Once again I spent too much of the time enjoying myself to take many photos, but here are a few.
No offense, some people like it others do not, but the only thing that cept me sane in agusta was the “Foxes Lair”. No it is not a strip club.
It looks lovely, but what happened at Augusta?
Flute related obviously. Please tell me.
Augusta](http://www.augustaheritage.com/irish.html%22%3EAugusta) Irish Week
Not having any instructors locally, I’ve been searching places to visit for vacation and to learn. Originally I was just going to Augusta this year since I hadn’t been there before, but fate favored me and I was able to attend Irish Arts Week in East Durham also.
Fate was not so kind when getting ready for Augusta, as I caught a pretty nasty cold the day before I was supposed to leave. So instead of packing and getting ready, I spent most of it dozing on my girlfriend’s couch. Lentil soup is great when you don’t feel so hot. 
Luckily since I had just been to East Durham my stuff was mostly packed, I just had to throw together some clean clothes. Still, it was a hasty run to the airport that morning.
Nelson was kind enough to give me a ride from the airport to the campus, thanks again!
A small screwup worked in my favor as they assigned myself and another fellow to the a room with one bed. He seemed like a nice enough guy but that dorm room bed was a bit too small to share. So back down the hill with my bags to get another room and this time got a room by myself, which suited me just fine.
Attended the orientation and then crashed. NyQuil is your friend. The next morning I felt almost human, but it’s a bit of a pain to try to play the flute with a runny nose.
Louise Mulcahy (from the Mulcahy](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00004WK9I/002-1639767-0168044?v=glance%22%3EMulcahy) Family) taught flute for the week, classes met morning and afternoon. She’s a teacher back in Ireland, both regular school and music, so she’s good at organizing and getting information across. She’s young, early twenties, so I don’t know how much someone who has been playing for thirty years would get our of her class, but as I’ve only been playing for 2-3 years it was great for me.
The rest of the week was class, session, food, drink, session, concert, session, drink, repeat. I felt fully human by tuesday so while I missed the sunday sessions my week wasn’t ruined. I also met some fine folks and got to trade bodhran jokes with Jackie Daly one night at the campus bar, which was very cool.
I would say it doesn’t compare favorably to East Durham in one respect, there’s only the one small campus bar. In East Durham at night there are 6-7 sessions going on around town, some intermediate, some full out, and some just to listen to the big folks play. At Augusta there’s a small bar and a few porches where folks gather, not quite the overwhelming experience that East Durham is. But I still had a great time.
Thanks. I recognize some of the players
in the picture, from Bloomington IN.