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
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Sunday, January 17, 2010
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!!
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!!
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
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
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
Sunday, December 20, 2009
My Gillian, Love
Well I just had one of the best groups of the year! It was our last group before our Christmas break, and everyone who came was a young adult. The group had amazing energy! I was paired with Gillian Groves, a girl that I've met a few times before. She came in a few months ago and spent the weekend with Kate. I was very excited to be with her because I remembered that she was a fan of the Carpenters and Neil Diamond, two of my very favorite musicians! Gillian is 24 and she lives at home with her parents. She is well taken care of, which is obvious when you meet her family. It is great for her to come here because she gets to be social, which is definitely something that appeals to her nature. Gillian is so friendly and sweet. She spent the weekend calling me Claire Love and singing "Forever in Blue Jeans" our shared favorite Neil song. Also on our "playlist" was "Oh Happy Day", "We've Only Just Begun", and "All I Want for Christmas is You." She was singing from the moment she came in the house to the moment she got in her sister's car today. Gillian is always in good form and is thankful for everything, which makes it so easy to be with her. She does, however, tend to spit quite a bit when she speaks, which takes some getting used to, especially at meals... She has cerebral palsy which keeps her in a chair, but she drives herself around and she transfers herself. It's amazing how strong she is! It was such a joy to have her. Although, I must admit that it wasn't so great when she patted my stomach at dinner on Friday and told me I needed to lose a few kilos (pounds). haha A true statement, yet unpleasant just the same. But other than that I was on cloud nine for the entire three days. We had dinner at the house on Friday for which I made a dessert. I made chocolate cheesecake bars and they were good, even though I couldn't find candy canes to garnish them with. (Seriously, Ireland sucks sometimes.) Saturday we went shopping and out to lunch in the afternoon and then we came back for dinner. After our meal we went to see Where the Wild Things Are in the evening. It was really fun to go out to a late movie, and the members loved it! We went to Mass in the village this morning and came back for tacos before everyone headed off around four. Gillian's sister came an hour early, which was sad. I didn't have nearly enough time to sing with her today. :)
Now I'm just cleaning up and relaxing. Most of us are heading home tomorrow, but I'm not leaving until Tuesday afternoon. I'm feeling really sad that I won't be home for Christmas, but I am so lucky to be able to spend it with my friend Audrey who is living in Germany right now. Her husband Andre's family was generous enough to invite me to stay with them for the holidays. :) So I'm counting my blessings and wishing everyone home a blessed Christmas!
Love you all,
Claire
Now I'm just cleaning up and relaxing. Most of us are heading home tomorrow, but I'm not leaving until Tuesday afternoon. I'm feeling really sad that I won't be home for Christmas, but I am so lucky to be able to spend it with my friend Audrey who is living in Germany right now. Her husband Andre's family was generous enough to invite me to stay with them for the holidays. :) So I'm counting my blessings and wishing everyone home a blessed Christmas!
Love you all,
Claire
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
The New Kids
Well it's been a while since my last post and I can't really remember if anything interesting happened before the group this past weekend. We had a kids group that started on Friday. I was really excited about it (although admittedly nervous) because it was a full group of new kids. I was paired with Perfect, a five year old with delayed development who sounded like a sweet little girl with a hard home life. Her parents think the devil touched her and with prayer and good behavior she will be healed. I can't imagine that in 2009 people still believe things like this. But I'll stop myself before I go into a rant. :P As the kids arrived, we were all quiet and slowly getting to know them. Kate was with a little boy named Donal who has a very rare disability called Ring 22 syndrome. He was such a beautiful little boy and he was so sweet and easy to be with. I was jealous! :) Lennart was with a boy named Sean with DS. After the weekend, Lennart was SO tired! Sean liked to jump on Lennart and kick him, etc. Lisa was with the cutest little girl of all time, Niamh (pronounced Neeve) who also has downs. I really loved her and I wanted to take her home! Erin was with Matthew who we've seen before. She was supposed to be with a boy named Brandon but he wasn't able to make it. A little boy named Phillip was paired with Jose. Phillip is the one that has the little brother Liam that I minded when we all met the new kids last week. Liam was so excited to come in and say hi, but when his dad told him he had to go home with them, Liam gave him the look of death and walked out. I was so sad I couldn't be with Liam all weekend! Kaitlyn had a boy named Cieran who's disability is unknown. Perfect didn't show up, and after a few hours we called her family to see what was up. Her dad said they weren't able to bring her that night and maybe not the next day. This sucked for several reasons. One being that I really wanted to meet Perfect and give her a good weekend away from home. The other being that they were taking a spot from another child who could use a break. We were able to get Danielle the next morning, however, and that was really good. Her mom was so excited to have a few days off, and I've been with Danielle before. Saturday morning we took the kids to Santa's Magical Forest of Dreams. It was just as amazing as it sounds! haha Danielle had a few meltdowns when we had to wait to go in and when we couldn't just walk all over the place, which is her favorite activity. But she did great, and the trip was a success. All of the kids really loved it, except for Sean. Danielle is a bad sleeper, but I knew that before we went to bed. Unfortunately she was worse than last time and I ended up getting about 4 hours of sleep between