VS019...from Heathrow to SFO

That was our flight. It seemed shorter to me than the flight going over - Kristin thought it seemed longer. The fact that I slept for a bit and she didn't - well, that might have something to do with our perceptions!

If you're me, there's never a time that's not a possible 'Kodak moment.' The plane ride was no exception. Larissa wanted me to erase the photo of her standing, waiting for the restroom, but her friends agreed we should keep it. You'll see her holding her fingers across her eyes. Did she really think I'd go away? lolA little background on this photo... Emily had been diligently collecting pins for her lanyard through the entire trip. Besides memories, it was also pretty pricey. Well, going through security at Heathrow, we had to remove the lanyards since they set off the buzzer. Emily had put hers in the basket...but after they all came through, she realized her lanyard was missing. We asked, they said they hadn't seen it. I assume the family in front mistakenly picked it up. Anyway, Emily was SICK...I was sick for her. But she kept going, trying to not let it get her down. We got situated in the waiting area - crowded...lots of stores...VERY crowded - and Emily and Cyprien took off to look around while we passed the time. After about 20 minutes, one of the ladies we had talked to at the security, came walking up holding Emily's lanyard. She didn't say how it had been returned, I didn't ask. I can't remember who it was, (Lauren?) but they took off with the lanyard to find Emily. This photo was taken after that!

Tommy O'Brien, our beloved Irish coach driver, would have been proud. At one point as we were probably an hour or so from SFO, our wonderful delegates, your wonderful children, broke out into our song. They, no WE, sang it all the way through, erupting in loud applause when we finished. Ah...like I said, Tommy would be proud.

Parents, it was so awesome having all of you standing there to greet us as we came out of customs...the snapshots, the cheers, the clapping!

Home sweet home!

July 25th, our last full day in England

Our medieval breakfast was in a medieval-decorated restaurant under the castle. Some of our delegates were able to visit with some of their new friends from Maryland and Virginia - another People to People group they met at the castle. After breakfast, we gathered our gear from the tents, loaded them in the coach, and then had till noon to explore the rest of the castle on our own. Some loved this, some were "castled-out" and relaxed on the lawn. Kristin and I took advantage of the time to explore, which you can check out in these photos:BubbleShare: Share photos - Play some Online Games.



At noon, we had lunch on the lawn overlooking the river and an area where a jousting show was happening. Some went down to get a closer look as they finished their lunch, others went to have some archery lessons, buy a few last souvenirs... and then we were off...for a half hour drive to Stratford-Upon-Avon, best known as William Shakespeares birthplace.

Interestingly, Sam was less than excited about this stop. He said all the stories about Shakespeare are 99% conjecture and 1% fact. He said what is said is that "Shakespeare PROBABLY was born here... Shakespeare PROBABLY ate lunch here, etc." He even said there was question if there even was the person of William Shakespeare! Apparently, there is some speculation that 'William Shakespeare' was a pen name for someone else! I was totally surprised by all this information. I loved the town anyway... and I took plenty of photos of SHAKESPEARE'S HOME... because in my mind, it's all true. But, what if it's not? Um???

It's a beautiful town, with Tudor architecture everywhere.BubbleShare: Share photos - Powered by BubbleShare


Good-bye Stratford...and we were on our way to Sussex...or Woking? Is Woking an area of Sussex? Is Sussex an area of London? I have no idea, and I was so tired by this point, that I really didn't care. I was thinking of hot showers, comfortable beds, and a nice dinner after our evening at Warwick.

Seeing as this was our last night, most of the delegates dressed up for dinner. Ah, what a beautiful group - handsome group... great looking group....! Dinner was delicious - as was the dessert. We were then allowed to use the 7th floor conference room where we filled out evaluations for the program, and then got together for lots...and lots....and lots of photos. Some stayed around for even more photos, as you will see from the ones I post.BubbleShare: Share photos - Powered by BubbleShare


At 11:30 p.m., it was time for our last (sniff, sniff) bed checks. It kind of reminded me of the Walton's. (Does anyone remember the Walton's?) We'd do the bed check, and then a head would pop out of the door to ask another question. It made me smile then, and it still makes me smile today.

Chester, England and Warwick Castle on July 24

Chester... this was the first town we came to when we re-entered England from North Wales. We were scheduled to have a tour of the old Roman parts of the town by an authentic Roman soldier - yeah, right, but he played the part well...but seeing as we arrived 1 1/2 hours early, we had some free time on our hands. We all took off in different directions to explore this - another quaint town!

Chester, I found out, is called England's Walled City. My first stop was to walk back to a portion of the wall - well, a bridge - we had driven under. As all the little old towns, I loved the architecture. Chester has a beautiful cathedral.As the time came near to meet, everyone slowly made their way back to the square. Some were hanging out in the little sidewalk cafes - some comparing their purchases (some new kind of earbuds was a hit... I listened to some and they definitely sounded good) and others were just hanging out on the benches watching the people and talking.

