Jack and the Beanstalk, and Other Crazy Tales

Well I'm happy to report that the weekend's group went much better than anticipated. I will say that our boss' presence did make some of us anxious or uneasy, but for me I ignored it and went along with the flow of the group. I was paired with a woman named Dympna. She is 50 years old and lives in a hospital in Baldoyle. Dympna has a sad story (not to be talked about here) but suffice it to say, CASA is her family, and has been for 30 years. She has a severe intellectual and physical disability that limits her to a chair and no speech. But Dympna has awareness of what is around her and understands most things, we are pretty sure. The best way to care for her, in my opinion is to simply be with her and constantly give her tea. :) Although one morning I left my coffee near her and she grabbed it and drank it all so fast that some spilled down her clothes! We've never known her to drink coffee, but I guess we can always learn new things about our members. She often asks for more tea by grabbing your arm and forcing her cup into your hand. There are two problems with this. The first being that it simply isn't good for someone to drink six cups of coffee or tea within an hour. The second reason is that half of the time she wants to just hold it in her hand until she gets bored with it and then proceeds to spill it on the floor. After a few days of cleaning up spilled tea I was getting a little tired of it. I was pretty sure my boss' head was going to explode when, after a full day of cleaning up spilled tea, I made the joke, "Dympna wants more tea. The floor is really thirsty tonight!" Honestly, sometimes you have to make stupid jokes or vent about something in order to let it go and move on. Anyways, my time with Dympna was good. She's very easy to care for and it was actually nice to just be a presence for her. She deserves the love and attention that CASA gives her.

Among the group, there were three of my favorite members: Michael, Shane, and Julie. Michael is fondly referred to as "Happy Michael." I've probably written about him before, but I'm gonna write about him again. :) He has a very limited vocabulary that includes "happy" (always with a thumbs up), "ABBA," "hiya," and, my personal favorite, "leggy." Every time someone walks by him he says "Hiya!" And he loves being in the house so much that he'll just randomly say "Happy!" with a thumbs up countless times. It is impossible to not love Michael or to be unhappy when he is near. Shane is my age and he is completely deaf. He writes and signs, which allows him to be an active part of the group. I really like hanging out with Shane, and I was excited for him to be in the house. He was supposed to be with me at the Christmas social but he got sick. Julie is an exceptionally nice person. She lives with her big family and never gets the attention she deserves. She is so sweet and thoughtful of others. With a bit of coaxing she sings for us. Her two songs include a Christian song "Totally Yours" and an old country song called "Blanket on the Ground" about an old married couple that wants to bring spice back into their relationship. It is hilarious! She is wonderful.

All of the worried about the six wheelchairs was not warranted after all. Everything worked out okay, in spite of our anxiety. We all agree that it isn't ideal, but now we know we can work with it. The real problem was having so many people that needed a nurse. Sharon couldn't be with everyone at all times. Mona had several seizures throughout the weekend which left a few other epileptic people alone with their carer. We have no training on how to deal with an epileptic attack. So that issue needs to be brought up before we do this again.

On our weekend, we all relaxed as usual. Sarah sent me "Tommy Boy" and "What About Bob?" on DVD so we all got together to watch them. It definitely brightened our spirits! Those movies are so good! Oh actually, we watched "What About Bob?" before the group, which gave us a great line to use whenever we were stressed. "Baby steps to 4 o'clock. Baby steps to 4 o'clock." :) On Tuesday, Kate and I ventured to Dublin to get our hair cut. I hadn't gotten mine cut since June, so it was definitely time! Afterward we had lunch and then separated to do some shopping. I found a really nice Catholic bookstore which was great because I needed to get a lot of birthday presents for the next two months. When I got to the bus stop to go home, Canada was waiting there. It was a nice surprise, because taking the 45 minute bus ride home alone is boring.

