Last days..

Well..yesterday we had another day of lectures and first we went to an assited living home type of thing and listened to them talk and got a tour..then we went to the homeless shelter..and it was really scary. The shelter was not for families, it was for people 18+ who have either a mental disability or a drug/alcohol addiction. So they provide apartments for them in the building there and treatments, etc. They do not expect any of them to stop doing drugs or drinking, they just want them to improve..it was so scary cause we went into where they were living and men were walking around with alcohol bottles and drugs in their hands..you could definitely tell that they had lots of problems..it was scary. Anyways..today we went on our last day of tours through Ireland. I dont know what these places are called, once again..but it's all really pretty. Today was a ton of fun! Tomorrow we have a free day and leave for the airport around 5pm to go back to Scotland. Then we leave reallllly early Saturday morning to come home! See you then!

A day of lectures...

Today we went to two different places to tour. First, we went to an alternative school in Cork. The school was located right in the middle of the city and it was extremely run down. The school is for students who cannot stay in mainstream education classrooms, which could be due to poor attendance, grades, family life, etc.. So..we sat in on a lecture there where the director talked about the history of the program and how it worked..which none of you probably really care about..and then we got a tour of the building and got to meet some of the kids. The students who go to the school range from 12-21 years old..those 16-21 get paid to go to school..like they're on social welfare. 188 euros a week.. so like 240 dollars. And they pay them so that they will come to class and etc. The school doesnt really have any structure...if the students dont want to learn, the teachers wont teach that day..they just do whatever they want. The school had 6 suicides last year. It was a sad place to be at...

Next we went to a family resource center and sat in on three lectures..one was about the center itself..its a non profit organization that helps families and children...children can go to daycare provided there..and its a very diverse center with over 150 different languages. Then the next lady talked about the drug and alcohol program that they have in the building which is like a counceling center..and they try to get the family involved in the situation to look at the positives...that lecture was very boring...and the last lady talked about the 'travelers' in Ireland..and the affects that travelers have on the community, jobs, and themselves..travelers are those who have no identification...multicultural people who migrate i guess..i dont really know..but the lady said they have like 16 children on average per family..crazy. Well that's all..i get to sit in on another whole day of lectures tomorrow..cant wait. We are going to a homless shelter and an asylum i think..bye

Saving the best for last...

We arrived in Cork, Ireland yesterday afternoon and are staying at the University of Cork in suites. I am living with 3 other people and we all have our own bedrooms, bathrooms, showers, and  then we have a kitchen and living area..it's awesome! Anyways..today we went on a private guided tour in a coach bus through certain parts of Ireland..what the places were all called..I don't know..should've wrote it down. But here are some pictures. By the way, these pictures do not do justice..it was amazing. By far my favorite place...

oops sorry forgot to flip it..this is my bed..and then there is a desk, bathroom+shower, and a dresser in there, too!

this is our kitchen...

Paris!

Our supervisors left for Paris a few hours before us and so we had to get a cab to the airport and then once we got to paris we had to take a train and get a taxi to take us to our hotel..it was quite an adventure, but we all made it! That night, we went to see the Eiffel Tower and see it light up..it was amazing! We also went down by the river to just hang out and explore different things. The next day we went on the city tour which took us all over Paris so we could hop on and off the bus whenever we wanted..I dont really remember the names of all the places we saw..but we went to Notre Dame and the Louvre. The town of Paris is huuuge and so we didnt get to see it all..but the bus tour was really great since we still saw things even if we didnt actually get to go in them or know why they are significant haha...i didnt really listen to that part, i was just amazed at everything.. The next morning some of us went to climb the eiffel tower..that was my favorite part. There are soo many steps..it was quite the work out! Lots of girls chickened out and got really shakey as we were walking up and they said they arent afraid of heights..i took some pictures of them..it was funny. Then that afternoon we went to Versailles and the gardens there..the gardens were AMAZING..they were sooo pretty! And there was gold everywhere on the building and in the inside..it was really fascinating. That night i went to get cheesecake after dinner..yyuuummmm! I saw lots of homeless people on the streets and that was kind of scary cause they would talk to us and we had to just keep walking..Also there was lots of men around town trying to sell eiffel towers to us and so if you even look in their direction they will follow you and not let you go anywhere until you buy something..i never bought anything though..i just ran away..one of them was calling me lady gaga..no clue why. They are also known as pocket pickers so we were told to stay away from them..they would just surround us and try to distract us so they could take something out of our purses or whatever they see..i noticed them trying to grab a few times buuttt...they never got anything thankfully! We flew back today..tomorrow we go to the school for one more day..then we leave for Ireland on Saturday!