her waking up, screaming, kicking me, pulling my hair, and banging her head against the wall. She got up for good at about five that morning and for the rest of the day I was wrecked. Maybe I'm a baby, but I really have trouble functioning with little sleep. She was really having trouble being away from her mom and she really wanted to go home before we went to the cinema Sunday afternoon. In the past we have set it up so that in the cinema two volunteers would sit on the ends of an aisle and let her walk between them during the movie. I was so excited for an hour of sitting because Danielle is constantly walking around the house from room to room. About ten minutes into the movie, I see Danielle in the middle of the row giggling. This was a bad sign because she always does this when she's done something bad. I go over to her and I see that she took off her shoes, pants, and underwear! When I tried to put them back on, she pulled my hair. So I called Erin over and she held down Danielle's hands. This only made it worse because she starting screaming and kicking, including a straight shot to my eye. We finally got the underwear and pants on and I grabbed the shoes and pulled her out of the cinema. I was so tired and not happy at this point, but we went on the bus and she was perfectly happy walking around inside and exploring it, so that was fine with me. By the time her mom came to get her, we were all ready! I really like Danielle and I know how important it is for her to get the breaks, so I was happy to do it, but I can't imagine having her all the time. I definitely need to wait a few more years before I have kids. :P
My "weekend" was spent Christmas shopping and hanging out with the roommates. I'm getting a cold, which I blame on Phillip and his projectile sneezes. Today we had a meeting and our Secret Santa! I got a book and a DVD from Jose, and I gave Khadija a painting I got in Paris and some chocolate. I love presents! :D We're about to head out to Baldoyle to visit some members in a hospital over there. In the meantime I think I'll watch another episode of Glee. My friends back home told me I needed to watch it and I LOVE it!
I hope you're all enjoying the Christmas season! Love you!
My "weekend" was spent Christmas shopping and hanging out with the roommates. I'm getting a cold, which I blame on Phillip and his projectile sneezes. Today we had a meeting and our Secret Santa! I got a book and a DVD from Jose, and I gave Khadija a painting I got in Paris and some chocolate. I love presents! :D We're about to head out to Baldoyle to visit some members in a hospital over there. In the meantime I think I'll watch another episode of Glee. My friends back home told me I needed to watch it and I LOVE it!
I hope you're all enjoying the Christmas season! Love you!
Monday, December 7, 2009
My Heart is NOT Three Sizes Too Small!
Definitely not! I am so in the Christmas spirit these days that nothing can bring me down! :) Things here have been so crazy and it has been a good distraction from the fact that I'm here in Ireland and not home with my family, which is where I should be. And Neil Diamond's "Merry, Merry Cherry, Cherry Christmas" makes life that much better!
Last Wednesday our group started showing up a little before two in the afternoon. I expected the group to be an easy one, with the exception of my member, who I have met several times and I know to be difficult. Bernie O'Toole is twenty four years old and lives with her mother. She doesn't have the best home life and because of this she is a difficult person to be around. I'm not sure of her diagnosis, but she has some kind of intellectual disability. Bernie is notorious for constantly complaining and acting like she hates being here, when in fact she feels completely the opposite. Every once in a while you can see how much she really loves being here, and in addition to that, she always calls a week or so after a break here to ask when she can come in again. Knowing all of this, I mentally prepared myself to deal with all of the complaining and convincing her to do things that she truly wanted to do. Bernie called us around half two to be picked up from the DART station in the village. She greeted us with a smile and worked off her shyness in a matter of minutes. When we got to the house she was extremely chatty with me, painted my nails, and played Go Fish. I had no idea who that girl was and what she did with Bernie! She and I really enjoyed the night without any trouble, for the most part. The next day was a little rockier. I started to recognize the old Bernie more and more. But I think I did okay with giving her a little bit of tough love when she would complain. The thing with Bernie is, that a long time ago she realized that the only way for her to get attention was to complain or pretend to be sick. It's actually very sad. But I spent my time with her giving her positive reinforcement and not indulging her bad attitude. I think it was a success and we enjoyed the weekend. It was so strange trying to convince her to do things I knew she really wanted to do, and then endure the complaining out it after it was over. She also would cuddle up to me on the couch sometimes, which was so sweet. Friday morning during Mass at our house, I had to sit on the arm of the couch next to her. There was a foot or more of room between her and the person next to her and I asked her to move over a bit and she wouldn't. Then any time I would shift a little to get more comfortable she would grumble. I wanted to smack her! lol But instead I gently told her she could move over any time she wasn't comfortable....she never did. We drove her back to the DART station after a quick lunch and as she rolled her bag into the station she stopped to give me a big smile. That was thanks enough for me. :P
Aside from my experience with Bernie, the group that was supposed to be an easy one had a lot of chaos! David, Jose's member, got sick during the night and had to be taken to the hospital! He's doing ok now, but we were all pretty worried about him. Lennart was sick with a cold (aka Man Flu) and he slept most of the group. It was fine because Jose could hang out with Tony who was Lennart's member. It was a shame because we went to see "New Moon" and I know Lennart wanted to see that movie with us. He was Edward for Halloween after all! (Oh and by the way, I am SO on Team Jacob after that movie.) Mary, Kaitlyn's member, also got sick during the last night of the group, but she was ok after an hour or so. So the "easy" group was not so easy after all...