Yesterday felt like anything but work. It began in the afternoon with a visit to the Cara Cheshire Home. This is where six of our members take residence, among 20 others. Michaelena and Sean are two popular favorites among CASA volunteers. Michaelena was in the craft room when we arrived, doing her usual masterpieces. Everyone else was either in bed or on their way back from their day centers. Stephen came rolling in after a few minutes, to which Michaelena promptly shouted, "Go AWAY, Stephen." Needless to say, she isn't his biggest fan. :) I happen to love Stephen, though, so I tried to smooth things over. When we were asking Stephen how he was feeling, because he was recently diagnosed with cancer, Michaelena shouted, "Don't talk about that here, Stephen!!!!" It was so funny. Stephen doesn't mind Mickie's attitude because he knows he deserves it. He's always pushing her over the edge. :P

After the visit we all met up at the Gaiety Theater to see Jack and the Beanstalk. A very wealthy volunteer donated a bunch of tickets for us to take members. It was quite a show! There was tons of singing and dancing and an electronic beanstalk that came out of the stage! I was impressed by the quality. And the male dancers were pretty damn entertaining. Not to mention the drag queen that played Jack's mom. haha They also incorporated recent songs like "Single Ladies," "Tonight's Gonna Be a Good Night," and that pop it lock it song from Miley Cyrus. It was a very fun show!

Today has been regular group prep. We have a kids group starting tomorrow. I am paired with Perfect again. I was supposed to be with her last time, but her parents cancelled very last minute. I am praying that she is able to come because I know how badly she needs the break. Any extra prayers would be great!

Belle of Belfast City

Hello all! I have a little downtime after my work day so I thought I'd tell you about my trip to Belfast. Canada Kate, Lisa and I left around ten in the morning on Monday by bus to Belfast in Northern Ireland. Lisa decided to stay in a seperate hostel, so when we arrived we split up to check in to our rooms and met up soon after. We then took off on our Black Cab Tour. In Belfast there is still fighting and violence between the Catholics and the Protestants, although it is truly just a continuation of the fighting that began when the British invaded Ireland many years ago. Our tour guide took us along the "peace wall" that divides the neighborhoods into Catholic territory and Protestant territory. In the 60s and 70s the violence was extreme. I won't go into details of the history because it's too much to write and I probably would mess up the facts. It's interesting though, if you have the time and feel like checking it out. Anyways, the cab took us around the Catholic side of the city and our guide told us a few stories and showed us some of the famous murals on the walls. I enjoyed the tour, although I think our guide laid it on thick with how bad the Catholics had it. They were definitely the ones who were being persecuted, but today, I'd say the violence is from both sides equally. To me it is unacceptable. How humanity hasn't figured out that violence doesn't solve any problems is beyond me. Anyways! After the tour we walked around the city a bit and settled into The Crown Bar, which is known as Ireland's oldest pub. I'm not sure how accurate that is, but the pub was cool! It had a very old fashioned feel to it, and each table had little walls to provide privacy. I liked it a lot. We headed back to the hostel after our much needed pint and made dinner. Lisa went back to her hostel and Canada and I watched My Best Friend's Wedding. The next morning Canada and I went on our day tour (compliments of our hostel, Paddy's Palace who is connected to the tour company, Paddywagon...dead serious, that's the name.) It started with a stop at Carrick-a-Rede which is a rope bridge that connects two of the Carrick Islands. Kate and I skipped the fee to cross the bridge and instead took the walk down the coast. It was so beautiful, and we were blessed with a clear and almost sunny day. :) After an hour or so there, we moved on to Giant's Causeway. I really can't explain what it is and how it was formed, so I'll let Wiki do it for me.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant



Anyways, basically it is a series of rock columns that fit together like a puzzle in various geometric shapes. It's crazy! It is supposedly formed by lava, but the Irish have a legend about a giant that created the rocks and I'm pretty sure they are right. :) After a few hours there we were off again, this time for Derry. Our guide gave us more information on the battle between the Protestants and the Catholics, and we took an hour break there. Kate and I were pretty tired at this point so we didn't do too much there.