We had our count off, boarded the bus, drove to where we were to meet our very own Roman soldier. This guy was a RIOT! I'll show it to you all in pictures:BubbleShare: Share photos - Powered by BubbleShare

After leaving Chester, we headed to Warwick Castle. Now, I have to admit I was NOT looking forward to this. I think all the delegates were, but the leaders had heard horror stories, mostly having to do with the cold and wet conditions. Well, in keeping with the nature of this delegation, meaning everything going so well, we had absolutely beautiful weather! It did get a little cold during the night, and it was compounded when you woke up and had to go to the bathroom. Remember we're camping, in tents, on castle grounds... you didn't just hop up and run to the bathroom and hop back in your warm bed. No, you slowly and painstakingly forced yourself out of bed, tried to find your shoes and jacket...then unhooked the tent ties, crawled out of the tent, tried to remember where in the world the bathrooms even were, and then trudged through the paths to the bathroom. Then the return journey, and crawling back into a flimsy sleeping back. Well, all that is true, but it really wasn't bad, not even for a 53 year old!

Prior to this sleeping time, we had a medieval dinner when we arrived. After that, our delegation, which was one of three at the castle, was led through three different sessions. Our first was SWORDS - real swords - and taught to us by a guy who did swordfighting in the movie Braveheart. (I think that was the right movie!) We were in pairs, being careful not to cut off anyone's head or limbs. :)

After the sword fighting, came archery. Now we really didn't get the opportunity to shoot the bow and arrow, but this medieval man showed us all the protection and supplies needed. Jess was our model. He looked great in all the armor. The only problem with Jess was- well, he SAYS he wants to be an actor - however, I think he has a ways to go. When his head was about to get chopped off, he laughed....he smiled. The guy kept telling Jess to make a scowl, a frown, but no, Jess the future actor, just kept smiling....a big smile I might add.

From archery we moved to - well, I can't remember the name, but basically these huge sticks. You'll see them on the photos:BubbleShare: Share photos - Powered by BubbleShare

Our song...sung by The Dubliners

Quaint towns in Northern Wales

We started today by going to the Great Orme Copper Mine in Llandadno. This tour was led by the man who discovered the mine in the first place. We put on our hard hats and took off on two of the nine levels of the mine. It's still operational - closing for 5 months of the year to dig. Eddie, the owner, told me they would start digging in October. This mine also dates back to the bronze age - over 3000 years ago. During that time, the digging was done with animal bones. To date, there have been over 30,000 animal bones recovered. There is a lot of interest in this mine. The Smithsonian actually sends people over to work in it. Eddie, at the end of our tour, demonstrated how you can melt the malachite to liquify the copper and pour it into molds... which was how they would make arrowheads! It was fascinating to watch.BubbleShare: Share photos - Play some Online Games.


We went to a quaint little town called Llanberis, which is the foot of Mount Snowdon. This was the ancestral home of Thomas Jefferson. There were more castles...BubbleShare: Share photos - Play some Online Games.


We also went to another little wonderful town called Beddgelert. This means something like death of the dog... I don't think that's exactly right, but it's close. We then hiked in to see the grave of the dog... I'll add the story later...This town was totally picturesque.

We ate lunch at a place that we were told has THE best fish and chips in the UK. I don't know if I agree with that...but they were good. Sam told us the chips (french fries) were authentic British chips.

We also went to Conwy...and another castle. Here there is also the legend of Merlin and Arthur. Arthur is said to be asleep in the mountain to the left of Snowdonia. He will wake up and help defend the country the next time the Saxons invade! We were able to get out and put our feet in a gorgeous lake - Lake Llyn Padarn - with, of course, a castle in the background!

We learned some Welsh...the language is so different. The spelling gives you absolutely no idea how to pronounce it. To say 'good day' you phonetically say dif-da. But the way they spell it in Welsh is dyddda. See what I mean?

Tomorrow we head back to England...it will be an exciting time for everyone, spending tomorrow night ON THE GROUNDS of another castle! The delegates have been informed to pack their warmest and driest clothes in their backpacks. The weather has actually been perfect, and as far as I know there is no chance of rain. So we should have good weather! We'll all be sleeping in tents - something like 6 - 8 to a tent. Doesn't that sound fun?

I know there will be no internet in the tents.... then we only have one night left after that! It is so hard to believe we are coming to the end of this journey. I've been asking some if they're ready to go home. Almost the universal answer is Yes...and No. Yes, they're missing their families and boyfriends/girlfriends (I'm sure they're missing their parents the most!), but No - because some wonderful friendships have been formed. Traveling with a group of your peers is an experience they will never forget.

As I've said before, and can still truthfully say after 17 days on the road, this is an absolutely wonderful group of young people. Talking with a group as we waited for the ferry the other day, I think it was Melanie who said she thought we really had a great group... I couldn't agree more!

July 22 - Penryn Castle

Today was our FULL ON day. It was awesome.

We arrived at the gym of the university and were met by a team of highly energetic people from New Zealand. As we came in, the song - Celebration - was blaring. The crew got the kids moving and doing a little dancing. (Remember, this is about 9 a.m.) After a few words, they talked to the kids about fears - about conquering those fears - about trust - making choices, etc.

We hopped in the coach and drove to Penryn Castle, which actually is not a true castle, but a vacation home that was built by Lord Penryn. It looks like a castle to us, but because it has large 1st floor windows...and easy access, it's technically not a castle.

Our group was again broken into groups - 3 groups - and we had more activites to build trust and team building... and problem solving. I won't go into details since the computer only has 10 more minutes...but they were great exercises that I want to use in my classroom (remind me to tell you Pamela and Laner!)

