April 3
I am very grateful that Garrett, my boyfriend, was able to join me in Ireland for the first two weeks. We board the plane from Louisville (SDF) for our flight to Newark (EWR). We arrived and had to walk very quickly to our next flight to Washington Dulles (IAD). Luckily we made it just in time, but unfortunately did not have enough time to grab any snacks, but that would be the least of our worries. We board the plane and are so excited as this the beginning of the six and a half hour plane to Dublin (DUB)! Our plane drives away from the terminal and we are so close to this new adventure, until the pilot announces we have to go back to the terminal because the wrong luggage was put onto the plane. This is all fine news because Garrett (who I may refer to as "G") and I would have had a two hour something layover. We had not realized that fixing the luggage would have ended up taking an extra one hour and a half hours to fix. By the time, we arrived to Washington, we had missed our flight by ten minutes. 40 other people missed their connections, as well. I was trying to stay positive, but boy, I was devastated. Garrett and I stood in line for 45 minutes to talk to the United Airline customer service, who would then tell us we would be on the next flight to Dublin, 24 hours later. We just lost a whole day. We were quite annoyed because this just took a day away from his original 10 day trip to him only having 9 days now. By the time we got to the hotel by Uber, we were grumpy and quite hungry. It was past midnight and we had not eaten since 2:00pm. We DoorDashed McDonald's chicken nuggets and French fries because it was the only thing open in the area. I can honestly say I have not eaten an entrée from McDonald's since I was ten-years-old and regret every bite I ate during this night. It was a rough day. Garrett and I went to bed, hoping to be more cheerful the next day.
April 4
Our flight was not until 10:15 that night. One thing Garrett and I had not considered was that we had to be checked out of our hotel room by 11:00 in the morning. Luckily, our checked luggage was at the airport so we did not have to worry about that, but we still had our backpacks, which we took with us on our walk around the town we were in. Not much was near us as we were near the airport. Garrett was excited that there was a Wawa only 2 miles away from our hotel so we decided to walk there. Neither of us have ever been to a Wawa gas station, but he had many things about it. G and I found some tasty deli food at this gas station and had a great experience because the manager gave it to us for free, since our airport vouchers did not work, when we were told otherwise. We had the whole day ahead of us and we were only 45 minutes away from the National Mall in Washington D.C. We looked up going to the Holocaust museum or even the Mall, but unfortunately the Uber's were too pricey on top of whatever expenses we might pay there. We have saved up money to spend during our Ireland trip and we were not ready for it to begin while in the states. So Garrett and I continued walking around the town, but it was very hot and we had walked a distance. After sitting on a curb for a bit, we decided to walk back to the hotel, since that is where we would catch a shuttle to the airport. We had about five hours until the shuttle, so we found a corner of the hotel to sit and we watched Prison Break on my iPad. To boost each others' moods, we liked to tell each other that at least this part of trip was something we would not forget about.
Finally, we were on the shuttle headed to the airport. I had so much anxiety about the plane not leaving or having some issue. Thankfully, there were no issues and Garrett and I were able to eat dinner at the airport using our vouchers. I slept most of the plane ride.
April 5
Garrett and I arrived in Dublin! Brian picked us up from the airport and drove us 30 minutes to the train station. He was such a kind soul and made many jokes with Garrett and I. He even walked us into train station and helped us purchase our tickets for the train that would take us to Westport, a three hour train ride. Once Brian left, we had almost two hours until our train. We ate breakfast and then sat on the train since it was at the station, just had not left, yet. Garrett was sleeping as we had been on the train for 45 minutes right before an announcement went off and I realized we were on the wrong train. We got off right before it left and then found out we had missed the train to Westport. The next train was in two hours. At this point, I may admit tears were rolling because this trip has already caused so much stress. Garrett and I went back to the restaurant that we ate breakfast at to sit down until the next train. This mistake was pain.
Tasha picked us up from the train station and drove us to the bed and breakfast. We met Louise, the bed and breakfast owner, as well as the coordinator of this trip. She has been so kind throughout this process and I was excited to meet her and her Irish setter mixed with poodle, Freya! Garrett and I were also greeted by Claire, Kaylee, Maddie, Morgan, Sarah M., and Sarah W., who are other students here to student teach from America. Claire and Kaylee are also from Western Kentucky University. The other four girls are from Miami University in Ohio. After we said our hellos, we all moved to the dinner table, where Henry, the chef, had prepared everyone with soup and lasagna.
