While sketching beside the Quay last Wednesday during my drawing class, I was approached by two children, a brother and a sister, named Donna and Thomas. The girl was older (going on 13, as she put it) and the boy was 10. The girl came up first, curious about what I was doing. She seemed quiet and shy at first, but not so much as to prevent her from asking what I was up to. I explained that I was drawing some buildings, and the boy, after observing my friendly response, seemed to decide it was safe to join his sister. We chatted for a while - I asked them if they were finished with school, which they were. The girl asked what America was like - I didn’t exactly know what to tell her, so I assured her things were nice there but that I loved Ireland just as much. Then they stood for a while and watched me draw, chatting casually until the end of class grew near and we were gathering up to go back to campus. I walked away with a little more bounce in my step - a symptom I often seem to develop after conversing with the Irish. After I began to dwell on the encounter, I picked up on some cultural differences that stood out to me.
Firstly, their parents weren’t hovering over them. I imagined they must have been waiting for the bus (I was drawing just in front of a bus stop), but I never noticed them. Instead of calling to their children not to bother us (as I imagine most American parents would have done, they stayed in the background, allowing their children to talk to us while they kept a watchful eye. It seems such a small thing, really, but to me, it just reinforced the friendliness and openness of the Irish people.
Such encounters have colored my experience here in Ireland - while the scenery is beautiful and the ancient ruins are fascinating, meeting the people is what has stuck with me. Unlike in the States, where I feel like I have to look a certain way or act a certain way in order to be accepted by people, the Irish seem much more apt to see you for what’s inside than what’s out. This is especially true in pubs, where people are more interested in good conversation than anything else. I have found myself able to open up more, able to carry on conversation more easily, and as a result, I’ve seen my self-confidence increase dramatically. There’s a certain sense of brotherhood and togetherness when you’re sitting in a pub with a pint, tapping your foot to live trad even if you don’t know all the words. Sitting in a pub in Galway over the weekend, I remember looking around at one point and getting the sense, probably for the first time, that I was part of a group that could not be qualified by any common trait beside our humanity.
I hope that with this new outlook that the Irish have given me on my fellow humans will continue once I return home. I know I will miss the fellowship that I’ve found here, but I plan to enjoy it and make the most of it while I’m here.
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