A day in Sligo!

My typical weekday starts at 8am I wake up the earliest in the group, because I need to catch the bus earlier to get to my placement. Once I am ready I eat a light breakfast and make my lunch for the day. Then I walk to where my bus picks me up. The bus rides are one of my faviorte parts of the day!

On the bus each morning I see two of the service users I work with all day then the others on the bus are in other day activity homes. This bus ride gives me the chance to interact with the service users in a comfortable enviorment. It also allows me to see how they interact one-on-one with other service users.

Once I arrive at my placement I am greeted by many of the service users. They ask about my evening and agree with me about how beautiful Ireland is. They ask me if I  got in touch with my family back home and love showing me pictures of there families. Once all of the service users have arrived they start their day.

They break into groups, one is an art group that makes life size art, another group is newspaper and they read the paper together and talk about their enviorment and what is going on in the world, lastly some go to sports!

I get to go to sports or stay behind with the art group. When I go to sports they learn simple motor skills. This week they were working on football skills. When I say football I mean soccer. They decided that they were doing well with hand cordanition so it was time to move to the bottom half of the body. I worked with one individual who is in great shape he did well and had a strong foot. This was exciting for the service users because Sligo was playing soon and they all seem to enjoy watching football. The art group started to make the yellow submarine from the Beatles. They were excited when I returened to the workshop because they wanted to show me what they came up with and it was starting to look great.

Then I go to lunch and enjoy conversation with the staff. They really enjoy telling me the hidden secrets of Sligo and enjoy hearing about my night.

Once lunch is over I stay at the workshop and it is time for music! This is an exciting time for the service users they really enjoy dancing, clapping, and singing to new and old songs. One individual starts singing off first. His name is Martin he is amazingly smart. He knows the name if each song, who sings it and when it came out. He sang Sweet Caroline which stole my heart. It was so amazing and cute! After music Martin comes over and talks to me about my flight into Ireland. He loves airplanes. When I say love don't mean collects models. He knows so much about planes and when they are taking off and when they should land. He knows when certain airlines opened and where they flew to. I normally get lost in the conversation because the information  he knows goes over my head. He is very impressive.

After music I have a tea break and get ready for my goodbyes for the day. This is the hardest part of the day because I really enjoy my placement and I know that soon I will be leaving for then last time.

Once I arrive home I normally relax and wait for the others to get home. Then we normally have dinner together. Once we eat we decided to get ready and enjoy the night life at the local pubs and getting to know some Irish students. We do our best not to stand out but were Americans and its like we have it written on our forheads. Here in Ireland the students dont really come to the pubs till midnight so when we do go out it is a long night. I enjoy going out and meeting new people it helps understand the culture more. We try to switch pubs so we can see the different enviorments and enjoy some Irish music in most places.

Once we all get home we normaly talk a little about the day over some chips which are called crisps here in Ireland. Then once we all are extreamly tired we go to our rooms and go to sleep.

That's a typical weekday in Sligo. It looks like a lot because it is a lot! We decided as a group of house mates that we are going to enjoy and learn as much as possible. Staying out late does come with the slow mornings, however, it is all worth it because we may never get the chance again to come back to Ireland.

A whole new world!

The first impression of Ireland was while our plane was landing. I was fortunate enough to get a window seat. It was early morning and as we came closer to land I could see the country side of Ireland. It was beautiful took my breath away. Then we went to the cliffts of monnr which were also breathtaking. This is a hard country to explain its buety and simplicity is so amazing and really helps calm and allow others to reilize material things don't matter as much as Americans do. The second day we went into Sligo and learned more about the town and actually found our way the second try around.Sligo was a cute little town very colorful but also sad to see many stores going out of buissness because the ressision has hit Ireland harder that us back in the us.

The language here is also impressive and intreaging. It is part gallick and part English slered together. We also went to a pub at night to listen to traditional Irish music! It was great I liked the soft tunes and loved that older men and woman came on and played at a table in the pub.

The first three words that I thought after my first day in Ireland was buety, kindness, and spiritual. Looking forward to seeing what else can, earn about myself and the culture with in the next weeks here in Ireland.


My programs orientation was great. I walked in and was introduced to everyone. Many service users were walking by and saying hello! It room was full of are work that all the service users have made in classes that they have chooses to take. There was a music class waiting in the other room with drums that they individually had made. Once we walked through the doors to the room all of the service users stood up and clapped for me I felt so welcome then the teacher lead them in there song which was pleasant! They played two songs for us. They were so happy we loved there songs.
The service users we're kind and told me I was welcome again. I loved the enviorment and can't wait to start tomorrow.

The service users at my placements rang in age from 35 to 70. Many have Downs syndrom. Some are more verbal than others however they all seemed extreamly happy and loving.

The three things that stood out was the large age difference and the differences in abilities. Many of the male service users were cute and told me how cute I was and that they were so happy to have me.

A week away!

Deciding to study abroad was something i never thought about till one of my friends told me what a great time she had on this exact trip. Studying Abroad was something i thought would leave me in school longer and put me more in debt. Now that i am a week away from leavening I am so excited. I decided to study abroad because I have only heard great things about this program and I know that it is a once in a lifetime chance. I also thought it would be a great learning experience and allow personal and professional growth. I also have always wanted to go out of the country and going with school allows me to learn and have a structured learning experience. 

I expect to to changed by this experience in many ways. I feel that this will open my eyes to another world and teach me to live and take life in more than i do now. I know many say that they are crazy and live full stressful lives while they are in school and i am one of them. I have two part time jobs and take a full course lode each semester. I also am involved on campus with many organizations. I am a busy bee, and i would like to calm down and experience each day. I feel that being away from home and my jobs will allow me to accept life and be more in the moment. I also feel that i will grow more as my own self. I live at home and always have had my families help being away will allow me to grow as an individual. I also expect to learn more about another culture and accept this culture as much as i can. I also feel that working with students with special needs will help me with my nephew who has Downs Syndrome. I am ready and open to learn and change from this experience. 

My goals while I'm abroad is to see as much as i can and enjoy the beauty of another culture. Another goal is to learn how to work better with students with different needs. I would also like to see as much as i can while i am over seas to experience another culture. My last goal will be to relax more. 

I expect to achieve these goals by taking in everything and spending as much time as i can in Ireland and no stuck in my room. I also feel that being in the classroom four days of the week will allow me to learn about students with needs. 

My fears or apprehensions are growing as we get closer to our take off day. I have never been away from my family this long or my job. I love my family and my athletes that I coach I feel that being away I will miss them extremely and find that frustration. I am also nervous that I will get lost in an unfamiliar place. I'm nervous that not being able to contact my family as much as i can here is going to stress me out more than it should. I am also scared that I am going to miss what is going on here at home with loved ones. However, i feel that the excitement and support i have overcomes my fears. 

I am  most looking forward to the whole experience. I am excited to travel and see something other than the United States. I am excited to grow and gain more experience in a classroom setting. I am ready to grow and learn about another culture and see and hike and live in another culture!