was going to pull it off, and I launched into this diatribe about why she shouldn't, in an Irish brogue, no less! The others keep teasing me about how easily I lapse into whatever I hear, but I think it's the music. Or I'm a natural mimic, something like that.
We were telling the man on the shuttle bus this morning about the inebriated fellow who wouldn't leave us alone at Durty Nellies'. He said, "Och, and he was chancin' his arm," and at that point I had to ask for a translation. I think Linda said it best when she said, "He was offering you his arm, and you didn't take it."
Och, no tanks. (And that's not a typo. For some reason the Irish drop the "h" in things like "Thursday" and "three" and stick an "h" in in names like Sinead and Seamus.)
In any case, I'm happy to be home and it'll take me a couple of days to recoup. And before I know it, I'm heading off to San Jose to teach at the Mt. Hermon Writer's conference--and that's a fun time. I'll be homesick for me office this month!
Thanks for coming along. And now, I think I'll find a corner to take a nap . . .
~~Angie
wow, mt hermon time again - oh how the years go by !
ReplyDeleteWelcome back.
ReplyDeleteAye, it sounds like the lass will be needing a pint of strong coffee for a few days!
ReplyDeleteWelcome back! Glad you had a great time. Sounds like you are keeping your luggage busy.
I tend to pick up accents, inflections and such very easily, too. I worry that people will think I'm mocking them...
ReplyDeleteSomeone told me that it's because of my empathetic nature. That sounds good. I'm definitely not mocking.
Do you know any other languages, Angie? This "ability" of mine has made me wonder if I would be a quick study in learning a language.
I do speak a little Spanish, Kay--my vocabulary is limited, but I have a great accent. :-)
ReplyDeleteFor me, it's all about hearing the different sounds, then just imitating them. I hear which consonants are hard stopped, which are aspirated, which are rolled, and I can make the same sounds. I think other people don't hear those subtle differences.
Plus, languages have a lilt and a cadence, and if you can sing the same "tune," you're halfway home.
Angie
what I want to know is do your dogs leap on you for joy when you get home and if they do, how do you survive the homecoming?
ReplyDeleteMy dogs don't leap. They wag enthusiastically and cover me from waist to foot in drool trails. :-)
ReplyDeleteAngie