eiffel tower at night..sorry its upside down..i dont know how to fix it!

the louvre

notre dame

view from the eiffel tower...2nd floor

2nd floor of eiffel tower

part of the garden at versailles

versailles

Friday..

On Friday I was in the nursery with the children. It was crazy hectic! We didnt really do anything because it was a half day and so they just had playtime. After that, the bus was 20 minutes late and i sat on it for over an hour by myself..it was horrible! So i took a nap when i got back. Then most of us went to the Pub Crawl in Edinburgh..we each got a sheet and had to go to each pub and get some sort of beverage and they'd stamp it. We walked for miles on end..i thought i would be back by 10 since we left at 5 and i chose to only go to 8 pubs to get the tshirt (the only reason i went in general) but i didnt get back til 130 or so. it was horrible. Lets just say it wasnt as enjoyable as i had thought it'd be..and lucky josh gets my tshirt..all that walking and time and they dont even have my size!! Today we have a free day so we got to sleep in and now i am doing my laundry and relaxing and packing for paris tomorrow morning as i am realllly looking forward to that. I am ready to move on from Scotland..so Paris should be great! I will not have my computer with me there though so you will have to wait til Wednesday to get the next post! BYEEEE!

Day 3 at school

Today I worked with the P2's..so like 6 ane 7 year olds. I had to work with this one boy almost the entire day to help him with learning numbers and reading and things like that cause he does not get any special attention so the teacher has to work with him as well as the other students and so she doesnt get anything done..it was entertaining..i read them a book..helped them with reading..and helped them with math, too. We also went out to their garden on their playground and ate some fresh lettuce that they picked out..they forgot to take out a weed and i ate it..go figure..dont try it, its disgusting! Tomorrow we only have a half day at school..they have that every friday, how lucky for them! So we get out really early and have the rest of the day to do whatever. We had our meeting tonight about Paris..which we leave for on sunday. I am excited to go somewhere new because staying here in scotland is getting to be long and im a little homesick..but it is fun! The weather is not good though..ive probably already said this but it rains all the time randomly and is really cold..like 30 degrees...and is so windy and in scotland on monday they recorded the wind to be 114 mph..no joke..it is crazy..good thing Paris is 70-80 degrees!

Day 2 in schools

Today i was with the P5/6/7..so ages about 9-12 in one classroom..I liked it more than i thought i would and the teacher was really nice. I pretty much just sat by the computers with the kids all day helping them with their research projects on endangered animals and rainforests..and then i had to help this kid independently afterward cause he didn't have a computer at home to work on his project and he was typing so slow that i asked him if he just wanted me to do it cause it was taking hours!! Also, when two of the kids were with me on the computers they asked me if i was famous..then i proceeded to show them a picture of josh on google and they asked if he was in the professional league and then i must be a cheerleader..haha good joke! but it was really funny..and they said they like my accent. I also had to give them hints about where i lived so they could look it up in their atlas..then i had to sit in front of the class while they asked me questions..like what is it like there? What do you eat? Do you have a national flower? Whats the weather like...etc..it was fun! Anyways..i found that they teach a lot about the environment and learn a lot about what is going on in the world rather  than anything else. They also focus most of their lessons on morals and being respectful. They do not have core subjects everyday..in fact, it is pretty unorganized and just goes with the flow most of the time..

First day in the schools..

