Student Night Out

Folks,

This week, I had a lovely night out with my students, we were able to follow the Ryder Cup coverage from Ireland, and we've been having a few power cuts during storms.

Night out
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One of my classes suggested that we go out on Wednesday night. I rarely socialise with students, and I immediately thought that it would be a great way to practice Spanish. So we went to a bar called Cunningham's (sounds Irish, but it isn't) in a suburb of Heredia called San Pablo. We had good food and drink, and a bilingual chat. They said that my Spanish isn't as bad as I'd said and, as usual, it improved with the beer.

One of the students said that he felt like a real Irish man having meat and potatoes as his meal.

The bar was playing a DVD of a Bon Jovi concert from London. It really reminded me of the beautiful evening light, which you never get here. I tried to point it out to my students, but they didn't really get what I was talking about.

The Ryder Cup
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We get some of the US network stations during the day, but not during prime time. So I was able to watch the NBC coverage of the Ryder Cup. It was interesting to see it from the American perspective. They were extremely complimentary about the Irish organisation and the fans.

They found the weather hilarious. "And now it's a real downpour. But here if you stick around for a few minutes there'll be sun. There's no such thing as a forecast around here." Although I have to say that the beautiful evening light did make an appearance on the final day.

When they went to ad breaks, there would be some sort of Bord Fáilte clip showing tourist Dublin or other parts of the country. St. Patrick's Cathedral or the Wicklow Coast. One clip showed the Luas in various locations around Dublin. "Well," said the commentator, "they sure have some pretty buses in Dublin."

Power Cuts
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I think we're inclined to take our electricity supply for granted in Ireland. I have had power cuts in many countries when I've travelled, including in Australia and the US. We're in storm season now, so they're becoming more common here. It's one of the problems I had when I was teaching with English Horizons on the internet.

It surprises Students that I've hardly ever had experience of power cuts at home. I remember some during strikes when I was a kid. But since I bought my house 19 years ago I don't think I can remember a time when I lost electricity.

We've had a couple of cuts in the past week. They rarely last for more than half an hour, but you don't know when it's going to come back. The other night I woke up in the early hours to hear the TV blaring in Spanish. It had been on standby, and started up full blast again after a power cut.
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Well, that's it for another week. My sister Clara arrives some time this week, I'm still not sure when! So hopefully we'll have a bit of travelling while she's here. So until next week.

Pura Vida,

Éamon

Sunday's headline from La Nación: Patients suffer torture in St. John of Gods