Old Ladies Rock

Sorry about the lack of post yesterday, I was lazy. Yesterday Sarah and I were supposed to do some light gardening at the home, but it was deemed too cold to work outside. Instead we got to paint the ladies nails while they got their hair done. They were so sweet, they us told how glamorous it made them feel and how lovely we were. One women wanted her nails hot pink, in case she got a hot date. She asked me how old I thought she was, so is waited for a minute and responded "not a day over 40" she laughed, she was 90! She and some of her friends had bought tickets for the lottery, she said if she won she would put Sarah and I through college. She was so funny, she said that if I knew any rich, old men with mansions and and heart condition to send them her way. Dessert after lunch was chocolate eclairs which also made the day pretty good. Today a women from Minnesota was here to volunteer, I got the opportunity to demonstrate to Sarah that not all Americans sound the same. There was a mass at the home today which was very lovely. We painted a few more nails, and did some odd jobs, it's hard to believe that tomorrow is my last day. Sarah and I were playing cards and trying to make card houses, but the old men kept trying to blow them down! I am going to miss it there. Today I also had my very first Cadbury Creme Egg. It was fantastic and I wish I'd had one sooner. I also had to explain to Sarah what a taco was, which was a bit difficult to be honest. For my last day tomorrow we are doing art in the morning, but we get out after lunch. Tomorrow evening Cassie and are going to a small soirée at a friends house then sleeping over at her friend Polly's house. On Saturday we may be going to a rugby match of a nearby boys school and on Sunday we hope to got o the National Gallery! Overall lots of big things planned so promise not to be lazy and forget to update the blog. Oh and I got a picture of my drawing from Tuesday, I think it's precious.

It's midnight

I forgot to write a blog post for today. I'll do it tomorrow. Promise, but at this time at night I can barely form coherent sentences let anyone write a summery of my day. This is what I get for watching too much Netflix combined with delicious custard and apple bake.
Ugh. Good night? Yes, good night.

Caring for the Comminity

Today I had to get the Dart ALONE into Community Care, but everything went smoothly and I had no problems. I had a couple odd jobs to do around the center this morning, which included putting my height to good use by having me reset clocks. Sarah and I also went to the post office and dropped off some books on their behalf. It made a little sad though when Agnes, who I helped yesterday, had completely forgotten who I was. I answered the question "so where are you from" too may times to count. Everyone is really sweet, and they all love talking to Sarah and I. The amazing thing about all the residents is that they all say an entire rosary before they have lunch. One person will take turns leading each mystery, despite many of them not being the best speakers. I had some soup that they served, but not the main meal because I had brought my own sandwiches. The ladies were so nice, they kept asking to make sure that I had enough to eat. After lunch was really fun because we did art today. Everyone sat down and picked a picture to draw, I choose a kitty cat. Most of them choose landscapes, and it was very touching to see how much effort they were putting in. They would ask of they had the right colors and what they could do to make their paintings better. I choose to just do a pencil drawing but most of them used water colors. When I finished my drawing everyone was really nice and complimented it, they wanted to keep it! I didn't get a picture of it, but I will try to take one tomorrow if I can. I really liked the way it turned out. I love drawing, I hope I can draw when I'm old because I made me so happy to see how happy creating and painting made the residents. I hope I am always able to express my vision, some of the residents were restricted with their brushstrokes because of medical problems, but they still gave it their best shot. I wish i could draw them, some of them have such interesting faces and features. Tomorrow the ladies will get their hair done and play bridge. I have no idea how to play bridge, and I don't think I'll be learning any time soon. From what the ladies tell me, they get quite competitive and it can be a very difficult game, even for people who have played for a long time. Whatever happens it will be interesting to see how the day unfolds.

Bingo!

Today was my first day of community care. I am volunteering at an old folks home in Sandycove with a girl named Sarah. Today was a pretty light day because it was an orientation for us. It's is a very nice place, some people live there, and others just come for the social interaction. We helped take off and hang up coats as people were getting of their bus and had a tour before lunch. After lunch we played bingo, I helped a woman named Agnes find the numbers when they were called. We even won one round and she let me keep the prize, a packet of shortcake biscuits. Everyone there is really nice and I know I am going to have a good time here for the week. Tomorrow there is an art class, and on Wednesday they all get their hair done. Overall I take a 10 o'clock Dart, arrive there at about 10:30 and get to leave at 3:30. After I dinner tonight Cassie and I sat and watched the Oscars. They were on last night, but because of time zones they were showing at 1-4 in the morning! We ate my bingo biscuits, they were fantastic. There really isn't much to report today, hopefully as the week goes on there will be more stories to tell!

