April 2nd: After departing Nashville (BNA) at 2:20 PM on April 1st then landing in Newark for an hour layover, Ronnye Jo and I landed in Dublin around 7 AM on April 2nd. Louise already had organized for a taxi driver to pick us up from the airport to drop us off at the Dublin Heuston train station, which was so kind of her since it made it very easy for us to get to the train station from the airport. When we got to the train station, we had a little over 4 hours to chill since we could not get a train to Westport any sooner. We got some breakfast in a cafe in the train station and sat in there for the full time since it was so cold sitting in the main area of the train station. We honestly had a little mental breakdown from the lack of sleep and from processing that we were in a new country, haha. I feel like we hadn't had time to really mentally prepare for this since we had been so busy with finishing student teaching before leaving for Ireland. While we were in the cafe, these pigeons kept flying in and out of the cafe trying to get leftover food. RoJo and I were freaking out when they flew by because we are not a big fan of birds when they are up close... The workers apparently weren't either because they kept trying to shoo them out of the cafe. After sitting for a long time, we finally boarded our train, and we were more than ready to have a more comfortable seat and actually be able to rest since our plane ride was pretty difficult to sleep on, and the train station was not exactly a good place to sleep. Ronnye Jo and I both fell asleep for most of the train ride, which lasted about 3.5 hours. I facetimed by cousin and my mom on the ride, which was nice! Louise picked us up from the train station with her dog, Freya! Louise is so nice and helpful. I realized when I got to Ireland that I did not have the right outlet adapter. I had brought one for European outlets, but their's is different here. Louise bought me a new adapter for my time here, which was so sweet! We dropped off our luggage at the B&B, and then she drove us around town to show us what everything looks like. She then took us to the beach to take Freya on a walk. The beach was so beautiful with the ocean and mountains! I think I will really like it here. After this, we came back to the B&B and showered while Louise made us dinner. We ate a ceasar salad and chatted with Louise. Then, she helped us get our bus tickets for our trip tomorrow to the Dingle Peninsula. I am so excited, but I am also a little worried since we are relying on public transportation, and the bus website is very difficult to work with. It would not let me purchase any tickets online, so Louise had to buy our first bus ticket from Westport to Galway. Hopefully, we can easily purchase tickets at the bus station tomorrow once we get to Galway. I am a little nervous for this trip but hoping we get everything worked out! We have our bed and breakfasts booked for our two nights in Dingle, so that is good!
Plane ride from Newark to Dublin!
Peanut M&Ms = necessities
Beautiful sunrise as we fly over Ireland!
Arrived in Dublin, yay!
RoJo skipping because we made it to the Dublin Heuston train station!
Made it to the bed and breakfast! Hey neighbor!
Louise took us for a walk on the beach!
April 3rd-4th: We woke up at 5:30 AM to get ready since our bus left Westport at about 6:15 AM. We got on that bus, which headed to Galway and took about an hour and a half. Then, we had almost an hour to wait for our next bus from Galway to Limerick. Luckily, the Galway bus station had a Starbuck's, so we ordered some coffee there and also ordered our next bus ticket through Expressway, which was much easier to book than Bus Eireann. On our two-hour bus ride from Galway to Limerick, we were able to purchase our next bus ticket from Limerick to Tralee through Expressway. We tried to book our last ticket from Tralee to Dingle, but this was through Bus Eireann, so we could not get the website to work again. After arriving in Limerick, we quickly boarded our next bus from Limerick to Tralee, which was almost another 2 hour bus ride. When we got to Tralee, we only had about 15 minutes to try and buy our next bus ticket. We tried to ask a bus driver if we could buy one from him with our credit cards, but he said he wasn't able to do that. So, we tried going inside to buy a ticket, but the ticket machine there did not accept card either since their credit card machine was down. Yikes! We were panicking just a little bit! The driver told us we could go to the nearest ATM in a gas station, which was about a 5 minute walk. We walked very quickly there and found the ATM. I went ahead and got 50 euros, but this ended up taking almost $68 out of my bank account... so note to self: exchnage euros before you leave America to be safe and save more money! Ronnye Jo couldn't get her credit card to work in the ATM, so we rushed back to the station with my 50 euros and bought two return tickets from Tralee to Dingle for about 18 euros each. I was so worried we'd miss this bus, but we actually had about 5 minutes to spare! After about an hour bus ride, we finally made it to Dingle! 4 bus rides and 9 hours later... yay!! Transportation ended up costing us about $90 each for return tickets, but since we bought return tickets, our trip back to Westport on Friday hopefully will not be as stressful. Overall, our travel day was long and stressful a few times, but the views on the bus were so pretty, and the buses were pretty nice. We were able to nap and charge our phones on them.
Dingle is such a cute town with colorful shops and such beautiful views of the ocean and mountains. We went straight to Murphy's Bed and Breakfast and checked in. Our host was so nice and friendly. Our room was very nice and quaint. It had a full bed and a twin bed, and it was right in the center of the town shops and restaurants. RoJo and I laid down for about a little while and then walked to some restaurants to check out their menu for dinner. We were really hungry since we had only snacked throughout the day because of our tight bus schedule. We ended up going to Harrington's Restaurant. I had chicken goujons, which are chicken fingers (I know, I know... I'm picky but am working on it), and chips, and RoJo had fish and chips. It was all very good, and the dessert at the table next to us looked amazing! After this, we just walked around some of the shops and walked along the pier. It all is so beautiful and perfect! I got ice cream from Murphy's, which was delicious! We also met a family from Dublin who were very friendly. They were traveling since it is their Easter break. We then went back to the B&B and ended up falling asleep around 7:30, haha. We were so tired. We woke up around 9 PM because we had talked about going to one of the Irish pubs to listen to the Irish music, but we were so tired, so we stayed in and facetimed family. Then, we went to bed for the night.
