My October...

Hello everyone,

I just got done with a group and I'm resting on my bed and blogging. Life is good. :) The internet right now isn't working very well, still, but I did discover that it works in my room again, so I'm happy!

This past week has gone by very quickly. I can't even really remember what I did besides a few days of work and hanging out with Federico and Gio. It was Gio's last night, actually, last week. We listened to some trad music and had a few pints at O'Neill's. It was sad to see her go, but I'm sure she'll be back to visit. She loved being her for this past month. Kate and I went to Oliver St. John Gogarty's on Friday night. We met three Spanish boys, one of whom was named Paco. He was amazingly cute! Like a Spanish version of Michael Buble. Anyways, they were loads of fun! I can't remember the names of the other two. In my defense, they were very Spanish names! The next night, I escaped over to Federico's place for a movie marathon. The choices were....eclectic.... We started with one of my favorites, Rear Window. Next up was Animal House. I had never seen that movie, which is crazy! (I love John Belushi!) We followed that up with Zac and Miri, which I wasn't too impressed with, although I do love Seth Rogen to the end! The last one was Bad Santa...I have no idea why Fred put that on... I fell asleep after about 5 minutes!

We had group preparation on Monday, which didn't take too long. I spend the rest of that day trying to get tickets to Berlin for Christmas. I'm sad that I will be missing Christmas at home, but I am so lucky to go see Audrey and Andre and spend Christmas with their family. (I was friends with Audrey in high school and she moved over to Germany when she married a German exchange student.) Ryanair wouldn't take my credit card information, so I had to have my mom pay for it all the way over there. So ridiculous.

Tuesday morning was hectic. We have a very generous, but crotchety, volunteer who comes to do free handiwork for the house. He also donated a refrigerator, boiler, and kitchen floor. He came in the morning of the group to put in the floor, and arrived at only 11am. The group was to begin at 2pm! He and his helper were able to do it by two, however, we were not allowed in the kitchen for lunch. My member, Ann, got here early, just to top it all off! The house was a mess, and I was starving! Jose and Lennart went out to get sandwiches, so I was able to sit and get to know Ann. She was in the house a few months ago, but she was paired with Erin and I didn't interact with her much. Ann is hard to communicate with because she is deaf and has an intellectual disability. Because of this, she doesn't use any sign language. This made it very difficult for me to communicate with her. But she was very content with just being in the house. She liked to play cards and look through photo albums. When it was time for people to sing songs she got up and sang! It was so great. She has been deaf since birth, and she doesn't speak at all, so it was just sounds coming out. I was so happy that she felt comfortable singing. Ann was very mild tempered and really enjoyed her time in the house. I felt like I could have done better talking with her. I was stressed out the entire time...wondering if I should try harder to talk to her about specific things. But sometimes she would nod yes even when she didn't understand what I meant. And she also seemed stressed if I tried too hard to sign to her. So most of the time we sat and watched the others and played cards. We all went shopping on Wednesday and that was good. Ann bought a shirt and a scarf and I bought some new slippers. (Much needed ones!) After a bit of shopping, we met at the cinema for "Fame." I voted for that one for Ann because she'd be able to enjoy the dancing. It wasn't exactly high quality film, but the kids in the movie were so talented!

This morning flew by and 2pm was here before we knew it. Ann's ride was actually a bit early, and everyone else was gone a few minutes before two o'clock hit. Mary Fox (the nun who has lived here for 20 years) says that has never, never, never happened before!

Now we are all doing our own things. I packed a little for tomorrow. We have a uniform to wear, so I don't really have much to pack. Just sweaters and socks and things like that. We are going out tonight for a pint. My flight isn't until 3pm and I'd like a mental break before my next few weeks of "work" begin. There was supposed to be an Elvis impersonator at Gibney's, but that was canceled (stupid Gibney's!) so we will just go out and listen to the boring DJ. But Federico is coming out too, so that will be fun.

So here is my crazy schedule for this month. I know that no one cares, but I feel the need to express it to someone.

Oct. 9-14 Lourdes (technically work because I'll be with a member for the entire 6 days...please pray for me!! I know that it will be mentally and physically challenging!)

Oct. 15- Clean house and prep for group

Oct 16-17 Teens Group (Eeek!)

Oct. 18-20 My parent's visit!

Oct. 21-22nd Work

Oct. 23-25 Group

Oct. 26-28 See my parent's again!

Oct 29-31 Work


Every single day is accounted for in either work or seeing my parents. Crazy! But part of the reason I left my life in the States was because I was often bored and not challenging myself. This month will be a challenge! But it will also be filled with many blessing including an amazing trip to Lourdes and seeing my parents for the first time in 5 months! I really am a lucky girl. :)

God bless to you, and I'll be sure to tell you all about my trip when I come home.

Love,
Claire