Dundrum

Today started out fantastically because for the first time I really got to sleep in. We decided to go into Dundrum, which is a shopping center, today with Alyssa and her host Ciara. Cassie's friend Polly ended up coming along as well. We took the Luas into town, there are so many types of public transportation here! The Laus is really nice, it's more like a tram than the dart is and goes alongside roads. Dundrum was about the size of a mall here, but apparently it's the largest one around here. Alyssa and I went to McDonalds and had the Cadbury Carmel McFlurry, it is so much better than ANY MsFlurry at home. We also went into the Urban outfitters here and I got a salt n pepa shirt which I was excited about. Alyssa got the same shirt as me, singing in the stone ensued. Unfortunately Alyssa and Ciara had to catch their bus home pretty early, but the three of us meandered around for another hour or two. We got lunch at the Bagel Factory, which is like subway for bagels, it's very strange, but delicious. We caught the Lous back into town and called it a day. Tomorrow I start my community care, I am going to be working with the elderly in a center in Brey. I'm pretty excited, everything should go well I hope. I am really proud of myself for being so diligent with my blog posts. So far I have posted one everyday, and the fear of breaking that streak is what motivates me most of the time.
Until next time!

Dublin in the SNOW

The lollipop sales didn't go as well today, and we had to wake up early to get there which had also not great. But it was cold, so cold that IT STARTED TO SNOW. Thankfully it started after our shift selling lollipops was done. We mostly observed from the McDonalds window. The dart on the way home was so pretty, all the housed and cars were covered in a thin layer of snow. However walking in the snow, not as pretty. Since I have spent all this time in Dublin I have decided to compile a list of things that I have learned about it.
1.disregard the traffic signs, no one actually waits for the light to walk, seriously, just roll with the crowd
2. You may be able to run in front of cars, but never get in front of the Lous (the trolly) it stops for no one.
3. If you do choose to wait for the light, when it tells you to cross it sounds like a light saber
4. When in northern Dublin and Henry st. Wear your bag over your head and don't look at anyone
5. The birds fly low, poop, and are afraid of no one, BEWARE
6. The Abercrombie here is as poorly lit, loud, and smelly as the ones at home
7. Arrive for buses early, darts are often on time
8. Know what you are going to buy before going into convenience shops
9. It's good to be tall when observing a street performer with a crowd around them
10. If you go into posh shops they won't ask you to leave, but they will glare at you until you do
11. When you got to a McCafe by McDonalds, it's actually a Cafe
12. If you buy cookies at marks and Spencer's it's a better deal to but the pack of 5 for €3 and split it with your friends
Just some little things, we are going out tomorrow but in a smaller town so that should be good. Also, now people from the school here know about my blog, so I will have to try a little harder to actually make this good.

Lollipops

Selling lollipops was a very odd experience today. For starters it was freezing again, ( this seems to be a common theme) and I was forced to be in my school uniform so I looked proper. We were selling lollipops to support esophageal cancer and they were really good lollipops, I had to test them to make sure they were good enough to sell. I was paired with a girl form my school named Ali who was really good at selling lollipops. I was a bit on the quieter side. We actually sold quite a lot, come people would give us money, but didn't feel like having a lolly, which I thought was odd. It was my first time going into the busy center streets of Dublin and walking around. I didn't get to go into any shops because I was Ellington candy but it was still cool. Dublin has tons of people going in a out and none of them ever seem to mind the cold, it's like a superpower. There were also lots of street performers and homeless people that you would find in any big city. The street performers were really good though and made the 3 hours we were selling go by really fast. We took a break in the middle to get some food, all the girls were really excited because there was a McDonalds in town. The McDonald's here are very nice, and much larger than the ones at home. I got curly fries, and they serve muffins and these Cadbury Carmel mcflurries that look to die for. The area we were in was like shopping heaven, I can't wait to go back. One of the thing that amazes me about girls here is how independent they are. We were let out of break at school today, told where to go, and let out to find our way there. Most girls took the dart or the bus, but the administration just trusted that they could get there on their own! No one thought it was weird at all!
Cassie volunteered to sell lollipops tomorrow so I get to go back to town tomorrow. We are selling in the morning and then have the rest of the day to explore which will be really fun. Tomorrow it will officially be one week that I've been here!