The next morning (April 4th), we slept in until about 8:45. Then, we checked out of our Bed and Breakfast and walked to Harrington's for a quick breakfast before our Sea Safari. I had a chocolate muffin, and RoJo got coffee. My chocolate muffin came with ice cream, which I was not expecting, but it made for a very sweet and yummy breakfast. We got to the Dingle Sea Safari at about 9:30 to get ready for our tour. They let us keep our backpacks in their store, which was so kind since we were not able to check into our new B&B until about 3 PM that day. We had to book a different B&B since we decided closer to our trip that we wanted to stay a second night there instead of going to Killarney. The sea safari lasted about two hours long, and it was AMAZING! It was really one of the coolest, most beautiful things I'd ever experienced. RoJo and I both loved it, although we did feel a little sea sick towards the end of it. We were very lucky because all the afternoon tours this day and over the weekend were cancelled due to the high wind warnings. On our safari, we saw seals, puffins, and dolphins! It was awesome! I highly recommend doing this safari to anyone going to Dingle Peninsula! After this, we went to Bean Coffee and got lattes. We sat and chatted as we waited for our Bed and Breakfast check-in time. We looked at all of the pictures and videos we took on the safari. After this, we walked around a little more and looked in the shops, which were all so cute. They have great wool sweaters and socks in a lot of stores. Then, we checked into The Waterfront B&B, which was so cute! We had another small room with a twin bed and full bed, but we also had a view of the ocean! We hung out here for a little bit but then changed for an early dinner since we were hungry again! We went to James Long's for dinner, and I had a chicken sandwich on sourdough bread with fries, and Ronnye Jo had a burger and fries. We noticed here that it seems like the Irish servers are more reserved and are not as outgoing as American servers are. For example, in America, servers typically ask how you are and try to converse more, but here, they are more direct and just take your order and move on. After dinner, we walked around Dingle more, but we felt like we'd seen most of it, and since it was raining, we just wanted to head back to our B&B. It was only about 7 PM, but we really weren't sure what else to do, haha. Dingle is pretty small, so I think we saw all that we needed to. If we had put more thought into it, we may have stayed a night in Limerick or Tralee so that we could already start the long bus travel back to Westport. However, it was nice to stay another night here and just get in early, relax, and facetime family. We ended up walking to the SuperValu for RoJo to get a few snacks. It was raining outside, but we still had a fun time on our walk. Overall, I highly recommend going to Dingle! It is such a cute and quaint town with such pretty sights. If we had more time, I would have loved to go to the Dunquin Pier, but we at least got to see this from our safari ride.
Lots of pretty views from the bus rides
Us after making it back in time to catch the bus from Tralee to Dingle!
April 5th: We spent most of the day traveling back to Westport. We left Dingle at 7:15 AM and got back to Westport around 4:55 PM. It was another long day, but we were able to spend about an hour in Galway and got lunch from a cafe there. I ate a ceasar salad, which was really good. RoJo and I ate outside of a cafe by the town center. Then, we headed back to the bus station, singing Galway Girl by Ed Sheeran :). We had a ticket emailed to us from our previous travels on Wednesday from Westport to Galway, but due to issues with the website and since Louise bought these for us, we did not have an exact ticket for our travels from Galway to Westport. We were a little worried about this but still hopefult that it would be fine since they should have been able to search for the MAC number in their system. Well... we were wrong. The bus driver was nice but was saying that we should have had a printed ticket for this bus ride that our bus driver gave us for our outbound ticket, but that driver did not print anything for us, so all I had was the original email. We were so nervous she was going to tell us we had to buy another one and wait for the next bus, but thankfully, she just said "go find a seat". Thank goodness! We might have cried if we had to wait for the next bus. We were so ready to get back to Westport after our long day. We got back around 5 PM, and Louise picked us up. She took us to the grocery store since she needed to pick up a few things. We walked around and checked out a euro store, which reminded me of the Dollar Store in America. Then, we came back to the B&B to drop our things off, meet and pick up Cassie, and then headed to Westport House to park and walk into town. Louise walked us around town to help us get more familiar with the layout. Then, we drove to the Quay, which is the bay area, so that Freya could run around. The views here are just gorgeous with Croagh Patrick in the background! We came back to the B&B, and Louise made us pizza, fries, and garlic bread for dinner. Yum! It was so tasty, and we have plenty of leftovers for the weekend! Then, I just went to my room and called my parents before going to bed.
