My first week in Ireland has been amazing. I originally thought that I was going to have a nice time, but I have been having the best time of my life. My journey began on Sunday, November 1st, on a Delta flight from Atlanta, Georgia to Dublin, Ireland. Once acquiring my window seat, a lady sat down right next to me, who happened to be Irish. I hardly obtained any sleep because I was too interested in getting to know her, as well as learn about Ireland. She was amazing company on the flight over and she shared the same mutual feelings about me.
On Monday, November 2nd, I discovered Shankill, Ireland, my new home. I love Shankill because the town is quaint and pretty, the people are unbelievably friendly, and Heather lives down the street. In fact, I sometimes feel like I have two families, instead of just one, because Heather’s family is friends with my family. And, both Heather’s and my family are warm, inviting, and hospitable.
My main goal for my first week in Ireland was to familiarize myself with my surroundings. Mrs. McBain has been nice enough to drive me to school in the morning each day. However, it took me all week to figure out the Dublin bus schedule, in order to get home from school. Since Irish signs are a little hard to pronounce, I relied on landmarks, which really helped me navigate around Shankill. One of the landmarks is the Shankill Catholic Church, which is where the bus drops me off. Another important landmark is the Garda “Police” station that is located near the neighborhood. Also, there is a wooden fence that wraps around the corner of the street that I live on.
This week was also my first week at the Johnstown Boys National School. My first day of school was on Tuesday, November 3rd. I have been working with Mrs. Cruise’s 3rd class (3rd grade), which has twenty-two boys. Being a secondary educator, I was not used to working with the primary students. I worked all week on getting to know the school, the faculty and staff, the students, and adapting to Mrs. Cruise’s class schedule. Mr. Cadogan is a wonderfully kind principal. He told me that he would like me to work with other teachers from different grades, in order to get the full experience.
My first weekend in Ireland, I went to Dublin with Heather and Alicia (a student from Iowa). We decided to go to Dublin for just the day, which was Saturday. We had such a wonderful time exploring the city’s secrets, and mingling with the locals. It was a truly magical experience.
Unfortunately, I am having some difficulty with transferring photos from my digital camera to my computer. Hopefully, I should have my pictures posted within the next couple of days, depending on the problem.