Wow! Ireland is even better than I imagined it to be! I arrived just a couple days ago on my very first flight. The plane ride was absolutely glorious. I loved the seeing the clouds below me. I felt like I was floating over Antarctica because all that could be seen was vast, billowing, white mountains. Absolutely beautiful!
I arrived in Ireland early Thursday morning. I experienced the transportation system of Dublin, the buses. I have come to realize that they are never on time. In fact I never saw the Patton Flyer drive by the first time at the airport, so I had to catch it later on to make it to my next destination. However, I made it to mum Eileen, my host mother's mother, who graciously picked me up at the bus station and drove me to my new home.
I was able to unpack some of my things and get settled. Mum Eileen made me some tea and we just chatted and relaxed for most of the morning. She drove me down to the local convenient store called Tescos. I explored the store and noticed that many of the same brands were here as they are in the United States, just with different packaging. Some popular brands include Kelloggs and Nestle.
One little thing I did notice about the grocery store that I thought was interesting was the bagging system. You must pay for every plastic bag you use, which encourages the citizens to have cloth bags to help the environment. Such a wonderful idea! You also have to pay one Euro to use a buggy. The Euro is returned if you return the buggy. So interesting.
Anyways...I spent the rest of the day meeting with my new family. We had dinner together and just chatted about all the great things for me to do and see while in the country. Nola, my host mother, drove me around the area to show me where to walk to catch the bus and the Dart train. She has been very helpful through this whole experience thus far. And the three girls are just lovely! I am really going to enjoy my stay with the Lamberts.
After finally getting settled in with the family I decided to make a trip the following day out to my school, just to get an idea of the train and bus routes I would be taking everyday. I met up with Nick, who is also going to the same school: Powerscourt National School. We walked to the nearest Dart station and bought a pass to and from Bray. At the Bray station we got off and jumped on a bus out to Enniskerry. The bus dropped us off right in front of the school.
The school itself is very quaint and small. There are 65 students spread across three classrooms. I will be working in the junior and senior infant classroom, which is similar to kindergarten. I am looking forward to seeing how the classrooms operate with so many grade levels in each room.
After visiting in Enniskerry, Nick and I decided to meet up with another international student teacher from Indiana. She has been in Ireland for almost two weeks, so she was able to show us around town in Dalkey and Dun Laoghaire. We met in a local bookstore and walked around the shopping area searching for a mobile service station to get phones for our trip.
It was fun walking the along the cobblestone streets window shopping. The town is very close to the harbor, so after shopping for a bit, we walked along the harbor. Kathleen, the other student teacher, and I went for a walk down the pier to get a better view of the surrounding area. While out along the pier, the most beautiful rainbow appeared. It was probably the most vividly colored rainbow I have ever seen. Of course, I just had to take about a million pictures to capture this moment.
As we walked back to Dun Laoghaire to catch the bus, we arranged some plans for the weekend in Dublin. I must say that this trip is going to be extremely exciting. There is so much to do and see in the area. I came with very few plans as far as sightseeing and traveling, and am now having a hard time trying to cram everything in during my short stay. I can't wait for my next adventure!
These next pictures are for my students back at Blue Ridge Elementary. I was in the train station at Bray and found this lonely pigeon! I'll call him Nipper, in honor of our story, Wringer. I miss you all!