After the group was over, we all scattered to our rooms and awaited the cleaners. They came for an hour to clean up the major rooms for us. Kathleen and Khadija hosted a party for us volunteers and several other helpers of the break house, including drivers, cooks, and our handyman. The party began at seven and I think it was a success, although there weren't too many guests. I wasn't complaining, because we were so tired after the group. Gabriele came here that night from Milan to stay with us for a few days. We all enjoyed a good dinner and some wine. When the people were gone (after midnight! jeez...) we got some good quality time with Lele. Saturday was a day off. We had plans to go out to town, but the weather was so crappy so we all stayed in and watched movies. :) Sunday was the big Christmas social! Every month, CASA has two socials (one for each side of town). In December, we join the two sides together for a huge social! We rented out a conference room in Croke Park, Dublin's football stadium, and we filled it with all 450 of us! I had an amazing time, although I was really disappointed that my member, Shane, wasn't able to make it. Shane is one of my favorites! He's my age and he's deaf, but we had a lot of fun the last time he was in the house. He is able to read and write and sign a little, so communicating with him is easy. He was sick, so he didn't come to the social and I was so bummed. But I ended up just being extra help to other people, so it worked out. We started the day with Mass. The kids did a nativity play and I almost died, it was SO cute! Afterwards, we had a nice Christmas dinner with turkey, ham, potatoes, and stuffing. Mmmm! Then Santa came out, and Kate and I were asked to be his elves for our tables! We wore Santa hats and carried bags of presents. It was amazing! After the presents, there was LOTS of dancing! It was finally time to go home at around eight that night. Us volunteers went out with Lele for a few pints at his favorite pub in town. We came back and a few of them stayed up late, but I needed a good night's sleep so I went to bed around midnight.
Today is Monday, which means the cleaners will be coming in a little bit. I'll be off to the village for some reading and much needed coffee drinking. :) Love to all at home,
Claire
Last Wednesday our group started showing up a little before two in the afternoon. I expected the group to be an easy one, with the exception of my member, who I have met several times and I know to be difficult. Bernie O'Toole is twenty four years old and lives with her mother. She doesn't have the best home life and because of this she is a difficult person to be around. I'm not sure of her diagnosis, but she has some kind of intellectual disability. Bernie is notorious for constantly complaining and acting like she hates being here, when in fact she feels completely the opposite. Every once in a while you can see how much she really loves being here, and in addition to that, she always calls a week or so after a break here to ask when she can come in again. Knowing all of this, I mentally prepared myself to deal with all of the complaining and convincing her to do things that she truly wanted to do. Bernie called us around half two to be picked up from the DART station in the village. She greeted us with a smile and worked off her shyness in a matter of minutes. When we got to the house she was extremely chatty with me, painted my nails, and played Go Fish. I had no idea who that girl was and what she did with Bernie! She and I really enjoyed the night without any trouble, for the most part. The next day was a little rockier. I started to recognize the old Bernie more and more. But I think I did okay with giving her a little bit of tough love when she would complain. The thing with Bernie is, that a long time ago she realized that the only way for her to get attention was to complain or pretend to be sick. It's actually very sad. But I spent my time with her giving her positive reinforcement and not indulging her bad attitude. I think it was a success and we enjoyed the weekend. It was so strange trying to convince her to do things I knew she really wanted to do, and then endure the complaining out it after it was over. She also would cuddle up to me on the couch sometimes, which was so sweet. Friday morning during Mass at our house, I had to sit on the arm of the couch next to her. There was a foot or more of room between her and the person next to her and I asked her to move over a bit and she wouldn't. Then any time I would shift a little to get more comfortable she would grumble. I wanted to smack her! lol But instead I gently told her she could move over any time she wasn't comfortable....she never did. We drove her back to the DART station after a quick lunch and as she rolled her bag into the station she stopped to give me a big smile. That was thanks enough for me. :P
Aside from my experience with Bernie, the group that was supposed to be an easy one had a lot of chaos! David, Jose's member, got sick during the night and had to be taken to the hospital! He's doing ok now, but we were all pretty worried about him. Lennart was sick with a cold (aka Man Flu) and he slept most of the group. It was fine because Jose could hang out with Tony who was Lennart's member. It was a shame because we went to see "New Moon" and I know Lennart wanted to see that movie with us. He was Edward for Halloween after all! (Oh and by the way, I am SO on Team Jacob after that movie.) Mary, Kaitlyn's member, also got sick during the last night of the group, but she was ok after an hour or so. So the "easy" group was not so easy after all...