Garrett and I were quick to shower after dinner. Although we both have had a long trip to get to Westport, with lots of emotion, we finally made it! Louise drove Henry, Garrett, and I to McGing's, a local bar. Garrett had his first Guinness from Ireland and I tried a Rockshore Cider, a drink from a local brewery. It was very tasty. After we left McGing's, we stopped at The Cottage, another bar which was on our way home. We had a drink here and Garrett got to watch a Premier League game. He was ecstatic as it was 9:00pm here and he has never been able to watch a game that late due to the time difference in America.
April 6
After Garrett and I ate cereal, we were ready to explore Westport! We walked throughout the town, stopping in many shops to look around. We walked into SuperValu, a grocery store, so I could explore all of the different foods and flavors they have compared to the United States. I would say looking at the foods in another country is one of my favorite things to do because it is interesting to me that our countries may sell the same brands, but in different flavors. After the grocery store, we were ready for lunch! Garrett wanted to find a place using Apple Maps, but I told him I rather just walk and stop at a place. We ended up finding Curry's Cake Angels. When we walked into the restaurant and asked for a table, we were told there was no empty seating. As we began to turn around, an older couple sitting at a table asked us to sit with them since they had two empty seats. This was one of our best decisions because we ended up talking to this couple for two and a half hours. They were extremely kind and made wonderful conversation. They asked us many questions about tornados as it was on their minds due to seeing the recent tornados that hit Kentucky. I remember their surname was Holland. They live about 45 minutes away from Westport, but were on holiday, what we call vacation. They offered to drive us to their town if we wanted to explore and then we would have to find our way back. We might have considered taking their offer if we did not have plans to go to London the next day. We will always remember having lunch with them.
Towards the end of the night, Louise took Freya, G, and I to the beach in Louisburgh. Louise's mother, Bridgette, drove Claire and Kaylee in her car. Freya went absolutely crazy once her leash was off and she could sprint around. At one point G was full on sprinting with her, which was fun to watch. We had the beach to ourselves and it was such a beautiful experience. We were there for about an hour and a half and got to look up at the stars before we left. We saw the Big and Little Dipper.
April 7
Half past 6 we were in the taxi driving to Knock Airport (NOC) for our flight to London! The drive was about an hour from Westport and we had to pay the taxi in cash. G and I are quickly learning that the most expensive part of this trip is the transportation. The taxi cost us 100 Euros, which made us a little sad, but it was the only way for us to get to the airport that early in the morning. As we check in for our flight, I find out that I made the dumbest mistake... I have finally realized that my head has been in too many places for this trip. I have been trying to figure out my graduation details, details for family members, dealing with insurance, dealing with subleasing my apartment, dealing with G's and my new lease for a townhouse all while being in Ireland. I was humbled in what I say next as I realized I need to slow down with my outside life and figure out my current life. So I bought a plane ticket from Knock to London, but not for April 7th. Instead, I had purchased the ticket for May 5th and did not realize until we were trying to check in. May 5th is my graduation date, but I had previously been looking to purchase a ticket for my brother to come to my graduation. I messed up, yet again. This trip has gotten a little frustrating with all of the transportation errors and it annoys me even more because I did not make these types of mistakes during my first trip to Europe. I truly believe I just have my head in too many places at the moment.
Anyways, Garrett and I were yet again annoyed at the world. We had a Tottenham Hotspur football game on the 8th, which is the reason for going to London. We needed to still find a way to get there somehow. We talked to customer service at the airport who talked us through different options, with no other London flight option for the weekend. We ended up purchasing a plane ticket to Liverpool because that would be our closest option to getting to London. Of course we had to wait three and a half hours at the airport until the plane took off. I felt very nauseous because of my ridiculous error. Through all of the tough situations we have been through so far on this trip, I do have to say I am grateful for Garrett. He gets annoyed at the world, similar to me, but never takes it out on me. Usually when I am giving up, he is the one finding the positives and vice versa.