Chickens and Koalas

Today I got to see my first hockey match. The girls say that hockey is the only sport that they are really good at. Today was freezing and it was windy on top of that. Regardless of the weather about twenty other girls and I braved the cold and cheered on the Chickens. Yes, their mascot is the Chicken, almost as good as the Connelly Koalas. Hockey goes pretty quick and was really cool to watch. After school we went to explore Greystones ( the town I'm staying in ) and had a really good time. Greystones is small, but there was a really cool candy shop that we went in and counted all our change to buy candy. It was the first time that Cassie had ever had a nerd rope, because they aren't really sold here much, there was also "delicious American marshmallow fluff". They have really interesting classes here, they have a class where they learn computer programming that we went to. There is going to be a Maths test tomorrow, but I don't know how well I'm going to do on it since I just got here and their math class is very different form ours. In math here they have a combination of all the years of math, but in America we just focus on one subject (like geometry or algebra 1). Tomorrow we are going into Dublin to sell lollipops to support esophageal cancer. The charity was started by graduates of the school so it's a tradition that they go into town and support them. I'm a little nervous because I don't know what to expect. I don't look like all the girls here, all the secondary schools wear their shirts below their knees and are usually green. However I stand out quite a bit in my skirt and letterman jacket (my shirt looks tiny next to theirs!) I don't know what people must think of me! Oh well, whatever happens tomorrow, it will be an experience!

Beautiful cemeteries and cold cupcakes

Today I visited one of the beautiful and interesting places I've ever been. For a field trip my class visited the Glasnevin cemetery in northern Dublin. In Glasnevin there are about 1.5 million people buried in their 120 acres. There are more people buried there than living in Dublin today. The size of it is awe inspiring. The headstones were some of the most beautiful and intricate pieces of act I've ever seen. Some very famous Irish statesmen and poets are buried there. However my lack of knowledge in Irish history didn't hold me back from experiencing all their stories. We had a fantastic tour guide who was a wonderful story teller. There were Celtic crosses, angel statutes, simple stone headstones, and amazingly elaborate crypts. The museum was really great. There was an archive of everyone who had ever been buried there. There was also a cool display on all the denominations that were buried there. It was founded to be a place where people of all religions could be buried. The museum also had an interesting bit on grave robbers and body snatchers. At one point, when we were in the poor lot where unmarked graves of people who couldn't afford proper plots were, the guide said that if we dug down, it would only be a foot or two until me hit human remains. Some of the girls were really creeped out, but I loved it. Did I mention that it was -2 degrees today? I only wish I could have stayed out there longer, I might have lost a toe or finger if I had though. I must have taken a hundred pictures, but sadly they are all on my SD card and cannot be transferred to the iPad that I am typing this from. So instead I've attached some pictures form their website so you can see how amazing it is.
We also went into Dun Laoghaire today after school with a group of girls. Dun Laoghaire is only a town or two over from school. We went and hung out with some other kids and I went with Rebecca and her host to Penny's (like forever 21) to get some fancy clothiers for MUN. We also stopped and got cupcakes from a shop on the way which were delicious. But oh man was it cold, Rebecca and I thought we would freeze in the street.
I got to FaceTime with the girls back home today, I really miss them. They all got introduced to Cassie and they went nuts. Cassie is really excited to meet them in person. Tomorrow isn't going to be as awesome as today was but it will still be really cool. I have lots of proper classes tomorrow and hopefully will get more work done.
Until next time!

Messy hands and PE in the cold

Today was an excellent day. Today the sun decided to shine and it was actually pretty nice, it was a cold day in California, a warm day in Ireland. I'm getting better at finding my way around, by that i mean that I can find my way to the library and the locker room, that's about it. The first part of my day we had a few study block which was nice, I got to get ahead on some homework from America (the picture is of Alyssa in the library, hard at work). For the second period of the day the physics teacher, who was also head of IT, wanted us to come and talk about our iPads. So we gave an impromptu presentation to the physics class and him about apps, pros and cons, and our textbooks. They are thinking about getting iPads for the first years to use so they want to know about our experience. We may have to go to a teachers meeting and answer some of their questions too. Pottery was really fun. It was their last class of their module before they rotate classes so the teacher brought snacks and drinks for them. Rebecca, Molly, Golddy and I made little pots and cups. It was a pretty easy way to spend an hour or two. When all of us are at lunch with the Irish girls, I almost don't even feel a difference. We talk and make jokes and act silly, it's all the same. After lunch I had PE, but I don't have any clothes. I wore a mishmash of other people's clothes. Borrowed shorts from Alyssa, a shirt from another girl and I was ready to go. No one should ever be in shorts and a tee shirt in Ireland. I thought I was going to freeze. I didn't, but that was mostly thanks to the PE part. We played netball, which is a very odd sport that I've never played before and would take too long to explain here. It's a little like basketball except when you have the ball you can't move and only advance it by passing. I am very tall. I am very good at netball. Alyssa didn't have as much luck but she did pretty well. One of the drills we used to get us used to passing was one that we did for basketball so I was able to impress everyone with my amazing athletic abilities. At the end my fingers and toes were happy to be warm again.I'm leaving Rebecca's today because Cassie is back. I'm going over to her house soon. I'm sad to leave Rebecca's, I really like it here, but I'm sure it will be very nice at Cassie's house. I will have to update you if anything interesting happens. Tomorrow we are going to a cemetery! It's super old and has some famous Irishmen. I can't wait to write about it. I will take lots of pictures with my camera but unfortunately I don't have a way to upload them to here. I will ask Alyssa to send me some so you can look at them a bit.
Until next time