April 6th: Today, I slept in until about 11:30 AM, which I did not mean to do, but I definitely needed it! RoJo, Cassie, and I decided to go into town in the afternoon. We walked around to the different shops. There are so many great shopping options, and I ended up buying a couple gifts for my sisters' birthday coming up in April. We went to Krém where Rojo and Cassie got coffee, and I got some gelato. The gelato was some of the best ice cream I have ever had! I got cookies and cream, and it tasted like homemade ice cream. After spending most of our afternoon in town, we went back to the B&B to drop off our bags since we bought things and brought our backpacks to work on our travel sites. We ate leftovers here at the B&B, so I had more pizza and fries. Then, we decided to go to the Porter House for traditional Irish music since one of the worker's at a bookstore told us we had to do this when in Westport! This was SO much fun!! The music was amazing, and we even met a sweet couple from England and talked with them. They surprised each of us with a pint of Guinness. I think that may have been my first and last Guinness, haha. I would prefer my usual diet coke over that one :)
April 7th: We had a very chill Sunday and slept in despite mine and RoJo's plans to try a church out here. We will plan on trying that next weekend! It took me a while to go to sleep last night, probably since I slept in late yesterday morning, and then I stayed up late talking to family and friends. It's hard for me to go to bed at a good time here when I know my friends and family are still wide awake as they are 6 hours behind us. Today, I watched my church from home online and worked on my Google site some. RoJo and I were feeling a little homesick, so we decided to go on a walk. We saw this gravel drive that led to apartments and a neighborhood close to the B&B, and we wondered if it had pretty views, so we decided to walk down it. I am so glad we did! We saw such pretty views of Croagh Patrick and the grasslands. We just kept taking pictures of the view! Then, I turned around and saw a rainbow! It was so perfect and just gave us so much peace. We walked into town to the SuperValu and got a few things for lunch tomorrow. Then, we walked back to the B&B. I looked out of my window while on Facetime with my mom and noticed a double rainbow! It was beautiful!!
April 8th: Today is my first day in the schools! I have loved it so far! Louise dropped Cassie and I off here this morning. I am on my break right now. I am placed at Westport ETNS, which is a primary school here in Westport. It's right down the road from our B&B, so I can literally walk there in about 5 minutes, which is so nice! It is in a temporary school building since it has only been around for about four years. Because it is a national school, it is funded by the state, and catholicism is not taught, which is different from most Irish schools. Here is a website that describes these Educate Together schools and what their purpose is. It was a great first day. I mainly stayed with the 1st and 2nd class, which is like out 2nd and 3rd graders, but I also rotated to the 3rd and 4th class, which is like our 4th and 5th grade. The school is split into three classrooms: junior & senior infants (kindergarten and 1st grade), 1st and 2nd class (2nd and 3rd grade), and 3rd and 4th class (4th and 5th grade). I sat with and helped a couple students who struggle academically. Their school days seem much more relaxed than the states. School only lasts from 8:30 AM to 2:10 PM. Overall, it was a great first day! I am excited to go back tomorrow. After school, Cassie and I walked home. I changed and started filling out the rest of my website. Then, RoJo and I went on a walk to the Quay. The views here are so beautiful! We had a chilly, but good walk. We came back and met our chef, Amy, and she asked what kinds of foods we like so that she has a good idea of what to buy from the store. I ended up having an interview right after this, so I had to eat dinner late, but my interview went well :). After this, I just chilled in my room and talked to my parents on the phone. We had burgers and chips for dinner. I'm excited for another day at school tomorrow!
April 9th: Today was another great day at school! I mostly stayed in the 1st and 2nd class again, which is like our 2nd and 3rd grade. Here is a breakdown of their day:
Silent reading for a few minutes as they come in and get unpacked and settled
Small group time where they are able to have share time or answer one of their teacher's "would you rather?" questions. I got to participate in their circle and share with everyone.
Number facts workbooks that review addition and subtraction facts - I got to check these today. It is very similar to what is taught in America, but I feel like their math questions make them think more deeply and make more connections with the math they are doing
Irish: This was so interesting to listen to. It was difficult to understand what they were saying, but the teacher uses pictures or motions that helped me have a better idea of what they were learning. Today, they were having conversations about types of clothing and furniture. They also played the game "Simon Says" but in Irish, which was very fun to watch.
10 minute break outside in "the yard", which is actually just a gated area in a parking lot with different toys and equipment. All classes have their break at the same time, so students are able to play with other children who are different ages since there is such a small number of them at the school compared to the states.
Mathematics: Students learned about their currency, so depending on their grade level, they were focusing on ways to make a certain dollar amount with euros, or they were just learning the amounts of the euro bills and the euro coins.
Literacy circles: students in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th class all rotate in groups of about 6 students to different reading centers. They are grouped by ability level. I sat and observed the teacher I've been with this week lead a read-aloud with a book based on the group's ability level.
Lunch: Students eat at their desks in the room.
After lunch, I went to the 3rd and 4th class (4th and 5th graders) to help some students who struggle academically or with English to help them with their geography workbooks over Ireland's provinces and counties.
Then, I went back to the 1st and 2nd class to watch them do a science activity outside where they wrote down three different objects and discussed each one's properties and material with their group members.
Clean-up & dismissal: Students did their classroom jobs, packed up and lined up, and walked outside to be picked up by their parent at 2:10 PM. A few stay after school and wait for their parents to get off work.
After school, I walked bacl to the B&B with Cassie and waited for RoJo to get home. It was such a pretty day, so we walked to a coffee shop. Cassie tried to walk to The Creel, but it was surprisingly closed, so then we all walked to This Must Be The Place for coffee. We got our coffee order and were planning on staying to write in our blog, but this coffee shop closed at 4 PM, which was just a few minutes after we got our coffee. A lot of shops and cafes seem to close early here. Then, we just walked around and drank our coffee. We walked by Westport House to get home, which is such a pretty trail. Amy is making chicken fajitas for us tonight as I type this. It smells so good!
