Hello ILE Families and Friends!
On Tuesday, students had their second day of classes. The morning began with a breakfast of bread, cereal, and fruit-followed by Dan’s Irish history class.
In Dan’s class, they learned about Cú Chulainn, Fionn mac Cumhaill, Newgrange, and St. Patrick.
In between Irish history and Irish studies, students were able to take a stroll down to the Waterford Crystal Factory and have a tour to see how the beautiful ornate crystal was made. “From moulding, to blowing, to etching, to cutting-it was very interesting,” said Brigid. A few students even bought some beautiful pieces for souvenirs for their parents. Kathleen said she wanted her mom to know (on the ILE Blog) that she wanted to buy her something from the factory, but everything was too expensive:).
Students returned to Taryn’s Irish studies class where they learned about the Geography and Geology of Ireland.
The last class of the day was Gaelic, where students had a basic introduction to the language-along with how to say hello and how are you. Dia dhuit and Conás átá tú.
The afternoon was devoted to free-time in Waterford or two optional workshops-both led by our amazing ILE Counselor, Scones.
The first workshop was Tin Whistle and Scones taught the students how to play, “My Heart Will Go On,” from the Titanic. Scones said she was amazed by the musical ability of Anica and Conor. They both picked up the tune very quickly. James and Zach also did well. Many perfected the tune throughout the day and a few have even bought tin whistles to learn more songs during the program. The song was definitely stuck in the heads of many of the students throughout the day, as you heard them humming around campus.
The next workshop was Scones, and it couldn’t have been more fitting than having OUR VERY OWN Scones teach the students how to bake these delicious Irish treats. Nearly all of the students wanted to learn how to make Scones’ mother’s famous recipe. It was a full house in the kitchen. Scones said that there were some fantastic bakers in the group. Ryan was an excellent kneader and Lottie’s crew said that they got more flour on their clothes than probably in the actual scones. After the students had mixed the dough, added raisins, and rolled them into unique shapes, the kitchen ladies put them in the oven so they would be ready for our tea time.
Needless to say, once tea time rolled around, everyone sampled the goodies and were impressed with how scrumptious they were. A few drizzled butter and jam on them, while others just ate them plain. A few of the girls said they couldn’t wait to make them at home for their families. Casey said they were yummy!
Tea time was followed by Amy’s Waterford Scavenger Hunt. Students were split into teams and had to find specific items and take pictures throughout the town.
A few things they had to find were:
Bag of Taytos
Best Fish and Chips Price in Town
Brown Paper Bag
Disposable Coffee Cup
Free Promotional Pen
Map of Waterford
Newspaper from Yesterday
Sachet of Salt
Take-Out Menu
Yellow Flower
A few things they had to take pictures of were:
Building Taller than Four Floors
Music Shop
Person from the US (Not ILE)
Person in a Waterford Jersey
Red Bicycle
Red-Headed Twins
Team in Viking Triangle
Team Member with the Gardai
Team Member Pumping a Stranger’s Gas
Team Sharing One Soda
The Havenger Scunters of Ann, Conor, Mar, Morgan, and Petey were the winners and they each won Waterford flags for their stellar efforts. Mar said she had a lot of fun. Ann said she wanted to do another Scavenger Hunt in Dublin.
Finally the night ended with the Michael Collins’ movie, since the students would be traveling to Cork the next day. Kelly said it was a great movie and she teared up a little at the end. “The movie is one of my favorites,” said Liam.