We got back around six that evening and we met up with Lisa for dinner. We rushed through our good and much needed meal and headed off to the other side of town. Lisa found us 10 pound tickets to see the show Stomp. I don't know if you've heard of it, but I recommend the show to absolutely anyone! It was so amazing! There were eight people involved on the stage and they did a series of musical performances using brooms, buckets, garbage cans, and lots of other things. The coordination involved in that show was stunning! If you have the chance to go, you have to! By the time we got back to the hostel we were so wrecked. It had been a long but really good day! The next morning we had breakfast and met up with Lisa to do the walking tour. Unfortunately the good weather luck had run out. Because a walking tour in the rain didn't appeal to us much, we spent some time in the museum and then parted ways. Kate and I wanted to check out the mall because everything is much cheaper in Northern Ireland. Lisa wanted to check out the town a bit before leaving. We made it to our bus five minutes before it took off to take us back to Dublin.



I really enjoyed my time in Belfast! The day trip was the highlight for sure. Today was just a regular working day. After work and the meeting in the afternoon, I made a few cheesecakes for tomorrow's group. It is Khadija's birthday, and although she won't be supervising the group, she will stay to make sure everything goes smoothly. We have a weird situation this weekend. They needed to have a nurse for the group, so in order to make it "worth it" to pay a nurse to come, they asked six out of seven people that are in wheelchairs. It is hard to explain just how much a pain in the ass that is. I'll try anyways. :) We only have space in this house for five people extreme maximum in chairs. Because of that, we will be having the group in the Swords house where we have one of those stair lifts. Moving to Swords isn't so bad except for the fact that they are having a kid's social on Sunday afternoon there, so we have to clean and leave the house and bring everyone to Malahide that morning. We also only have room for four chairs in the bus at a time which means two trips everywhere, which means less activities. On top of all that, Erin is leading the group, and Sharon (the break house manager that lives in Cork) is going to be our nurse. So, to conclude the whining, I am not excited about this group. :P I'd say it's about 50% selfish and 50% concern for quality groups for the members. Most of them probably won't care, but there will be a few that will be bothered by the fact that we aren't going out to dinner and we're not going to the cinema. I will have to mentally prepare myself to be in high spirits and consider it a challenge to be completely positive and stress-free the entire weekend. (Am I convincing anyone?)



In other news, I am getting more excited for my upcoming trip to Rome next month! And I just bought a ticket to Madrid for the beginning of my April break. I will be spending a few days there and then heading over to Italy to spend time with Audrey and Andre once more before I move back home at the end of April. Crazy how fast it's coming up.... It's the end of January for goodness sake!



Well time to go get a few more things done tonight. Much love to my people back home. :)

~Claire

Irish Arctic Blast of 2010

The first week of January was much like my winter in Portland last year. I spent five days in the house blocked in by a sheet of ice covered in snow. My more daring housemates still seemed to make it to the pub a few nights that week, but I was happy curling up by the fire and reading my book. I did make it to the village one of the days, out of sheer guilt and disgust with my lack of physical exertion. They say that the weather hasn't been this bad in many years. Figured it would happen the year I decide to live here. But I wasn't upset by the snow at all. Snow and I are great friends. It's the ice that kills me. We were supposed to work that week, but there really wasn't much we could do with the conditions outside. A new girl from Canada, (another Kate), showed up on Thursday morning. She instantly fit in, and doesn't mind the nickname Canada, because the Kate confusion is too much for our brains.

