The past five weeks...

Hi everyone!

I have definitely noticed that the quality of my writing deteriorates more and more the more exhausted I am. Unfortunately, work is draining, and I feel like I haven’t posted an acceptably insightful post in… well, forever. Hopefully this one will be a little better than the previous ones.

This past weekend, we went to Kilkenny, which is a little town located about an hour and a half away from Dublin. We went on a walking tour of the city (with a giant group of students from Spain. One girl was translating, and Sra. Rodriguez, you’d be proud because I understood everything she said. And she forgot the word “pisos,” but I filled it in under my breath before she remembered. Score!), and we later went to the Smithwick’s Factory. It was sad because they talked about how much history the factory had, but explained that by next year, the factory will close and be given to the city, while production will move to Dublin.

The adorable town of Kilkenny

Black Abbey Church

Kilkenny Castle

On Sunday, the day was completely free. Christine, Anthony, and I went to church at St. Patrick’s in the morning, and the rest of the day was spent relaxing, walking around Trinity College, and cooking a family meal. After an exhausting week filled with work and planned activities, it’s definitely nice to be able to have a day to relax and just bond with the group.

Trinity College

So five of the most rewarding weeks of my life have flown by. In just five short weeks, I’ve…

• Learn how to execute qualitative research, through interviewing, transcribing, and coding
• Improved my ability to understand the Irish accent (well, sometimes. I haven’t tried listening to a Cork accent just yet)
• Had an article published in Metro Eireann, Ireland’s first multicultural paper (this is an assignment that Bill and Suzanne gave that both Derek and I worked on together)
• Been treated for the first time EVER as a coworker, an equal, and have gathered the confidence to honestly and openly express my opinions to my superiors
• Conquered Irish weather (it was pouring rain today. Derek and I were literally drenched from head to toe, but I honestly could’ve cared less. Guess I’m becoming more like the Irish!)
• Discovered how exhausting it is to work an eight-hour job and come home and cook dinner. I’ve always respected and loved my parents for everything they do, but I honestly feel like I definitely appreciate all of their hard work so much more now that I’m doing it myself. Thank you, mom and dad, and for all of y’all reading, make sure you show lots of love and appreciation to your moms and dads as well (:
• Learned how to use a Mac. Yes, this is extremely impressive, especially for my technologically-challenged self. But switching back and forth between my Mac desktop at work and my beloved Toshiba non-Mac laptop has been a struggle...
• Experienced true culture shock... and overcame it. I feel much more like a local now, and while I still don’t know everything, I’m happy that I learn something new every day.

That was only a tiny, tiny slice of my crazy life for the past incredible five weeks. Here’s to hoping that the next three weeks are equally, if not more, satisfying and eye-opening.

Smiles,

Anna

P.S. I will try my best to update more often! Much love!