Next: rappeling off the castle. MOST of us did it...but a few - I think there were 5 - who made it all the way to the top, even as far as standing on the edge, and then just couldn't go over the edge. Those of us who did, were exhilarated by the experience. We took so many pictures...and there was so much encouragement being yelled out. All of this was done on the absolutely beautiful grounds of the castle. We were in harness...and it was all safe...BubbleShare: Share photos - Find great Clip Art Images.


We had quite a bit of free time back at the university. It was also warm and beautiful weather, so lots of groups took off walking into town.

An exciting day!

July 21 - Goodbye to our home stay and hello to North Wales

Finally, a computer...but there's not much time until it shuts down.

Back on July 21st, we said good-bye to our home stay families. We also said and sang HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Kale. As the families dropped their delegates off at the bus, there were a lot of hugs, lots of pictures...and some promises to stay in touch. There were some who had a disappointing home stay, not bad, just disappointing. I gave a report regarding the families who weren't as warm as what our delegates had been expecting. The home stay, in my opinion, is the heart of the program.

We took off in the coach and drove to the dock to catch the ferry, saying good-bye to Tommy O'Brien - our awesome coach driver. This ferry was much faster than the first one we rode to Ireland. We made the crossing in less than 2 hours. We entered north Wales on the Isle of Anglesey. Beautiful!BubbleShare: Share photos - Play some Online Games.


We were met by another guy named Sam...who stayed with us for the day and led us around. Our first stop on the Isle of Anglesey was a 5,000 year old burial ground - called Bryn Celli Ddu - ...which was made in the Stone Age. Sam, who leads a lot of tours and has been a university lecturer. He told us you can go from the Stone Age to the Nuclear Age in a 20 mile radius.

Next stop was - get ready for this name - Llanfairpwllgwynayllgugerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliugogogoch - honestly, that's the name. There is a train station there and at one time it was shortened so the name could fit on a train ticket. The name translates to: The Church of Mary in the Hollow of the White Hazel Near the Fierce Whirlpool and the Church of Tysilio by the Red Cave. While we were here, we had the SUPERMARKET SWEEP! Our delegation was divided into 4 groups. Each group had a budget and was told what kind of foods to buy to make lunches for the next day. For example, my group had a budget of 50 pounds...and we were to buy the fillings for sandwiches. We also only had 20 minutes to do all our shopping....mission was accomplished.My shopping group...a great, efficient, shopping group!

We came to the university where we stayed. After dinner, there was a crew who made sandwiches to order... a great assembly line effort.BubbleShare: Share photos - Play some Online Games.


Tomorrow... the castle!

Dublin, Ireland

The sun was shining in Dublin today! It was a beautiful day...fairly warm, mostly blue skies...and we were strolling around Dublin.

Dublin is huge... a little under 1.5 million people - or so I was told.

We started our day at Christchurch Cathedral...actually in an exhibit called Dublinia, which was an interactive display telling the story of the beginnings of Dublin. Think: Vikings! It was very well done. As we were exiting the exhibit, the bells were ringing to signal the time to begin the Sunday morning service. I wish I had timed how long they rang, it was long. I don't know, but it gives me chills to be in a place like that...so old, so historical, and hear the bells. I always reflect on the time, the energy, the vision the people had who designed and built cathedrals like this.BubbleShare: Share photos - Find great Clip Art Images.


We then went on a tour of the city via our coach. We had a red-headed Irish lady giving us the tour. She was... well, I thought she was OK... we've been spoiled with Mr. O'Brien... he's just so wonderful, so knowledgeable.

We saw the Guinness Brewery - 60 acres of it...St. Patrick's Cathedral. Now an interesting thing we learned: Ireland is VERY Catholic..it's the dominant religion, but Christchurch and St. Patrick's are protestant churches...the Church of England or commonly called here, The Church of Ireland. We went to Phoenix Park - twice the size of Central Park in New York. We saw the American Ambassador to Irelands home... their president's home... and the cross that was erected on the spot where Pope John Paul II delivered a mass in 1979. Remember today, there are a little less than 1.5 million people...and on that day in 1979, there were 1.2 million people there to hear the mass!

Trinity College was next on the list. What a beautiful university! We sat on the grounds and had our lunch (our home stay families had made us lunches) followed by an 'interactive quiz'. For the quiz, the delegates were divided into teams of 4. Each team was given a map of Dublin and a page of questions. They were to maneuver themselves through the city, finding different statues and filling in the answers - which were the names of the statues. We (leaders) were waiting at the last statue to see who came in first...and, of course, to make sure they all returned! Keenan came in first, but unfortunately, he didn't have his group with him, so he didn't earn his first place. Next, in an entire group, came Kris, Tyler, Larissa, and Keisha. They won... I think Sam gave them a bag of candies to share. It was more for the glory! Once everyone was returned, we turned them loose again, in groups, to explore the city on the own. More shopping was done, even though they were warned that Dublin is THE most expensive city in Europe. We had a little over 3 hours to explore the city on our own.BubbleShare: Share photos - Create and Share Crafts


We met back at the statue of Molly Malone at 4:45 and took off for our bus. We started our journey back to meet our host families...who we met at 6 p.m.

Tomorrow morning we will meet and our wonderful Mr O'Brien will take us to catch our ferry to our next destination. I have no idea (haven't you heard this line before?) if we'll have internet connections. It will be at a university, but it's not in it's normal sessions, so I don't know.