After the group was over, we all scattered to our rooms and awaited the cleaners. They came for an hour to clean up the major rooms for us. Kathleen and Khadija hosted a party for us volunteers and several other helpers of the break house, including drivers, cooks, and our handyman. The party began at seven and I think it was a success, although there weren't too many guests. I wasn't complaining, because we were so tired after the group. Gabriele came here that night from Milan to stay with us for a few days. We all enjoyed a good dinner and some wine. When the people were gone (after midnight! jeez...) we got some good quality time with Lele. Saturday was a day off. We had plans to go out to town, but the weather was so crappy so we all stayed in and watched movies. :) Sunday was the big Christmas social! Every month, CASA has two socials (one for each side of town). In December, we join the two sides together for a huge social! We rented out a conference room in Croke Park, Dublin's football stadium, and we filled it with all 450 of us! I had an amazing time, although I was really disappointed that my member, Shane, wasn't able to make it. Shane is one of my favorites! He's my age and he's deaf, but we had a lot of fun the last time he was in the house. He is able to read and write and sign a little, so communicating with him is easy. He was sick, so he didn't come to the social and I was so bummed. But I ended up just being extra help to other people, so it worked out. We started the day with Mass. The kids did a nativity play and I almost died, it was SO cute! Afterwards, we had a nice Christmas dinner with turkey, ham, potatoes, and stuffing. Mmmm! Then Santa came out, and Kate and I were asked to be his elves for our tables! We wore Santa hats and carried bags of presents. It was amazing! After the presents, there was LOTS of dancing! It was finally time to go home at around eight that night. Us volunteers went out with Lele for a few pints at his favorite pub in town. We came back and a few of them stayed up late, but I needed a good night's sleep so I went to bed around midnight.
Today is Monday, which means the cleaners will be coming in a little bit. I'll be off to the village for some reading and much needed coffee drinking. :) Love to all at home,
Claire
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Good Americans, when they die, go to Paris.
I'm not sure who Thomas Gold Appleton is but I hope he's right! I have lots to say about my time in Paris, but I should rewind a bit and talk about Thanksgiving.
Wednesday morning, Kaitlyn and I ventured out to Tesco (the Walmart of Ireland) to buy groceries for the house and for our feast the next day. We were sincerely disappointed when we couldn't find several Thanksgiving essentials, the worst being pumpkin puree. I had been dreaming about my pumpkin cheesecake for almost a month, so you can imagine how sad I was when we couldn't find it! Later that day, Erin went out to a specialty store and found all of the things that we couldn't find! I was SO excited! That night we made some preliminary dishes to ease the work of the following morning. We made all the pies and a few other things. I stayed up that night until about 5 in the morning due to an unexpected and pleasant Skype call. (The time difference is so obnoxious!) So I woke up on Thanksgiving morning after only about four hours of sleep, but all of the energy in the world! I was so pumped to get in the kitchen and bake away! Us Americans stayed here and cooked and the Europeans went on a visit. We started drinking wine around three in the afternoon while we finished making our meal. Unfortunately I hadn't eaten much all day because I was cooking and snacking. By the time dinner rolled around at half five, all of us Americans were feeling pretty relaxed! :) The dinner turned out really well and it was so much fun to share the experience with Jose, Lennart, and Lisa who have never had a Thanksgiving dinner before. It was also Sr. Mary Fox's birthday and I think she enjoyed the day as well. I had plans to watch Christmas Vacation with my housemates and then talk to my family on Skype that night at 11, but because of the combination of lack of sleep, drinking generous amounts of wine, and lots of food made me so sleepy! I sent a message to my family saying I was sorry but I needed to go to bed! (It was around half ten at this point.) I woke up the next morning feeling crappy and I panicked about the fact that I ditched my family for a food coma! Jamie sent me a message saying that they waited for me and I never showed, so they apparently didn't get my message. I felt (and still feel) so bad! But besides the embarrassment of going to bed so early and missing my family, the day was a success! Being away from home during the holidays isn't easy, but having good people to spend them with is comforting.
