Poetry Slam

22nd, Oct '14

Today we had our poetry slam workshop. I was really looking forward to it because I love to write poetry. I find it a really nice form of expression. When we got to the class we were met by a very bubbly man called Stephen. He was a poet who has written books and stuff. He was very fun and told us some of the poem he wrote which were very good. He then gave us some writing exercises like 'write down what would your ideal boyfriend do for you', and 'what would you do to someone you hate'. I was kind of drawn blank on these questions and didn't know what to write but my friends had really imaginative answers. I don't think I have a very wild imagination. Stephen then showed us some videos, on was rapping, another was on education, and the last one was a poem on bullying, which was very moving. He then asked us all to write our own poems of our deepest feelings. Everyone was kind of in a sad mood after the bullying poem and literally poured their feelings onto the paper. It was nice to hear how some people really felt. I found it quite hard to come up with a poem for myself, but I eventually wrote one (it didn't rhyme because I didn't have enough time to think of words)Then after lunch we had to type up our poems onto their website for the world to see, yay. Some people were reluctant to put theirs up online, but they eventually put them up anonymously.
I really enjoyed this workshop. Stephen was really fun and I got to see how the others in my class were feeling. I also like when words rhyme. I think now after this workshop I will write more poems. They are a fun way to express emotions even metaphoricaly.

http://inspireland.ie/

This is the website where all of our years poems are. Enjoy them.

Law

21st, Oct '14

Today we had our Law workshop. I wasn't really looking forward to it because law isn't my cup of tea. I find it quite boring. And I was right. But i'm not saying it was bad or anything, its just I wasn't interested in any of the topics he was on about which made the day feel far longer than it was. Some other people enjoyed it though. The man giving the class was very friendly and funny though. He told us about how he got to be a barristor through law school and also he told us about a few of the cases he did in the past. He also taught us a bit about different laws like the difference between civil and criminal. He seemed very smart and knew all of his stuff. I didn't come out knowing much more than I did when I went in, and I don't think anything I did learn will come in handy one day (or at least I hope not). But I think the man understood that some of us weren't interested in law and tried to make the class fun. We told a few jokes and stuff. So overall I don't think the law workshop benefited me in any way and I wouldn't like to pursue a career in law.

Eagles Flight

20th Oct, '14

Today we were back to workshops. We were all aching and tired from Galway and weren't really in the mood to be back at school. But I was looking forward to this workshop because I wasn't quite sure what it was about. It was a team building workshop. For the first half of the day we had to build a big kinex bridge. We were split up into groups to build different sections and also helped other teams when were were done and then put all of the pieces together to make the final piece. It was quite fun, but stressful trying to get it done. The record for it being built was 73 minutes, but it took us a few minutes longer. Also the room we were in was a bit small for the bridge and some people kept messing and pieces of the bridge broke, also some other people didn't even help. `but we got it done, which was a relief. I'm not good in teams as you know so while I was building pieces of the bridge I didn't let people help me. I also got stressed when people did things wrong. Then afterwards we had to tidy up the whole thing. There were tons of kinex pieces on the floor. I quite enjoyed cleaning it all up because I like things being organised, it was less stressful. Others went for their break while I kept cleaning up until it was done. I would love to buy a big box of kinex because the things you can build with them are limitless. I don't personally think that this activity helped with our classes team building because we all didn't work together very well and it took us a few minutes longer to get it done and some people weren't so enthusiastic about it. But I didn't mind.
Fo our afternoon classes we did a board game called Gold of the dessert kings. It was a team game. We were put into teams of 5, given a colour and some cards and told the aim, and rules of the game. It seemed very very complicated at the start but once we got started on the game we figured out how to play. The aim was to get gold and not die in the dessert and make it back to base camp with the gold. The team with the most moneys worth of gold wins. We had 25 game days to do this. As a team we had to decide what resources we needed and how to spend our days. Our team died on day 19 with 7 bars of gold. I was quite annoyed because all of the other teams made it back with their gold. Our team still did well though. But the point of the game was making team decisions and also how you can prepare for tasks from the very begining and this can affect the outcome of a task. I quite enjoyed this game, but you can only play it once because then you know how to win every time you play it again (because there are secret hints we were told at the end, which I can't tell you now)
I liked this workshop but I still don't think i'm very good at working on a team. I think it would work for other people though, i'm just a bit stubborn, I like things done my way.

