homestay weekend in kerry

butler, the program through which i came here to cork, sent us all out on a homestay weekend in castleisland, kerry, where we were placed with a "real" irish family to better understand the irish culture.

during the few days they sent us to limerick for our orientation, they did a lot of preemptive explanation as to what to expect during our homestay. they were telling us these things to clear up misunderstandings that might occur, in such a way that i might do as if we were to go for a month or more. more to the point, though, is that as these "situations" came up in conversation, i found myself thinking, "oh, we do that...." "yup, familiar...." "oh is that where that came from?!"

for example, tea. they were talking about how they would offer tea at every 20 minutes, and even after the denial of the offer, it was to come eventually. the game that is played between host and guest was also spoken of, where tea is denied the first two or three times, but then accepted. both parties know that tea will eventually be on the agenda, but first they dance around the subject.

sound familiar?

and then, i went to mass, and the first thing they did was list off the people who have passed within the county and anyone any of the congregation knew who had passed. and we wonder where this "when i'm gone..." culture comes from.

while i enjoyed the weekend, it served more to enlighten what aspects of our family life come from this place more than to help me "understand the irish culture."