CONCLUSIONS

After a month full experiences it is difficult to choose just a moment, a place or a person. They have met lots of people, visited lots of places and had lots of funny moments. There also were some difficult moments, but the face them and made the most of this month in Ireland. Their English improved, and in ways they didn't realize. One said he didn't think he learnt anything (vocabulary and grammar wise) but immediately after that he said that he noticed how the communication with the family was better, he could understand them better and they could understand him better too.
I can tell their fluency is better now, their listening skills are better and that some of them are now less afraid of speaking in English although they make some mistakes.
Well done, you made and effort to improve and learn and you get it!

Last full day trip

Our last day in Ireland we visited Japanese Gardens,the National Stud and Kildare Village. It rained, but we could see the different, important and expensive horses they have in the stud, and we walked around the Japanese Gardens.
In Kildare village, an outlet shopping center, we could buy things, but it was the last day and not a lot of money was left.
When we arrived was time to start packing, our adventure here was finishing!

Cultural hunt

Last weekend in Dublin and in Ireland, a weather forecast with rain, rain an low temperatures, what could we do? A cultural hunt.
I thought it was a good idea because the kids going to different parts of the city could realize how much they knew about the city after a month here. I gave them 2 hours to take pictures or find information about different things around the city. They enjoyed a lot, but only one pair could be the winners, and Sofia and Carmen, completed everything in those 2 hours. Congratulations!

Bray

Bray is a city quite close to Blackrock, it's only 30 minutes by train from Booterstown Dart station(the closest station from Blackrock College). Every July there is a festival in this city with concerts, fun fair anf other activities. It has a long and beautiful beach, but although we were very lucky with the weather, the forecast for Saturday was rain and more rain, so instead of spending the last Saturday in our stay in Ireland there, we went on Thursday evening, besides that day there was an Italian food market.
The first thing we saw was the fun fair and the people just wanted to go on a ride in the different things there were. We also went a little bit to the beach, we didn't see the market at all, but we bought some ice creams or crepes before we took he train back home. It was a lovely evening.

Last week visits

Our last week in Dublin, we went to Dublin Castle, now it is very different as it was when it was built, but continues to be very important. The visit was short, but we learnt a little bit more about the History of the city

Impressions by Manu

During this month in ireland I have learnt lots of eEnglish. The daily classes were great and not boring at all. The teachers were awesome, too.I made some friends from other countries , and we had to speak english to undersdand each other, which is also nice to improve our english.We have met some Irish people too. I really enjoyed this travel to Ireland. But for me a month, it has been too long.

Artistic afternoon

Today some people are having art lessons while the others are doing sports. Everybody has an artist inside and today is coming out, mirrors, little mugs, gnomes...are some od the things they are creating. Well done!

Dublin City Soul Fest

On Sunday was our free day, we didn't get up very early and we met to go to an event in Merrion Square, a music festival to help the Musical Youth Foundation.
Again we were very lucky with the weather and we could have our lunch in the sunshine and listening to music. When the sky started to be cloudy we went to the Natural Museum, and them we went for a walk to see Molly Malone's statue. After it was time to go home, because after dinner it was disco time like every Sunday and Wednesday

Ane's impressions

Hello. I'm  Ane. The first days in Ireland were a little bad but I'm better now. I don't like the food here, I prefer Spanish food. The afternoon classes are very long, so I prefer to have classes in the morning. The best days here are when we have trips and free days.

Ferns castle & Irish National Heritage Park

On the third full day trip, we went to county Wexford to visit to things: Ferns castle and the Irish National Heritage Park.
The two hours on the bus were long for the people who couldn't sleep, and because there was a problem with the air conditioning, that made the trip hot, difficult and long, but we arrived safe and sound.
Our tour guide in Ferns Castle, Jazz, was very nice and tried to make the visit very interesting.
In the Irish National Heritage Park, we were tired, and we had to walk for an hour, and listen to the guide through all the stages in the Park, but again we were lucky and it didn't rain while we did that!

Dalkey

Last week one morning, we went to Dalkey, although the day was sunny in Blackrock, in Dalkey was cloudy, so we couldn't see Dalkey island or the seals, but we spent a good morning before we went back to Blackrock to have the lessons in the afternoon

Killiney Hill

Last Friday we met after dinner to go for a walk to Killiney Hill.
Th views from the top are amazing and as the day was clear and sunny we could enjoy them a lot. Besides, we met there with an Irish boy, Emmet, who worked in Clen College some years ago and his girlfriend, they are very nice, and the group had the opportunity to speak to them. It was Friday evening after work, that's why I want to say thank you very much for coming!

Impressions by Xabi

Initially  I was not convinced with the idea of going to Ireland but now I am very happy to be here. I have met a lot of people from other countries ( Russians, Italians, French and also some Spanish) My host family is perfect for me, They are very nice and they treat me very well, I love this family. Some tours are boring and I prefer to stay with my host family and do some activities with then. I am living a fantastic experience and probably I will come to  Ireland again

More visits

This week we had two visits in the morning(because this week. the lessons are in the afternoon) Christ Church Cathedral and James Joice Center.
Christ Church Cathedral is a protestant cathedral, and has a huge crypt were some parts of the TV show "The Tudors" were filmed.
James Joice center is a georgian house in the north of Dublin where you can learn a little bit more about the writer. The best part was when two of our girls played the piano for us, thanks Carmen and Sofía for trying and for playing for us!