The ice melted just in time for our group on Tuesday. We all were feeling nervous about having a group that lasted a full four days, instead of the usual three. CASAs budget right now is so low that we've been cutting back on activities and relying on volunteer drivers. Because of this we were all completely confused as to why the management wants to expand our services. With all of this apprehension, it is fair to say that none of us wanted to do this group. However, we all went in hoping for the best, and I think it payed off. I was paired with Brenda Byrne. I've been with her before, so I knew what to expect. She doesn't talk much, but she enjoys being in the house and especially loves Mary Fox. To her delight, she and I were staying in Mary's room during the week. We planned out a full week of activities, and it worked out well. For the first time, we took the members to a museum. Almost every member really enjoyed doing something new, and it was free! Because of all of the activities planned, the time went by pretty fast. We saw Sherlock Homes and I enjoyed it. I think that after all of the bad movies we've seen in groups, I'm just so happy to see a movie that is entertaining to me at all, even if it isn't that great. I know a lot of people thought the movie was terrible, but I think most of those people are fans of the books. I completely understand why a fan of the stories would not be impressed by the movie at all. However, it was much better than Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakual, so no complaints here...

After the group was over we were all so exhausted. We had a meeting to discuss what we thought about the group. We were all mostly positive about it, but a few of us have concerns for the future group. The members are the most important factor in each group. If they aren't careful with who they pick to come in for four full days, then the groups can be awful. Also, I decided that spending 72 straight hours with another human being is too much for my brain. I really struggle with giving up my personal space for so long. So even though the group went well, and I enjoyed being with Brenda, I still feel that the four day groups are unnecessary. But c'est la vie....

That night we celebrated Lennart's 20th birthday! All of eight of us went to Gibney's and it was so much fun! I'm really going to miss going there. This guy at the bar asked Lennart to introduce us girls to him. Lennart told him to grow a pair and do it himself! So when Lennart went to the bathroom that guy just came and sat down at our table. It was so awkward and annoying! Then his even jerkier friend came over and at that point we were all ready to go. So we went back and partied a bit more at the house. I'd say Lennart enjoyed his night. :)

Today we are having a social at the Hilton. Afterwards we'll make our way to town to O'Neill's for our favorite Irish band. Tomorrow, we are all taking advantage of our five day weekend by going on mini trips. Canada, Lisa, and I are going to Belfast for three days. I've never been up to Northern Ireland so it will be a new experience for me. We received a free day trip to Giant's Causeway and I am SO excited for it! I hear that it is such an amazing thing to see.

Well I hope you are enjoying your first month of 2010! I can't believe the month is halfway over.... Three more months and I'll be home!!

My German Christmas

The past two weeks have been so much fun and exactly what I needed. I'm going to have
to work hard to remember all the details because it all seems like a blur at this
point.

I left Ireland in the afternoon on Tuesday the 22nd. My flight was delayed, but I'd
expected that. I was so happy when I made it safely to Berlin and saw Audrey, Andre,
and his father Dieter. (Audrey is my old Taco Bell coworker. She married a German
exchange student and is now living in Erfurt with him.) They drove me to his parents
apartment in Berlin. Dieter and Kristina are so amazing! They don't speak any English,
and I thought that it was going to get in the way. However, they were so warm and
welcoming and treated me as a part of the family. I was so lucky to spend Christmas
with them. Kristina took the opportunity of having people in the house to spoil us with
lots of good food and wine. I ate way too much, to say the least. :) The next day,
Andre planned a full outing in Berlin. We went to the TV Tower, which has a ball at the
top that contains two levels, one for viewing the city, and one that has a restaurant
that has tables only on the outer ring and that ring rotates! So We sat and had red and
green beer and saw the city. It was really cool. Afterward, we went to a little shop
that sells little wooden men that are hollow with a hole for a mouth. You put incense
inside and they look like they are smoking! It is probably my favorite thing of all
time. I got a little snowman as a gift and I named him Dietmar. :) After the shop we
went to the museum island and visited the museum with huge pieces from the Middle East.
It was very interesting. They had lots of mosaics, which is my favorite form of art.
After the museum we grabbed doner (seriously amazing...) and ate it on the way to the
cinema. They had movies in English, and Andre took us to see Avatar. I was pleasantly
surprised at how much I liked it. :) Then we went to the Hard Rock Cafe which was done
serving food when we arrived at nine. (Stupid, no?) So we went back to the apartment
instead.

