My time spent in Ireland I have had the opportunity to do some amazing things- things far beyond what I fathomed for myself. Of all those things though, my community outreach project was probably one of my favorites and easily the most rewarding.

I had the opportunity to work with children ages 5 to 10 and be a kid again myself. We worked on craft projects like painting clovers with marshmallows and making a little Easter rabbit out of a styrofoam cup. Playing with the kids was all in good fun and I really enjoyed that instant and easy bond you get from children, however my favorite part was meeting the workers at the day care. Many were around my age, but I really bonded with Ashley who is a year older than I and wants to go visit the United States. She loves her job, her boyfriend, and was born and raised about 20 minutes just on the other side of Spiddal.

Setting up this experience was (I’m not going to lie) extremely uncomfortable. We sort of just meandered our way to the Day Care and just walked right through the front door. In America nothing like that would have been able to happen- three strangers just walking up and into a day care in the middle of the day? The cops would have been definitely called, but they weren’t in this case and we met Ashley for the first time and then Jane Marie (the boss lady, which is literally what they all called her) we all chatted for just a bit then set up the dates exchanged emails and looked forward to seeing each other again.

March 28^th was when we went back to the Day Care to do our styrofoam bunny craft. The older kids there seemed pretty unimpressed by all of it but the younger kids really enjoyed themselves. We chatted with Ashley and Jane Marie for quite a bit and had some tea with them, eventually they called us a taxi and we went back to Park Lodge for the day. The next day we went it was down pouring so we showed up soaking wet which of course they thought was quite funny just because the Irish always carry umbrellas and we still haven’t learned that lesson almost 3 months into this. We stayed and chatted and had tea which made us late (a word no Irish person truly understands).

Overall it was an incredible experience being able to connect with the kids and Ashley and Jane Marie, and I will cherish those moments as well as my time spent here in Ireland.

Unfortunately due to the fact that we were working with children we were unable to take photographs at request of the staff of the daycare.

I climbed a mountain

I climbed a mountain. Well half of a mountain, which believe me when I say that in and of itself is a huge feat for me. None of us were exactly prepared for our little pilgrimage up Croagh Patrick.

On the cramped bus ride there we stopped to look at Croagh Patrick from afar, it seemed deceptively small in my eyes in comparison to the many drives through the Rocky Mountains I’ve done and my camping trip to the Grand Canyon this past summer. I remember thinking to myself, this is it? Upon arrival the appearance of Croagh Patrick was again misleading. I mean there was an Ice Cream stand and pub set up at the bottom so how bad could this place possibly be? It was a tad bit chilly so most of us (expecting leisurely trails and scenic stopping points) threw on our coats forgot our water bottles and began the hike.

Quickly we learned just how wrong we all were. The incline up the mountain at times was hands and feet crawling pace and the trail up the mountain was littered with loose rocks, boulders, streams, and slippery stones where the rain water had rushed through. Some of us couldn’t even make it half way to the half way point. We were shedding the layers of clothes that we were all so convinced we needed at the bottom and wishing we still had our water bottles. The support was overwhelming though from strangers; many times we passed by encouraging smiles and words of support.

Realistically I understood there was no way my out of shape butt was going to get me clear to the top, but through the persistent and sometimes annoying (in the best way) reassurance from my friend Carly I slowly made my way to the half way point. We picked smaller goals so that the dip which indicated the half way point seemed less overwhelming. Make it to that third boulder on the left and then that first one in the middle and then gradually the dip got closer and closer until finally I pulled myself up and over the last little bit to reach the half way point.

The halfway point may seem like such a small thing but to me personally standing there gasping for the cold air and looking out over the valley I felt like I hadn’t felt that accomplished personally in my strength in a long time. Truly an amazing experience for me.