 Me building the kinex bridge.

Andrew and Josh.

                                                Leah and Ignas

Colm, Tom and Jack

Edmunds and Casey

Gold of the desert Kings

Rebeca sorting out the cards.

                              After we died in the game.

Galway, Day 4

18th, Oct '14

It was our last day, which was very sad. We all had to pack up everything after breakfast (which was a task) and take it out of the rooms before the next group arrived. For my activity today all I had left to do was kayaking. I love kayaking but I was kind of afraid of the boat capsizing and not being able to get out or roll back over. But the weather was good, a slight breeze and a strong current. We were given instructions on how to control the kayak and we set off around the lake. It was tiring trying to paddle but you quickly regained your strength once you stopped for a break while the others were catching up.  It was a very beautiful lake. We all splashed each other a lot with our paddles. A group of swans flew down onto the lake in our path so we had to go around them, they were very pretty though. Only one of the lads capsized, which was funny. then the same guy threw a lump of mud on me and my kayak, it smelt bad so I went to the shore and washed it off, because i'm a clean freak like that. Then our instructor, Aodhán brought us through a rocky patch of water and our kayaks got stuck on a lot of the rocks which he thought was funny. I was first out of the obstacle and I also thought it was funny that everyone else was stuck.  Then when to get back to shore we had to go back across an open part of the lake where it was windy and the current was strong, it was very difficult and tiring but we all made it back across. Then when we parked up all the kayaks and Aodhán was tying them all up we went for a swim, which was fun and relaxing. I really enjoyed kayaking and would love to do it again, I might buy one of my own someday. We then walked back to the centre and got changed. I don't know where or how but I got a big cut across my toe at some point which really stung but at least it was only on the last day and there were no more activities to do. We had our last lunch, which was sad and all got on the bus for our long journey home. I would have loved to spend maybe two more days there to do gorge walking, sailing and hill walking again, but better next time, because I was disappointed that I didn't get to do them properly even though I was looking forward to them.
I fell asleep for some of the journey home which was nice because my muscles ached and I was so tired from the busy days. But then we stopped in Athlone at McDonald's for dinner, I didn't buy anything there but one of my friends gave me the rest of their mcflurry's which was delicious. On the rest of the way home we were all wrecked and we got our phones back. We were all relieved to pull into the carpark of the school after 5 hours, and see our parents and go home. I would love to have spent more time there but it was nice to be back in my own bed and nice power shower again.
This trip was the best part of T.y so far. I made tons of new friends. At the start I didn't know a lot of the people in my group, but now I know them all and would say hi to them in the corridors in school. I also tried some new activities that I wouldn't of thought of even doing otherwise. I also saw some beautiful landscapes and made lots of wonderful memories with my friends. I would go back anytime, and would highly reccommend this trip for any schools, clubs or even groups of friends. I don't think any other school trip will ever live up to this one. It's kind of sad to think we're back to school on Monday. I'm way to wrecked for it, but at least we have workshops which are fun.