The next day was Christmas Eve. We piled into the car and made our way to Potsdam,
where Andre's grandpa lives. We were supposed to go to the Christmas market there, but
it closed early for the holiday. I was greatly disappointed, but I got over it quickly.
We were all eager to get back to Berlin to have dinner and open presents. :) Dinner was
delicious and the gift giving was really fun! I didn't expect to get anything, but was
surprised with lots of gifts from Dieter and Kristina. They are so wonderful! They gave
me a Christmas cd, lots of Berlin souvenirs, and perfume. The evening was pretty much
perfect. After all of the festivities we cleaned up and watched several clips of
movies/shows all dubbed in German. The weirdest one to see was European Vacation
because we normally watch Christmas Vacation each year. Somehow Chevy Chase's humor
transcends the language barrier, but the rest of the movie didn't. :P Christmas day was
pretty low-key. Dieter and Audrey went with me to Christmas Mass in the morning after
breakfast. When we got back we had lunch and began preparing Christmas dinner. Audrey
and I were in charge of the pumpkin pie and the side dishes, while his mother took care
of the goose legs. (Never had one before, but surprisingly delicious!) At one point
Audrey and Andre went into their room to talk and I was left in the kitchen with
Kristina who continued to talk to me in German as if I had any idea what she was
saying. I ended up saying "ya" and "danka" a lot in that time period. I also tried to
work on the pie without having the recipe which incidentally was in Andre's room. But as
soon as Audrey came to help me it all worked out well and the dinner was great. Later
that evening we all went to the huge cathedral down town to see an instrumental
concert. His parents bought us all tickets! The music was lovely and the dome was
amazing. The pictures won't even come close to representing it's beauty.

The next day we went to a Christmas market down town. I was so excited that there was
still an open market somewhere so I could experience it! It did not disappoint me. It
was dark out and the whole block was filled with little booths strung together with
white lights. We walked though it and stopped occasionally to browse. I bought another
packet of incense for my little smokeman but refrained from buying anything else. I was
already dreading fitting everything into my luggage. After the market, Dieter dropped
us kids off at Andre's friend's apartment. It was his 23rd birthday and my friends
wanted to stop by for a bit. Robert rents a studio apartment in downtown Berlin. We
could hear the music from the street, so we had little trouble finding his door. When
we walked in, I was surprised to see how many people he could fit in there. I knew
going in that Audrey and I would end up in a corner sipping beer and talking to only
each other. I was perfectly okay with this because I didn't want anyone there to feel
like they had to use their high school English to try to include me. A few people there
did talk to me a bit, and that was nice. We didn't end up staying too long, but it was
fun to go and hang out for a bit. I always find it amusing to be in a room full of
people who are drinking when I have little to no alcohol. :)

The rest of my time in Berlin was much of the same. We spent time with his family and
ate lots of food. Monday morning, Dieter drove us to the train station. A few hours
later we were in Erfurt, the city where Audrey and Andre live. I fell in love with it!
It is a cute little town that has lots of pretty houses and a HUGE cathedral on top of
a hill. There was no snow when we got there, which was promising. (As much as my heart
swells with the vision of snow, I was happy to be without it if it meant sight seeing
would be possible.) After settling in at their apartment we went to Andre's aunt and
uncle's house for dinner. In addition to the five of us, there was also his two cousins
who are our age, another aunt and uncle, and another cousin Leon who is three years
old. Leon was the star of the night! I had so much fun playing with him. It didn't seem
to matter that we couldn't understand each other. Apparently playing is an international
language. He did look at me like I was crazy a few times when he actually listened to
what was coming out of my mouth. For dinner, Jana made lots of different meats and
veggies that we picked out and cooked for ourselves on a grill in the middle of the
table. That thing was SO cool! If they have those in the states I am buying one! His
relatives didn't speak English with the exception of Jana who spent time in Australia.
She was so sweet and fun to hang out with. After dinner she went with us to a bar to
play foos ball and I had my first German beer!