Coffee at This Must Be the Place right before it closed for the day :/
On our walk back to the B&B by the Westport House - so pretty!
April 10th: It's been raining off and on all day today, which made it a bit more difficult to get up this morning. Louise dropped Cassie and I off at school since it was raining. I got to school and welcomed the kids as they arrived. Things seem much more laid back here. Students get there at 8:30 AM, but some arrive a few minutes late and still just walk into class without checking into the office. The teachers have a physical bell that they ring at 8:30 to get students' attention before telling them to line up with their class in front of their classroom door outside. Our schedule today was very similar to yesterday's, except the 1st and 2nd class had art this afternoon where a guest came in to lead this class to them. I went to help out in the 3rd and 4th class during this time. They were working on making tessellations by tracing shapes and making patterns with them on their paper as they have been learning about different shapes in math class. I helped one student by tracing some of the shapes he wanted and then helped him color them. This was very fun, and I loved seeing students' creations with their shapes. Then, I went back to the 1st and 2nd class and saw them finish their reading class. They also had Irish class where they acted out skits in Irish, and this was so fun and neat to observe! At the end of school, I worked with the EAL group, which stands for English as an Additional Language. I helped students finish some of their EAL workbook that covers various vocabulary in English that is used in daily life while the teacher tested an EAL student. I played Jenga with a couple students for the last few minutes of school, and then, students were dismissed. Cassie and I walked back to the B&B, and I layed down for a bit. Then, our chef had our dinner ready for us, which was Bangers and Mash. This is apparently a classic Irish meal, and it was good! After this, Cassie, RoJo, and I sat in the living room and watched Irish Wish, a new Netflix film that was actually filmed some in Westport. It was so neat to see different spots in town in the film that we have walked past several times already! Later, RoJo and I started snacking on popcorn and then had the craving of a diet coke, so RoJo ran to the Centra to get us some sodas to eat with our popcorn. Then, we watched Dear John and just hung out in the living room! It was so fun and reminded us of being at home!
April 11th: Today was a great day at school! I stayed with the 1st and 2nd class for the morning, so I participated in their small group circle where we rated our feelings, I graded their number facts workbook pages where they did some addition and subtraction problems, and I observed their Irish lesson and helped a student fill out his workbook during this. During break, I ate part of my lunch since it was only 10 minutes and only around 10 AM. Then, I went to help in the 3rd and 4th class with their math lesson. I helped an EAL student with her multiplication and division problems since this was a bit difficult for her. I also stayed in there for geography to work with a small group on their workbook pages on the lakes, rivers, and mountain ranges in Ireland. This was very interesting, and it was nice to get to work with some of the students more. Then, we had our second break, which is about 30 minutes long, so Cassie and I split this in half and we both get a 15 minute break inside while the other stays outside with a couple other teachers to monitor the students playing. I finihsed my lunch during this time and chatted with the prinicipal and teachers about differences between Ireland and the U.S. and/or Kentucky, which is so interesting to discuss! We were talking about how many of them had travelled outside of Ireland many times, and how in America, that seems more rare since there is a lot to see in the U.S. and because traveling abroad is very expensive. After the break, I stayed with the 3rd and 4th class for geography to work with a small group on their workbook pages on the lakes, rivers, and mountain ranges in Ireland. At the end of the day, I went to work with the EAL students with another teacher where we talked about nature vocabulary. She said this unit is not as interesting as some of the other vocabulary units, so we decided to take them outside to try and find various examples of some of their vocabulary words, like leaves, tree, branch, stump, berries, roots, flowers, etc. We pointed out these examples outside and just walked around in nature. I told her how I had done an art activity when I was younger where we put a leaf under our paper and shaded over the leaf with a crayon, and she also had done this before, so we decided to have the students do this as well. They loved it! Students then packed up and headed home from school. Cassie and I walked back to the B&B and waited for RoJo to get home from school. Her and I went on a walk and decided to go into town. We stopped at Krém, and I got cookies and cream ice cream again, which was just as good this time! RoJo got an iced latte. We were looking around in some shops, but then we heard that dinner was ready, so we walked quickly back to the B&B. Amy made us lasagna with garlic toast and chips, and it was all so good. Amy is awesome! After this, we chatted with Louise some and then went to watch Monte Carlo in the living room while we worked on our travel logs. It's been a really good day!
April 12th: On Friday, I stayed with the 1st/2nd class and 3rd/4th class again. These two classes began the day with show and tell altogether. They had a more chill day since it was a Friday and because the 1st/2nd class teacher was not there. Cassie and I had more opportunities to help out because of this. I got to work with a small group on geography. I also walked over with all the 1st/2nd class students to the pool in the hotel leisure center next door because they will begin swim lessons there next week. Irish primary schools have students complete swim lessons once a week for about six to eight weeks, which I believe is a great idea! After school Friday, Cassie, RoJo, and I walked down to the Creel to get coffee because we heard great things about this place. It was pretty good, and their pastries and sweets looked delicious as well! We walked around the Quay and some of the shops. I found a really cute children's book about Westport that I want to buy for my classroom. After this, RoJo and I walked some more near our B&B area. We came across these benches on a grassy hill that overlooked the bay and Croagh Patrick. We were able to just sit and enjoy the view for a little bit before heading back for dinner. Amy made us broccoli and chicken pasta and garlic bread, which was SO good! It was delicious, and I was so full. She also baked us brownies and cookies. After this, RoJo and I learned the correct way to Cotton Eye Joe in case we were ever asked for an American performance, gotta stay prepared! We Cotton-Eye-Joe'd for quite a while, and let me tell you... it is a workout! A little bit later, we went to the Porter House for some music. We tried going to Matt Malloy's, but we did not hear any music being played there, so we stuck to Porter House. We were able to sit at a table since it wasn't as crowded. We got home around 10 PM, and RoJo and I watched Safe Haven before going to bed. Lovely day!