I think we'll all be sad to say good-bye to Ireland...

Cheers!

Life on a typical Irish Farm

We spent the entire day...leaving at 8:30 a.m. and arriving back to be picked up by our host families at 6:30 p.m... at an Irish farm. It was awesome...and dirty!

When we arrived, Eddie, a 17 year old Irish lad, took our group and taught them another Irish dance. When he first told them what he was going to do, there were many moans from our group - because they were still half asleep. Within about 2 minutes, they were laughing and dancing around...end of the tiredness.

I can't remember the exact order, but activities we did were:

* everyone paired up and each pair made a loaf of Irish Soda Bread. At the end of the day, we ate it...with European butter and delicious raspberry jam....

* hurling... this is a purely Irish sport and we learned the basics. No one got hit...well, I should more accurately say...no one got HURT with the hurling stick! fun was had by all!

* milking a cow. Now this was interesting. Everyone who wanted to got an opportunity to milk the cow. Once they had done that, then Eddie, would grab the teat and squirt fresh milk into their mouth. His aim was pretty good, not too much got on their faces! There were also baby kittens which earned their fair share of photos!

* planting a tree. Alex C was lucky enough to be the one to select the tree we planted. He chose a beautiful apple tree. We took turns digging the hole so we all had a hand in planting.

* At the very end of the day, we all gathered together for some entertainment. We had some young girls, in beautiful dresses, dancing some typical Irish dancing. Some dances were soft shoe and some were hard shoe (kind of like tap). They were so good! Then they opened up for anyone to entertain. From our delegation, Alex G played the guitar...as did Quinn. Jennifer sang a song, and then our entire delegation sang the song we have been singing on the bus everyday.

* played bodhrans. These are drums covered in goat skin. You hit it with a small little wooden instrument which you hold like a pencil - sort of!BubbleShare: Share photos - Create and Share Crafts


* Bogs. Last but not least, we visited the bog. Apparently 1/6 of Ireland is covered in bogs. The majority of the delegation got IN the blog. It looks like mud, but it's not. They say it's very good for your skin..so I'm expecting lots of great looking skin tomorrow! You won't believe the photos I got...they're great! Some that I didn't expect to get in the bog, did...and they had such a fun time! Getting washed off afterwards wasn't as fun. They certainly could not get back on the bus covered in dead and decayed plant material. Everyone had been told to bring a spare change of clothes to change into for the ride home.

KUDOS to Adam, (who I have recently learned as earned the nickname -TOM CRUISE) - for carrying probably 70 buckets of water to the girls as they were trying to clean up from the bog.

Definitely a fun day!

Peaked Caps

This is post #2 for the day... I just wrote a comment to Kathy's comment...and decided to write about the caps.

Tyler was our trend-setter. Steve had bought a - well, I call it a golf cap, but our hosts said they call it a 'peaked cap.' You know the caps that often snap in the front? That's the kind. Tyler bought the first one. Miles, Joseph, Kris, Alex G., Danny and Raymond followed suit. I have a picture of them all posing in front of the Listowel Hotel... it's great!

Some of the guys are trying to convince Keenan to buy one so all the Sonoma guys can wear them on the first day of school!

I won't tell them that our host family said only old men wear them! But I will tell you - they look SO good on them!

The home stays have begun!

Don't be surprised if some of your precious ones come home speaking french. Last night at the hotel, a French tour group came in. Most were elderly, but one family had 3 children - 2 boys and a girl. The girl spoke fairly good English...and she was bored on the tour with the "old people." Some of our students put their ambassadorial skills to work and sat around visiting and playing cards with these poor 3 bored French kids until about 11 p.m. That was great to see. As we were telling them they had to stop and get to bed, email addresses were being exchanged. It was great to see!

This morning we took off and headed to Bunratty Castle, which is located on the River Shannon, where we had a short guided tour and then time to explore more on our own. On the same grounds as the castle, there was a folk park with thatched roof cottages and houses. These are decorated as they would have been during the castle days...the 15th century.

We entered the castle through a drawbridge...and sat at 500+ year old tables. The lady leading the tour was in period dress...although she was a bit difficult to understand. The Irish speak very fast...and when you add in some thick accents, well, it can be a little difficult - but wonderful to hear at the same time.
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We had our lunch there...some did a little more shopping, and then we took off in the coach heading east.

Our host families came to the community center to pick us all up. As a family would drive up, Chris, the lady who organized the home stays, would tell us the name of the family, then we would call the students for that house, introduce them, and then off they went. Everyone was leaving with big smiles on their faces. I think each home had a minimum of 3 students, many had four. Sue, Kristin, Steve, and I are all in the same home. The junior high group for our same city in California left here today. The family we (leaders) are with is the same family that the junior high leaders stayed with. Just a little tidbit of information, the man of this home is the brewmaster for the Guiness Brewery here in town!

We ate dinner with our families...and we'll also eat breakfast with them. Then they will take us back to the community center at 8:30 a.m. Tomorrow we will all be together for the day at a working Irish farm. Oh boy... our host tells us it is run to perfection.

I'll be able to update tomorrow... our family has three computers with free internet!

Cheers!

