I'M HERE!!!!!

I am on Inis mor, sitting above a coffee bar at the internet cafe.Coming in on the ferry today the water was glittering turquoise. I stood on the back of the ferry and watched the port at Rossaveal disappear behind me, and as we approached I saw that long ridge of green, gray, browns, and creams.

The trip here barely seemed real. A flight, two buses, and the ferry. It all flew by.

I'm afraid for now my updates may be infrequent, because there seems to be no internet in the house I'm staying in, but will do my best to keep you updated as things progress.

Kyle arrives tomorrow evening. Did I mention how wonderful it will be to share this beautiful place with my beautiful man?

I'm off to get some sleep. A more coherent post to come in the next day or two.

On the Eve of my Aran Adventure

My dear J.M.,

It's been a long journey, from growing up (which, I'm realizing, is a constant process), to reading your plays, to discovering you. We both love theatre, we both write, we both grew up with similar fears and anxieties, similar health problems, similar spiritual ideals, and we were both looking for something - something like God, or love, or confidence. And I think you found it, whatever it was, on Aran. That's why I went to Aran last summer. I believed that you held the key to my happiness. You had laid it all out, in your books and your plays, and the answer to everything, I thought, was to go to Aran.

It was a strange and wonderful summer. Full of "varying moods of rapture and dismay," as you called it. And I did find that much of what you wrote about was still alive on Aran. And much of what you wrote about was long gone. Nevertheless, I began to find what I was looking for. Thanks to you.

Tomorrow I'm going back to Aran to keep looking.

This past week amidst travel plans and unexpected health issues, I've been doing a lot of reflecting. I thought about postponing the trip out of fear that something might happen, that I might get sick abroad. I wondered what was stronger - my fear about my body, or my rocket-fuel excitement to get back to the complex and beautiful place I love that has occupied a good portion of my thoughts for the past year.

I'm happy to report that love has conquered fear, my dear.

I think you would be proud of me, J.M. I'm looking forward to seeing you soon.

Yours,
Emily

Me at Black Fort, Inis Mor, Aran Islands, summer 2010

What Kidney Beans and the Aran Islands have in Common

I've been MIA this past week because I've been dealing with some unexpected health issues. As you can imagine, I had to deal with them ASAP so that they wouldn't interfere with my trip. Needless to say it's been a harrowing past few days (filled with many doctors visits and a day in the ER) and today I'm finally starting to feel better, so pray to whatever god(s) you pray to or do a rain dance or keep your fingers and toes crossed that I continue to feel better and can go on with my trip as planned. I will be monitoring my symptoms for the next few days, but my doctors have given me the go-ahead, so that is good news!

One of the things the doctors were tossing around was that I may have had a kidney stone. This was not good news, of course, but during all of this I realized that "Aran" comes from the Gaelic "ára" which means "kidney." The Aran Islands may be named this way because of the kidney-like shape of Inishmore, or referring to it as a long ridge, or the back of land. Luckily I do NOT have a kidney stone, but the irony was not lost on me.

Map of Inis mor. Note the kidney shape.

Kidney beans. Because why would I post a picture of actual kidneys?

Regardless, I take comfort in the fact that my dear J. M. Synge dealt with chronic health issues his entire life, and that didn't stop him from going to Aran...

So although I may go, I'll be coming home soon...

Travel Advice from Sesame Street. Yep.

Sitting on the roof of my apartment last night, looking up at the moon, I was suddenly hit with a memory of a song my parents used to sing to me when I was a little kid - "I'd Like to Visit the Moon" from Sesame Street.

I looked it up online. Sesame Street Wisdom - getting it right every time.

Ferries Galore! Aran and NYC

Circle Line Ferry Port, NYC

Yesterday, for our anniversary, Kyle took me on the Circle Line Cruise around Manhattan. It's a 3 hour ferry ride that circumambulates the entire island of Manhattan. I loved it! I learned so much about New York City that I didn't know: on the north side of Manhattan there's so much lush greenery! We went under 20 BRIDGES during the three hours. The East River isn't a real river, it was constructed for shipping purposes. And Manhattan didn't used to be an island - the river on the north was carved out, again for shipping.

Me on the Circle Line, gazing at the NJ Palisades

Of course, I couldn't stop comparing it in my mind to the journey on the Aran Islands ferry, which is much rockier, but also shorter (40 min). But both are crowded with tourists from all different countries. The views from the water of the land are different, to be sure...

Aran Islands Ferry, at port in Kilronan

Kilronan, from the Ferry

Downtown Manhattan from the ferry

So different, but beautiful in their own ways.

Synge's Holy Well

Holy well on Inis Mor

Synge's play "The Well of the Saints" is based on a story told to him on Inis mor about the holy well An Ceathrair Alainn, the Well of the Four Beautiful Persons. This well was known to cure blindness and epilepsy. Synge wrote down an old man's story:

A woman of Sligo had a son who was born blind, and one night she dreamed that she saw an island with a blessed well in it that could cure her son...Then she went out with the child and walked up to this well, and she kneeled down and began saying her prayers. Then she put her hand out for the water, and put it on his eyes, and the moment it touched him he called out: 'O mother, look at the pretty flowers!'

I wonder what Synge thought of this story. He was a staunch atheist, so I am inclined to believe he didn't go in for the story. But he had so many health problems, maybe he was attracted to the idea of a quick, magic fix.

Photo from DruidSynge's production of Well of the Saints

In the play, a blind husband and wife, Martin and Mary Doul (Doul means blind in Gaelic) go to the well to be cured of their blindness. They are both cured temporarily, but they realize that they are both very ugly - the townspeople had cruelly led them to believe they were the most beautiful people in Ireland. The play is a meditation on beauty (inner and outer), knowledge, and faith. It's one of my favorite Synge plays.

Last summer I visited this very well on Inis Mor, and performed the ritual of circling the well and placing the water on my eyes (I have a history of eye issues). The well water didn't cure me, and I wasn't expecting that it would, but I was curious about the ritual itself. Walking around the well was actually rather meditative, and I'd like to try it again this summer when I go.

Manhattanhenge and Celtic Mythology

Photo from Hayden Planetarium Website 

Last night at 8:17pm marked Manhattanhenge, the day of the year when the setting sun aligns perfectly with the New York City Street grid. Kyle and I went down to 57th street to see what it was all about. It was hard to see, and I think the clouds or the New Jersey skyline may have obstructed some of the view. But we saw the beginnings of Manhattanhenge at around 8:10, when the huge red sun was perfectly centered between the buildings at the end of 57th street.

In Celtic mythology, the sun is of utmost importance, and the setting sun in particular is seen as a gateway to the "Otherworld." That's why so many of the structures on Inis Mor such as the wedge tombs and Dun Aengus open westward - the sun's rays which shine from the west towards the east are meant to enter these structures and fill them with sacred light.

On days when the setting sun aligns perfectly with an ancient structure (such as the summer solstice at Stonehenge), it's believed that this was a particularly holy day during which some sort of rituals were performed to worship the gods.

I don't think New Yorkers performed any rituals during Manhattanhenge, except maybe to stand in the middle of the avenues when the stoplights turned red to admire the sunset and try to snap a few photos amidst the honking of cab drivers.

I am excited that I'll be in Inis Mor this summer during the summer solstice. I wonder what rituals or celebrations I'll see, if any, at the sacred monuments on Aran...