The next day we all recovered from the day before. :) In the morning, we decorated the house for Christmas and wrote Christmas cards for the members. Later that night we went to the Swords house to decorate it as well and prepare for guests. In a few weeks we will be having a kids group that will consist of all new children members! I am very excited to have variety, and a little nervous to be in a group of kids I don't know. We had an open house for the new children and their parents, and we were each assigned a child and parent to show around the house. My girl didn't show up, so I spent the evening hanging out with Liam. Liam is the five year old brother of one of our new members, Phillip. He was quietly playing in the corner when I came up and sat next to him. Let me try to describe the cuteness of this kid, although I feel I won't even come close. He is blond haired, blue-eyed with glasses. He wore his school uniform of navy and white and little red converse! He took to me right away as I asked him about the dinosaurs he was playing with. We had so much fun with the dinosaurs. He had them fight with each other and he asked me what they were fighting about and I told him they were probably fighting over a girl dinosaur. He laughed at that and told me there were no girl dinosaurs. When I told him there had to be girl dinosaurs he looked at Lennart (the closest boy) and asked him. Lennart told him there were mommy dinosaurs and daddy dinosaurs and baby dinosaurs. He was so fascinated by that! When he was done with the dinos he picked up a toy gun and started shooting imaginary bad guys. When a few other volunteers started shooting back at him he jumped in front of me to protect me from the gun shot! When Khadija (my supervisor) told him to shoot me, he paused and then shot her instead! It was SO funny! When it was time to go, Liam was very sad to say goodbye, but the sadness melted quickly with a promise from mom of McDonald's. He turned around and lifted his arms up as high as they could go as an invitation for a hug. I couldn't resist how adorable that was, and even though maybe it's not prudent to hug a strange child, I gave in! I am so sad that Liam can't be a part of the next kids group!
We got home around half ten and tried to unwind for a bit. Lennart, Kaitlyn, Erin and I were headed to the airport the next morning at half four! None of us went to bed at a reasonable hour and boy did we pay for it. I woke up weighing the options of staying in bed or actually going to Paris. :P Paris won by a hair and I slowly made my way out of my bed and eventually out of the house. Our flight was delayed by an hour, but we weren't aware of that until we were already in line to board. So we stood there for an hour, and desperately wished we had known that was going to happen before we got out of bed! When we made it to the airport in France, Gabriele had been waiting there for an hour. It was soooo good to see him! We've all missed having him in the house. The shuttle to take us to Paris was outside waiting for us, and we all got our tickets and hopped on. Erin has been to Paris a few times already so she was accustomed to the way of the metro. I booked the hostel, but she got the information from me and then printed out maps. I also gave the name of the hostel to Gabriele. When Erin said, ok this is the way we go to get to the Young and Happy Hostel, Gabriele looked confused and told us that I gave him a different name. I sided with Erin and chalked it up to Gabriele being a spacey, Italian man. (No, offense.) We got to the Young and Happy Hostel (three metro rides later) and the guy behind the counter had no record of my reservation. We all groaned, with the exception of Gabriele who couldn't have looked smugger (not sure if that's a word, but it's exactly what he was!) I swallowed my pride and admitted defeat and tried to dodge dirty looks from my housemates who were being tactful about my annoying mistake. We made it across town and finally into the right hostel. The guy behind the counter told me that he gave away our reserved room with six beds and put us into a room with four beds. There are five of us! I wanted to jump across the counter and smack the guy! He told me we could either put one of us in another room or put a mattress on the floor. I decided that the latter was better and I offered to take the floor. Problem solved. We dropped off our bags and made our way out into the city.