Cliffs and Caves for today

**Forgive me... I just re-read through this...and it's a bit disjointed, but because the internet cafe is about to close, I'm not going to go back through and rearrange...

Tonight I'm updating from an internet cafe... plus I don't have all my notes with me. It's amazing how all our activities start to run together. As I was starting to write this, I turned to Hannah and asked her what we had done today.... momentarily lapse in brain function!

The Cliffs of Moher... wait till you see those photos! I had never even heard of the cliffs until I started learning about this itinerary. They are spectacular. There's also a castle on the grounds - well, it was probably more like a watchtower. We were there probably close to an hour and a half. We could have all used more time. One of our delegates told us he/she (?) had read that these cliffs were the last thing people saw as they were leaving Ireland to immigrate to the U.S
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After the cliffs, we headed to Aillwee Cave. That was pretty cool... strolling through the caverns , seeing the waterfall. It wasn't a very long tour... maybe 45 minutes. The cave stays at a constant 50 degrees. it was interesting. We learned the story of Jacko McGann who discovered the caves with his dog...who was chasing a rabbit...and when the dog disappeared, Jacko parted the grass looking for him, and discovered the caves!

Leaving, we passed a lot of different sites... a castle, a rock formation where they found the bodies of something like 16 women and children - back in the 1700's I think, and more...

The country is just beautiful. One thing we constantly see are rock fences... they're more like a border between properties. Our guide told us people who owned the lands use to have the peasants clear the properties...and when they were clearing rocks, they stacked them up into the fences. Just put this picture in your mind... lush green rolling hills, rock fences dividing the land into different sections, beautiful homes - many painted yellow - dotting the land, steeples and tops of castles on the landscape every so often...and for us, variations in the colors of the clouds...
One guide told me this had not been a good summer - because of the weather. When I told Sam that, he laughed and said the summers are always like this!

For most of the day, we were in an area called the Burren. It's beautiful... but very different than anything we've seen. It is compared to a lunar landscape... but there are 30 different species of iris - out of the 36 varieties in all of Ireland! Same with butterflies... lots of butterflies.

There is a big game going on of Gaelic football with our guys... they came into dinner hot and sweaty... but as soon as dinner and announcements were finished, they were off to play another game.

That's about it for today.

I have no idea if I'll be able to post for the next 3 nights. We start our home stays tomorrow afternoon - after visiting another castle. The kids - at least the ones I've talked to about it, are VERY excited. All the students will be with at least one other....which they're also happy about. The leaders also are in home stays, so hopefully I'll have internet access. We'll get back together as a delegation during the day, and then go back to our families in the evenings...

Cheers!

A magical day

A magical day... that's what today was.

We started the day by going to the beautiful town of Kilarney. There, we boarded boats and for 1 1/2 hours we cruised through the 3 lakes and a river. This has got to be one of the most beautiful places on the planet. I was on a boat with Briana, Miles, Raymond, Quinn, Matt S., Alex C., Tyler, and Nate. Unfortunately/fortunately for these souls, I took over 100 photos just on the boat ride. We went under one bridge that was over 200 years old and one that was about 500 years old. All I can say, is it was magical... I think all the delegates felt the same way. There's not a lot I can say, but wait until we get home and I post all the photos... then you'll understand what I'm saying.BubbleShare: Share photos - Create and Share Crafts


After we docked, we ate lunch at a little cafe, then in groups of 4, we loaded horse-drawn jaunty's... little carts pulled by horses. We went 7 miles ... again, it was simply magical. Total for these two activities... 320 photos! The horse for my cart was Scooby-doo... Scooby is 10 years old and does one trip per day. Actually, we rode probably 2 or 3 miles, then walked for at least 2 miles - UPHILL - so the horse didn't have to pull us - then we rode again.BubbleShare: Share photos - Create and Share Crafts


An ice cream shop awaited us at the end of the journey.

From there we went up to where we had a sweet view of the lakes of Kilarney... and then down to a store to do a little shopping. Then back to the hotel.

Tonight, 10 of us went to a Gaelic play... all sung in the Gaelic language. It had a lot of Irish dancing... and singing.. and was the story of immigration on a local island. Those of us who went, absolutely loved it. Mr. O'Brien, our coach driver, had told us about it. There was quite a bit of free time tonight, so the offer was made if anyone wanted to go. It was awesome.

So tomorrow we're off for our next destination. I have no idea what the internet situation will be, so hopefully, I'll be able to post.

Cheers!

Blogging about the Bog

The Emerald Isle... a lot of our delegates figured out today why Ireland is called the Emerald Isle. True, it's green - very green... and the 180 days of rain contributes to that green. It didn't really rain, but we thought it was going to for most of the day.

We started off with a hike... a 1 1/2 hour hike through part of the town and some forested areas. We saw a Catholic Altar Rock, which was a rock used as an altar for Catholic masses in the 1850's when Catholicism was outlawed in Ireland because the King of England made the Church of England THE church.

We had been warned that the ground would be slippery...muddy... and indeed it was. The question was, who would fall. We only had two - Kris and Tina. I think everyone clapped... Kris and Tina felt honored. :) You should have heard the laughter, not at them falling, but at everyone trying to get through the trail. We reached the high point of the trail and had some incredible views looking out over the city and the surrounding areas.

