Hellooo,
everyone!
This
is Day 6 of seeing the sun for no more than a couple of minutes, enduring cold
temperatures and strong winds, and attempting to stay dry and avoid the rain
(to no avail). It’s been a delightfully exciting weekend! Normally, we’ll work during
the week from Monday to Friday, and on the weekends, we’ll take a trip to
another part of Ireland. However, Bill and Suzanne didn’t plan many activities
this weekend when gave us time to relax and wind down before we begin work
tomorrow.
Friday
night, Bill and Suzanne took us to a suburb of Dublin to learn Ceili dancing, a
form of Irish folkdance. Although the steps weren’t taught too clearly, the
eight of us had so much fun learning how to Ceili dance alongside people from
Saudi Arabia, Spain, Italy, and other places all over the world. Many of the
steps either took up two, three, or seven counts, which was interesting, but
our group kept up really well!
On
Saturday night, we had a group cooking lesson at the Cake Café (http://thecakecafe.ie/). We made our own cheese,
onion, and bacon pastries and brown soda bread. We also learned how to make a
butternut squash soup and these amazing brownies, but the best part was that we
were able to eat all of the food and take some of our brown soda bread and
recipes home! Aside from their delicious food, I also was impressed by how
eco-friendly this café was. The cook explained that they used rainwater to
flush the toilets and reused as many items as possible. They also frequently bought
local, organic food products that were in season and made most of their own
ingredients (such as vanilla extract, which is made by putting vanilla pods
into vodka). Needless to say, our stomachs were incredibly happy (and full)
last night.
Today,
we took the DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) to Dún Laoghaire, a suburban area along the coast of Ireland that contains
several of Dublin’s favorite beaches. While we didn’t quite make it to the
beach, we enjoyed a leisurely stroll along the Dún Laoghaire Harbor. The view
was absolutely breathtaking. The water was a stunning dark blue-green, and the
rocks lining the ocean were a captivating sight. As the rain faded and the sun
came out for several brief moments, we took the opportunity to capture
pictures. As beautiful as the pictures are, they literally don’t do the actual
view itself any justice:
I honestly can’t believe that the first week is
already over! While it seems like we’ve been living in Dublin for so much
longer, orientation week passed by definitely more quickly than I expected.
Just in this one week, we’ve grown closer, experienced culture shock, and
learned so much about Ireland’s economy, history, and societal issues. Tomorrow
is our first official day of work! I’m nervous about the challenges to come,
but I’m also eager to learn and excited to grow.
Hope all of your summers have been filled with fun
and relaxation thus far! Take care!
Smiles,
Anna
Good luck tomorrow!
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