The next day we went to lunch with Andre's company and afterward we went grocery
shopping. I made tacos for them that night and we watched a movie. The next day we were
supposed to go see the city, but Audrey wasn't feeling well and I was perfectly okay
being lazy. It was one requirement for me on my holiday. Later, she was feeling better
so we went to their favorite Italian restaurant for pizza. Mmmm.... The following day
was New Years Eve. Audrey and I went out to finally see her favorite parts of Erfurt.
We soon realized that nothing was open on New Years Eve. Apparently they like to party
early! Or maybe they just like to rest up before the party begins. Regardless, we were
both disappointed. It had snowed the day before so the roads were all slick and I was
ok with cutting our day short. Thankfully, the cathedral was open. I was amazed at the
beautiful altar. I wish that I could have taken pictures with flash because the church
was so dark that it's beauty did not come out at all on camera. I bought a little book
on the Cathedral with good pictures though. We sought out coffee but were again
disappointed with the lack of open businesses. We headed home and enjoyed the warmth of
the apartment and coziness of the couch. Later, we met up with Audrey's schoolmate
Christian who came over to hang out with us for the night. We all went to an Irish pub
owned by Andre's cousin. A few beers in, Andre left because he was feeling sick. It was
disappointing, but we managed to enjoy ourselves anyway. A half hour before midnight,
the three of us left the pub and walked up an icy hill to have a good view of the
fireworks that were to come. We were not the only ones who had that idea. The hill was
filled with people who were not only there to see the fireworks, but were also there to
set them off. When midnight hit there was a huge cloud of smoke lurking above us that
came from the firework free-for-all around us. Audrey and I drunkenly sang "Oh Say can
You See" while Christian mocked us. What a way to ring in the new year! We walked back
to their apartment and played cards for a bit before Christian had to catch his train
home. Audrey put on a movie but I fell asleep ten minutes into it.

That morning at half seven I woke up to the windows completely covered in snow. I
opened the window and saw that it had snowed several inches within a few hours! It was
so pretty! They live on the top floor of their building so I could see all the white
rooftops and the footprints in the snow down below. We didn't do anything that day but
hang out inside safe from the cold. More of that insured laziness. :) The next day we
packed up and hopped into the car that Andre got from his company. He was bragging
about the size of the car and how fancy it was. Unfortunately the size ended up being
the car's downfall when snow got involved. However, Audrey and I were still able to
appreciate the fanciness of the car, especially the seat warmers! We drove up to Berlin
and arrived in the early evening. Andre's mother had dinner ready for us when we walked
in. Oh how I love it there... The next day we hung out with his parents and avoided
thinking out my trip to the airport and return to Ireland. It had been so nice being
with them all for those two weeks. The idea of coming back to work was not inviting.
Neither was the idea of being in an airport and airplane. (I hate airports more than
doing to the dentist, going to the doctor, pulling my own hair out...etc.) Anyways, the
time inevitably came and I was there at the airport alone. A few hours later (delays
due to snow and ice on the engines...yikes...) I was on the plane and headed for
"home." I arrived back in Ireland to lots of ice on the roads and a half hour wait in
line for a taxi. I didn't get home until about half one, which didn't matter as soon as
I saw Kaitlyn waiting in the icy driveway for me with open arms. I slid into that hug!
The past few days have been ok. Everyone swapped holiday stories and we did a huge deep
cleaning of the house on Monday. Today we attempted a day trip with the kids but ended
up only being able to take them to the cinema and Burger King. They seemed to be okay
with the substitute, but all of us volunteers were truly bummed to miss out on the
children's museum! Some other time, we hope... Now we are resting and wondering if the
new girl from Canada will actually make it here tomorrow morning. The weather is so
bad...

Ok, well I suppose I've run out of things to update. I hope life is good over there in
your 45 degree weather. :D Love to you,
Claire