Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Small World


Ireland is my place! Everything we have done, everything we have seen, and everyone I have met has been so amazing! I love the culture and I love all the people of County Clare.

My host family is great. The Pyne's. They remind me of my family, and how we interact with each other. The parents Toni and Gareth are so nice and funny. They have a daughter Alisha. She is 19, and is home for the summer from college. And then Emma. who is my counterpart and she is 16. She is so funny and super fun to explore Ireland with. And then they have a 10 year old daughter, Leah, who is a fireball of energy as any 10 year old would be haha!

Both of my host-parents grew up in Ennis, and all of their families still live around Clare. I have gotten the opportunity to meet all the cousins on Toni's side of the family when I went to Toni's dad's 70th birthday party this weekend. Being around their family reminded me of all of the family get-togethers on my dad's side of the family. Everyone together laughing and just genuinely enjoying each other's company.

Their home life is similar to any American family life. Both the mom and dad work, but on different days so that one can be home while the other is working. Alisha is working at a pharmacy in town with her mom this summer, and Leah is still in school for another week.

It's funny to think that you can be in a completely different country, on a whole different continent, with people of a totally different culture, whose history and past is so different from yours, and everyone is still the same. People's interests are the same, their favorite foods are the same, you share a favorite color, they listen to the same music as you, watch the same movies, and yet you are from two completely different places of the world. It is nice to gain perspective of just how small the world is, and see how similar we all are!