Heat Wave

Back to normal today as all of the students woke for breakfast for 8:30 AM. Class started with Irish literature with Angie. The students took a look at WB Yeats-one of Ireland's most well known and writers. Angie spoke about Yeats' love story with Maud Gonne, which we all know did not end up being much of a love story. The students also learnt about the background to the birth of the Irish National Theatre and the influence and role that WB Yeats had in its establishment. The next class was with Scones, where the students again perfected their Irish language skills. The vocabulary needed on the Aran Islands was looked at in detail. The Aran Islands are off the west coast of Ireland and is still a Gaeltacht area, meaning everybody that lives on the island uses Gaelic as their first language. Since the students will be travelling to the Aran Islands on a day tour from Galway, we decided this vocabulary was essential. There may have been a little white lie told during this class as to the importance of having this vocab. The students may currently believe there is no English spoken anywhere on the island. A little bit of scare tactics always panics people into learning I believe! We got a few interesting questions after the students heard this. Kat knew to ask how she would say, do you have any English? (An bhfuil aon bearla agat? {On will ain bare lah a gut?}), while Evan only needed to know the word for English, so he could get his point across (Bearla). Kayla, on the other hand, had different priorities and was insuring she knew how to ask for a bathroom. (Cá bhfuil an leithreas? {Caw will on leh her us?}) In Irish class they also learned the Irish words needed for a Ceílí, (Dance) which would make for an interesting dance class that evening. Finally everybody had Irish studies with Taryn, where they played Family Feud to test their knowledge of all things Irish so far. The rivalry was fierce between the two teams. Peanut Paddy really showed a competitive side that nobody was expecting. Emily Bryan's team won..., thankfully as once we saw how she reacted to losing a soccer match we were a little nervous! After lunch, the students had some free time to do what they wanted. Many went over to the Liffey Valley Shopping Center. Evan, Marco, and Seth all bought beautiful matching sweaters. Mel and Clara, who especially had not been expecting this weather, bought some shorts and dresses. Some students were just zapped from all this heat we are getting and Miles formed a gossip circle in the grass with Amanda, Jaids, Melanie, and Sarah C.! Others had in fact signed up for some workshops that were running this afternoon. First, there was a Coat of Arms Workshop. The students were given a plaque and allowed to research their true coat of arms, or create one that they felt was appropriate and symbolic of their name and their Irish roots. Megan got started straight away-she knew exactly what she was doing, as she had done this in school before. Others may have taken a little longer to get started, but still ended up with masterpieces. Sarah A. (AKA Hank) definitely has the creative Irish genes, as her coat of arms was impeccable. Jaims began practicing her Gaelic lettering and realized that regardless of how pretty it was, the Irish letters are tough to recreate. The next workshop to take place was Celtic Frame Workshop with Taryn. This class took place outside semi sheltered from the sun by a tree. The workshop was so relaxed and peaceful that the students may as well have been on a beach. Caroline (AKA Carl) did a fabulous Irish flag as a frame. Ellie, continuously changed her mind about how she wanted her frame to look and it ended up looking quite professional. Ellie might be claiming it was by accident, but I think we know better. Sarah B. (AKA Rah Rah) also amazed us with her painting skills, while Kayla didn't quite trust herself with a paintbrush yet and stuck to designing her frame with colored markers. After dinner, the students remained in routine and had their drama and dance workshops. According to the drama leaders of Aubrey and Miles, there are definitely one or two groups standing out, but we must wait until judgement day to see which one will stand out over all. The group working on Padraig Pearse at the moment are the ones who appear to be excelling, but we shall wait and see. In Dance, the student's Irish class was finally put to practical use. We started the class with Rogha na buachailli (Row a na boo a colly), which was boys choice. Everybody partnered up and we got to work. The students learned the Haymakers Jig. This wasn't the easiest of all dances and a few of the students did get quite confused-not looking at anybody in particular Evan, Nacho and Reilly. There was one group, with Clara and Peanut Paddy that picked up the dance immediately and could have auditioned for Riverdance with their skills. To end the evening and cool off from the scorcher of a day, the students were able to take a dip in the swimming pool. How refreshing! Eventually, after their tiring day, the students retired to bed even before lights out because they were just exhausted.

← All posts