My First Day!

My first day of school was very interesting to say the least. For starters, the school is small, but the building used to be a hotel. This means that there are a seemingly endless number of staircases and rooms. The first thing you notice when you get to school is how noisy it is. Our school is noisy too, but here all the years pack into their own bathroom/locker space to hang out. This means that to get anywhere you have to push your way through throngs of people. The uniforms of the girls are all green and identical, which mean us American girls stick out like sore thumbs. Our host girls liked to play a game at lunch and see who was staring at us. Several times today I got asked if I went to a different school than the other girls because I was wearing a gray skirt and they were warring plaid skirts. When we told them that we simply had a choice of two different skirts they were pretty surprised. We went to homeroom and then we went up with Ms. O'Brian, the grade coordinator, to arrange our schedules. We started out with the essential classes we needed to keep, such as math, English, and chemistry, and then filled out the rest. I'm taking a classical studies course with Golddy which seems really cool. Ms. O'Brian gave all of us lots of study periods so we can stay up to date on our schoolwork from home. Needless to say I will be spending a lot of time in the Library. Today some of the students were saying what lovely weather they were having because the sun was out, well believe me it was still freezing. Tomorrow I have lots of study periods and pottery ( I'm really excited for that! ) along with P.E. with Alyssa. Next week the students will start their work experience and all of us will go to community care ( community service) in towns! Like real proper jobs where you spend the whole day helping in charity thrift shops and with the disabled. I'm a little worried about that, I'm not always good with talking to complete strangers. We took the dart home today, I really like it. All the Irish girls think we are really funny and loud with our shirt skirts and weird accents. I can't wait for them to come to America so we can show them all about us! Tonight is my last night staying with Rebecca because Cassie gets back from her vacation tomorrow. Tomorrow I will be in another house! Overall today went really well, and I only got lost a few times. By the end of the day I could even find my way back to the locker room with limited wrong turns. Tomorrow should be very interesting.

Into town...

I had a really good day today. I was able to sleep in till about 10 which is always a good way to start off the day. I have been trying really hard to get myself adjusted to the time zone. I had chocolate rice crispies for breakfast. Then I hid in my room a bit and read and did homework until lunchtime. For lunch I had a grilled ham and cheese which was pretty good, with hot chocolate of course. Rebecca and I chilled and watched tv for a little bit. The Comedy Central network here just plays reruns of Friends and Two and a Half Men. We even watched a bit of Big Bang Theory, aside from the commercials I probably wouldn't be able to tell the tv from here and home apart. The Netflix here is amazing though, they have so many titles! In the afternoon Rebecca and I took the dart ( the train ) into Dalkey a town or two over. It was so cold! We went to meet some of her friends and get some food. We went to a little cafe first and had cokes. All of Rebecca's friends are so nice! They are all really friendly and cool. That cafe had to close so when about to explore Dalkey, which isn't really much to explore. We stopped at a mini mart and Alyssa and I had kinder surprise eggs. They are so good, but they are illegal in the US for weird reasons. We stopped by at the castle that was there, becaus is Ireland it seems there are just random castles in places. We continued on into another cafe called mugs where we got hot chocolate ( this is probably going to be all I drink here) and talked. I am so excited to go to school tomorrow! It's going to be amazing, I just know it. I can't wait to write my post tomorrow and tell you all the details.

