Week 2 is over already?

The time seems to be flying by already. I cannot believe that I am entering my third week in Ireland. I am learning a great deal about the culture and history. I am even learning a bit of Irish. Sadly, Gaelic is not an easy language to learn and it is not at all phonetic. Therefore, when I learn a new word or phrase, I have no idea how to spell it. Also, if I see a word, I have no idea how to say it. I am interested to learn as much as I can but I will concede that Spanish is much easier to learn.

The children had a weeklong holiday last week, so Maggie and I did as well. Her mother was here visiting for much of it so we tried to see as much of Ireland as we possibly could. We have now also been to see Blarney Castle and the grounds surrounding it, driven the Ring of Kerry, seen Muckross house up close, taken a jaunty ride to Torc Waterfall, been to Bunratty and its village, taken a ferry to the Aran Islands from Galway, and seen the stunning Cliffs of Moher. We saw so much that I thought we might need a holiday to recover from our holiday! I am glad that we are having this wonderful opportunity to see this beautiful country. It didn't rain all week either! I have so many stories to tell from each of these experiences that I do not know where to begin. I think that I will work on a post for each one and try to get them up within the week.

I returned to school Monday morning and I think that this week is going to be a lot calmer without Halloween and an upcoming break for everyone to be anxious about. I was able to teach a great deal of my morning Maths class and the teacher said we will start splitting our time 50/50 for the week. I think that the lesson went rather well. A new Romanian student joined the school yesterday so that was an interesting event to observe in my Foriegn Nationals class. She doesn't know any English so that class has gained another student. My English support class is also interesting. I am working on coming up with lessons on creative writing for the girls. They have just started this and need some extra practice.

I am excited about this coming week because I will be able to participate more in teaching in the classrooms and get to know my students better. I have seen a few around town and they always come up to say "Hi, Miss Marks!" I am also excited as my grandma is here to visit. She is actually coming to see Irish Dancing lessons this morning. I find this very interesting to watch, so I am sure she will enjoy it as well.

Bye for now! Pictures and Holiday details to come soon!