The night of my arrival I got to go to my counterpart Emma's camogie match. It was very fun to watch a new sport. If I had to describe it, I would say it is a mixture between Lacrosse and baseball. I felt bad though, because halfway through the game it started downpouring on the girls playing, and the game continued. My host mom said that if in Ireland, they stopped things because of the weather, then nothing would happen because it rains so frequently. Haha!
On the second day, we did a walking tour of Ennis. It is so cool to see all the old buildings like the old Friary and the Abbey. We don't have anything with such history like that in Phoenix so it is very cool to see the classic buildings built so long ago still up and running.
Wednesday we went to lunch with the mayor of Ennis, Ann Norton. She was very nice to talk to. I found her interesting because she has a daughter who is handicapped and in Ireland there is not any programs for people with special needs. She and a few other parents of special needs kids all got together and created a program in Ennis for special needs students. Their program is called Clare Crusaders Children's Clinic. This is totally up my alley, so it was fun talking to her about her daughter and everything that they do in their program.
Wednesday in Ireland was also a big day for lots of students. It is the start of the final exam testing country-wide called Leaving Certificate for the oldest students in secondary school. None of our counterparts are participating in it this year, but some of their siblings are. It is a very stressful three weeks of testing, because the scores you receive will determine what college you can get into and what you can study. I related this to America's ACT and SAT's but I don't think ours are half as stressful because we can retake them as many times as we want.
Thursday was an absolute blast. We went Kayaking in the Atlantic Ocean, as well as caving. I have never touched the Atlantic so it was a big day! It was very cold while kayaking and near the end it started downpouring and huge wind gusts were blowing us all around. Only one person capsized though which is always good to hear! Haha! The caving was super cool as well! There was lots of cool stalagtites and stalagmites through the cave, ending in a very big rushing waterfall. Nothing like what we have in Phoenix.
This week I also got to try the Irish delicacy: a Tayto Sandwich. It is just white bread, butter, and a the Irish potato chip called Tayto's. It was very tasty and I really liked it. 
