Oh Teenagers...

The taxi brought us home early this evening....It was a long weekend. We had a teen group this time, and we stayed at the break house in Swords. It was Jessica's first time to CASA and I could tell she was a little nervous to be left to a group of strangers. She warmed up quickly though. Jessica is a normal 16 year old girl, who was born with spina bifida. Being in a wheelchair has unfortunately kept her from being able to do normal teenager activities, which I believe has more to do with her situation at home than the wheelchair itself. Regardless, it was really good for her to be able to come to the break house and spend time with young people her age. She also was so grateful for being able to go out to the movies, to dinner, and to the farm. She told me that she is never able to go out to eat or go to the cinema. It was great to see how much she enjoyed herself, even though she tried to conceal it behind her teenage attitude. I was, of course, very uncool. I didn't know her Irish boy bands or movie stars. But I think that when you're a teenager, unless you are the equivalent of Miley Cyrus or "the cute" Jonas brother, you're absolutely uncool. So I didn't take it personally. :) I hope that she is able to come again soon.

The weekend was an overall success, with more sleep than we all expected. I really loved riding on the bus with the kids. I especially enjoyed singing "The Wheels on the Bus" with Connor. He has cerebral palsey and isn't able to speak clearly. But he is able to join in on the singing in a limited way and it is adorable! His face lights up with the beginning of each song and it was so much fun! We went to dinner at an "All American" restaurant and it was filled with pictures of Elvis and Marilyn Manroe. It was a nice feeling of home. And Jessica was having fun making fun of me, and told me she was stuck with an American helper and then surrounded by American culture as well! I deserved it though, because I kept teasing her and her people for all of their silly words like "jumper" for "sweater" and "craic" (pronounced "crack") for "fun."

We are all very tired, but we only have two short days until our next group that starts Wednesday afternoon. It will be a very exhausting week, but we have five days off following the next group, so I am very excited. Friday night, Kate and I are going out with a couple guys we met last week, so that should be good. We are the only volunteers who are interested in meeting people outside of CASA, and we make a good team. :) We'll see how it works out. The next morning five of us are headed to the west coast to spend time in Donegal and Sligo. I can't wait to see more of this amazing country!! And I'm the tester for Katie and my parents who will be coming out here later this year. I'll take lots of pictures, don't worry!!


Until next time,
Claire