April 13th-14th: We had a fun weekend in Westport. On Saturday, I slept in until about 9:45 AM and then got ready to go to brunch. RoJo and I went to Servd, which was so cute inside, and the food was great! I got the maple bacon pancakes, which were really good! We walked around town for a little while, which was very crowded because of the race going on in Westport. We walked into some shops we hadn't been to yet, and of course, we had to stop at Krem for ice cream. I sampled some other flavors today, but I just had to stick with my usual order there of cookies and cream - TOO GOOD! If you come to Westport, you have to try it! RoJo got some kind of gelato coffee where she poured her coffee over her sea salted caramel gelato in a fancy glass (which was very funny to watch as it did not go as aesthetically as we had hoped), but she said it was delicious. Westport is just lovely! We made our way back to the B&B by walking on thee Westport House path. This was the first time we had walked by it with the gates actually being open, so we were able to walk more closely to the house, which was very pretty, and it was so sunny out! However, this all changed on the walk home. We were walking over the bridge roadway to the Westport House and almost to Quay Road when it started raining pretty hard. RoJo and I were drenched as it continued raining until we were almost back to the B&B, haha. I wasn't wearing my rain jacket either, but at this point, I feel like I'm pretty used to the rain. And, rain and all, Westport is still so beautiful and so fun. We got back and chilled for a little bit, and then Louise told us we should go into town tonight for some "good craic" (which is what the call "fun" here) since it would be very busy will all the runners from the race. It definitely was busy in town, but we did not stay long at all. I think we went too early because most of the pubs were still serving dinner and were not playing music yet. The Porter House did have music, so we stayed here for a little bit and listened, but it was so crowded inside that it was hard to move around, and there were no open tables to sit at. We decided to go watch the sunset at the Quay, which is more up my alley, haha. It was so pretty! RoJo and I walked around a little bit, and then we went to Centra to get some snacks for our movie night. We have been loving the Irish Netflix!
On Sunday, we had a pretty chill morning and afternoon. I again slept in and then got up to eat some breakfast. I read my Bible and journaled some about my time here since I forgot to do that this week. Then, Louise's parents, Bridgette and Joe took us on a trip to Connemara, which is a national park. We drove through the mountains, and despite the rain, it was so beautiful! There were sheep everywhere and mountain views the whole time. We stopped at Aasleagh Falls for a picture of us with our WKU International student teaching red towels. Then, we drove around more and stopped at Kylemore Abbey, which is a beautiful castle. We got there close to closing, so we did not have too long to tour all of it, but we made the most of it and still were able to see all of the pretty sights. We got to see their garden, which was so green and had some flowers blooming. Then, we toured the castle. It was so neat to hear about the history of the castle and how it once was a boarding school. We also walked to the beautiful church by the castle. It was such a lovely place, and if I ever owned a castle, I would want it to overlook the water and the mountains as well! After our time here, we went to Leenane Hotel for dinner with Bridgette and Joe. I got the fish and chips, and it was very tasty. This restaurant was very pretty and inside an old hotel in Connemara. The bread they served us was delicious! We had a great time with Louise's parents, and it was so nice of them to take us here. We got home around 8 PM, so I showered and then made my lunch for tomorrow. Then, RoJo and I watched some TV and then went to bed. It was a great weekend! I can't believe we are at the halfway point of our time here :(
April 15th: Today, I got to work a lot more with the 1st/2nd class since their teacher was out again due to a family matter. Students had silent reading, circle time, number facts, Irish, mindfulness moment, small break, mathematics, reading, large break, phonics/grammar, and then clean up & pack up time. The day goes by pretty quickly and doesn't feel as long as it does in my KY placements, but that likely because school here is over an hour shorter, and they do not have as long of breaks like the planning period in KY schools. Teachers here must eat their lunch in one of the break periods. The first one is 10 minutes, and the second one is 30 minutes, but they also typically have to rotate yard duty to watch students play outside during this time, so lunch is pretty rushed. I got to lead the morning routine before a teacher was able to come fill in in our class, so I led circle time where we each shared about our weekend, and I also led number facts and checked their work as they finished. Later in the day, I led a small group on homophones. I am really enjoying this placement and getting to know these students. They are so fun and bright! After school, I tried to walk to the Creel to work on my blog there, but it was unfortunately closed for maintenance. I was really bummed because the walk was very cold and windy. Today looked like it would be sunny outside, and while it occasionally was, it also poured some, and the wind was very strong. I came back to the B&B and watched Gossip Girl with Cassie until dinner was ready. Amy made us steak sandwiches on toasted break with chips, and it was very good! She also made us eclair treats, which was so funny because I had just been talking about how I loved eclair cake to Cassie and RoJo. After dinner, RoJo and I walked into town to get some ice cream to celebrate the fact that we will both be teaching at the same school next year! Hooray!! We are so excited! It has been a great day!