We learned that Ireland has no mosquitoes, poison oak, or poison ivy. So we weren't worried when we held on to bushes and shrubs as we gingerly made our way through the muddy, sloppy, grueling, slippery trail. Do you get the picture? Another interesting fact we learned, the townspeople pay no money for their water! None... they actually collect all their extra water and even send some other places! Wouldn't we all love that? Green lawns, beautiful green lawns, are everywhere.BubbleShare: Share photos - Powered by BubbleShare


Next stop: A peat moss bog. I think most of us had heard of these, but we didn't really understand them until today. We were met by some Irish men who worked the bogs. In two groups, one gave us a history of immigration and the other showed us how families worked the bogs. It took 3 people, one to cut the peat, one to shovel it out of the area, and one to spread it in a single layer to dry. It takes one year for the peat to "season"... meaning it's ready to burn. For our work, the peat goes to help the senior citizens. Tina won the prize for getting stuck...her foot got stuck in the muck...and trying to pull her foot out, well, it came out ok...out of her shoe! She got another clap!

Lunch was next - a cold lunch on very cold, wet, picnic tables. We had gone back to the community center to pick up our box lunches, and that's where we ate. We survived.

Next stop: Gaelic football. But first, as we were walking to play, Sam stopped us and told us to smell... it was the smell of burning peat. Remember, even though it's summer, if this weather was at home, you'd think it was winter.

Gaelic football... three locals came out to teach us. Gaelic football is a combination of volleyball, basketball, and soccer because you have to serve, dribble, and kick the ball. Our group did great and had an awesome time playing.

We changed our muddy shoes, storing them under the bus with our luggage, and drove about 2 hours to our next stop.

Tomorrow is another outside day...we're hoping and praying for sunshine, or at least drier weather! I should be able to post again tomorrow...thanks to Alex C. I haven't seen any computer access here, so I'm glad Alex brought this along.

Believe it or not... tomorrow marks the half way point of our trip! Time flies when you're having fun!

Kissing the Blarney Stone...

We started out with a 9 a.m. tour of the Waterford Crystal Factory. It was pretty amazing to see how they made it. If you want to be an engraver of Waterford, it will take you ten years to be authorized. If you JUST want to be a carver, it will only take you 7 years. However, carvers are paid by the piece...so you certainly wouldn't want to mess up. A couple of our delegates got to practice carving... Jennifer and Melanie.BubbleShare: Share photos - Find great Clip Art Images.


We had been advised not to buy any crystal from the plant...but to wait until we got to the Blarney Woolen Mills where the prices would be a lot less...which they were.

Our very Irish bus driver, Mr. O'Brien, taught us a very Irish song. He actually started teaching it to us yesterday when he picked us up. The kids were ready this morning to sing it again. It's called, "Don't Give Up" and it starts like this:

Don't give up till it's over
Don't quit if you can
The weight of the world on your shoulders
Will make you a stronger man

You'll hear it once we get home. There's 3 verses...which we're all learning. What I wrote for you is the chorus.

So... our next stop was the town of Blarney. We shopped at the Woolen Mills for a couple of hours... stopped for lunch... and then went to Blarney Castle. We all climbed the 127 small, circular stairs, holding on for dear life to a rope, and made our way to the top of the castle where we took our turns kissing the Blarney Stone. Rumor says, kissing the stone makes one more eloquent. We'll see about that. Kristin said she had heard that kissing it would also make you a chatterbox... oh dear!BubbleShare: Share photos - Find great Clip Art Images.


We then took a 2 1/2 hour drive to our next stop...where we are now.BubbleShare: Share photos - Powered by BubbleShare


After dinner tonight, we had a group of about 10 local young Irish musicians -ages 13 - 17 - and their 20 year old teacher, who came to the hotel and played traditional Irish music. Two of them, dressed in their dancing clothes, also danced for us. Then... here's the fun part... they taught ALL of us how to do some Irish dancing. ALL of us... it was such a fun evening. They played and taught us for 2 hours.. The group asked our group to get up and sing or dance for them. We had some volunteers... Jennifer got up and sang 2 different songs, Mackenzie sang a song, as did Jess. Then we had a group song by Tyler, Alex C., Nick R., and ... I'll have to fill in the fourth one tomorrow..actually I may have one of those three singers incorrect. I'll have to check my photos to see who it was. It was so much fun to watch them all dancing and having a grand time in a totally different way. Then for the next hour, our group sat around and talked, laughed, and danced some more.BubbleShare: Share photos - Powered by BubbleShare


Jacob, took the microphone at the end, and thanked the group for coming and playing for us, and teaching us to dance. He presented their teacher with one of our pins. The teacher told us it was the first time a group has thanked them, much less stuck around and interacted with them.

This just goes to confirm what I've said on this blog... what a great group of delegates we have!

Tomorrow is our 'dirty day'... we'll be doing our service project, helping the elderly. We should be muddy by the end of the day. We're only at this hotel one night...so hopefully I'll be able to post again tomorrow night.

Cheers!

A Travel Day

That's what today was...a travel day. We probably spent a total of 7 1/2 - 8 hours traveling. We left Newport after breakfast heading to Fishguard, Wales. Our coach driver was a full-blooded Welsh man. It's hilarious to hear the English speak of the Welsh (and make fun of their language) and vice versa. They both seem OK with the Irish. As we were traveling, our driver pointed out the former home of Katherine Zeta Jones... some of the delegates enjoyed seeing that.

