SAINT PATRICK'S DAY (aka the last day)

*sorry for the late post, I went to bed late and got up early*
St. Patrick's day in Dublin will be a day that I will remember for the rest of my life. It's not just because of the holiday, it's because it was the perfect way to end a perfect trip. It was busy, noisy, crowded, colorful, and beautiful. Cassie and I got up early so we could do our face paint and hair. Cassie painted her entire face the Irish flag, she also put the Irish flag on her lips and eyelids on top of that! So many people came up to her to take pictures of her. I only painted my eyelids, lips, and some shamrocks on my cheeks. I also had a green jumper and an Irish flag around my shoulders. We all looked really patriotic. We got the dart into town, which wasn't that packed because we got an early dart. We went with some of Cassie's friends as well as Alyssa and the New York girls. We all had face paint, flags,and lots of green. Town was packed, everywhere I looked there was people. I heard so many different languages and saw so many ethnicities. Everyone really went all out on the clothing. I only saw a few drunk people, but it was early. We were there for the big parade, but even though we were early we didn't have very good seats. There were so many people we could barely see at first. Gradually, we wiggled our way to places where we could see. It's at times like these when being 6ft tall really comes in handy. The parade was really good, there were lots of American marching bands there. There were some pretty weird floats and costumes, but it was all visually stunning. The best band in my opinion was the band from Purdue. They were huge! They were really excellent. I even saw a few after the parade walking around town. After the parade Cassie and I went to buy my mom a shall from the sweater shop and take one last look around. Did I mention it was pouring rain? Good ol' Dublin. We were going to meet Cassie's parents and grandparents for lunch at a hotel a few streets down. Unfortunately, Cassie and I got quite lost. It didn't matter though, because it gave me one last chance to take in Dublin. Lunch was lovey, and the warm hotel was welcome after being soaked in the rain. When we got home I had to do some final packing before my last dinner. For my last dinner we had chicken fajitas and watched the Voice of Ireland. After dinner the whole family gathered into the living room to watch Skyfall. Skyfall is a great movie, and I loved watching it again. Before I went to bed I had to say goodbye to Cassie's family, because I wouldn't be seeing them in the morning. We planned to wake up early so I could have enough time to check in at the airport. To be honest, I didn't sleep very well. I was up most of the time just thinking back upon my month in Ireland. I walked through all the things I would miss, all the people I wouldn't get to see again, and watched as the hours ticked by. I don't want to leave, but I know I have to.

St. Patricks Day Prep in Dun Laoghaire

Today started off with sleeping in and bacon sandwiches. The Kirwans enjoy bacon and egg breakfast sandwiches, however I tend to prefer one over the other. We decided to join Alyssa, Genevieve, and Megan in Dun Laoghaire for some pre Paddy's day prep. We went to a few €2 shops to get some cheap accessories. Cassie and I both bought Irish flags, face paint, and green hairspray. I also bought a green jumper at Penny's and a green tiara. Cassie also got these massive shamrock sunglasses which she wore on our way back home. The stopped to get some nosh at McDonalds at which point Sorcha and Sadhbh joined us. We shopped for a little more before parting ways, eager for the parade tomorrow. For dinner we had swordfish and rice, with apple crumble for dessert. Cassie's grandma joined us, it was really nice. After I'm done writing this blog I we are going to watch Skyfall. A nice ending to my second to last day here in Ireland. I'm so excited for tomorrow. We are getting an early dart in so we will have a good spot for the parade. It is Cassie's first time going to parade, so everything will be new for the both of us! It's going to be my last day and then I'm back home!!!! How did that happen? I should be packing right now...