We arrive in Liverpool and have to find a bus from the airport to the train station. The bus takes awhile to get there so G and I go to the Starbucks inside the airport and order food and drinks. The computer system shuts down as I am trying to pay and we end up getting our order for free. We do have to laugh because we have noticed that we have gotten food free right after a terrible travel situation two times so far. As we stand outside continuing to wait for the bus, we do see a yellow submarine sculpture, which was pretty cool as it relates to The Beatles. After we figure out our train situation, we have about an hour to grab lunch. We found an Italian Restaurant that served us phenomenal food. We get on the train and have five hours until we will be arriving in London. Apparently this trip only takes two and a half hours, but due to construction our trip is double the time. We finally make it to London! It is now 7:00pm and if we had actually taken the flight from Westport to London, we would have gotten to London by 10:15 in the morning. We cannot cry over spilled milk so we must continue on. As we begin walking out of the train station we discuss how we will have an Uber take us to our Airbnb and then we will wake up early in the morning to sight see before the game.
Just incase, I plug in Buckingham Palace to see how far it was from us at that moment. It was only 1.5 miles down so we decided that we would sight see that night and then figure out something to do the next morning. Garrett and I actually had a wonderful night and felt like we saw a lot of things within a couple of hours. We walked through Hyde Park and Duke of Wellington Square. We saw Buckingham Palace, the London Tower, and Big Ben. By the time it fell dark, we felt accomplished for our night in London. I was excited to see Buckingham Palace and wish I saw it with the King's Guards, but it was still pretty neat. Honestly, we did not love London as it was just a big city to us. We took an Uber to our Airbnb and got to pass the Tottenham Stadium, which was so exciting! After dropping off our backpacks, G and I walked to an Indian Restaurant and ate a delicious meal, sharing a bottle of wine.
April 8
It is gameday! G and I wake up and are ecstatic for this day! Garrett has been watching Tottenham since he was in elementary school. He is incredibly passionate about this team and the culture that comes with it. I think I was just as excited as he was because I knew how special it was to him. We put on our Tottenham jerseys and took an Uber to the stadium. We were able to drop our backpacks off at the stadium and then went and got chicken sandwiches to eat. Then we headed to The Bricklayers Arms, which was a bar that only allowed Tottenham fans in. We had a fun time enjoying the experience! After a couple drinks, we headed to the Spurs Shop and oh my goodness, they sold all forms of merchandise. G bought a quarter zip, two Tottenham mugs for his friends, and a matchday scarf. I purchased a Tottenham scarf for my friend Mayer at home.
Time to head into the stadium! We stopped at the concessions to get a drink because Beavertown X Spurs is brewed and sold exclusively within the stadium. The stadium also pours beer into the glasses from the bottom of the pint. G and I have been excited for this experience for so long. I do not drink beer so I did not have one of the Tottenham exclusive beers, but was just as happy because Garrett could enjoy it. We did learn that at the stadium, alcohol is not allowed in the stands. This was interesting because everyone had to finish their drinks before sitting down. When we found our seats, G sat next to a Tottenham fan from Findland. We enjoyed talking to him throughout the game. The game was incredible! Heung-min Son scored at the goal closest to us and I caught it on video! What an experience! Tottenham beat Brighton 2-1. Our seats were close to Brighton fans so we got to experience the true passion between opposing sides. What a day!
After getting our backpacks, we ordered an Uber and had them drop us off at the London Stansted Airport (STN) to catch our flight to Dublin (DUB). Other than having to pay extra for my large backpack, the trip went smoothly at least. We had another great Italian dinner. We had an Uber pick us up from the airport and drove us to our Airbnb. This was a nice Airbnb as it was a single room, but had everything including a washer/dryer machine. After taking showers and throwing some comfy clothes on, we walked to Centra, a convenience store, and bought three types of cookies and milk to enjoy at the place.
