#7

Thursday, May24, 2012

Week two of work is done! Crazy how fast time has flown by! It was another successful week of work with my ‘learners’. My favorite assignment this week was to research (at the library) an assigned point of interest in Sligo and take us on a class tour and give a presentation on the site, like a tour guide. I think it was beneficial for both the ‘learners’ and myself to see the town and learn about its history. I think a lot of times we don’t even know some of the history in our own towns.

After introducing my supervisor, Yvonne, to Pinterest yesterday (huge hit) I thought she might enjoy Prezi as well. I gave her a presentation I created for finals about occupational therapy and autism in which she thought two of her colleagues would benefit from. I think it is safe to say that it went well also because they have invited me down to their rooms on Monday and Tuesday for a couple hours to observe three of their adult ‘learners’ with autism and offer suggestions to increase their success in the classroom. I am very excited to say the least! A nice change in the day schedule will be nice as well.

Even though it is summer here we have mostly experienced highs in the 50’s and rainy days…until this week. Summer finally made its way over the pond because today was a whopping 25 degrees Celsius (about 84 degrees Fahrenheit). On Thursdays the men go to special groups without the ladies so Yvonne and I spent the day on the town. We went grocery shopping, sat outside at cafes, went to lunch with the men after their group, took a tour of the river walk and played bocce ball. Educational enough for me…and I got a lovely v-neck tan line that really looks nice. I definitely never thought I would be getting sun burned in Ireland. I will say it is funny to see the sun come out in Ireland because literally everyone is beat red!

Yesterday was also a very traumatizing experience. We were given the option to get seaweed baths…Everyone I have talked to about this before has told me they are the most amazing and organic spa treatment in the World. They even say that people come from all over the World to get the seaweed baths. Well, I’ll tell ya what, it was the most stressful 50 minutes of my life and I will never go back. The initial first 5-10 minutes is nice in the steamroom, but the minute you step out and into the tub full of seaweed and hot water, it was game over for me. There is absolutely nothing relaxing about taking a bath with wild life…you might as well go jump in the ocean. The seaweed smells, the water in the tub is salty and there were even little snails in there, no thanks. I got one foot in the tub and a piece touched my foot and that was enough for me! All the seaweed went out of the tub and back into the bucket. I was so hot by the end of it that it took me an additional 20 minutes just to get my pants on because I was sweating so bad. And no, my hair and skin were not soft or “velvety”…I do not recommend it to anyone. Ever. The entire time I was wondering how I would explain this story to my mother who would constantly be rolling her eyes at me telling me I am being a drama queen…but you know what? It was warranted, absolutely awful. On a positive note the beach was gorgeous and the waves were big enough that all the surfer dudes were literally running to the beach.

After a long and exhausting week the absolute last thing I wanted to do after I got off work was climb another mountain. But I did it. We all hiked up Mount Knocknarea to bring a rock to the mauve’s grave (a legend about her tomb being at the top). The view overlooked the town of Sligo on the right and the ocean on the left. I will say it only took us about an hour and a half total compared to the four last time. There were lots of cows that we socialized with on the way down. The girls from Pittsburgh were thoroughly impressed with them, apparently they don’t have as many as Nebraska does.

 Hey, look! It is like 'Nick Olson'! :)

The most BIZARRE part of my trip thus far was running into a fellow Lincolnite in a local pub tonight! Emily Carpenter (Southeast graduate and Chi Omega at Nebraska) was passing through Sligo! Needless to say we had a serious freak out moment that I’m sure was beyond obnoxious, but who cares! What a small world! She is studying in Dublin and making rounds around Ireland for the weekend. She also leaves Ireland the same day and also flies in to JFK first…crazy how it works out sometimes.