Today we all went to our schools..I am at Rosewell Primary school and was paired with the Primary 1's..aka 5 year olds. It is much different than the schools in the US...for instance, the teacher lost one of the girls..they are not very responsible here i feel like..they let the kids go to the bathrooms alone... one of the teachers in the lounge asked me if i wanted dick but it just means cake, and i knew that, it was just kind of funny..and the kids kept asking me for rubbers (erasers)..it is funny with their accents and the way they talk..2 girls pooped their pants in the classroom...the teacher has a really advanced vocab in front of the kids..like uses words like 'deliberately' to 5 year olds..and when they talk to me they are really polite and say 'pardon' or this one girl said 'i have a lovely bow in my hair today' and they say 'wee' as in this is a wee bit hard..as in a little hard. haha or he is just a wee one. its funny..but tomorow i am in a different room i guess..so i dont get to be in that room..new room everyday, kind of sucks..tomorow i am with the 8-12 year olds..we will see how that goes, i dont really like that!

Wind, wind, and more wind...

Today it was really windy and trees and all sorts of things were falling over..including little kids! We had to go find our schools and they just gave us our "First" bus pass (the company) and of course, the First bus pass doesnt go to my school..so i had to pay to use another bus service that actually went there..just my luck!  Tomorrow morning we start in the schools so i will find out what grade i get! After that, a few of us met up to go to Edinburg and just walk around..and it poured and was really windy still..so we left. But we saw the St. Giles Cathedral which was really neat. Then we went to the grocery store and bought stuff to make spaghetti.. No pictures for today, sorry!

A day of adventures...

This morning we went to Rosslyn Chapel. It is the church of Scotland and it's where one of the last scenes of the DaVinci Code took place. It was really pretty..the pillars and artwork inside was very detailed and well i dont really know what else to say about it and we were not allowed to take any pictures inside so that is that..they are in the process of restoring it now. Then..i went to this place called Greggs for lunch which has really good pastries and i ate two with sausage in the middle..better believe it... since i am such a picky meat eater...but the second i looked at the inside of it, i threw the second half of it away! Josh would've loved to  finish that for me, i know! So then we got back and changed into more comfy clothes and Ashley and I went with 4 other girls to explore the 300 acres of land that are owned by the Dalkeith "House" we are in and there was all sorts of trails..and we got lost, go figure! And guess where we ended up..inside of a fenced area of bulls..that was scary! And hit a dead end that said STOP: do not enter..so we had to back track all the way back til we found the river again and hop a few fences..we made it back safely though. It was an adventure! Tomorrow we start in the schools and we get our school/classroom assignments tonight!

here is the outside of the church where the DaVinci Code was filmed..since they wouldn't let us take any pictures of the inside!

A picture from our nature walk

the sign that we were not lost anymore and were back on a trail after walking around forever

here is a classroom that is in the building where we are living for the week...and this is where the ghosts live i guess...or one of them..i can't believe i even took a picture of this. The girl that was standing next to me when i took it said she wants to sit in there and talk to them..i dont know what is wrong with her!

Edinburgh

Today we went to Edinburgh, a city in Scotland. We got to see a castle, King Arthur's Peak, the place where JK Rowling wrote the last Harry Potter book, and the building that is believed to inspire Hogwarts.  We took a bus to Edinburg and there is two levels so we sat on top and its kind of scary and its weird since they drive on the opposite side of the road. We also took a tour bus through all of Edinburgh and saw all of these great things, except I don't remember most of what they are! Also- we learned Scottish dances tonight and boy was it a work out! Here are some pictures...

King Arthur's Seat

First Stop: Dalkeith Palace

Well..my first plane left Milwaukee at 1:52 pm yesterday and we got to Edinbourgh at 10:50 this morning, AKA 4:50 our time..and I havent slept yet and it is 7 pm here right now. We are staying in this palace for the majority of the time and it is scary...really creepy..and they said there is ghosts here..who knows if I will be able to sleep since i am scared to even go to the bathroom I am freaked out..this building is 350 years old! We ate at a pizza shop tonight and just get to do whatever we want now..we have to be ready by 10 tomorrow morning to go into the town of Edinborough for tours..sorry this post is a little boring! I did not really take any pictures today, but here they are...



This is where we are staying....the haunted palace




backyard of the palace..over 300 acres