Dublin 2015.
Preface.
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Before I went to live with Mr. Patrick at Savior Children Foundation in Kasoa, Ghana, I had a volunteer orientation in Accura. I met so many interesting people from all around the world, including two incredibly hilarious, and fun girls from Ireland- Ashling and Therese. But extremely different as well- Aisling is an artist and Therese is an improv actor. It was all of the volunteers' first night in Ghana and we were put into pairs to room with. Some how Ashling, Therese, three other volunteers and I ended up chatting and eating Irish biscuits...also know as cookies, because Therese packed loads of snacks and is a great sharer. Long story short, we bonded a ton, and ended up traveling to south west Ghana, Cape Coast. After our Africa trip, we stayed in contact, telling our crazy Africa stories since we volunteered in different locations, but mainly through ridiculous snapchats and conversions over messaging. After talking about visiting, one night I just booked my flight. And a few months later on Christmas Day- I was flying to Ireland!
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Me Irish lads in Ghana.
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Arrival and Transportation.
Low and behold I would arrive to find my sweet friend Aisling and her uncle at the airport in the wee morning hours on December 26th, and later walk in her home to find Christmas crackers, and a funny looking Christmas tree. I was staying with her the first half of my trip, but the ride was a surprise. We had planned on me taking the bus into town. *Going to say it now-Dublin public transportation is the bees knees! Like, amazing! Buses and trains, buses have wifi, buses are double decker, tons of room, clean, stops all over, new buses/trains coming every few minutes, digital stops with estimated arrivals, cheap....ahhhh thee best public transportation ever! (Well that I have ever seen in my short life, but still, blew my mind.) Her family was incredibly kind as I stayed at their home. I learned that every home needs an electric kettle and no one in Ireland seems to go without one. Aisling also made me crepes, so good! She puts either sugar and lemon juice, or nutella. Nomz.
*Coming soon*
About the sites...
Mall- freakin huge
Dublin nightlife- packed, popular, sketchy (or dodgy as my lads would say) busride
Killary hill- amazing view and walk
Downtown dublin-trinity,
Cliffs of Moher- don't let these amazing and popular cliffs fool you- they are no where near Dublin! Bless my friend Aisling and her mum for planning a visit to her mum's long time friend's house because I was able to see these beautiful cliffs in person. Don't worry if you don't have a friend to stay with by the cliffs, there is a bus for relatively cheap € and takes about 3 hours. So worth it to do the travel! You see all that green that people talk about when talking about Ireland. However, nothing beats the badass tour driver Jer (the mum's friend's boyfriend/not a real guide) who took us to different sites and interesting hidden gems. No matter how much we had car rides, the right side driver seat still throughs me off. Sometimes I'd think "omg look at that young boy driving" but then realized he was in the passenger seat. Speaking of different things, let's talk lingo! Irish slang and expressions I saved in my phone throughout the trip:
Ripping the piss out of-mockinSlaggin-mockin
Thick as shit-stupid
Shift/get with/ score
Culchies/boggers
Knacker
Craic
The craic was mighty. Having the craic. Whats the craic?
Wrecked
Stunning
Sound
Slick
Grand
Class
Bin
Runners
The trunk is the boot
Jumper
Knickers
Trouser
Turlough
Tola
Lashing- raining badly
Yous
Crisp
Quid
Can't hack the sesh
Bleak
Mingin
Chuffed
Im chuffed with life
About the sites...
Mall- freakin huge
Dublin nightlife- packed, popular, sketchy (or dodgy as my lads would say) busride
Killary hill- amazing view and walk
Downtown dublin-trinity,
Cliffs of Moher- don't let these amazing and popular cliffs fool you- they are no where near Dublin! Bless my friend Aisling and her mum for planning a visit to her mum's long time friend's house because I was able to see these beautiful cliffs in person. Don't worry if you don't have a friend to stay with by the cliffs, there is a bus for relatively cheap € and takes about 3 hours. So worth it to do the travel! You see all that green that people talk about when talking about Ireland. However, nothing beats the badass tour driver Jer (the mum's friend's boyfriend/not a real guide) who took us to different sites and interesting hidden gems. No matter how much we had car rides, the right side driver seat still throughs me off. Sometimes I'd think "omg look at that young boy driving" but then realized he was in the passenger seat. Speaking of different things, let's talk lingo! Irish slang and expressions I saved in my phone throughout the trip:
Ripping the piss out of-mockinSlaggin-mockin
Thick as shit-stupid
Shift/get with/ score
Culchies/boggers
Knacker
Craic
The craic was mighty. Having the craic. Whats the craic?
Wrecked
Stunning
Sound
Slick
Grand
Class
Bin
Runners
The trunk is the boot
Jumper
Knickers
Trouser
Turlough
Tola
Lashing- raining badly
Yous
Crisp
Quid
Can't hack the sesh
Bleak
Mingin
Chuffed
Im chuffed with life
After the cliffs, I stayed with Therese's family. Her family was lovely as well and very fun. Her family consists of her dad Amos, her mum, and her brothers Daniel, and Shaun. Her dad had made a delicious dinner equipt with cabbage, meat, Irish potatos, wine and dessert. It was very cool to sit at the table with their family and take in their culture. After dinner, I had my first Christmas cracker- crown, prize, joke and all. Thereses mom gave me a pack to give to my students which they LOVED!
*More information coming!*
*More information coming!*