April 16th: Today's school schedule was very similar to yesterday's. The teacher I am usually with will be out through tomorrow, so I got to help out and lead a little more than usual, which was fun. Today, we had literacy circles, which are like our reading centers. I got to lead the station that my teacher normally leads, so I read different leveled books depending on the group that rotated to me as they are ability based. Today in Irish, students played "Simon Says" in Irish, which was very fun to watch. I also helped students with Irish geography as we wrote the different provinces and the counties in each one. I checked their number facts problems in the morning. I had a great day at school! After school, we waited for RoJo to get home. While we waited, I worked on my reel for WKU Global since I earned a scholarship from them, and my service project for it is a social media post. Once RoJo got home, we all walked into town to get coffee and to just walk around. Cassie got hot chocolate that looked pretty good from Marlene's Chocolate Haven, and RoJo and I got coffee at O'Cees. We all sat and drank our drinks together and just chatted. We had a fun time in town and then walked back to the B&B. Amy made us Ceasar salads for dinner, which were very good, of course - she is a great cook and is very accommodating for what we like! After dinner, RoJo and I walked to watch the sunset. It was pretty cloudy, but there were still pretty views of the sky changing color some over the bay and mountains. Then, we came back and watched the beginning of a movie before going to bed.
April 17th: On Wednesday, I again got to help out more at school since my teacher was still out and because we had no sub. Our schedule was still very similar to our past days since the teacher of the 3rd and 4th class helped out a lot and combined her class with our for various parts of the day. We had an art teacher come, which was so fun. Students learned about some famous artists and saw their work. Then, they made artwork based off of the artist Fred Tomaselli, whom they learned about. I helped a student with his artwork, which was a lot of fun. I also worked in small groups throughout the day with 1st class on their math problems where they were working with adding and subtracting given word problems. After school, I came home and chilled until dinner. Amy made us loaded bake potatoes, and these were so delicious! After dinner, RoJo and I walked a lot by the Quay and some along the greenway trail. Then, we went and watched the sunset at the Quay - it was beautiful! We are realizing how quickly time is going here and are trying to soak it all up.
April 18th: Today was a great day at school! We were back to our normal routine since my teacher was back. I pulled one student aside to work with him on math since he was struggling to understand the concept of counting money and calculating the change one would receive when purchasing an item that costs less that the amount of money they gave the clerk. I am hoping to teach a lesson on teh KY Derby next week if there is time to do so! A really fun thing from today is that I got to go to students' swim lesson. The 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th class all attend swim lessons at the hotel's leisure center next door to the school. I love that they offer this to students. Parents pay a small fee, but it is still much cheaper and very convenient that students are learning to swim while they are in school. This will be one day a week for about 6 weeks. It was so sweet to see students cheering on their classmates and also to see them so happy when they did something well that the swim instructor asked them to do. The instructor was great with them and made each child feel special and proud no matter their swimming experience. It was great to see. After school, Cassie and I rode with Louise to pick RoJo up at Murrisk and then walked on Bertra Beach altogether. This was such a pretty walk since it was sunny with blue skies. I loved it! We came home to dinner already made. Amy made us baked macaroni and cheese and garlic bread - very tasty! After dinner, RoJo and I walked to Krem to get ice cream. I tried mint chocolate chip tonight. It was great! I still love the cookies and cream too much to branch out though. Overall, it was a great day! I'm about to go pack for the weekend since RoJo and I have a train to Dublin tomorrow after school as we will be spending Friday and Saturday night there since her parents are coming in! We will be traveling with them for the weekend, and then, my family will be here next week! I am so excited!
April 19th-21st (Friday - Sunday): I had a great day at school on Friday with teh 1st and 2nd class. We did Forest bathing outside where we spent time in nature. We laid down in the grass and just talked about what we felt and saw. Then, students made bird nests with different findings in the nature. This was so neat to see, and I loved seeing students' creativity and watching them enjoy the nature around them. I also got to hear them sing in Irish, which was so neat. I could not tell what they were saying, but they did a great job! I worked with students in small groups in math. After school, Ronnye Jo and I left for Dublin to meet her parents! We took the train from Westport to Dublin. We got to Dublin around 8 PM and had to take the Dublin Express bus from Heuston Station to the airport. Then, we got a taxi from the airport to the hotel. Our hotel was in Swords since this is here her parents were staying, so we thought it would be easier and cheaper to get a taxi from the airport rather than from the train station as this was much further away from the hotel. We got to the hotel around 9:30 PM. It was beautiful and located on a golf course. We checked into our room and cracked up when we saw a baby crib in the room. We had asked for a "cot" earlier in the week so that I could sleep on this once her parents arrived to the hotel early Saturday morning, but apparently, a "cot" in Ireland means a crub, haha! We had a laugh about this with the receptionist.
Saturday morning, we slept in and then went to breakfast with RoJo's parents the hotel. It was a lovely breakfast! Then, we headed into Dublin, and we started at Phoenix Park. This was such a pretty park with beautiful flowers and scenery. The zoo is also very close, and so was the president's house! From here, we walked towards the shops and restaurants in Dublin. It was about 2 miles away, but it was a nice, scenic walk that we enjoyed. We had a great day of exploring around town, shopping, and eating! We headed back to the hotel after dinner and then ended up going to a tavern with her parents. We had a great time listening to the live music!