Galway, Day3

17th, Oct '14

For my morning activity I did abseiling. I had done it once or twice before so I wasn't afraid to do it. It was at a place know as the pigeons hole and it was either 60 meters or feet of a drop, which was very high. Our instructor was Edwina, she was one of my favourite instructors because she was very kind. I was eager to go down the drop so I went first. The rocks were were slippery and uneven which made the first few meters of the drop hard, but once you got past that part it was pretty easy, you just had to let the rope out to let yourself down. If you let the rope go to fast in your hands it can burn them, I did that. I thought it was really fun, and it was really good that everyone tried. Some people were terrified but they were brave to do it anyway. Once you unhooked yourself at the bottom you had to climb up a steep stairs carved into the rocks which really took the breath out of me. I enjoyed it so much I went down again, with more ease this time. The harness you wear can dig into your legs a bit going down, but I didn't mind. I'm glad I did it and would love to do it again anytime.
My evening activity was sailing. I was really looking forward to it because a lot of the other groups had enjoyed it. The wetsuits we had to get changed into were cold and wet from the morning activity, which were extremely uncomfortable to get into and I moaned a lot. It was quite windy and rainy once we got down to the boats. Our instructor, Aodhán, gave us a quick lesson in how to sail. Myself and two of my friends were in the biggest boat for three people, the other two groups of two were in smaller boats. The water was cold when we first walked out with the boat, I kind of squealed a bit with the cold, i'm not a big fan of it. I then pulled myself up onto the boat once we were out far enough. I can't really remember all of the sailing terms anymore, but once I was on ,I pushed down the rudder and the balance piece thing in the middle. Then as the boat drifted out deeper my two friends couldn't get onto the boat. So we just sat there drifting for a while, while Aodhán helped the other groups with there boats, because as soon as they got into the water they capsized, we were the only ones upright. Then when he came and helped we were all on the boat and we pulled on the ropes to sail and we were going really fast, which was fun, until we needed to turn, as soon as we turned the rudder the boat capsized. It was really windy which didn't help us much since we were only beginners. But Aodhán just kept going in circles to help everyone but it was kind of useless because none of us could sail. So for the whole hour and a half we had to sail, all of the boats were capsized. I was kind of annoyed that I didn't get to sail properly because I was really looking forward to it and all of the other groups had perfect weather for it and enjoyed it. But at the end of it Aodhán took us on a speedboat ride around the lake which was really fun, then at the end he pushed us all out to swim to shore, which was funny. The boats were quite heavy to wheel back aswell. Then I got a nice hot shower,, which is the nicest feeling in to world after being in freezing cold water.
After dinner for our evening activity we were supposed to have a bonfire. The first Galway group did. But it was raining so we couldn't. Instead we split up into groups in a contest to drop an egg without it breaking using balloons, straws, cups and foam to help up and tape to stick it all together. I think my group did good. We then dropped our egg creations out of the window. All the teams eggs broke. I don't think we had enough equipment to make them not break. But I had fun putting them together.

On the way to abseiling

                                                                   Casey

The pigeon hole (sorry its sideways)

                                               Steep slippery steps

Pretty sure this is Colin abseiling down

                                             Casey and Bronwyn

Ducks!