DUBLIN

The entirety of the Aer Lingus plane is green. The seats are green, the outside is green, there is even a giant shamrock on the side of the plane, there is no secret where we are going. For this flight Alyssa and I were seated together, which was really nice. They had a really nice entertainment system, I watched a movie called The Sapphires, it was about an aboriginal singing group who went to Vietnam to perform for the soliders  in  the 60's. I really enjoyed it. I also watched a bit of Sherlock, which is always good. It was my first time having a meal on a plane and I thought it was pretty good. We had a lasagna looking thing with bread, a brownie, and some cheese and crackers. I ate it all. Afterwards we all tried to get some sleep, Alyssa succeeded (amazingly) but I didn't get very much. Turning out being super tall and trying to get comfortable on a plane is not ideal, who knew? When we arrived at Dublin I was a little nervous about going through customs but that turned out to be a breeze, and we all found our luggage pretty quick. When we left baggage claim there were tons of girls outside, it turns out that they thought that Cody Simpson (the Australian Justin Bieber I'm told) was coming. I'm staying with a girl named Rebecca for a few days until the girl I will be staying with, Cassie, comes back from skiing in the Alps. We arrived at her house at about 10, and I immediately went unptairs and fell asleep until it was dinner time. Her family is very nice, we had lasagna for dinner. They are out to see her brother's play so Rebecca and I stayed at home to chill. We had hot chocolate and got to know each other. She likes Harry Potter, the Avengers, and The Lord of the Rings. Needless to say we get along well. Tomorrow we will go into town to meet with all the other girls to talk and meet everyone, I'm looking forward to it.
Still don't quite know how to end these..
Until next time!
-Emilee

Chicago!

So it turns out that I couldn't post an update while I was in Chicago because the airport didn't have free wifi. However I wrote this post while there and on the plane. 

My flight to Chicago went really well. The person in between Alyssa and I was very kind and switched seats so we could be next to each other. She was a very interesting women. She had a thick accent that I couldn't quite place and was dressed flamboyantly. She had a huge wedding ring on and giant blue earrings with a matching necklace. She was very kind, when Alyssa complimented her on her blue Prada handbag she replied "Thanks! I bought it for myself for my birthday! Because If you don't buy it for yourself, then who will?" Wise words airplane lady, wise words. There was a little turbulence in the middle, but not much, at least not enough to wake Alyssa. Alyssa has a very rare and very valuable talent, she can sleep through anything. The flight passed quickly with intervals of music and napping. 

People weren't lying, O'Hare is huge. We had to take a train just to get to the international terminal. When we got there we stopped at McDonalds for some suspicious looking fillet o' fishes ( we are good catholic girls). Rebecca had a chicken snack wrap, minus the chicken. She basically payed McDonalds to put some lettuce inside a tortilla with some cheese. We had to go through security AGAIN, which was only a minor inconvenience. 

It's weird to think that I've spent the entire day sitting, and walking, and sitting, and walking.

 Huh. Next stop, DUBLIN!

Waiting...

Everyone is here! We are all waiting in the terminal for our first flight to Chicago. Molly was a saint and made us all cookies. We should be boarding in about 15 minutes, as Ms. Callinan would say, "the excitement is building!" We all get along so well, I now know that I have nothing to fear. We are all like Hobbits going on a magical quest, except Rebecca is Legolas, because she's blond and pretty. We also all enjoy second breakfasts. I have to suppres the urge to yell "IM GOING ON AN ADVENTURE!" The flight itself should be very easy, I have an aisle seat ( necessary for my giant legs) and Alyssa is in the window seat in my row.  I just there isn't a creepy person in between us.  I have rented some movies to watch and have an assortment of books to read. BRING IT ON!
Update to come when we get to Chicago.

I Should be Packing: An Introduction to my Blog

HELLO!
I'm Emilee, and I would like to apologize in advance for the unavoidable grammer and spelling mistakes that are sure to pop on this blog in the next few weeks. I leave for Ireland in two days, tomorrow is my last day at school. To say I am excited for this trip would be an understatement. It seems to have just hit me that I am actually leaving. An indicator of this would probably be the fact that i have JUST started packing. Don't worry, I'm almost done, and I made a list so I won't forget anything. However, knowing me, I probably have forgotten something.
Everyone keeps asking if i'm nervous, and I keep telling them that i'm not. Well truth be told, I am very nervous. I have a layover in Chicago at O' Hare. Every time I tell someone this they always mention that it is HUGE, and would be terrible to get lost in. I am not worried about it being too cold in Ireland. I am not nervous that my host family will be mean.I am not scared that people won't like me or that I won't fit in. I am worried that I will get lost at a gigantic airport and never make it to Ireland. This, combined with the fact that I get very nervous asking for directions or help in public places could be a very bad combination. Whenever I think that, I just remind myself that I am going to be with 3 other very capable, and very smart young women. When I remind myself that I won't be alone, and that this will be a group experience, I can't help but get a big goofy smile in anticipation for Friday.
So stick around, and hopefully I will get better at this blogging thing, instead of just jotting down ramblings while listening to Childish Gambino. I will try to write my next post in the airport, won't that be exciting.
BACK TO PACKING!