April 9
Today is our day to explore Dublin. After eating breakfast and getting ready for the day, we began walking. We walked around and saw Ireland's Bank, Trinity College, St. Patrick's Cathedral, City Hall and so many other churches. We ate lunch at a local pub and then headed to the Guinness Storehouse for our tour. This was a good tour, but we were a little disappointed. We felt that the tour should have focused a little more on the story of the company rather than the ingredients. Many of the ingredient facts were repeated throughout. We still had a great time though. I did taste Guinness during the tasting part where they had us take a big breath before drinking to enhance the flavor. I had a sip and gave mine to Garrett. At the top floor, we found the Gravity Bar. We each had a drink voucher as it was part of the tour. Garrett got a Guinness and I got a Rockshore Cider. This floor was pretty neat as it provided a 360 degree view of Dublin. Once we left the Storehouse, G and I ended up walking around Dublin for the next five hours. We walked into Aran Sweater Market and purchased souvenirs! I bought a real wool cardigan and G bought a wool sweater. The store even mailed our purchases so we did not have to worry about traveling with them. Afterwards we walked through Temple Bar and grabbed dinner. Our table was next to a German family and we had great conversations with them. The brown bread was the greatest bread that I have ever had, truly. We finished our night Cloud Nine Temple Bar and purchased cookies and cream gelato.
April 10
April 11
April 12
April 13
April 14
April 15
April 16
April 17: Day 1
Today was my first day of student teaching at Scoil Phadraig, a primary school! I will not be assigned one classroom during this placement, as the principal informed me that he wants me to have experience throughout multiple classrooms. The principal told me that there are 380 students, with 40 countries being represented. Until 1:25, I was in the senior infants class, which consisted of 27 students between the ages of 6 and 7-years old. 4 students are from Ukraine and I was able to download an app on my phone (Say Hi), in order to be able to speak with those students. One of the students from Ukraine grew very excited when she realized she could talk to me, so she decided to hang close to me throughout the day. One of the first things I noticed in the morning was the students had to pray in the beginning of the school day, as well as they will pray at the end. At this school, students wear uniforms and bring their own lunches, as their school as considered one of the richer schools in the district. During the day, the students played Simon Says in their Irish language and then afterwards, I got to lead Simon Says in English afterwards. My school day looked very similar to an American school day, besides the students had two yard breaks (outdoor recess), a free play in the classroom (consisting of card games, building blocks, and magnets), and Irish class where the students practiced their Irish language. I was super excited to meet a student with Down Syndrome and verbally nonverbal. I learned that Ireland has an Irish Sign Language, as well as a sign language called "Lamh," pronounced similar to the word "love." This sign language is used for people with disabilities in Ireland, which I found quite unique. After the students prayed their end of day prayer, they were released to be picked up by their parents. For my last hour of the day, I went to a 2nd year classroom, ages 8 to 9-years old. It was interesting to see that the beginning of their prayer started and ended in Gaelic, with English being spoken in-between.
April 18: Day 2
On the second day of school, I went to Mrs. McCreal's special education room. She gave me the schedule of all of her students and their week's plans. I stepped in for her for the rest of the day, which I kind of had not expected. It is nice that I am having the experience of being a special education teacher in Ireland, but I also would like to observe a class for an entire day in Ireland. I enjoyed getting to know all of the students and working with them. Unfortunately, I do not remember what Henry cooked for us, which makes me sad. Maddie, Morgan, Sam, Sarah S., and I walked to McGing's for a Rockshore Cider. Sarah and Morgan left afterwards, so the remaining three of us went to Matt Malloys for another pint. I was excited because there were two rooms with live bands playing music. The first room was playing Irish music, which made me so happy to finally hear live Irish music in Ireland. I listened to a couple of songs and then we headed to the back room to listen to the modern live pop music. We did not stay out too late, which I very much appreciated.
April 19: Day 3
On our way to school, Kaylee and I decided to stop at the gas station across the street so she could get a coffee. Once we got to the school, we sat in the teacher lounge until someone told us what they needed. Mrs. McGreal found us and told us we would work with her students until 9:30, which is when Kaylee and I had to go watch 6th year classes so their teachers could go to a meeting. I watched the class for a male teacher, who shortly realized through discussion that he had previously had a student teacher from 8-10 years ago. He even found his WKU red towel that he was given and handed it to me. The students were busy working so I really did not have the chance to talk to them much, besides when they asked questions about their work. The 6th year teacher came back at 10:45, which was when I left for “tea break” in the lounge. After the break, I picked up a student to work with in Mrs. McGreal’s room. Mrs. McGreal seems excited that I am a special education major that she can have cover her while she works on administration work. Luckily, the activities she asked me to do with the students are very similar activities to what I would use, while in America, such as how to teach reading interventions. I was happy that Mrs. McGreal came back into the room to work with a student who uses (love) to communicate with others. It was fun to watch the student and Mrs. McGreal work together because she was so animated with him and would have him sign with her. I joined them to sing and use bells with nursery rhymes. I picked up three students so they can work on their open art project. Kaylee joined us all after she finished her assignment. The students were quite talkative with Kaylee and I, which made our time very fun. We found out that one of the students actually shares a birthday with Kaylee! After school, Kaylee and I were walking home and decided to get a hot chocolate from the chocolate shop as we passed it. It was a great decision as it was quite tasty! Henry made us potato and lentil soup and then vegetarian stew afterwards. After dinner, most of the girls and I decided to walk to the market shop to get some snacks and wine for the night.