The Last Day of School

*apologies, entries from Fridays are always late!*
My last day of school here in Ireland started out like any other day. I reluctantly woke up to the sound of my iPad alarm. I had rice crispies for breakfast and took a euro for soup at lunch. We rushed to get to the dart on time where I read the Metro Herald. I did all things I would normally do, except I was doing them for the last time. Throughout the day I was feel quite sad because I knew that after today I wouldn't be coming back. Rebecca, Molly, Golddy, Alyssa and I had a weird feeling all day. It was a sunny day, completely sunny, it wasn't even interrupted by spontaneous rain. There was an assembly to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, it was almost completely in Irish, we were so lost. There were two Irish dance performances, one was by the lovely Norah from Holy Child Rye. The entire assembly was celebrating Irish culture, we even got little Irish flags! We also got to perform Locked out of Heaven in Irish. I stood in the back, but something tells me they could still see me. There were some Danish students visiting that were watching the assembly, which sent the girls into quite the frenzy. At lunchtime Rebecca and I went to the pottery room to get our finished pieces. The pottery teacher was nice enough to leave us instructions so we could take our pieces to take home with us. I'm really happy with how mine turned out. I was worried about Maths class for nothing, everything was fine after Rebecca helped me with my homework. After school I said my goodbyes to all the girls that I wouldn't be seeing again before I left, it was so sad. They are all so nice and I am so glad I had the chance to meet them. Since it was such a beautiful day Cassie and I walked along the beach,which leads directly to her house. We even saw a rainbow! I tried to take a picture of it with my iPad but it didn't turn out that well. I looked really odd though because I was trying to carry a box of pottery and each a chocolate bar at the same time. We went to Polly's house for dinner because we were going to Sorcha's house after for the weekly get together. Polly's mom made pasta with meatballs and sauce, it was amazing. We had homemade apple tart a la mode for dessert, there are no words that can describe how delicious it was. Sorcha's house was pretty fun, I suppose I am going to miss those weekly gatherings (but not much!). Tomorrow we are going into Dun Laoghaire to do some saint Patrick's day shopping with Alyssa, Genevieve, and Megan!

Thursday Thursday Thursday

It almost seems like I am running out of things to blog about. The school days have become a routine that I'm so used to, only small things start to stick out. We had classical studies, i'm really sad that my last classical studies class is tomorrow. I have had so much fun in that class. In maths today I was actually called on to complete a question.Unfortunately, in Maths I am completely, utterly, and helplessly lost. I am not looking foward to the double Maths I have tomorrow at the end of my last day. Today the whole school was preparing for an open house, which meant in some classes I had to help teachers get ready. Cassie stayed behind to help, so I went home with some of my other friends. The pictures from today were taken at the top of the bridge that you have to take to get to the other dart platform. It was beautiful for most of today, then on my way to the dart station it started to rain! The rain stopped only a few minutes after but it was so weird. I was crossing my fingers that it wouldn't be raining in Greystones because I had to walk home today. Luckily, I stayed dry for most of my commute. I had a lovely chat on the dart with Carmen, she is an international student from Spain. She has a wonderful accent that is a combination of Irish and Spanish. Today was also Pi day, which I celebrated by eating some apple pie flavored yogurt ( it was actually really delicious). I It is really hard to believe that tomorrow is my last day of school here. This week has really flown by. This entire month has flown by, it feels like I only arrived here a week ago! I am really going to miss everyone here, I hope I don't cry tomorrow!

Bollywood Dancing and More Irish Weather

One of the things that I've loved most here are the social and cultural activities on Wednesday mornings. They have been the highlights of my weeks, from Glasnevin to the Criminal Courts. To especially like the level of freedom and independence that the students are given in these activities. We have to find our own ways there, and once they are done we are just given a time to be back at school by. Today we did Bollywood dancing in Bray. It started late, which meant I got to sleep in this morning! We were in a huge studio, and our instructor was really nice. She was also a fantastic dancer. We learned a mash up of two short hip hop routines and one Bollywood routine. The hip hop ones were set to Scream and Shout, and We Found Love. I may not be e best dancer, but I had a blast. After a while I stopped over analyzing and feeling self conscious and just had fun. Alyssa and Rebecca were much better than I was in my opinion. These gangly limbs can't exactly pop and lock. It was a beautiful day, so when we got off the train we took a slight detour and spent some time at the beach before we were expected back at school. It wasn't a long walk, the beach is literally beside the train tracks. It was sunny and lovely and Alyssa was kind enough to send the pictures she took so I could post them here. After we got back to school we hung out for a few minutes with our classmates before going to our next class. The girls from New York are really cool and I wish had more time to get to know them. We had first aid, in which Alyssa and I demonstrated our double jointed capabilities, in addition to our normal study periods. Alyssa and I had planned to return to the beach after school, but a sudden bout of rain thwarted out plans. The weather here is so unpredictable! It was sunny, then rainy, sunny and rainy at the same time, then back to cloudy in the scope of an hour! We hope we can go tomorrow. After school I FaceTimed with Gaby, Halford, and Mazelin in Dr. Rauterkus' class because they were watching the live feed about the new pope (they totally didn't tell me to give them a shout out or anything). Tomorrow Cassie is helping with an Open House at the school. She asked if I wanted to help, but I probably won't be any good because they need people to give tours and I don't even know my way to my classes. We have been trying to decide what to do with my last days here to make them count. It so hard to believe that I'm going to be leaving!

