Hello again from the land of Ireland!
I can hardly believe that I only have a week left and have to leave next Thursday! My leave will be bittersweet because I am not happy about leaving all the new friends I have met here at school as well as my wonderful family, but I will be excited to get back home to my family and graduation three days upon my arrival! I have had such a wonderful time here in Ireland and I think six weeks is a great amount of time to experience the culture in another country!
This past weekend, Ericka and I once again went to the city center of Dublin to explore! We actually went on Friday night so we would be able to walk around and see the beautiful Christmas lights around the town! On Saturday and Sunday, I pretty much relaxed at home due to the fact that the weekend before I had been on a paddywagon tour and then I plan on going on another paddywagon tour this coming weekend, so I decided to relax and rest throughout Saturday and Sunday. However, on Sunday I went to church with my family and got to hear my irish sister sing, O Holy Night, during the service!
My Irish family is beginning to listen to Christmas carols nearly every night! I have noticed that the christmas carols here are the same as the ones in America, but some of them have different melodies and tunes. I thought it was pretty awesome though that the songs contain the same lyrics. As I have been around Dublin and walked around my neighborhood, it is clear to see that Christmas is near! Lights are being put up everywhere and christmas carols are heard in various restaurants and attractions!
Over the past week at Rathdown Junior School, I got the opportunity to substitute the P2 class for an entire day of school due to the P2 teacher being absent. The students were very well behaved for me and I felt like we were very productive in getting things done. It was an exciting experience for me because it was the first time I had been teaching in a classroom by myself because I had been used to having at least the assistant teacher back in the US during my student teaching. I felt like we had a very successful day!
Also, Rathdown Junior School has taken two field trips over the past week and Grace and I were able to attend the field trips as well free of charge! The first field trip was a pantomime at the Gaiety Theatre in the city centre of Dublin. I had never been to a pantomime before, so it was such a spelendid experience for me. It reminded me of a broadway play that would be shown in New York City. The pantomime was called Jack and the Beanstalk, but it incorporated several fairy tale stories into one show. It was very entertaining and it was neat to see how they incorporated pop songs into the show so that the kids would truly enjoy the performance. What a special treat it was!
Grace and I actually got to spend the day in Dublin after attending the patomime, Jack and the Beanstalk. We took a very long walk to Phoenix Park, which is Dublin's biggest park. It is a very relaxing place to walk and contains lots of beautiful scenery such as the President's house! We also were able to attend a choralsong service at St. Patrick's Cathedral as well. There were only six of us at the service, so the pastor allowed us to sit in the back rows of the choir pews while attending the service. It was such a special experience that I will never forget! The choir did an amazing job and the cathedral was absolutely gorgious inside!
The second field trip took place at the RDS Ice Skating rink! I hadn't been ice skating for quite a while, so it was harder than I remembered it would be! However, it was such a great bonding experience with the students because they would want to hold my hands while skating around the rink. The girls were very well behaved and ended up having a grand time as well as myself! I also enjoyed skating because there were christmas carols being played during our skating session! What a wonderful time we had!
One thing I am really noticing now that I didn't notice as much before is how this trip has really helped me to step out of my comfort zone. I am encouraged now to travel to more places and not let fear get in the way! This trip has also allowed me to see the differences between America and Ireland in various ways! I am just very shocked how many similarities Ireland has with America and also how I feel that everyone in Ireland loves Americans! I have felt very welcomed here and I would love to come back in the near future!
The pictures above represent three pictures from my ice skating experience at the RDS skating rink! I was able to take several pictures of the girls throughout our time together!
Bye Bye for now until next week!
Cheers!(which means thank you here in Ireland)
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