April 20: Day 4
Today is Kaylee’s birthday! We were excited for this day because Kaylee and I have been planning to get crepes on her birthday after school. The school day was pretty similar to my past few days. I did get to meet a student today for his movement break outside, which was quite fun. I took him outside for 20 minutes so he can run around and get some energy out. During lunch, Kaylee and I had the opportunity to watch a group of students play Irish music, which was so much fun and the kids played so well. Kaylee came to my classroom at the end of the day so she could hang with my social & emotional group for art. She was excited to see the student with her same birthday as they both were celebrating! The sweet birthday student even shared “Smarties,” with us. I put “Smarties” in quotation marks because they are not the American powdering smarties. In Ireland, Smarties are its own brand, similar to M&Ms. They were quite tasty and it was nice that the girl shared them with us. After school, Kaylee and I walked to Krem, the crepe shop, and order two “Feast Crepes,” which consisted of crumbled cookie, bananas, strawberries, hazelnut spread, and marshmallows. It was truly a delicious feast. When we got back to the house, I went outside to play Sudoku and a few of the girls from the house joined me to read. We were all minding our business until we heard a thud and noticed a bird had fallen from the sky and died. We all were a little concerned about what they could mean or why that happened. I felt bad for the bird.
For dinner, Henry made us pasta and garlic bread. This was possibly my favorite meal that he has cooked for us. After we ate, he served us chocolate cake and we sang Happy Birthday to Kaylee. As we waited for Louise to pick us up, we all played Phase 10. We only got through three rounds before it was time to watch the sun set. This sun set was important because it sets two times a year looking like it is rolling down Croagh Patrick, the mountain. It was truly an incredible experience to observe. After the sun fell past the mountain, Louise, Bridgette, and Tasha drove us to the beach to walk. It was a beautiful pink sky.
April 21: Day 5
When I got to school, I was preparing the classroom for my students’ activities today. As my first student and I were walking upstairs to the room, we ran into Mrs. McGreal who greeted us both with hot chocolate. Apparently Mrs. McGreal always brings hot chocolate to this student on Fridays and I got to participate with the tradition, too! After I dropped off my second student and was ready to pick up my next two students, I noticed the class was going outside to play. I talked to the teacher who said they would be back in ten minutes, so I came back in fifteen. This is one of the many differences in Irish schooling versus American schooling. At my primary school, the students receive at least two outdoor breaks throughout their school day. It is nice that teachers can also decide to randomly take the students out for breaks if they want. Students at my Irish school seem so much more engaged than in America because they have so much play time. After I worked with my two students, I went on to my “tea break,” and get to talk to Kaylee about how her day is going. For the next hour an half, I had to walk up and down a hallway, while keeping an eye on the four classrooms since their teachers were in a meeting. To finish up the day, I got to practice my Lumh sign language with a student. He had a tough session with his speech therapist, so during my time with him we just watched videos on the iPad, which is favorite thing to do. As Kaylee and I were walking home from school, we decided to stop at Lidl, which is a brother school to Aldi. We enjoyed walking around, looking at all of the products. I bought some cookies and yogurt. Once we left, we then chose to walk home using the “Green Way,” which is a beautiful path through the woods, in between water and near the Westport House.
Henry was out of town, but had lasagna prepared for us. We had to put it in the oven and then we were all set to eat. As the food was cooking, Morgan, Kaylee, Sam, and I played Phase 10. After dinner Claire, Maddie, Sam, Sarah W, Ruby, and I went to McGing's for a "pint". We played multiple card games and had a fun night. We ran into Sam and Ruby's principal who bought us a second round, which was very kind.