As I walked the streets of Paris I got this overwhelming feeling of felicity (I've been reading too much Jane Austen. But isn't that a good word??) I feel like God sprinkled tiny parts of my heart in different countries when I was born and every time I visit a new place I find that missing piece! Our first destination was Notre Dame. I can't even describe how cool it is to be right there in the square looking up at the huge bell towers and intricate carvings in the stone. Gabriele and I sang some songs from The Hunchback of Notre Dame, to the embarrassment of the others. Couldn't be helped, really. We walked through the inside of the cathedral, which was beautiful, but not as impressive as the outside. After a sufficient amount of time by the church, we walked to the Latin Quarter where we were to meet our tour guide for a free tour of the city. It was four in the afternoon, getting gloomy, and raining a bit. This didn't do any damage to the big goofy smile I had on my face the entire weekend. Our tour guide was entertaining and cute. He's from England and his girlfriend is from Paris, so he moved here to be with her. He took us all over and told us several good stories, although none are really blog-worthy. We went to get some food at a market and settled in at our hostel. When I got ready for bed I realized that I had no blanket. So I went down and asked the lady at the counter and she told me she'd bring me one up in an hour. I was too tired to be mad, so I moped all the way up the three flights of stairs to my room and waited. She never came, so I went to sleep, on a mattress on the floor in the fetal position by the heater. Very pathetic! We slept in until 10 the next morning, which was a very good idea! We were energized and ready to go out and see more of the city! Our first stop was the Louvre, which we spent three hours in. We were told that if we wanted to see every piece in the Louvre for 30 seconds each, it would take 64 days without breaks for eating or sleeping! Isn't that insane!? So we saw as much as we could. I got to see the Mona Lisa, which was in a room filled of huge wall sized paintings. This of course made the Mona Lisa look tiny, but it was still cool to see! The Wedding of Cana is also quite famous and it was on the opposite side of the room. I also really enjoyed a painted that depicted the entire Passion of Christ. Luckily we were able to take photographs, so check out my Facebook in the future if you're interested! After the Louvre, we wandered down the Seine and over to the Arc de Triomphe. Gabriele went to the top, and us girls walked down the Champs Elysees. (I can't believe I just said that! So cool!) At the end of the busy street there was a Christmas market with lots of cool gifts and yummy smelling food. We broke down and bought chocolate pastries. Afterwards, we headed over to the Eiffle Tower to see the light show they have every night this year to celebrate its 120th anniversary. We were all starving at this point and after a lot of walking and arguing we settled on a cute little place near our hostel. I had delicious halibut and rice. Mmmm... We went home and went to bed, feeling full and happy.
The next morning started much earlier at eight. We had our breakfast and left Lele behind to sleep more. :P We went to the Eiffle Tower again so that Lennart could go up and we could take pictures. Then us girls went to L'Opera Garnier, which is the famous opera house in Paris that The Phantom of the Opera was set. It was SO cool! We only had to pay four euro to see inside. Unfortunately, the auditorium was closed, but we got to see the grand staircase (Masquerade!), halls, and foyer, which was absolutely stunning! We left to meet the boys at the Basilique du Sacre Coeur. It was on a huge hill with lots of stairs, but it was totally worth it to see the church and the view it looked out on. After some time there, we had a nice lunch, in which I had French onion soup. It was so delicious! We walked around the Montmatre area (where Amelie was filmed) and wandered to the red-light district where the Moulin Rouge is. It wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be, the Moulin Rouge, that is. When we had our fill of that area (it didn't take long) we went to the Latin Quarter again and stopped at a cafe for coffee. An hour and a cup of coffee later, we sadly made our way to our hostel to pick up our bags and go to the airport.
We arrived at the Dublin airport at 11pm and ran through the place like they do in Home Alone (later Erin sang "Run, Run Rudolph") to make it to the half eleven bus home. We got there at 11:25 feeling so happy...until we realized the bus actually left at 11:15! So we pathetically made it over to the taxi area and passed our missed bus on the way home. :P
Today has been very lazy for a working day. The cleaners came yesterday, so all we had to do was have a meeting and prepare for the group tomorrow. I'm gonna leave now to watch Christmas Vacation with Lisa who missed it on Thanksgiving as well. In the words of Clark Griswald: "We're gonna have the hap-hap-happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap danced with Danny effing Kaye!" :)
Wednesday morning, Kaitlyn and I ventured out to Tesco (the Walmart of Ireland) to buy groceries for the house and for our feast the next day. We were sincerely disappointed when we couldn't find several Thanksgiving essentials, the worst being pumpkin puree. I had been dreaming about my pumpkin cheesecake for almost a month, so you can imagine how sad I was when we couldn't find it! Later that day, Erin went out to a specialty store and found all of the things that we couldn't find! I was SO excited! That night we made some preliminary dishes to ease the work of the following morning. We made all the pies and a few other things. I stayed up that night until about 5 in the morning due to an unexpected and pleasant Skype call. (The time difference is so obnoxious!) So I woke up on Thanksgiving morning after only about four hours of sleep, but all of the energy in the world! I was so pumped to get in the kitchen and bake away! Us Americans stayed here and cooked and the Europeans went on a visit. We started drinking wine around three in the afternoon while we finished making our meal. Unfortunately I hadn't eaten much all day because I was cooking and snacking. By the time dinner rolled around at half five, all of us Americans were feeling pretty relaxed! :) The dinner turned out really well and it was so much fun to share the experience with Jose, Lennart, and Lisa who have never had a Thanksgiving dinner before. It was also Sr. Mary Fox's birthday and I think she enjoyed the day as well. I had plans to watch Christmas Vacation with my housemates and then talk to my family on Skype that night at 11, but because of the combination of lack of sleep, drinking generous amounts of wine, and lots of food made me so sleepy! I sent a message to my family saying I was sorry but I needed to go to bed! (It was around half ten at this point.) I woke up the next morning feeling crappy and I panicked about the fact that I ditched my family for a food coma! Jamie sent me a message saying that they waited for me and I never showed, so they apparently didn't get my message. I felt (and still feel) so bad! But besides the embarrassment of going to bed so early and missing my family, the day was a success! Being away from home during the holidays isn't easy, but having good people to spend them with is comforting.
