Monday, 1st of February 2016: my first Dublin day.

 

Expect it will be full with activities, evolving emotion and of course new experiences. I wonder what my first day in an Irish school maybe like.

After an anxious night the dawn is here, dark and foggy. Typical Irish weather.

 

With my friend I tidy the room and go down for breakfast. Well, I can see a big one: cereals, milk, muffins, toast, a plenty of jam. There is chocolate, too and what’s more a hot cup of tea.

 

My host mum patiently explains us how to get to the bus stop. Our bus number is 29. She also tells us that she would drive us there in 10 minutes. As usually we are late and so we must hurry up: in 5 minutes we are ready to leave. She gives us the packed lunch. We get on the car and fast we reach the bus stop. The bus arrives and takes 50 minutes to arrive at the Spire, where the teachers are waiting for us. On the bus I notice lots of students wearing school uniforms, and I think how it would be nice attend a school where all students are wearing uniforms.

 

From the meeting point all together we leave for school. The local wind moves us from one part to another of the pavement: typical Irish weather windy and rainy.

The school looks like a house. It is a narrow and high building. It is very nice and when I enter I feel a welcoming atmosphere. It sounds as if I were entering in a house rather than a school. The stairs to reach the meeting room are really steep.

An Irish teacher who divides us in two groups welcomes my schoolmates and me.

 

My group goes into another room where a loving teacher welcomes us warmly. She's cute, very kind and calm and she puts me at ease. She's exactly as I had hoped.

First, we introduce ourselves and he/she says the first thing that comes to mind thinking of Ireland.

It turns out that we do not know much about Ireland. All the things we say sound obvious and trivial.

After a general presentation of the country: how it is framed, its history, and the entire landmark to see. We take 15-minute break.

 

During the break we open ours packed lunch curious to know what's inside. And we discover that we all have the same sandwich with butter and ready sliced meat, an apple and a chocolate bar. Some luckier than others also got some chips, but we cannot complain.

Lunch is as I expected, identical to that I used to have this summer in England.

 

During the second part of the lessons we read a poem by S. Heaney "When all the others were away at mass". It is written for Ireland. The poet describes a very sad moment: his mother’s death. All his sadness and anger are surveyed effectively. In this poem S. Heaney sums up the new situation of Ireland: the Catholic Church no longer controls Ireland. The poem strikes me: it is clear and communicates me a sense of sadness.

In the blink of an eye it is 12.15: lunch time, at last! The periods of lessons lasts from 9 to 12.15.

I expected there were more hours of course.

During the lunch break; which lasts from 12.15 to 14, we eat all together in a large room.

Time flies quickly when you chat with your friends. A young girl, our guide, tours us around the city.

The girl is different from what I had expected, she talks very fast I cannot understand what she says.

The tour is quick; we see some monuments, like “James Joyce’s statues” and “Molly Mallon”. The guide tells us the story of both writers.

We see some areas of the city to know how get around in the days to come besides.

Dublin is not as I expected, is smaller than I thought but nicer than I could imagine.

 

After this tour our Italian teachers leave us some free time to go to the bus station and take the bus to go back to our Irish families. Find the bus stop back is easy; thanks to our gracious host mom who left a note with all the instructions to follow. But I cannot say it's so easy to find the right bus stop home. It's dark and raining, and Asia and I are desperate: we do not know what to do. So we decide to choose stop that looks familiar; and do you know what? It is the right stop,

Thanks God.

 

We reach home by 6.30 and dinner is ready. We leave our backpack in our room and then we sit down of the kitchen table with two guys: a Brazilian girl of 15 and a French guy of 21.

For dinner there is a hamburger with fries. A continental dinner. It is better than I had expected and so I eat it voraciously.

 

We spend the evening talking to them and this makes me happy because we have the opportunity to speak English and make new friends at the same time.

Shortly after I go upstairs and I really need a shower and I go straight to bed.

The day has been very tiring and after all I need is a hot shower and put me under the covers: I like warm blankets! The house is terribly cold!

 

I hope tomorrow will be another interesting day.