The Final Pottery

We only have 5 days left here! (Not including Monday when we travel) Tuesdays have always been really easy days for me, they consist of study, pottery, and usually homework club. Today was my last pottery class, we had to paint and glaze our pieces, which was really fun. Thankfully they should be done in time for us to take them home with us. Golddy made a stunning blue mug by combining the processes of a week into one class. Alyssa and Rebecca will be modeling it below. We didn't have homework club today because they had too many volunteers. Which is a real shame because I was really looking forward to it. *heavy sarcasm implied* instead we were sent to our second home, the library. Alyssa finally updated her blog ( irelandwithalyssa.blogspot.com) and yours truly makes an appearance. Tomorrow for our social and cultural activity we will be learning a Bollywood dance. I am really looking forward to that, it should be really fun! I'm trying to take more pictures to make these more interesting, but it's hard when the only way you can is by holding up a giant iPad.

More Snow

Today did not get off to a good start, I didn't wake up to my alarm and was rushed in the morning, resulting in me eating toast on the dart. It was freezing today, cold, windy, and it snowed every five minutes. Charming. School went well, the girls from the holy child school in Rye NY came today. We took a picture because it was the first time that students from three holy child schools had all been at Killanny (Rye, Anaheim, and Pasadena), that was pretty cool to be apart of. We had classical studies again today, which is really awesome! I wish I could stay longer so I could read the whole thing with the class. The only bad part of my day was getting home. The walk to the dart station from school is right next the ocean, I almost got blown away! The dart ride itself is warm and full of good conversation, but Cassie had choir today so I had to walk home. Normally, this isn't a big deal, it's a short walk, but with today's weather it felt like a trek through the ice planet Hoth. Reaching home and snuggling up in my covers was better than a tauntaun carcass. We have began to make plans for the weekend (St. Patrick's Day!) it should be a very memorable day. Cassie is filling out the subject that she will take next year, which is a really big deal, the school system is really different here. The subjects you choose are really important to how you do on your leaving certificate, which dictates the college you get into, which dictates your LIFE. So it's a bit of a stressful time in the house. I've been talking to the girls back home, I can't wait to see them again. Tomorrow I have my last pottery class (boo) and my last homework club (yay). Now if it would only warm up!!!

WINDY DUBLIN

I can handle the rain, and a little wind, but the wind in Ireland today has been nonstop and noisy. Despite the horrid weather Cassie and I still braved the elements to go into to town to go souviner shopping. On two occasions it started to snow while we were walking. We went to these really kitschy souviner shops for tourists to go and spend money in to buy things with DUBLIN plastered on it. I tried to be as discerning as possible when selecting gifts. When we were in the stores they would be playing Irish folky songs, and Cassie always knew them! I guess it's an Irish thing. In fact as I type Cassie is next to me on YouTube looking up the songs she remembered from today. Our trip into town wasn't that exciting or eventful today, just cold. I did get to have an insomnia hot chocolate, which I am now convinced is the greatest hot chocolate in the world. Today is Mother's day here, which is weird because it's a different day in America. I didn't know that at first though, so I was feeling really guilty until I googled it. Tomorrow I will officially only have one more week in Ireland, which makes me really sad. Next week is an Irish Heritage week leading up to St. Patrick's Day (including my sure to be fabulous rendition of Locked Out of Heaven) which should be fun. We will be going into town next weekend for the big holiday which I am really excited for. I don't want to leave here, but I'm also really excited for Cassie and all the girls to come and experience America. I know we are going to have so much fun, I am so glad I decided to come here and have the chance to meet all these wonderful people. I'm getting ahead of myself! I still have one more week and I am going to make it count!

