Ireland, first month...

After the first month, obviously… lots of things have happened!

Summary:

After a month… heavy rainy and windy weather, they’re still driving for the left side, I’m still having long conversations with the bus drivers, I’ve met European people, I live in a house and I’ve a room, I got a broadband mobile, so I’ve Internet when/where I want, I realized that sometimes in Ballymun there are horses and hens around the sreets, I have an English teacher, I’m thinking of buying a bicycle, I eat more potatoes every day, I’ve known the house parties, I’ve known the police (luckily no for any bad reason!) and I celebrated my Birthday, yeah!

My house and the room

Yes, I have a room, in Collinswood. The one that I told you about the guys that are looking the Champions League matches, the cheap one, so that’s my house. The room is pretty small, but cheap, cossy and nice. It has a bed, a table and a cupboard to put my clothes and stuff in.

The house is inhabited by 4 Irish people (3 men and a woman) and me. At the beginning they seemed to be shy and not so sociable, but day by day they are nicer with me. The last Friday we played Poker… and I won!

They are Irish people, a bit older than me, who works in a usual timetable (from 9 to 7, aprox.) and during the weekdays I don’t see them so much… They arrive in the afternoon, and I work in the afternoon.

I hope it’ll change but, you know… when you are in a new country, where everything is new, where you have to speak, listen and think (just a little bit) in an other language, you realize that it tires more that it seems so I need to sleep long hours at the moment!! But it’s gorgeous! The truth is that I sleep very well, during the morning I can’t hear anything, just sometimes the soft noise of the rain making “tic tac tic tac” when it beats the window, then I open one eye, look outside and say to myself: half an hour more…

Halloween and a perfect Birthday

Halloween… The Irish people are really looking forward enjoying Halloween. They dress the houses, dress up themselves and make lots of things. In the Reco we were developing a dolls called molly dolls, they were dolls made by clothes. The technique was cut a DL clothes giving them a body shape, then, sewing the clothes putting them together. They had to let a hole in the head of the molly doll to put the scum of a pillow in. After it, they finish sewing until the end. Then, the funniest work: decorate the doll putting smiles, shining eyes, hair, a nice dress and all that your imagination let you do!

During these weeks previous to Halloween, there was also a circus near The Reco where the kids could go and enjoy a circus experience by themselves.
One week before Halloween everybody was throwing fireworks all over the street, they really like it and in Halloween there are lots of Fireworks. Sometimes is dangerous and you have to be careful!

We celebrate Halloween on the 31st October. The party was called Otherworld Festival. It was a Festival in the big square in Ballymun, where there were lots of organizations, people, cultural associations, etc… who are involved in Ballymun. As BRYR we had our own tend where were all the molly dolls exhibited. During the Festival a there were places to eat, a non stop circus performance, short gigs from the Ballymun young music bands, dance exhibitions from a Ballymun dance groups, dress up and make up workshops and lots of things. After enjoying all the afternoon and evening there, we finished the party with great fireworks.

That was Ballymun Halloween event and my Birthday afternoon celebration. After it, the Dublin night was craig great. All the pubs and nightclubs were fool of dressed up people and the atmosphere was really nice and funny. A perfect Birthday.


Ballymun, the neighborhood

This neighborhood is really interesting… I realized after two weeks here, that sometimes there are hens and horses around the streets of Ballymun. The first I thought was that some animals escaped from a farm. However, after asking a workmate about it, she said me that it was normal because some people from Ballymun has animals.
A part from these curiosities, Ballymun is a dynamic suburb in the North of Dublin. The blocks built in the 60's give to Ballymun a particular structure. I hope I can see more about this area. Getting involved in BRYR and the Reco give me the chance to see the issues that the people from this are have to live with, and to see the potencialities of this area, of its inhabitants, and all the youth, health, social, educational, community organizations that are working in it.

Other things…

I bought a photo camera. I bought as well a shaver that only works when is plugged… and the bathrooms of the Irish houses don’t have sockets… Bet what I do!

That’s all after a month… Well… that’s all I can say just with words!

Cheers!