                      Bronwyn making our egg protector

                              Leah making or egg protector

Other peoples eggs

Jack, Colin and Bethany

Galway, Day 2

16th Oct '14

Today we got up at 8 and breakfast was at 8:30. We had toasts and cereals for breakfast and we were told our activities for the morning by our teachers. I was going caving. I was really looking forward to it because some of my other friends said it was really good from the day before. So my group got into our wetsuits and wellies and headed off for a 10 minute drive to the caves. Our instructor made us follow a river to find the mouth of the cave by ourselves. When we found it we crouched inside and he told us a few safety points and not to touch the stalagmites and stalactites, which were very pretty . He also showed us some really cool fossils that were millions of years old. We then set off deeper into the cave with the lights of our helmets on and the water got a bit deeper and it flooded into our wellies. It was so cold and not a nice feeling. The water then got waist hight and was so cold, even with the wetsuits on. Our instructor also spotted a bat on the roof of the cave which was small and fluffy. The cave was quite narrow but really tall made up of lots of rock layers. At one point the ground got very uneven and had ledges and dips which we had to be really careful on. Then we got to a bit like a narrow slide like tunnel which was fun to go down. Once we got as far as we could we had to turn back. Then the instructor told us all to turn off our lights for the way back up the tunnel. A bit of my soul died then and I was to terrified to turn of my light. You could literaly see nothing when it was off, we were meters underground. So he told me to go at the end with my light on, he was kind of annoyed I didn't turn my light of, but it was scary because it was very bumpy and uneven and sharp rocks all around you and I didn't want to fall on one in the dark, and funnily enough someone up ahead fell and hurt his ribs, I was glad I had my light on then. Some of the others were kind of annoyed I had my light on to, but if I had turned it of I think i'd of had a panick attack, so yeah. I made it out alive anyway and I had fun. I don't think it was going to be my favourite activity somehow. We trudged back to the bus with our wellies full of water (which is not a nice feeling) and had hot miwadi and headed back to the centre for lunch (which was soup everyday, or sandwiches).
We were then told our evening acivities. I was going to be doign hill walking. I thought it was going to be kind of boring. But when we were dropped to the mountians and started walking I realised it was quite fun and relaxing. We started on a trail along the bottom of the mountains and there was a very pretty waterfall, and lots of sheep. It started to lash rain so we sheltered under a storm shelter for a few minute, which gets very warm very fast. Then the weather cleared and we started walking again around the lake. There was such beautiful scenery. At one point our instructor (who was extremely nice and helpful) told us we could slide down a hill, but the lake was at the bottom of the hill so we would have to stop quickly at the end and then climb back up again. I didn't slide down because I didn't want to get my trousers dirty. We then stopped for a drink and biscuits at an old famine village. Our instructor told us what it was like during those times and how they lived off the lake. We then walked along the edge of the lake and our instructor told us you can sometimes find fossils in the stones along the edge. So myself and Bronwyn had to find one and spent ages cracking open rocks while the rest of the group moved on. I found one, I was so happy (Bronwyn wanted one even more now) I had found an imprint of a shell millions of years old. We also walked by some bog holes which were really deep, and I didn't notice and nearly walked into them. We then got to a pathway and walked all the way back to the centre, we had to rescue a sheep stuck in a fence along the way. I'm not sure how far we actually walked but the time flew by and my feet weren't that tired. I had lots of fun and talked to some new people along it, but I was glad to sit down when we got back. I also wish we had got to walk to the top of the mountains like some of the other groups because I can imagine the views would have been amazing from there, maybe next time though.
After dinner everyone got their phones for half an hour, we were playing cards at the time and as soon as the phones were given out everybody became unsociable. It was really noticable and put a dampener on the fun, I'm glad they took our phones during the day, otherwise we wouldn't get to know anyone. I didn't get my phone out, I just kept playing cards.
For the afternoon after dinner, we did orienteering. I really enjoyed this. We were split up into teams and sent off to find posts with letters carved on them throughout the centre. But before we could start looking we had to solve 10 word riddles. Our team was the first done and out the door. It was dark outside so we needed a torch which also made it hard to find the posts. The girls and guys in my team split up to try find more posts. We couldn't find a load of them in the dark so moved onto other ones. I also tripped on some thorns and got a few in my hand, ouch. All of the other teams were struggling too and some didn't even have torches to find the posts. I was out of breath from running around. But we were the first team back with all the letters and we won mars bars, which are tasty. I had fun overall because I love orienteering. But i'm not great on a team and ran ahead to some of the post without the other girls on my team. I don't think they minded once we won. Everybody enjoyed it, I think.

