Tired, hungry, and a bit jet-lagged, all 19 students and the 6 of us counselors joined together at the Dublin airport in our matching ILE T-Shirts. To beat jet-lag, we kept the students awake for the full day after jumping the 5 hour timezone change. It’s an exhausting day of travel, driving from Dublin to Waterford via bus, with a midway stop in Glendalough.

Glendalough Valley is widely known for being one of the sites where PS I Love You was filmed. Located in the heart of the Wicklow Mountains, we took a short day hike to visit one of the two lakes in the area. It’s a beautiful area of Ireland and rich in history. This stop allowed the students to walk around the smaller lake, stretch their legs, get some fresh air, and eat a packed lunch before getting on the bus to travel to Waterford.

Next, we ate dinner made by the lovely cooks at the Newtown boarding school, which will be our home for the next week. Finishing off the evening, we played a few ice breaker games and then off to an early bedtime.