Ireland, first week

Ireland Ireland Ireland…

Buah!

Friday, 10th October, I've spent 5 days in Ireland, and after the first two days, it seems that it'll be a great experience!

Let's see.... I arrived at the airport and Michelle was waiting for me with a poster in her hands with my name and my mother's name, Manel Prades (!). I realized that in Ireland they only have the name and a family name from the father, so probably they thought that my name was Manel Solé, a compoud name, and my surname Prades.

Michelle gave me a lift by car, so for the first time after 30 minutes in Ireland I wanted to get in the car through the driver's door. We went to dinner and she explained me lots of things about the organisation, how it would be in my first days in Dublin and we had a kind dialague, sometimes broken because I couldn't understand all she told me because of my low level of English.

She gave me a lift to the hotel in Ballymun, the area where I'll be working (this week has been quiet for me). Once in the hotel, she showed me my room and she left. I started organising all my stuff...

Ballymun is a suburb in the North of Dublin. The beginings of BRYR (Ballymun Regional Youth Resource) was in 1998, after a consultation process for the youth Ballymun Development plan, which is part of the National Anti-Drugs Strategy.

The main part of my work will be in The Reco, a big and confortable space, a youth facility. However, it's being reformed and we are in another building. I am looking forward to seeing The Reco, for me, for first time.

Ballymun is known for the blocks and big buildings with lots of flats built in the 60's. It's a very dynamic area and I'm looking forward to know more and understand it.

These days I started looking for a room in a shared house... It has been hard because I've visited 7 or 8 rooms in just two days, another one tomorrow and another on Sunday.

I've visited a house that I liked. It's in a quiet area, not so far from Ballymun. The room is small. In the house there are living 3 boys and a girl, all of them Irish. It seems clean and they said me that they are watching the Champions League evrytime that there is a match, that's good for me!
The problem is that they don't have Internet at home, they have an individual Broadband mobile, so I shuold buy one if I move there...

Here in Dublin the rooms are very expensive, between €350 and €450 is the normal price. I saw a really good one but I think it´s too expensive...
So yesterday I spent the whole afternoon visitng rooms. I left one and I had to run to the other one because I arranged two meetings too much close in time to each other... However it was funny. A Polish girl, who saw me stressed and checking a map trying to find out which direction I had to follow, helped me and gave me a lift to the next house I had to go. At the end of the day I came back to the hotel, I bought a Burger and Chips and I fell asleep in 5 minutes while watching an episode of the Young Ones.

In the Reco, the place where I work I feel good. They are looking after me and whhen I don't know what to do or where to go I ask 15 times until I understand what I have to do.

One of the most amazing things for me is the Restaurant they have in the centre. The Restaurant is for the young people and the youth workers. The young people can go to the Restaurant and eat healthy food for really economic prices. However, when the young people are with their group, they always spend 30 minutes in the Restaurant to have their dinner for free. It's a really good idea thinking about the whole needs of the young people, something that I've still never seen nor in Spain neither in Catalunya.

Curiosities:

All the bus drivers help me to find the places and the adresses I look for. Yesterday I was looking for 214 Collins Avenue and I said to the bus driver that I was looking for the two thousand and fourteen, this question surprised the driver, who put his glasses on, stopped the bus in the next bus stop and started looking at my map and saying: "I think Collins Avenue doesn't have 2000 numbers..." And I said: "Yes yes, sure, I'm looking for the two thousand and fourteen!". At the end he asked me if he could see the adress I had written and he saw 214 in my notebook, and he just said: "Two thousand?!! It's two hundred!!" So, both started laughing without stopping, while he was driving and going everytime far and far away of my destiny.

Next weekend I will meet a friend of mine who is living in Belfast, she will come to Dublin. I'm really looking forward to seeing her. At the moment I don't have anyone to go out with at the weekend and I need someone to explain this amazing first week!

They are driving in the left lane... It's crazy. When I want to cross the street I've to look both directions.
I always want to enter the cars for the driver door...
The weather is strange, but not so bad, we will see. For the moment I've had 3 sunny days and two rainy days... Now is raining...

Cheers!