The views while hill walking

The famine village

My fossil!! apparently its millions of years old

 Rescuing a sheep

Galway, Day 1

15th Oct '14

Off to Galway today!! We left at 7 in the morning for our long 5 hour bus journey. Luckily nobody was late and we left on time. I fell asleep for a lot of the bus journey because I don't really like them. My classmates weren't too loud on the bus which was good and I got two seats to myself so I could stretch out. I also brought a pillow which was the best decision I have made so far because it made the long bus journey much more comfortable. We stopped at Enfield half way there and we all got lunch there and Bronwyn was such a child and got toys from the claw machines there. I was so glad to stretch my legs there. Then it was back on the bus for another few hours. We also stopped at a centra store on the way to stock up on sweets which was good. I bought soo much junk there.
When we arrived at 1 we were given a welcome by one of the instructors and given a brief about the place and what we'd be doing there and safety rules. We then got lunch of soup and sandwhiches before we were thrown right into our activites. I was in the gorge walking group first. We wore wetsuits, jackets and a life jacket with normal runners. We then took a 15 minute bus ride to the river suck on the border between Galway and Mayo, It is a very scenic area with the rivers and mountains and there was a lot of sheep. I was eager to get started. Our instructor told us exactly where to jump and it was so cold jumping in for the first time even with the wetsuits, it was a horrible feeling when the water filled into my runners. The current on the river was very strong after all of the heavy rain so it was too dangerous to do all of the jumps. We only got to do 3 jumps and no slides which was kind of disappointing because it was the activity I was most looking forward to, all of the other groups did about 5 jumps and 3 slides. But i still enjoyed it and got to know a few new people in the first two hours of my stay. It was quite scary jumping off some of them but I tried all of them and some of them a few times. On the bus on the way back to the centre we got hot miwadi to warm us up, it tasted so good! Then it was into the showers to warm up and dinner. I got to hear about what some of the other groups did and they really enjoyed themselves. We had duty groups to tidy up after each meal. I wasn't on for the first day.
After dinner we went on a walk in the woods nearby. It was dark so we all had torches. We were then split up into two groups and set off on different paths to find our way back, without any torches, it was scary and dark but we did use one torch. I was holding onto peoples arms to stop myself tripping up.  Our group made it back first. The sky was very pretty because you could see all the stars. Some of the lads tried to hide and jump out and scare us but we always saw them before they jumped out. When we got back from the walk we had tea and biscuits and played a few card games before going to bed. Me and my friends ate so many sweets and stayed up really late talking. I had soo much fun on the first day and was quite impressed with the qualities of the rooms (but our rooms shower didn't work right which was annyoing because it turned itself on in the night sometimes). The instructors were soo nice and funny and we all got on really well with them. I also got to know some new people which was good to. I couldn't wait to do more activities.

Bus journey

 At costa's with hot chocolate

 Mary, me and Bronwyn

                                       Waiting to start activities

They had so many dogs there but this one was the cutest. I f his name but he used to just stare at the ground at the mallest of sticks and rocks waiting for you to kick or throw it and whenever you even put your hand towards the ground he'd stare at you waiting for you to throw something . He was quite dumb which was funny, he was really soft aswell.

Wasa Wasa

13th Oct '14

Today we had our wasa wasa workshop. It was so fun. We did it together with group 5. For the first 4 classes we did drumming on african drums. We learnt lots of different rhythms and put them together into a song for the other group to dance to. It was really fun and loud. Two people had bass drums and two people had soprano drums. I just had a normal one (i chose the orange one because its one of my favourite colours) All the lads kinda messed though and banged the drums wrecklessly but I still enjoyed it. I don't think I'd personally learn this instrument in the future.
 For our afternoon classes we did african dancing. This was really fun because it's not strict and straight like irish dance or anything, its just flowing and free. We learnt different moves and watched some videos of people doing these dances. We then were put into groups to make up our own dance. I was kind of the leader of my group and put together the moves for the others to follow. The lads were very bad at the timing but we managed to put something together for the end of the day.
For the last class our two groups came together in the balcony to put together the drumming and the dancing. This was the funnest part. Each group showed off our dances and everybody was having fun. It worked really well together. I loved this workshop but I don't know when I would actually use african dancing in real life, I don't really plan on traveling to Africa anytime soon, but its a fun dance to know.

Soprano and bass drummers

The drum I used

Rebeca drumming

 Me drumming

                                                                Dancing