On Sunday, we woke up and had breakfast at the hotel. Then, we headed towards the Western coast or Ireland. We stopped at her parents' hotel room in Ennis so that they could drop off their luggage. Then, we headed to the Cliffs of Moher. It cost 10 euros for students' admission. We parked and walked up to the Cliffs. Wow! It was so pretty! I am so glad I got to go here, and I now feel content with everything I have done in Ireland. It was beautiful, and we had time to just sit and enjoy the view, which was so nice. RoJo and i sat on the cliffs for a while and just took it all in. Walking up the Cliffs was a nice little hike! We definitely got our steps in here! Afterwards, her parents started their drive to Westport to drop us off here for the night. However, it was pretty late for them to be driving since they had about 2.5 hours to Westport and then another 2 hours back to Ennis, so Louise kindly let them stay the night at out B&B! We got back to the B&B around 10:30 PM since we stopped and ate dinner in a restaurant outside of Galway. We had a great weekend, and I am so thankful they let me tag along! I had so much fun!
April 22nd: Today is Monday, and I had a pretty normal day at school! I helped out around the classroom today with some tasks my teacher asked me to do, like putting up some student work on the wall and designing a poster to display the work, which was fun. We had share time this morning where all of us shared about our weekends. I love hearing the students share what they did. A lot spent time outside since the weather was so lovely and finally sunny for both Saturday and Sunday! Then, I checked students' number facts mathematics workbooks on addition and subtraction. I worked some with students one-on-one and with small groups. During break, I chatted with the teachers about Kentucky and the Derby, which was fun to answer their questions. None of them had really heard of cities in Kentucky, but they all have heard of Nashville and thought it was neat that I live about an hour away from there. After school, Cassie and I walked home and talked with Amy for a bit. She was about to head to the grocery and was asking for groceries we needed. Then, RoJo and I walked to the Creel. I got a powdered sugar brownie, which was so yummy! Then, we walked to Westport House and just laid in the grass for a while. This was so nice since the sunshine was out. I have been getting a lot more freckles here, which I did not expect! We stayed here until dinner was just about ready and then walked back. Amy made us cheeseburgers and chips. After dinner, I sat and caught up on this travel site while watching Gossip Girl with Cassie. Then, RoJo and I went to see the sunset. I also facetimed my parents since they are now in Ireland! They landed in Dublin while I was in school and have been exploring around there today. I am SO excited to see my family tomorrow. This experience has flown by, but it also feels like a long time since I was last in Kentucky.
April 23rd: Today was an awesome day at school! It went by pretty quickly. We had our normal Tuesday routine. I worked with 2nd class in mathematics where we did a hands-on activity as they learned about capacity using water and different containers to figure out how much of a container of water would fit into another container. Students really enjoyed this, and we made estimations before beginning the activity. After mathematics, students did Irish, and I listened to them practice their new vocabulary while I sorted letters from my American students that my Irish students would be reading and responding to later in the day and week. We also had literacy circles today, and I stayed in the "free writing" station where students had choices on what they could write using the wall art/poster I made for them yesterday. I sat and monitored this station but also asked students questions about what they were writing or gave them ideas on how they could build on from this. We had lunch outside, which was very fun. I chatted with some of the girls in the class I am in about Kentucky and the United States. Then, in the afternoon, they read their letters from my Kentucky students and discussed how to write a letter while sharing ideas on how they can respond. Students wrote their rough drafts, and I walked around to help. Students LOVED this, and it made me so happy to see how excited they were to have a pen pal from another country. I cannot wait to give these to my students in Kentucky when I come back. After school, I quickly went home and changed as I was tracking my family and saw that they would be here soon. I then walked to the Westport Woods Hotel to meet them since this was an easy place to park that was close to me! It was such a sweet time reuniting with them! This experience has flown by, but I also feel like I haven't been at home or seen my family in a very long time, so I was definitely excited! We walked around the Quay, Westport House, and then drove to town to find a place for dinner. We ate at Covey's, and it was very nice! I loved having all my family with me. Then, we walked to Krem, and my whole family tried cookies and cream. They loved it as well. After that, they dropped me and RoJo back off at the B&B, and we just hung around and chatted with Louise. My family is staying in a small town nearby, so they left to get checked into their Air B&B, but I will see them tomorrow and Thursday, yay! It was a lovely day!