April 22
Today was another exciting day! Louise, Tasha, Bridgette & Joe drove all nine of us through Connemara for a day's trip. Our first stop was at Glen Keen Farm, the largest sheep farm in Ireland. We were greeted by three generations of border collies, Holly, Jill, and Phoebe. We then went inside for tea and coffee and Katherine, the owner, explained the history of her land to us. Then we put plastic covers over our shoes and started to walk her land to see the sheep. The first fenced in yard consisted of sheep, who have already been mothers. Holly and Jill showed us how they can herd the sheep, which was really fun to watch. Then we all walked through the yard of mothers and their young lambs. The next yard was the expecting mothers and then we saw an area for the sheep that require special attention. We passed a grave area in the sheep yard, which was a somber part of the day. After we got back to the shop, we were given more tea with fresh scones, which were so tasty!
We got back into the cars and drove to Doolough Valley, a beautiful viewing point of the mountains. Then, we drove and walked around the Aasleagh Falls, a pretty waterfall on the River Erriff. Next it was lunchtime at Kylemore Abbey. I ate a delicious vegetable and goat cheese quiche with a side of brown bread and Louise paid for everyone! Next to the restaurant, there was a shop that we all went into. I bought my mom and I Claddagh necklaces. I looked at purchasing a ring, but when I was eight-years-old, I had a Claddagh ring that had to be cut off with pliers. I have not worn a ring since, but I am a big necklace wearer. As we walked out of the shop, we passed the Kylemore Castle and were able to spot out the Jesus statue that was high up in the mountain.
Our next stop was St. Joseph's Industrial School, Letterfrack's graveyard. This was a somber experience as the graveyard consisted of many of the young boys who were killed during their schooling. I could not believe why the school still runs as it created horrific stories for so many people. We stopped at a church and walked inside to enjoy the beautiful wood work and stained glass.
When we got home, most of the girls went to take naps. Louise, Freya, and I went on a walk in the Greenway and Louise talked to me about the history and ownership of the Westport House. By the time we got back to the house, I had about twenty minutes to get ready for dinner. All nine of us and Louise had reservations at Cobblers Bar to celebrate Kaylee's and Morgan's birthday. After dinner, everyone besides Sarah W. and Louise went to Matt Malloy's Bar for a pint. What a great night we had.
April 23
Ruby woke me up because she needed to go to the shop for medicine as she is dealing with some health issues. I was sad to be woken up because this was my only day to sleep in, but since she asked I got up of course and we walked to SuperValu. When we got back, I ate toast and yogurt for breakfast. It was pretty much a simple day. Around 4:00pm, Morgan, Sarah S., Sarah W., Sam, and I went to Achill Island! Sam and I were in Bridgette and Joe's car. They brought their eight-year-old grandson Dara with us. Sam and I had some fun conversations with him, especially because he wanted to know about the differences between America and Ireland. Sam asked Dara what his favorite food in Ireland was and he responded with KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) in Galway. We shared many laughs over this. The drive to the island was a little over an hour, but once on the island, the views were gorgeous. We stayed in the car for most of the trip as Joe drove us through. The roads were very narrow and twisty on our way up the mountain, which made Bridgette quite nervous. By the time we got up to the top of the mountain, it was extremely windy and cold. I had to use lots of strength just to push my car door open. There was an area that people wrote their names with stone on the dirt and I wanted to particpate. Because of how cold it was, everyone was ready to go back to the cars so I did not have too much time so I decided to make the letter "A" for my name. The dirt was odd because it was almost bouncy and I am not sure why. Once we drove down the mountain, we went to Keem Bay, which is a bay into the Atlantic Ocean. Although it was 53 degrees outside, three of us decided to jump in the water for a swim! It was quite cold, but oh my goodness it was such a fun experience! I would like to jump in one more time before I head back to the United States. After I got out of the water, I immediately through a sweatshirt on. The girls and I decided to make a little circle of the towels so we could change out of the wet suits quickly as there were no bathrooms. I am so happy I went into the water despite it being cold. I love the water and always feel I need to go in before I can say I go to the beach. After we were dressed, it was time to hop back into the two cars and head back to the house in Westport. I think Dara thought I was crazy for going in such cold water as he told me he will never ever go into that water. By the time we got home, it was about 7:30pm so the five of us ordered takeout from Yum Yum, which was delivered at around 8:00pm.