Our drive was about 3 hours - so about halfway through, we stopped in the sweet little town of Carmarthen for about 45 minutes. Unfortunately for us, most of the shops were closed since it was Sunday. As we were driving, we started seeing quite a few strawberry stands along the road. Their signs also said you got free chocolate sauce to go with the strawberries. Sam, our delegation manager, thought this would be fun for us, so we stopped at one - MUCH to the delight of the guy selling!!! - and we inhaled strawberries, dipping them in chocolate.BubbleShare: Share photos - Play some Online Games.


On we journeyed to Fishguard where we boarded our ferry for Ireland. It was a beautiful day so we spent a lot of time on the deck of the ferry saying good-bye for now to Wales... and then hello to Ireland.

Once we docked, we were met by a very Irish man - Mr. O'Brien. He will be our driver the entire time we're in this country. This is the first time we will have had a driver for more than a full day. I know I had told you at meetings that we would probably have 3 drivers - one for each of England/Wales...then Ireland... and then Wales/England. But that's not how it's been this year. I'm glad it wasn't, because it was a great experience to ride the London Underground.

The delegates were able to go out exploring our new destination tonight... but we had them in minimum groups of 4. They had to be back in the hotel by 10:15 p.m. - which they all were - and then the hotel opened up a room for them to sit and play their cards/games. It's now 11:15 p.m. and all your precious ones are in their rooms. This is the only night we're in this hotel...so hopefully I'll be able to update again tomorrow.

Cheers!

Coal Mines and a castle in Wales

So here we are in the beautiful country of Wales. A little misty, off and on, but not bad. After breakfast today, we loaded up and headed to THE BIG PIT. Yep, that's the name of it...and it's definitely a big pit. It's a coal mine in a town called Blaenafon - or on the outskirts of it. Our driver today was a man named Carrie who had an awesome accent, very different from those from England.

We had our orientation...got our hardhats on with our head lanterns, strapped our battery packs and oxygen masks to our waists, turned in all our cell phones/cameras/anything with batteries (they didn't want our batteries to ignite a spark to blow up the coal mine) and we stepped into a cage and were lowered 300 feet into the earth.
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Now, don't be too alarmed... People to People is definitely into safety..but the mine isn't operational for coal anymore, and it wouldn't have blown up ... but they still have to follow mine rules. Apparently the mine is still checked twice a day by a fire marshall - or something like that - for safety.

It was amazing down there...the tunnels were so narrow and so short in some places. Tyler was in my group and the poor guy hit his head probably half a dozen times on the ceiling. All the equipment from mining were still in place... and you could see the exposed coal and the boards where the miners had covered up areas that had been mined. It was also so very damp. You could see how disease and injury could be a huge issue.

From the mine we drove to Cardiff. Awesome city... I think it's the capital of Wales. We had about an hour to roam around the city and do some shopping or site seeing... then we met and had a tour of Cardiff Castle. OH MY GOSH! What a place that is! Extravagant, posh, eccentric, elaborate, ... all could be used to describe. I'm sure 100's of photos were taken - and we could take no photos inside the castle, but there was plenty of things to take photos of outside.BubbleShare: Share photos - Play some Online Games.


We had dinner back at the hotel... the delegates are all into games and hanging out again. They have certainly formed some sweet friendships. I love it when I see different groups of people together. It reassures me that they're getting to know everyone.

Breakfast is at 8:15 a.m., loading the coach at 8:45 and taking off for our next stop. Hopefully I'll be able to post tomorrow night, but as before, I have no idea what the computer/internet situation will be at the next stop. We'll only be at the next hotel for one night...

All are well... so as our delegation manager Sam says, "Cheers!"

Stonehenge Rocks!

That apparently is what is written on a shirt some of the delegates bought at Stonehenge. Unfortunately for me...I didn't have time to go to the gift shop.

We left London after breakfast and headed to Stonehenge. BubbleShare: Share photos - Powered by BubbleShare
Heading to Stonehenge from London

I had heard that it would be a disappointment - well, I wish I could remember who told me because it was awesome! My only disappointment was that we weren't there longer. Quinn just told me about 10 minutes ago that Stonehenge has been his favorite part of the trip so far. We had an audio tour that we could listen to at the pace we wanted. It's also in a beautiful area of England...gorgeous countryside.BubbleShare: Share photos - Play some Online Games.
Stonehenge! No disappointment here for me.

Next stop was Bath... Wow! What a city...the architecture is gorgeous and it's all set in the rolling countryside. We went to the Roman Baths which was also incredible. Apparently there was a house built on that spot and the people kept having water seeping in...so when they (I'm not sure who "they" are...) checked it out, that's when these baths were discovered and they began excavating. We had an audio tour with that too. I think all of us like the audios because you can go at your own pace...relistening to something or skipping a part that's not interesting to you.

After the tour, we had free time - about 1 1/2 - 2 hours to roam the town. Jane Austen's home - or one of them - is there. I'm not sure how many went to see that. Again...the architecture, the shops.... We had some girls who were able to get some shopping out of their blood! Actually, some of our guys did their fair share too!BubbleShare: Share photos - Powered by BubbleShare

These photos above are driving from Stonehenge to Bath...and then all around Bath.
After Bath, we headed to Wales where we are now. We had about 45 minutes once we got here to unwind, do some laundry, shower...whatever - until our 7 p.m. dinner. The kids INHALED lasagne... now they're all spread out around the hotel playing cards, Catch-Phrase, and just hanging out visiting.BubbleShare: Share photos - Play some Online Games.

