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The first part of the week was spent in Dun Laoghaire! I flew back to Ireland from Scotland on Sunday and my roommates and I headed out to enjoy the sunshine. Once we were in Dun Laoghaire, we headed over to the Blackrock Market which is held every weekend. People weren't kidding when they said it was huge! There were food vendors, farmers selling fresh crops, live music, artists, and more. We accumulated a variety of snacks and sat by the coast to enjoy the waves crashing on the rocks as we people watched. After a bit, we went to he carnival. It was really cute and probably only for little kids Monday morning I woke up bright and early, and took the first bus back out to Dun Laoghaire. I walked all the way to the end of the pier and met a nice couple originally from south Ireland. They told me that they take a 7am walk every single morning, rain or shine. We sat by the lighthouse which has the Irish flag waving proudly next to it, and overlooked Howth and the Dublin Mountains. It was a gorgeous start to the week!
The rest of the week
was filled with exciting events! Monday I went to the National Leprechaun Museum. It was pretty silly, but loads of fun! We were told the stories of fairies, leprechauns, and mermaids. Growing up these things were just fairy tales and creatures of my imagination, but they are a big part of the Irish history! My co-worker's grandfather was dressed as a girl for the first two years of his life because his parents feared that he would be taken by the fairies and leprechauns. They don't take leprechaun jokes very lightly... Tuesday night we headed to the Bord Gais Energy Theater to see Mama Mia. The music, the dancing, the fact that it is ABBA; it is a must see!! SPOILER: At the end of the musical, the entire cast comes on stage and gives a huge encore performance. Everyone one in the audience was out of their seats dancing and singing. I loved it! Wednesday a group of five of us went to the pub on campus which was pretty crowded for mid-week. We got a round of Orchard Thieves which 10/10 would recommend. Thursday, Cheyenne, Emily, and I took naps after work then headed to the Temple Bar
area. We were pumped and ready because we've been told multiple times that Thursday night is the biggest night of the week. There was a crowd of college age kids at the stop and we were all in equal annoyance when 3 buses in a row did not show up so by the time bus #4 actually came, we all cheered with excitement. Never have we cheered so loudly for public transportation. We pub hopped for a bit and then found one called ____ (can't remember the name!). We stayed there all night dancing and singing to every song! It was worth the few hours of sleep I got before heading to work at 6:45 the next morning. Friday evening was much more relaxed as Tim, Cheyenne and I found a beach and walked along the coast for a good 2 hours. The water was surprisingly warm! We enjoyed the baby crabs, pretty seashells, and the sunset over the ocean.
Work this week was a little bit on the crazy side. The kids, as well as the staff had some trouble getting back into the swing of things after our 10 day holiday. We had to start over on
some potty training, behavior, and speech goals that were started before the break. Nevertheless, it felt good to be back at work! This week I lead individual therapy sessions each day focusing on requests, recognizing one's own name, and working in a sequence. Children's brains are a wonder and I am very fascinated by the things these nuggets create from their imagination. One child, when playing with a Dora doll, decided to explain how "Dora doesn't like sharks and how that's why people shouldn't swim in deep water otherwise their baby making parts will be bitten off." This is one of those conversations that as a therapist, you have to resist every urge to burst out laughing because you can't encourage that kind of talk, but man it was hilarious. Friday was a fantastic day at work! Everyone was in a good mood, Friday is art day, and guess who was in charge of craft... me! If you put a Sav in charge of crafts, she will pick something America themed! Of course with approval from my boss, I had the children make hand print American flags in celebration of our Independence day on July 4th. One of the kids
corrected me saying, "Ms. Safasnah, we live in Ireland. Colors are green, white, and orange." I also got to lead speech time, which I've secretly been hoping I could do that since day one. July's letter of focus is M so there was a lot of mouse, moon, and moo talk. I taught them some songs to practice M and everyone was so precious singing and dancing.
Happy July 4th weekend to those who celebrate! To those that don't, kick back and celebrate the weekend anyway!
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