Week Six

Monday, July 1 

I headed into the Gaiety School of Acting (GSA) HQ on Monday morning, excited for the week ahead. This week begins the second half of my internship, which I understood to be spent in summer camps with the students. I spent the first part of my morning in a meeting about the Shakespeare play that GSA puts on every year. I don’t fully understand how the Irish education system works, but as a part of graduation for their high-school equivalent, the students are tested on one specific Shakespeare play. This year is King Lear. GSA does a production every year of whatever show is picked, and creates videos, booklets, and, of course, a production of the play to help the students get to know the work. After all, Shakespeare is written to be seen, not read. So, I’m going to be helping prepare some of the booklet and video for this year’s production. I spent the rest of my morning and the afternoon in the Taylor Swift summer camp. The kids are singing and dancing to Taylor Swift songs, and even doings some of their own songwriting! It’s so fun to watch them all work so hard and put themselves out there.  

After work, I needed an evening to myself. I was still exhausted from the Northern Ireland trip. I spent the evening cleaning my room, doing laundry, and preparing for the week to come. 

Tuesday, July 2 

On Tuesday, I was needed to cover for another employee who was out sick. I had to unlock the building that some of the camps were in. Unfortunately, my coworker who was meant to be there at the same time as me was running late. When I unlocked the building, the alarm started blaring and I couldn’t find the place to input the code. I tried to call GSA, but my phone wasn’t working (curse these international plans). Finally, one of the instructors came and was able to help me out. It was super embarrassing. Once we got that figured out though, all I had to do was take attendance of the kids and wait until lunch. This time around, the tutor teaching the camp preferred to have me and my coworker outside the room. I watched the kids during the tutor’s lunch and had enough time to go back to my apartment for my own lunch. I spent the afternoon talking with my coworker until 4 p.m. when camps ended. We checked the kids out, made sure they got to their parents, and were all set to go home. I stopped back at my apartment before heading back out to go for a hike. I went to Killiney Hill Park. I spent a couple hours there hiking all around. I didn’t know the route (and my phone still isn’t working), so I got a little lost but I made my way around! I ended up walking over 11 miles that day, and after the hike, turned in exhausted once again. 

Wednesday, July 3 

I didn’t have much of a set schedule for Wednesday. I thought that my schedule would be more solid with the summer camps, but it’s turned out to be more flexible than last month. At work, I had trouble getting on the Wi-Fi for some reason. My phone said I was signed out of my iCloud account, but once I got the Wi-Fi figured out, the problem went away. I don’t know what happened, but it seems to have figured itself out. I spent most of the day researching the Shakespeare play and proofreading the booklet. I also spent some time covering lunch for the tutors at the summer camps. I was outside with the younger kids during their lunch. After work, I came home, ate dinner, and headed right over to class. This week, we had a guest speaker. She talked about intercultural communication. It was intriguing to hear her unique perspective. She’s Spanish but has lived in Ireland for about 20 years. After class, I went out to McDonalds with a friend from class. I was craving a McFlurry, but I've also been curious how different the menu is. The fries are completely the same as back home. The McFlurry was very different though, it was more like a sundae than I would expect. After that, some of my roommates went out, but I went home and went to bed.  

Thursday, July 4 

I had a flexible schedule again for Thursday, but I had a few things to buy before I made my way to work. I stopped at Smyth’s Toys to pick up a friendship bracelet making kit for the Taylor Swift camp. When I got there, the kids were so excited to make their bracelets. I ended up needing to run back out to grab a few more things, before settling into helping with the camp. I was meant to cover lunch again for some of the tutors but I ended up in a different camp than I had been the day before. This one was working on filming a short film that the kids had written. I spent most of my afternoon on “set” with them helping with their film, before heading back to the Taylor Swift camp for the last 45 minutes or so. I’ve made good friends with one of the other employees helping with the camp, so its always good fun being able to talk to him.  

After work, I went out with two of my roommates to get Mexican as a late celebration for my 19^th birthday. The food was good, if not a bit overpriced, but that’s part of being in Dublin. We went back to the apartment for a bit before heading to Phoenix Park, because the U.S. Embassy was doing fireworks. But we couldn’t find where they were, and we didn’t end up seeing any. We heard one, but that was all. We went home late, disappointed, and tired from walking all around Phoenix Park (it’s huge!). 

Friday, July 5 

I didn’t have a plan for the day when I woke up (big mistake), but I got ready and decided to head to Malahide to visit the butterfly house and do the Malahide to Portmarnock coastal walk. I’ve really been enjoying these coastal walks. They’re a great way to see more of Ireland, get some exercise in, and stick by the ocean without having to get in when it’s too cold. I love the ocean but hate the cold. I spent a lot of time in the butterfly house and on the gardens of the Malahide Castle. I didn’t go in the castle, but I didn’t feel like I needed to. I still really enjoyed my time there without going inside. As for the cliff walk, I found myself pretty cold the whole time so it wasn’t as enjoyable as normal. But, I met a super friendly stray cat along the way. There’s lots of animals, especially cats around the area, but I hadn’t found any friendly ones yet. I stopped in a local shop for a smoothie bowl before heading home for the day. I went out for dinner with one of the other IES Abroad interns, and we stopped for boba on the way home. One thing about Ireland is that it will start pouring out of no where. We got completely drenched on our way home! By the time we got up to our rooms though, the rain had stopped. It’s so inconsistent here, getting rained on or staying dry is all luck. 

Saturday, July 6 

I made the same mistake again on Saturday, waking up without a plan for the day. But I woke up even later and it was already 1:30 p.m. before I was ready to go anywhere. I wanted to do another cliff walk (on the south side of Dublin this time) but I missed the only bus there and it was over an hour before the next one. I decided to stay in Dublin instead for the day. I went to RoCo’s cafe (third good chai in Dublin) for lunch because I hadn’t eaten yet. I was going to go to a bookstore, but I found a booth on the street that had some books so I stopped there instead. I got two books, one is about Irish theatre and has seven Irish plays in it. I’m really looking forward to diving into that one. I went to Stephen’s Green and sat by the pond for awhile reading. I was feeling pretty down so I went back to my apartment and called some family and friends for awhile before it dawned on me that I was feeling homesick. I really haven’t dealt with much homesickness in my time here, but I was feeling it. I spent a couple hours on the phone with close friends and family, and was feeling better. I ended up going out with some friends for a bit, but I was pretty tired so I turned in kind of early. 

Sunday, July 7 

I went to church Sunday morning and headed over to a cafe afterwards to get some a few things done (like my blog!). I got stuck in the rain waiting for the bus, but I eventually found my way. I spent a few hours there, mostly planning my trip for next weekend. I had tickets for the Book of Kells for that evening with a friend, and I had no idea what to expect. It was so cool. They had an online audio guide with lots of information about the history of the book, how it was made, the people that wrote it, etc. The Long Room was one of the best parts of course, but my favorite was right at the end. There were two 8-minute films that included impressive projections and beautiful storytelling. After the Book of Kells, we went out for dinner. We got fish and chips at a takeout spot that we walk by every week on the way to class.  I spent the rest of the evening resting and did some grocery shopping for next week.