The National Gallery

The National Gallery is a beautiful art museum, unfortunately about half of it is under construction so not everything was available to the public. We got to look at come really great Irish painters that I have never heard of. One of my favorite pieces was one that I couldn't take a picture of because it was on loan. It was called For the Road by Jack B. Yeats. It was so beautiful to see in person that I don't think a photo could do it justice. One of the exhibitions there was devoted the sketchbooks of Yeats (who Cassie and I thought was pretty attractive), it was really interesting to see all his scribbles of the world around him. Turns out for a while he lived in Greystones! They had a lot of his paintings there which were really great, I would like to learn more about him. There were a few Rembrandts, a Vermeer, a Picasso, and a few other great pieces as well. Cassie had already visited the gallery with school so she was able to give me information on a few pieces that she remembered form her tour. Every time I go to an art museum I always get a strong feeling that this is what I want to do with my life. Not necessarily create the art in the museum, but be a part of bringing great art to others. There was a man there who was with his three small children in the gallery who would ask them what they could see in the paintings and what they thought. It was so wonderful to hear the opinions of kids who would find something in a painting that I had overlooked. It made me really happy to see them excited about art. In town today Cassie and I kept seeing lots of men in matching hats and scarves, and lots of French people, we couldn't figure out why. It turns out that there is a rugby match today, Ireland vs. France, and it is a pretty big deal. There were so many people on the dart home because the stadium of the match is one of the stops before Greystones. The dart was so full there almost wasn't enough room. I don't know what we are doing tomorrow, but as the day go on I am realizing that my time here is almost done. In a little more than a week I will be back home. The upcoming week will be my last in Ireland, AHHHHHHH.
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE SOPHOMORE CLASS FOR WINNING BEST CLASS PLAY I AM SO PROUD OF YOU!!!!!!!!!

I Cannot Sing in Irish

*sorry again for posting late, I was up late last night and didn't have time*
This morning instead of having Musical practice, because the class has already completed their musical, we used the time to learn a song and dance for St. Patrick's week. The song was locked out of heaven by Bruno Mars, however IT WAS IN IRISH. I kinda just hummed along with it most of the time. The dance that we learned to perform with it includes a lot of shoulder bouncing and jazz hands, fun stuff. Irish is such an interesting language, everyone here has to take it. Cassie used to fluent in it and is always trying to teach me words. We didn't end up going anywhere after school tomorrow because the weather is terrible. Instead Cassie and I went to a get together at her friend Kevin's house. His house was really cool, it looked like a converted church but was a really interesting blend of modern and historical decor inside. I also had a Malteser for the first time, which was realIy delicious. I had a lot more fun this time around probably because I had met everyone last week, and I actually decided to be social. We got home at about 12 after dropping everyone off which is why the post is so late. Tomorrow I will be going to National Gallery!

The Table Quiz

Today has been a really long day and I would really like to sleep right now, but I must blog first (or else people get mad at me *cough cough Jackie*. My day started with classical studies, which I really enjoy, we are going over Greek tragedies right now and the girls will be reading Madea after I leave. It helps that I've already read Oedipus Rex and learned all about Greek plays last year. In religion we are going to start talking about the death penalty. The death penalty is illegal here, but being American they want my views on it coming from a place where it is legal. Yay for opinions! I am still confused in Maths, so at least that hasn't changed. After school today I volunteered with Cassie to help work a table quiz fundraiser for the school. We basically just had to collect money, sell raffle tickets, and collect answer sheets. The quiz was really fun, and i actually knew some of the answers. i have a weird knack for remembering weird bits of information that occasionally comes in handy. By the end I was seriously tired, but it was all worth it because they gave us all huge Cadbury eggs as a thank you gift. It rained really hard today, it was the first proper rain we've had while I'm here. Cassie had a lot of fun at One Direction yesterday night, it was quite the topic of conversation at school today. In our double chemistry blocks we had we were making molecule models, which I guess was so interesting I had to take a picture of them. Tomorrow is national women's day, I think, so we will be having guest speakers come and talk to us which is always nice. FUN STUFF.

