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!
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
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!
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!
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.
BubbleShare: Share photos - Create and Share Crafts
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!
Thursday, July 17, 2008
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!
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
BubbleShare: Share photos - Play some Online Games.
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!
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
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!
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!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
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!
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!
Monday, July 14, 2008
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!
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!
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