Belfast

The day trip that was organised for the second week was Belfast, Northen Ireland. After two hours by bus, our first stop was at Ulster Museum, a museum, where we could see different things about nature, history, and art.
After lunch we went on a sightseeing tour, the tour was interesting, but the guide with his strong accent from Northen Ireland, a little bit difficult to understand.

Leyre's impressions

The days here pass so fast. I think it's fast because I am very good here with my friends ( French, Spanish) and also with the family. My family is amazing, I like my bedroom, and the food is excellent. I love it. The weather here is not very nice but we are having good luck, and it's not so bad. 
I think Dublin is a beautiful big city. There are a lot of people of all nationalities and that is great. You can make a lot of good friends.

Temple Bar

Last week we had our free day on Saturday. On Saturday there are lots of flea markets or street markets in Dublin and around it, so that's what we did. We visited some of those markets and we walked around Temple Bar. It was a tiring day, and after so much walking we went to Stephen's Green Park to lie down on the grass and rest a little bit before going home.

Impressions by Sofía

Hi, I'm Sofia and I'm  very happy here. I like Ireland so much. Last week we had got trips all the days and there were fantastic. My favourite trip was Howth. We went to the beach and we saw seals (I think) and then we ate fish and chips, it wasn't bad, but the worst thing in Howth were the seagulls because they ate our food!

Dundrum

Finally the day all of them were waiting for arrived, last Friday we went to Dundrum shopping center. It is said that it is one of the biggest in Europe, and now we can say, yes, it's really big.
After doing some shopping we had dinner there and then we went home to be with the families and to rest, the weeks are full of activities and the weekends too!

Adrian's impressions

I'm having a good time in Ireland. The first week was very hard but now I'm better and I'm very happy I like so much de food but not the breakfast. I have visited a lot of places but the best one is Glendalough. All the days I go to school by bus so I get up at seven to take it at 8:30.

Impressions by Asier

Hi, my name is Asier, and I'm going to say you a bit about my sensations during this two weeks . When I arrived to Ireland I was very excited . During my first two or three days my mind changed radically cause they were very hard, but in general these two weeks have been great .

The classes are great , I've made new Spanish and Italian  friends.During the classes we write some texts or we talk about a particular topic just to talk.

One of the best things are all the different trips we make, such as Glendelough , Howth , some shopping half day trips to Dublin and so on . When we don't have classes or any trip, we practice some indoor and outdoor sports wich are excelent . And that's all!

Mikel's impressions

Hi my name is Mikel. This month I have travelled to ireland and in this little time I have passed here I had time to do a lot of things like have lessons, but not normal lessons, beacuse I have a great time I have made a lot of friends and I'm learning a lot, for example, saying new things. In the afternoon we have sports and recreation and we do sports indoor and outdoor, like football indoor in the football field, tennis in thr courts or in a wall, like squash, and always with my friends.
Other days we have trips to important places  in this time we have visited Howth, where we ate the famous fish and chips, the Guinness factory , St. Patrick's cathedral , Dublinia , Glendalough, and all of then great places!
My host family is great, I have one brother and one sister and I have two italian students. Today we are going to Dumdrum one big shopping centre.

The beach

Here the plans change depending on the weather.This week I had planned to activities, going to the beach and going shopping. The shopping day was going to be on Thursday, but when I saw in the weather forecast that on Thursday we were going to have a sunny day, and Friday rain, I change the planning, Thursday was the beach day.
And yesterday we went to the beach, the place chosen was the  Forty Foot, but it was packed, and we went to a bathing place close to it. The kids were brave enough to have a swim in the really cold sea, and when they were dry, we walked to Teddy's a very famous ice-cream shop in Dun Laoghaire, where we tried the 99.
Thanks we did that yesterday, because today it's raining as the weather forecast said.

Visits

This week the visits planned in our programme were two, Guinness Storehouse and Dublinia. Both places are interesting, Guinness is the most famous beer from Ireland, and in Dublinia we could learn about the viking and medieval times in Dublin

Impressions by Carmen

A week has passed since we arrived, and it seems it was yesterday. I have no time to get bored. Everybody is very nice. People from other countries, from the family and in the college.
I met some Italians in my class and they went home on Tuesday, so I was sad because they were really friendly.
I like chatting with my family, I think I learn the most with them because I have to say everything in English. They listen to me, and I'm very comfortable in their house. I love being here!

Howth

On Sunday was our free day, the plan was going to Howth a beautiful fishermen's village. For the first time we took the DART, the train that goes directly there. In Howth we walked and we went to the summit to see Dublin's bay, the way up was hard, and you could hear the complaints, but finally we reached the summit. To compensate, we took the bus, and we ate fish&chips in the most well-known place in Dublin, Beshoffs.
As the sky started to be grey, we took the train and went to Dublin to do some shopping or just walk around some of its streets. Another day, we will visit more things.

Glendalough & Wicklow Gaol

We didn't go together, but on Saturday we could visit these two places.
Glendalough is a beautiful natural park, we walked a lot and we took beautiful pictures.
After visiting Wicklow Gaol,  a place a little bit scary, but interesting to visit, some were brave enough to continue walking and visit the town, we even went to the beach.

First get together

Although we were here less than a week, on Friday we had our first get together. After thee lessons the group from Blackrock went to UCD and then when we were all we went back to McDonald's in Blackrock. After having dinner we walked in Blackrock Park, which is very beautiful, bid and quiet. We had a lovely evening!