CHILDREN

*sorry I didn't post this one last night, here it is now ahhhhhhh*
Today was a very normal day, there were no late darts, I didn't get lost, and I spent a lot of time in the library. On Tuesdays a large majority of my morning is devoted to study periods, more than any other day in fact. Tuesdays are also the day of the week that I have pottery, one of my very favorite classes I'm taking here. We made more pinch pots, I'm getting very good at them. We should be able to paint the ones we made last week soon. However, after lunch the real fun started, this Tuesday, instead of having PE I went with a group of girls to Homework Club. Homework Club is when fourth years go to a disadvantaged primary(elementary) school and we play math games with them. The kids are really sweet, and they were really nice, well, most of them anyway. Alyssa and I were with a group of four kinds which we stayed with as they rotated through various games. Three of my kids were angels, the fourth, was "difficult". As some people know I don't exactly have the gift of easily working with difficult children, thankfully Alyssa does. Most of the kids just thought we were really cool because we were American. That only lasted an hour, and it wasn't even that bad, I'm just being dramatic. Tomorrow we are going to the Criminal Courts in Dublin and I'm really excited!

The Criminal Courts

Today our class took a field trip to the Criminal Courts in Dublin. We were told to make our own way there and meet at 9:15 in front of the building, which meant I had to wake up at 6 this morning! I got a bus into Dublin with Rebecca, Alyssa, and Ciara. The Dublin Buses were not meant for tall people, the legroom was not meant for this 6ft gal. It was about an hour bus ride (I woke up at 6, out the door at 7, in a bus stop in Bray at 7:20) we got in to town at about 8:30 and walked around. I had a hot chocolate from insomnia, the Irish Starbucks, which was the best hot chocolate I've ever tasted. The criminal courts are huge, the seem incredibly new and modern, probably because they were only built 3 years ago. The elevators were pretty cool, they were made of glass, which meant you could see the way it worked. Their law system is similar to ours, but not exactly. All the "lawyers" and judges wear wigs and robes, which looked pretty funny to me. When we arrived we got to participate in a mock trial. I'm not one for public debate, and I hadn't been briefed on the case as well as the other girls, so I just opted to be the sketch artist. Alyssa was a witness, she did a fantastic job, she was in mock trial at home so she knew all the tricks of the trade. Being a sketch artist was pretty fun, it was a little hard, because I've never had to draw real people that fast before, but I think my drawings turned out well. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of them because the courts keeps all the sketches from the school and they have a competition. The mock trail went well, and was good way to introduce us to the court system here before sending us out to observe cases. There were two murder trails while we were there that we could sit in on, they were really interesting to observe. We met together again at 11:45 and were told to make our own was back to school. A group of us decided to take the bus back and then walk the rest of the way. The ride was long, but we had a lot of fun goofing around. After the bus we had make about a 20 minute trek back to school. We sang songs. In first aid today I learned how to bandages, which might be useful someday. We also went to English where we talked about short stories and Sylvia Plath. Also, Alyssa and I bought Macklamore and Ryan Lewis' new album, it's amazing. We totally recommend it, I enjoy the song "same love" on it. These are the things you discuss when you have been on a bus for over an hour. Cassie is going to One Direction's concert tonight with a bunch of other girls, I'm sure she is going to have a great time. Tomorrow should be pretty calm, but it is expected to rain...

Back to School!

Woo hoo! The day didn't start as planned however, our dart this morning was delayed and we were late for school! We didn't miss too much though and easily made our first classes. Today all the girls were switching their classes and beginning new modules, but we stayed in our same classes. The day was relatively uneventful, we studied, we took notes, we ate. Cassie had choir, so I took the dart home with some other girls, but that one was delayed also! I FaceTimed with some of the girls this afternoon (shout out to little Halford) and had salmon for dinner. Cassie and I were watching High School Musical 2, i used to love that movie! looking back now it is SO CHEESY. There shouldn't be too many surprises tomorrow, we have pottery though, which I thoroughly enjoy. Here's a picture of Alyssa and Rebecca being studious...

