MO THEACH

My little house


The view westward towards the ocean.


The view eastward towards the mountains.


Sarah and Samantha


The Monaghan Sisters, Samantha and Amy.

Okay, it’s not 5 km from the main campus but it is 3 km, a far enough distance when you have to walk it morning and night (and sometimes twice at lunchtime!). Yesterday I got a ride from two lads who were in the shop. I couldn’t face the walk back home so I asked them for a ride. We used the car’s milometer to measure.
My house has been recently built – it has yet to be painted. It is in an area called An Droim Rua – The Red Ridge. I haven’t come across the ridge yet but there is a great deal of new development going on around us.
There are eight people in the house now, some of whom have been here for two weeks already. There is the couple, Joach (short for Joachim) and Anna. Joach is a crazy Swede with a fine singing voice. Last night he treated us to the national anthems of the US, Canada, Russia, and Sweden. He has also written a song that he is trying to get produced.
There are two sisters, Samantha and Amy, in the house sharing a room. They are from Monaghan and are both teachers. They are taking the language course as part of their teacher training. They are a little strange – they keep to themselves and even though they have a car they never offer to give rides to anyone.
Sarah is an interesting woman from Sligo who now lives in Toronto. She is doing the translation course so her Irish is very good and she is not hesitant about using it in the house.
The Scottish guy, Ray, is also very interesting. His parents were from Donegal but he grew up in Glasgow. He is a secondary teacher. He has very good Irish though with a pronounced Scottish accent.
Daithí is from Cambridge Massachusetts. He has been here before. He is an interesting character. He works for some emergency management agency in the state of Massachusetts. His Irish teacher from back home is in my class so he is always on his best behaviour though he never speaks Irish.