Monday, 28 May 2012
Since the students arrival two weeks ago, Colum and I had planned a few field trips and activities to do with the group of students. The first field trip we planned was the first weekend the arrived, which was taking the DART to Dun Laoghaire for a walking adventure. For those of you who don’t know the DART stands for Dublin Area Rapid Transit, it is a light rail network operating in Dublin and is one of the most common uses of transportation in the city. For someone who did not grow up in a city like me, this was a very exciting first time city transportation experience for me last year. Being more familiar with it now, it was interesting to see what the other students thought. Most students who lived near a city were able to relate this type of transportation, while for others it was another first time experience for them. The day was a fairly mild day, with some sun shining through highlighting the beauty of the numerous seaside town and villages dotted along the way. Once we got off our walking journey began. Colum toured us through pointing our various landmarks. As we continued to walk we passed what is known as the “40 foot” which is where Irish people going swimming. Myself and the other students were shocked when we saw a good amount of people going in for a dip on a slightly overcast, and to us chilly day in Dublin, but for Colum this was nothing out of the ordinary. Colum had also pointed out to us a magpie, which is a bird that is found all over the country. What’s unique and comical to us (Americans) is that when you see one you are supposed to salute it, in efforts to avoid off bad luck. After a few hours of walking we made it into this next town over and hopped back onto the DART to head home. In my opinion DART trips are always a lot of fun because you can make a day out of it, and once you have used the DART once it’s easy and convenient to use on your own when you want to explore other areas outside Dublin City Centre.
Over the last week the weather in Dublin, Ireland has been magnificent, and if you ask any Irish person they would typically respond by saying “enjoy it because it’s the best it is going to get!” In order to fully take advantage of the great weather we planned a trip to a nearby park, where Colum and his colleague Damien taught the students how to play Gaelic Football. Gaelic football is very different from American Football, it consists of a mixture between soccer, rugby, and basketball. Prior to going to the park we went over the rules and guidelines, as well as provided them with a some brief YouTube clips on how the game is actually played. I was happy to see that most of the students had a competitive edge to them and were eager to get out on to the field. Kudos to Colum and Damien for coaching the students and running them through a few drills before starting the actual game. The group of students split in half and it was game on! For next 40 minutes the students competitively played against one another by throwing, kicking, catching, and running with the ball. While there is always a winner and loser when it comes to competitive sports, it was clear by the end of the match that everyone had a really good time playing, and some students even asked when they were going to learn another one of Irelands other sports.
As the week continued the sun shined on and got warmer and warmer. Colum and I spent our Sunday in Bray hiking to the top of the hill to look over the water. In efforts to be adventurous we decided to take a different route down the mountain. Little did we know our exploratory mind set led us down a path of uncertainty. We ended up getting lost and hiking up and down the mountain for 3 and a half hours. Despite the sore feet and exhaustion we enjoyed the hike in its entirety. By the time we made our way down the mountain we had missed lunch and couldn’t be more ready for a big dinner. Our first attempted to eat at a local restaurant in Bray failed when the waitress informed us that they were not taking anymore order temporarily because the kitchen was very busy and overloaded with food orders. Confused and starved at this point, Colum said we have 5 minutes to take the next DART into Dubin, we had to make a run for it. It was at this point that I decided I would never go sprinting in moccasins shoes again. Just a few feet away from the station, running as fast as I could, and dodging the people in front of me, I lost my balance and fell flat on my face. As I laid there on the ground for a minute Colum looked back to make sure I was okay, shaking it off as quickly as I could we made it to the dart station before it departed back to Dublin. If my body wasn’t going to be sore enough the next morning from the 3 hours of hiking, there was no doubt in my mind that I was going to be waking up feeling achy and sore after a fall like that. I am excited to see what the next week brings! Thank you for reading and keep following along to find out! If you have any questions or comments regarding my blog please do not hesitate to contact me at ldoran@amcd.ie
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