April 24: Day 6
Today is Morgan's birthday! It was exciting to be back to school on a Monday because I felt like I already belonged. I walked up to my special education classroom and began my day like normal. As I was working with two boys, Stephanie Martin and Cindy White walked in! They are my supervisors from WKU, so it kind of caught me off guard to see them at Scoil Phadrig in Ireland, even though I knew they were coming. They asked me about my experience so far and Mrs. McCreal told them so many kind things about me. I felt kind of bad because I had been so busy with my two students that I am afraid I might have not given them my full energy, but I am hoping they did not notice as they did not stay for too long. After school, Kaylee and I walked to Lidl so we could purchase Morgan the wine she has been wanting as her birthday present. We also found ourselves leaving with chocolate croissants. From Lidl, Kaylee needed to go to the post office to mail Claire's postcards. We found out it is 2.50 Euros per international stamp. Since we were at the post office in town, we ended up walking on a different street home...and then we passed Krem. Kaylee and I did not enjoy passing Krem as we felt the urge to go inside and we did! Instead of getting a crepe this time, we decided to get milkshakes. I got a cookies and cream one and Kaylee got a hazelnut shake. We laughed as we told the cashier about how it is Morgan's birthday and we know we will be eating goodies later. As we were happily walking home with our milkshakes, we passed and Morgan drinking hot chocolate in the window of Super Valu. We had to stop to wish her a happy birthday! We convinced her to go to Krem for a birthday crepe and we walked with her. After she got her crepe, the three of us were ready to go home and then we ran into Sarah S.! It is definitly fun being a small town so we can run into each other. The four of us walked home together. Morgan was quite eager to be given wine so some of us had a glass before dinner and we played Phase 10. Henry made us a delicious style of vegetable shepherds pie. We sang happy birthday to Morgan afterwards. Tasha arranged her daughter's friend to make Morgan and all of us homemade macarons and cupcakes. They were delicious as we ate them with a glass of prosecco that Louise bought. To finish up the night, Morgan, Sam, Sarah S., and I went to Porter House. We walked with Christian, Louise's 21-year-old nephew from Wimbly, England. I enjoyed a glass of wine as I was not in the mood for cider. Christian's friend, Nathan joined us at the pub. I learned that Nathan was one of Ramsay Bolton's guards in Game of Thrones. He did not want to share much information, which made me very sad as I was so excited about this topic, but I had to respect him. Sarah S. and I walked home as it was already a late night.
April 25: Day 7
I taught Mr. Lee's 2nd class for a little bit so he could get some work done as the school is preparing for the inspectors next week. I had a fun time teaching a full class. Afterwards I went back to my special education room and continued the rest of my day as usual. My student who speaks Lumh was so sweet today. He kept picking my hand up to kiss the back of my hand. He makes me so happy and I know I am going to miss him for sure. He knows to sign an "A" when he sees me now, which just melts my heart. After school, Kaylee and I walked to Mocha Bean for a chai latte. It was very delicious and tasted quite similar to the chai at Spencer's Coffee in Bowling Green. Kaylee and I also split an Oreo brownie, which was not a bad choice. Henry made delicious burrito bowls for dinner with homemade guacamole! We did not really do much after dinner so I took an early shower. Once I was all comfy, the girls were talking about going out for a drink, but I declined. I was convinced otherwise once I was told that it was Christian's last night in town so I decided to go out. Morgan, Sarah S., Sam, Christian and I went to Porter House for cocktails. I am not a big liqour drinker so I chose to have a Irish Bailey's over ice. Christian got a Guinness that had a four leaf clover imprint on the foam.
April 26: Day 8
I had all of my students sign my graduation stole today. They were upset that I was already talking about my last day being Friday. I am going to miss them even though I have not known them very long. I took my first student outside to the garden today for sensory play and then he read his book aloud on the bench next to the garden. He was very excited for me to try the mint plant. It was funny because he grabbed a bunch of leaves for himself to take as a snack as we left to finish up the session. At the end of the day, I had Kaylee come join me as we worked on the Great Outdoors poster with six students. The kids had an enjoyable time as we got a lot of work done, while listening to music. After school, Kaylee and I
April 27: Day 9
April 28: Day 10
April 29
April 30
May 1