April 24th: Today was another great day. At school, students continued writing their letters to my American students. There are about 65 letters from my American students since two of my classes wrote them, but there are only about 25 students total from 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th class, so some students have had to write two letters. I also tried to have a few students write one letter to two people who I knew were friends or sat near each other. Otherwise, this activity would have taken multiple days to complete. I am so glad my teachers here let me do this. The students seemed to enjoy it as much as I did, and I know my KY students will be so, so excited to have a letter written to them from an Irish student. Other than this, we had our normal day, but since the 3rd/4th class teacher was not at school, I mainly stayed with these students in the 1st/2nd class and helped them with the letters or with their other work. In math, students still focused on capacity. 1st/2nd class had art today, and then at the end of the day, they played dodgeball with 3rd/4th class for P.E. The adults got to jump in and play all the kids at the end, which was so fun! Also, during break time, a few students were playing "salon", so they did my hair and put flowers in it. It was so relaxing, it could have put me to sleep! After school, I went back to the B&B and changed really quickly. Then, I walked into town to meet my family. We just walked around more and shopped. My sisters, dad, and uncle rented bikes and biked around the greenway some, but I stayed with my mom and aunt. We got some ice cream at Krem and walked around some more. I got peanut butter chocolate chip at Krem, and it was so yummy! Then, the rest of my family finished biking and met us back in town. We ate at The West for dinner, and it was delicious!! I got the chicken burger, which was a fried chicken sandwich, and it was the best chicken sandwich I've ever had. My family also loved their food. After this, we went to Gino's for gelato (yes, I got ice cream two different times today... it's my last week here, so I'm going to enjoy it!) It was my first time trying this place, but it was very good. I got mint chocolate chip. After this, we went to Porter House because I wanted my family to hear the live music. My sisters tried a pint of gat, and we all just sat and enjoyed the cozy pub atmosphere with some nice music. Then, my parents dropped me off at the B&B on their way back to their rental house. RoJo, Cassie, and I walked down to the Quay to see the sunset, and it was a perfect one!! So colorful and pretty! It was a great day, as always!
Playing "salon" at break time!
April 25th: Today at school, we had our normal Thursday routine. During our circle time, we each shared a happy memory, which was sweet to hear the students share something memorable from their lifetime. They continued finishing up their letters if they were not already done, but I think there are a few still need to finish their's tomorrow. They are learning new content in Irish about animals and insects. In mathematics, I worked with one student on his workbook where he had to think of different examples of things that would less than, about equal to, or greater than a liter since they are still working on capacity. We also had swimming this afternoon, so Cassie and I split it in half so that we could both go. I love watching them at these lessons! It is so sweet to see them so supportive of their classmates and to see them proud of themselves as some are really stepping out of their comfort zones to do this! After school, I went back to the B&B and changed. I worked some on the presentation over Kentucky that I will be giving tomorrow since it is my last day. My family picked me up in town for dinner. We ate at The Towers, and it was good! We had such pretty views of the bay and Croagh Patrick. After dinner, we drove into town and got ice cream. In case you couldn't tell, I (and all my family members) love ice cream. Then, I decided to stay the night with my family in Louisburgh, and they will just drop me off at school in the morning on their way to Galway for the weekend. Right now, I am typing this in their cute, little rental house! It's so good to be back with them! We went and watched the sunset at the beach, which is very close to their house, and it was beautiful! It was quite windy and chilly though. But, it was nice to watch the sunset on the actual beach since I've mainly been watching it at the Quay. I can't believe tomorrow is my last day at school. My time here has flown by, especially these last two weeks! I feel like I am getting a lot closer to my students and feeling more and more comfortable with the teachers, so I'm very sad that my time here is already up. I couldn't recommend coming here more! It has been great.
April 26th: Today was my last day at school... it was so sad to leave! I loved the school and my time here. We had a fun day starting with show & tell where students brought one item to show and explain to the class. They were allowed to answer questions about their item as well. It was very fun to watch and helped me get to know them more. Students had English and maths. In English, they were talking about different competitions and answering questions about competitions they have competed in. I walked around to help students whil they completed this in their workbook. We also had forest bathing again, and this was so fun! Students were given clay and were told to make their own creature with the clay and with other pieces of nature, like rocks, leaves, grass, etc. I made a turtle with my clay. I stayed with a few students while making this in the forest, and it was fun to watch them make a creature out of clay and chat with them as we worked on it. Then, everyone in the class presented their creature. After forest bathing and break time, a few more students did show & tell, and then, I presented my slideshow over Kentucky. Students were very engaged and were asking questions or making connections throughout it! I just listed different facts about Kentucky and compared things to Ireland. At the end, I talked all about the Kentucky Derby, which a couple students loved since they are obsessed with horses. I showed videos of the Derby and different fun facts about it. At the end of my presentation, I had students design their own jockey silk, which they loved! Then, students turned in their letters to me for my Kentucky students if they had not already done so. Gráinne, the teacher I was with in 1st/2nd class, gave me a gift from the class, which was so sweet and thoughtful! Each student signed a handwritten card that they had all helped make, and they gave me chocolates from Ireland. I loved it! This was so kind, and I am going to miss them so much! I loved learning from them and wish I could have stayed longer. I had them all sign a children's book I bought in town that is about Westport. It is called The Watchman of Westport, and the illustrations are so good! I wanted it as a souvenir since it is specifically about Westport, and I want to put it in my own classroom. I got the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th class to sign it since I worked with them throughout my time here. I was so sad to leave and say goodbye to my students and the wonderful teachers at Westport ETNS. I hope I can come back and visit at some point! After school, Louise took all of us to Achill Island. We drove up to the top of a mountain to see the pretty views of the water. There were lots of sheep at the top. Then, we drove to Keem Beach, which is one of the top 20 prettiest beaches in the world, according to Lonely Planet, and I can't say that I disagree with them after seeing this today. It was SO beautiful! The drive there was gorgeous. After this, we drove by Kildavnet Castle on our way home. Amy had chicken fajitas ready for us for dinner when we got home, and of course, they were delicious! After dinner, we all just chilled and hung out. I can't believe my time here is almost up :( I will try to keep blogging the next couple days, but I have a feeling we will just be walking around Westport and getting our things packed up and ready. We leave very early Tuesday morning, so Monday is our last day here.