Student Teaching/Update

So, Thursday was my first day at the Schoile Brihol (sorry, but I am totally winging it on the spelling, and I have no idea how to pronounce it either...) elementary school. I was up at 8am to get ready and walk a looong way up some hills, etc. to the school. Good thing it wasn't raining. I got there around 8:50, wandered in the unlocked door and aimlessly stood in the hallway, watching all the kids walk in. I had been given instructions to go to the office of the secretary, but since the door seemed to be locked (shocked that someone in Ireland would be late to work...haha) I just observed. Finally, after about ten minutes, I located the principle's office (Frank - great guy), and he introduced me to my cooperating teacher.

My CT's name is Susan and she's probably not even thirty, very thin and pretty. She was dressed sort of nicely, somewhat unlike the usual kindergarten teacher, but she was very nice. She brought me to the classroom and introduced me to the other student teacher who is doing the last segment of her masters, so she's like thirty, and also really nice.

There are about 20 kids in the "Junior Infant" classroom, ranging in age from four to six. About half are boys, half girls, and about half are white and half are black. The room is very sparse, with not a lot of things on the walls or supplies,
although the school is in a nice area and relatively well off. The kids are adorable. There is one little boy named Mike O'Donnell who comes from a gypsy family and travels in a legit caravan. He is pretty rambunctious and loooves to test your limits, but with his red hair and freckles (and the fact that he was the only one who remembered my name), he is quickly becoming one of my favorites.

The day was very open and unstructured -- much less structured than at home. This could have been due to the fact that the kids were getting their immunization shots that morning, but I think it's just generally much more lax. The kids are young enough that they don't do much reading/writing/math, although some of them don't even know how to write their names, which at this point they should be able to do.

All in all I had a good day and I'm excited to go back. The kids are sweet, the school is great, the teachers seem smart, and everyone is nice. I also get to wear jeans and sneakers and play outside for at least an hour each day, so what beats that?

In other news, I have fallen in love with Aero bars. I haven't seen them in the states, but they are delicious. They are chocolate with little bubbles inside so it melts in your mouth. You can get them in mint or with caramel and...I love them.

I also have booked a flight to Scotland for next weekend to visit Dan. Molly and Tara are coming with me...whoo hoo!

This weekend has been really fun. I met the boys who live downstairs from me, finally, and they are awesome. They both go to schools in VA but are from NJ and CT. We went out last night to a pub called Monroe's for some authentic Irish music, and I discovered my new favorite drink (sorry Mom and Dad) - Powers whiskey with lime and black current. Oh, my, God. It's absolutely delicious. And you get to pour it all
yourself. After all that beer (sorry Mom and Dad) it was a welcome change. However, it is definitely classified as a girly drink, because it's so sweet, so I can only really drink one or two per night or I feel stupid/sort of sick, haha.

Classes are good - some are boring, some not. The weather was horrible for two days and then nice for two days. Tara has friends from BC visiting from Cork this weekend...Jim is in London...Andrew's birthday is Wednesday. I registered with immigration and finally registered for classes on Friday...productive.

So yeah, everything is going well. I'm getting into the swing of things here and now I'm looking forward to travelling.