Driving from Bath, England...to Wales!

I wish I could post photos for you, but I don't have my cable, plus, I don't know how when it's not my computer with the program I have. HOWEVER, when we return, this will be updated with LOTS of photos!

Even though I know I'm repeating myself...I'll say it again - these kids are incredible!

Our last full day in London

I failed to mention that one of the skills we learned - that actually wasn't mentioned in the People to People guides - was UMBRELLA ETIQUETTE! You would all be proud...no one poked or stabbed anyone with their umbrella yesterday!


Fortunately, we woke up to blue skies...and we took off for our day - after breakfast, of course!

We rode the tube for all our travels today. If you're not a subway rider, never fear, your son or daughter will know all the ins and outs of how to do it. We have raced from one train to another through horrendous crowds of people....and you'll be thrilled to know...we haven't lost a delegate! Counting off has become as routine as blinking your eyes. (a slight exaggeration)This is a map of the Tube... fortunately, we didn't have to read it, Sam knew it like the back of his hand. We just ran when he said 'run' and we jumped when he said 'jump.'

Anyway, our first stop was meeting with a former member of Parliament, Patrick Nichols. The delegates were impressive with their questions and their focus...especially after such a late night last night. We talked about the differences between our two governments - from how it's set up to certain laws - such as gun control...driving age...voting ages, etc.BubbleShare: Share photos - Powered by BubbleShare


From there, we headed to the Imperial War Museum - WOW! We ate lunch on the lawn and had some time to just hang out before our scheduled time to go in at 1 p.m. We had about an hour and a half to explore the museum on our own. They had an impressive part on the Holocaust which was similiar in design to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC.BubbleShare: Share photos - Powered by BubbleShare


After that, we took off for Picadilly Circus...where we had about 2 hours to explore that area of London on our own - well, not actually on our own...you had to be in with a group. Most of us headed down to Covent Gardens...an outdoor mall/market/shop area with a lot of street performers and restaurants. It's awesome.BubbleShare: Share photos - Powered by BubbleShare


We had a wonderful dinner - of typical British food - meat pie, carrots, potatoes, brussel sprouts (there were a lot of these left on plates :) and a delicious chocolate/fudge pie with a streak of peanut butter in it to top off th dinner. We walked that off heading to the London Eye. That is incredible. We had 22+ of us in each pod. It takes about 30 minutes to make one revolution. I bought 2 photos of the group with me (the Eye takes a photo as each pod comes around that you can buy at the end...this blogger is a sucker for things like that!) so now there is a contest for who - in my group - can come up with the best caption for the photo...they get the 2nd photo!BubbleShare: Share photos - Find great Clip Art Images.


We manuevered the tube back home... and packed up to take off tomorrow for the next part of our itinerary. Hopefully I'll be able to post tomorrow night - but we'll be in a new hotel and I have no idea what the internet situation will be there.

Everyone is doing wonderful... we've had a couple of dehydrations ( I'm not a Dr....but it's my guess) so we got some Gatorade and encouraged more water drinking. All medicines are being taken...so don't worry about that - plus every meal has had vegan options - delicious ones I've been told. So...as they say in Australia... NO WORRIES!

Here we are in London!

We made it to London without any complications...except a little bit of turbulence. I think a lot of the delegates did NOT sleep much, so we had a lot of tired people by the afternoon. It's 10:30 p.m. here now and we had room/bed checks an hour ago...many were already asleep!

When we arrived, we were met by our delegation manager, Sam. He's 22 years old...extremely bright...studying for a degree in psychology AND to be an airline pilot. We all like him - a lot. We boarded our coach and drove close to an hour to an area - or maybe it's a town - called Chislehurst. Cute & quaint. We had a nice italian lunch in a sweet little Italian restaurant. We have 2 vegan diets and everything is going great with that. Sam is vegetarian, so he's happy to have our vegans. He said it's actually easier to order more than one special diet.

From lunch we went to the Chislehurst Caves. It was fascinating! We walked through tunnels built by the Saxons, Romans, and Druids. Our clostrophobic delegates did just fine! These caves were also used as a bomb shelter for Londoners during WWII, even developing communities in them. We all totally enjoyed this. There is also a stage in the caves that was later used for concerts for Hendrix, Rolling Stones...and others! Here are some photos from the caves:
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We were there quite a while...from there we came to our hotel. By then it was dinner time - eating here at the hotel. We had people really beginning to fade by this time. Some went on to sleep, some stayed down in the lobby playing cards, and 13 of the delegates, along with Sam, Steve, Kristin, and I took off for a walk along the waterfront... an area in East London that has been and is being revitalized.

That's about it...we have a very busy day tomorrow. I'm excited because the delegates will get to ride the Underground...or the Tube... tomorrow when we return home.

I should be able to post some more tomorrow night. We're all doing well...and enjoying London!

REGARDING THE PHONE TREE....

Whenever you get a call, you only call the person directly under your name. If that person is not home, leave a message, and call the next person directly under that name.