Wednesday, May 5

Let me start out by saying I wish I could be at El Jaripeo today. I love going there on Cinco de Mayo because they always have fun lining in the chip baskets. Come to think of it, I really really really miss Mexican food. Tacos are my favorite food and I haven't been able to have one for 7 weeks. I think I'm going to have to make tacos the first night I get home, enchiladas the next, burritos after that, Taco Bell the next day, and so on.

Today has been a good day, but I'm really tired for some reason. I did not do one single thing after school other than nap, eat, and watch a show on my laptop. Very adventurous- I know.

I spent the day in 5th class again. I'll be honest and say it was quite boring. Miss Caulwell didn't even know I was spending the day in 5th class, so she didn't have anything planned for me to do. She also didn't have any open time slots that I could do something on my own. So I just spent most of my day observing.

The mums/tots group that I volunteer for took place again today. I love getting a chance to talk with the moms and get to know new people. There is a Japanese woman who comes, I spoke with her quite a bit today. We each asked one another how we ended up in Ireland and she told me about the Japanese alphabet. She is really sweet and her two toddlers are cute as can be.

The weather was quite Ireland-ish today. I woke up to cloudy skies and misting rain. It was cold too, not the type of weather I like to wake up to! It surprises me too about how much people here complain about the weather. I feel like they would be used to it and wouldn't mind the rain much, but they really hate it. I guess rain is miserable no matter who you are! Miss Caulwell kept saying it was "grotty" outside today. I had never heard that term but Steve told me it means gross or "yucky" or dirty. They use the term for anything such as a grotty house, a grotty hotel, etc. It's good to learn new things :)

Today the kids were talking when they weren't supposed to be. Miss Caulwell said, "What's all the chin wagging about?" This is another term I've never heard, but yourdictionary.com says it means "to chat or gossip."

I also learned that "giving out" means to scold.

It's crazy that I've been here for 7 weeks and I'm still hearing at least one new thing each day. It makes me wonder how much crazy slang I use on a day-to-day basis.

My Central students got the letters my Irish students wrote them last week! I told Miss Caulwell they were planning to write back and she said, "That's smashing!" She saw a picture of Andrew once and said he was "mad handsome." I love to listen to her talk.. she has the best expressions and the most interesting slang terms.

Hayley is sitting across from me on my bed singing the Alicia Keys song about New York. She is goofy.. I'll really miss her when I leave.

I will be subbing for 5th class tomorrow and Friday. That should make the rest of the week fly by. Tomorrow evening Steph and I plan to visit the Dublin Castle, I'm excited!