The next day we all recovered from the day before. :) In the morning, we decorated the house for Christmas and wrote Christmas cards for the members. Later that night we went to the Swords house to decorate it as well and prepare for guests. In a few weeks we will be having a kids group that will consist of all new children members! I am very excited to have variety, and a little nervous to be in a group of kids I don't know. We had an open house for the new children and their parents, and we were each assigned a child and parent to show around the house. My girl didn't show up, so I spent the evening hanging out with Liam. Liam is the five year old brother of one of our new members, Phillip. He was quietly playing in the corner when I came up and sat next to him. Let me try to describe the cuteness of this kid, although I feel I won't even come close. He is blond haired, blue-eyed with glasses. He wore his school uniform of navy and white and little red converse! He took to me right away as I asked him about the dinosaurs he was playing with. We had so much fun with the dinosaurs. He had them fight with each other and he asked me what they were fighting about and I told him they were probably fighting over a girl dinosaur. He laughed at that and told me there were no girl dinosaurs. When I told him there had to be girl dinosaurs he looked at Lennart (the closest boy) and asked him. Lennart told him there were mommy dinosaurs and daddy dinosaurs and baby dinosaurs. He was so fascinated by that! When he was done with the dinos he picked up a toy gun and started shooting imaginary bad guys. When a few other volunteers started shooting back at him he jumped in front of me to protect me from the gun shot! When Khadija (my supervisor) told him to shoot me, he paused and then shot her instead! It was SO funny! When it was time to go, Liam was very sad to say goodbye, but the sadness melted quickly with a promise from mom of McDonald's. He turned around and lifted his arms up as high as they could go as an invitation for a hug. I couldn't resist how adorable that was, and even though maybe it's not prudent to hug a strange child, I gave in! I am so sad that Liam can't be a part of the next kids group!
We got home around half ten and tried to unwind for a bit. Lennart, Kaitlyn, Erin and I were headed to the airport the next morning at half four! None of us went to bed at a reasonable hour and boy did we pay for it. I woke up weighing the options of staying in bed or actually going to Paris. :P Paris won by a hair and I slowly made my way out of my bed and eventually out of the house. Our flight was delayed by an hour, but we weren't aware of that until we were already in line to board. So we stood there for an hour, and desperately wished we had known that was going to happen before we got out of bed! When we made it to the airport in France, Gabriele had been waiting there for an hour. It was soooo good to see him! We've all missed having him in the house. The shuttle to take us to Paris was outside waiting for us, and we all got our tickets and hopped on. Erin has been to Paris a few times already so she was accustomed to the way of the metro. I booked the hostel, but she got the information from me and then printed out maps. I also gave the name of the hostel to Gabriele. When Erin said, ok this is the way we go to get to the Young and Happy Hostel, Gabriele looked confused and told us that I gave him a different name. I sided with Erin and chalked it up to Gabriele being a spacey, Italian man. (No, offense.) We got to the Young and Happy Hostel (three metro rides later) and the guy behind the counter had no record of my reservation. We all groaned, with the exception of Gabriele who couldn't have looked smugger (not sure if that's a word, but it's exactly what he was!) I swallowed my pride and admitted defeat and tried to dodge dirty looks from my housemates who were being tactful about my annoying mistake. We made it across town and finally into the right hostel. The guy behind the counter told me that he gave away our reserved room with six beds and put us into a room with four beds. There are five of us! I wanted to jump across the counter and smack the guy! He told me we could either put one of us in another room or put a mattress on the floor. I decided that the latter was better and I offered to take the floor. Problem solved. We dropped off our bags and made our way out into the city.