Stuffed Animals

Today Cassie and I payed a visit to the Natural History Museum in Dublin! The plans to go to the rugby match didn't fall thought because the bus schedules on Sunday are really sporadic and odd. It was easier for us to get the dart into Dublin and explore. We had originally planned to visit the National Gallery this weekend, but I wanted to allow myself to have as much time as possible when I went there, so we rescheduled. The Natural History Museum was only a few buildings over and was just as interesting. The Natural History Museum was built in 1856, and the building is OLD. We were actually only able to look at the first floor of the museum because they were refurbishing the second and third floor due to safety hazards. They had amazing animals, my favorites were the giraffes and the red panda. They had a really cool display where they put the skeleton of a horse and the skeleton of a human next to each other and labeled their bones to compare them. They also had a tiger which was given to them in 1913 by King George the V! Some of the expressions of the animals were quite comical and Cassie and I had a really fun time. The admission was free so the only money I had to spend was getting there and getting dinner ( subway! ). They had rhinos and sharks and huge whales suspended from the ceiling. They had a walrus that looked completely ridiculous because it had been preserved before they really knew what walruses looked like. The result was a ballon of a mammal. I took lots of photos but unfortunately they remain on my camera and not on my iPad. They had quite and extensive insect collection and the butterflies were really fantastic to browse through. The whole thing was really interesting partly because of the work of Emily Grasile on a series called "the Brain Scoop" on YouTube. She works at a zoological museum and talks a lot about taxidermy and the preservation of animals in her videos. They are really interesting and I highly recommend checking them out. The museum was quite limited due to the restoration work, but there was still had lots to see. It was a great trip and I'm really glad we took the time to visit.
Tomorrow we have normal school again, which means my blogs may not be as *thrilling* as they were this week. But for me, everyday here is a new adventure.

Sunny Beaches and Dublin Shopping

It was such a beautiful day today! The sun was shining so Cassie and I decided to take her dog Millie for a walk on the beach. Cassie's house is in such a great location, the beach is only a minute away. The beach was beautiful, it's just a little colder than the ones at home, and there were lots of dogs. Millie is a Caviler Poodle, she is precious, I will try to post a video I took of her trying to eat bubbles. Millie loves to fetch, the entire time on the beach we just threw her tennis ball for her. After we took her for a walk Ciara and Alyssa invites Cassie and I to go into Dublin with them. Cassie had tennis, but I joined them. We walked along Grafton and Henry St. And went in a few shops. The Topshop here is really cool, it's expensive, but everything is really cute. Alyssa and I took an picture of our height difference after I tried on 5in heels, for funsies. They even have a separate section for tall sizes! I bought a spiky headband that Alyssa and I dubbed the Hipster's tiara. We also went into Penny's, which sells really cheap stuff, I bought two skirts and a dress. Going into town you see a lot of interesting looking people and styles, it's great people's watching. I tried to convince Alyssa to update her blog, but I don't think I swayed her. We had dinner at McDonalds and made our way home. Tomorrow we are going to the Rugby match of a local boys school, it's the semi finals, we just need to figure out the bus schedules!

TGIF

My last day at Community Care was really lovely, most of the people didn't remember who I was from the start of the week and thought it was my first day, but it was still nice. We had art in the morning, I drew another kitty for them. Turns out that old ladies like cats, who knew? They asked if they could keep my drawings so I donated them. We had lemon meringue pie and they gave me an extra large piece as a goodbye gift. I'm really glad that I got placed there, I had a great time meeting everyone and hearing all their stories. That evening we went to Polly's house for dinner and to get ready for the get together that night. Polly's mother is a wonderful cook and I couldn't tell you the name of what we had for dinner, but it was fantastic. The gathering was nice, but I didn't really know anyone there so I didn't exactly have the greatest time. We went back to Polly's and slept over, I was out like a light. Which is the reason why I am trying this post this morning, there was no way I would have had time last night. I don't know what we are going to do today, but I'm excited for whatever happens!