Rain, rain, rain...

Helloooooo, loves!

As predicted from yesterday’s exhausting scavenger hunt, I woke up completely sore from my waist down. And yet I still pushed myself to go running this morning. That was a terrible idea. I was rendered essentially immobile for the rest of the day, awkwardly hobbling around and mentally panicking whenever I had to go up or down a set of stairs.

Anyway, Derek and I visited the Educate Together office today and were able to meet all of our wonderful coworkers. A student who worked at ET last year certainly wasn’t lying when she described that the office was located “at the end of the face of the earth” (aka in suburban Dublin 12.We currently live in Dublin 2) The distance wasn’t too noticeable on the way there because Bill took a cab with us, but the journey back was quite the adventure. Let’s do some basic math: 10-15 minutes to walk from the ET office to the bus stop. Insert time spent waiting at the bus stop here; it felt like forever. 30-40 minute ride (maybe? I’ll watch the time the next time I get off) on the 151 bus from the Park West stop to a stop near St. Patrick’s Cathedral. 15-20 minute walk back to the apartment. Total trip time: Approximately 55-75 minutes, not including the agonizingly long time spent waiting at the bus stop. Oh, and then add in cold, non-summery temperatures in the low 50s, strong winds, and cold, pouring rain that was angled directly toward us, causing our pants to cling to our legs and our skin to freeze. ‘Twas a lovely walk.

But regardless of the distance, I was grateful that Derek and I were able to visit the office today and get a feel for the work environment and meet our coworkers. Everyone was hilarious and friendly, so we’re definitely looking forward to eating lunch with our coworkers every day and getting to know them better. Also, just like Esker ETNS which we visited yesterday, the office was a positive, supportive environment. Sarah (the lovely woman who picked up Derek and me yesterday) and Seonaid (the administration team leader) also explained to us that they wanted to give us the opportunity to work both as a team with the rest of the office as well as work on our own project together. They explained to us that we were always, always allowed to say “no” to a team task if we felt like we couldn’t handle it at the time. I was surprised by how much they trusted us to prioritize our own schedules and how highly they genuinely valued our opinions. We were treated as equals, as actual coworkers of the organizations, rather than inferior interns. Sarah, Seonaid, and Emer (our line supervisor) all explained that everyone in the office, not just the three of them, was dedicated to ensuring that Derek and I would have a positive experience and that we would grow and develop and take away much from our experience. I’m honestly so blessed to be working in such an encouraging office, and I simply cannot wait to start work on Monday!

After our long, treacherous journey home, I prepared for our next photo scavenger hunt. We were required to take five pictures of concepts that are found in Dublin but not in Durham. However, because Bill and Anthony were running super late, we ended up moving the photo scavenger hunt to tomorrow (to the relief of all of our sore legs). Instead, we went to a gastropub (a pub that sells nice food as well) tonight that was located in Temple Bar, a well-known area of Dublin that borders the Liffey River and has tons of pubs. The particular gastropub we went to was famous around the world for the hundreds of varieties of alcoholic beverages that they sold (I wish I could remember the name! I’ll edit the post when I find out.) Despite the cold and the rain, we ventured to this area because we wanted to watch the Eurocup game tonight between Ireland and Spain. Unfortunately (and sadly predictably), Ireland was crushed by Spain, 0-4. I’m pretty sure Ireland barely touched the ball for most of the game. The heavy rains, cold, and wind didn’t help our already somewhat disappointed moods as we trudged home. True story: I haven’t seen the sun for three days straight. I miss warmth and sunshine, but at least I have my friends’ crazy stories, arbitrary comments, and laughter to keep my days bright. (:

Hope everyone has been well! Happy Friday!

Smiles,

Anna :)