As I walked the streets of Paris I got this overwhelming feeling of felicity (I've been reading too much Jane Austen. But isn't that a good word??) I feel like God sprinkled tiny parts of my heart in different countries when I was born and every time I visit a new place I find that missing piece! Our first destination was Notre Dame. I can't even describe how cool it is to be right there in the square looking up at the huge bell towers and intricate carvings in the stone. Gabriele and I sang some songs from The Hunchback of Notre Dame, to the embarrassment of the others. Couldn't be helped, really. We walked through the inside of the cathedral, which was beautiful, but not as impressive as the outside. After a sufficient amount of time by the church, we walked to the Latin Quarter where we were to meet our tour guide for a free tour of the city. It was four in the afternoon, getting gloomy, and raining a bit. This didn't do any damage to the big goofy smile I had on my face the entire weekend. Our tour guide was entertaining and cute. He's from England and his girlfriend is from Paris, so he moved here to be with her. He took us all over and told us several good stories, although none are really blog-worthy. We went to get some food at a market and settled in at our hostel. When I got ready for bed I realized that I had no blanket. So I went down and asked the lady at the counter and she told me she'd bring me one up in an hour. I was too tired to be mad, so I moped all the way up the three flights of stairs to my room and waited. She never came, so I went to sleep, on a mattress on the floor in the fetal position by the heater. Very pathetic! We slept in until 10 the next morning, which was a very good idea! We were energized and ready to go out and see more of the city! Our first stop was the Louvre, which we spent three hours in. We were told that if we wanted to see every piece in the Louvre for 30 seconds each, it would take 64 days without breaks for eating or sleeping! Isn't that insane!? So we saw as much as we could. I got to see the Mona Lisa, which was in a room filled of huge wall sized paintings. This of course made the Mona Lisa look tiny, but it was still cool to see! The Wedding of Cana is also quite famous and it was on the opposite side of the room. I also really enjoyed a painted that depicted the entire Passion of Christ. Luckily we were able to take photographs, so check out my Facebook in the future if you're interested! After the Louvre, we wandered down the Seine and over to the Arc de Triomphe. Gabriele went to the top, and us girls walked down the Champs Elysees. (I can't believe I just said that! So cool!) At the end of the busy street there was a Christmas market with lots of cool gifts and yummy smelling food. We broke down and bought chocolate pastries. Afterwards, we headed over to the Eiffle Tower to see the light show they have every night this year to celebrate its 120th anniversary. We were all starving at this point and after a lot of walking and arguing we settled on a cute little place near our hostel. I had delicious halibut and rice. Mmmm... We went home and went to bed, feeling full and happy.
The next morning started much earlier at eight. We had our breakfast and left Lele behind to sleep more. :P We went to the Eiffle Tower again so that Lennart could go up and we could take pictures. Then us girls went to L'Opera Garnier, which is the famous opera house in Paris that The Phantom of the Opera was set. It was SO cool! We only had to pay four euro to see inside. Unfortunately, the auditorium was closed, but we got to see the grand staircase (Masquerade!), halls, and foyer, which was absolutely stunning! We left to meet the boys at the Basilique du Sacre Coeur. It was on a huge hill with lots of stairs, but it was totally worth it to see the church and the view it looked out on. After some time there, we had a nice lunch, in which I had French onion soup. It was so delicious! We walked around the Montmatre area (where Amelie was filmed) and wandered to the red-light district where the Moulin Rouge is. It wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be, the Moulin Rouge, that is. When we had our fill of that area (it didn't take long) we went to the Latin Quarter again and stopped at a cafe for coffee. An hour and a cup of coffee later, we sadly made our way to our hostel to pick up our bags and go to the airport.
We arrived at the Dublin airport at 11pm and ran through the place like they do in Home Alone (later Erin sang "Run, Run Rudolph") to make it to the half eleven bus home. We got there at 11:25 feeling so happy...until we realized the bus actually left at 11:15! So we pathetically made it over to the taxi area and passed our missed bus on the way home. :P
Today has been very lazy for a working day. The cleaners came yesterday, so all we had to do was have a meeting and prepare for the group tomorrow. I'm gonna leave now to watch Christmas Vacation with Lisa who missed it on Thanksgiving as well. In the words of Clark Griswald: "We're gonna have the hap-hap-happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap danced with Danny effing Kaye!" :)
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