Things our students accomplished today, in a form following Lisel Mueller’s terrific poem “Curriculum Vitae”:
1. Maintained morale despite overshooting Glasnevin Cemetery by about half a mile (uphill). Upside: we got to take directions from a very kind Irish man with a sweet German Shepherd.
Next stop: the suburbs!
2. Wrote and shared their very own autobiographical numbered catalog poems in the National Botanic Gardens. We’re not sure which was more generous–the personal sharing within the poems themselves or their attention to each others’ work.
Exploding the “classroom.”
3. Encountered an unprecedented variety of taxidermied creatures in the Natural History Museum (whoa).
Grrrr.
BUGS.
4. Compared the National Museum of Ireland’s “Kingship and Sacrifice” findings to Sam Keogh’s artistic interpretation of the Cashel Man in the aforementioned exhibit, Four Fold.
Cashel Man.
Four Fold.
5. Navigated yet another prix-fixe menu (what’s crab crème brûlée? Don’t ask).
6. Took in Wayne Jordan’s take on Sean O’Casey’s The Shadow of a Gunman at the historic Abbey Theatre from only five rows back, then discussed the play’s historical context, contemporary resonance, and nuances of performance in a community meeting worthy of Fresh Air.
Patrick: “Stop smiling. Nobody smile.”
We’re really settling into our corner of the city, and the best is still ahead.
– Veronica & Patrick