The Days Have Dwindled...

My time with CASA is over. I cannot believe it...it feels like yesterday that I arrived. This last week has really topped off my experience here on an incredibly positive note though: a great kids group, a few days off to relax, an outstanding massage, outings to visit a few of my favorite, dinner at 1014, a night out in Dublin city centre, and a house bbq.

For my last kids group I was paired with Danielle who is pretty severely intellectually disabled but can walk around....and man did she walk! Basically my weekend consisted of following her around and watching that she did not pull the other kids hair or grab some one's glasses and break them. I mixed things up by singing some songs that used knee pats and claps. My favorite (and hers) was the kit kat song...you know, 'give me a break, give me a break, break me off a piece of that kit kat bar.' And she had an overactive metabolism so could pretty much eat all day long, so I took Claire's advice (who was been previously paired with her)and had a banana in my hand pretty much at all times and would occasionally put a piece in her hand to nibble. I was really nervous about how she would sleep because I had heard reports from past breaks about her being up most of the night and hitting her head against the wall and stuff, but she ended up sleeping on the couch downstairs with the woman came to stay awake all night and make sure the kids were ok, because we aren't allowed to sleep in the same room as them (new protocol to protect children). Danielle was a really sweet girl and my highlight of the weekend was going for a walk with her in Swords to a shop because we were running low on bread. We borrowed another girl's stroller and got Danielle all buckled in an off we went. The whole walk Danielle sat happily in the stroller singing unidentifiable songs to herself and moving her arms around like she was conducting an orchestra. She was so content and happy! Oh-the other thing that is very characteristic about Danielle is that she only really says a few things such as: 'Danielle go home?' and 'Danielle go to bed?' Or variations of that like 'Kate go home?' or 'Claire go to bed?'. Anyway, this whole time she just sang and smiled. Danielle was probably my most challenging kid that I've been paired with, but I also loved finding ways to adapt to her needs for constant stimulation. She required a lot of focus because she didn't really have a sense of danger or what would result in serious consequence (like breaking some one's glasses) and one time she got out of the unlocked door while I was grabbing something from the kitchen and I came back and she was gone!!! Ovidiu told me he saw her leave so he chased her down and she was halfway down the block, just trotting in the opposite direction of the house. I guess she finally got sick of asking if she could go home, and decided it was time to just take action. The one drawback to this group was that again, I felt isolated from the rest of the group. With the last kids group, I was with Chrissie who only really wanted to play with me and would actually tell other kids to leave if they came into the room. And with Danielle, it was difficult to incorporate her into group games or help facilitate group interaction with her attention always seemed to be somewhere else. I think that having the opportunity to hang out with Danielle, although it was not my most fun weekend, was a really huge growing and learning experience for me. The picture below is of Danielle on our walk.



This is a picture of Donal, the sweetest, cuddliest kid on the planet with Lisa who was paired with him for the weekend:



And I want to include this picture as well, for the sheer cuteness of it. This is Darren, after annihilating toast with nutella. Darren is also a kid who enjoys ketchup sandwiches.



We had some members come to the house on the Monday right after the group ended on Sunday because a Minister from the government was coming to check out CASA and hopefully provide the organisation with more funding. It was a great day. Claire and I were in charge of the food so we got to mingle with everyone! Julie, one of my first few members was there, and we were treated to a couple of her songs. The Minister was only there for a short time, and at the very end of our afternoon, but we all played domino's, card games, and chatted until he came.

The following evening Claire and I went out to Restaurant 1014 with Paddy Murray and Kay. We both felt so grateful to have been invited and it turned out to be an evening I will really remember for a long time. It was so special to be at 1014, which is a restaurant owned by CASA in which any proceeds made on top of covering costs goes directly to the charity. The food was great, the wine was great, but more than anything it was a nice way to be able to reflect on our experiences with CASA and spend some quality time with Paddy and Kay.

The week of awesomeness continued with a massage! We got his number from Dora (one of my favorite members) so called him up, and he offered us a group rate so Mary Fox, Claire, Kate and I did not hesitate to sign up. He came to the house with his massage table and music and, of course, his magic hands. We all emerged after our hour+ massage looking like we were about to fall asleep. It was 100% worth it.

On Friday we went on outings to visit members so I went to the CARA and St. Mary's. I got to say goodbye to a couple of my favorite members and it was really great just to chat with them one more time. We headed back to the house at got ready for the night's festivities. We bussed to the city centre and went to a couple pubs, tried getting into the Q bar which is the really lame dance club, but there was a newly in place cover charge which we were all too cheap to pay. So we came home and had our own dance party (which included borrowing moves from some of our members). It also involved a slow dance with Ovidiu who lifted me off the floor and spun me around the room and witnessing more hip circles than any person should ever have to see when Ovidiu hit the floor for a solo. It was a really fun night, and we had been talking about going out in the city for a while. Although I intended to take more pictures of the night's events, this one below is one of the only good ones. This was taken on the bus on the way into the city centre.



The good times just kept rolling (I'm sorry....I should stop using these sayings) on Sunday when we had a house BBQ. Everyone contributed something (Ovidiu's 'little things' which were basically sausage shaped beef/lamb burgers, homemade tiramisu from Lucy, a cold rice/veg salad from Lennart, packets of fish from Lisa, grilled veg and hamburgers from Claire and I) and we were able to sit down and have one last really nice meal all together. The night continued with a heated game of Extreme Uno and an amusing game of Pictionary.





I was up bright and early today to PICK UP MOM FROM THE AIRPORT!!!! It was so great to see her and hug her! We went out for a nice lunch at 1014 and then walked around Malahide all day. She's staying at a B&B right now and we'll head into Dublin to stay at a hostel tomorrow. It is so nice to have her here, and show her where and what has made up my life for the past 4 months. I'm excited to spend this next week and a half with her! And then I'm off on my own! And I'm gonna drop this little hint in...date of return to Canada: June 7th. It's a Monday.

And I'll leave you with this picture of flowers that are in Malahide. Claire told me that she'd never seen flowers like Ireland flowers and I thought maybe she was just exaggerating. Until I saw them in real life. And they are seriously amazing. And for some reason they always seem to be in bloom. Like this flower bed below, it's looked like that for at least a week and a half. Just thought I would prove it for all those non-believers.



I hope everyone is doing well!

Love,

Kate

The Best Dance Moves My Eyes Have Ever Seen

Last weekend I was paired with a woman named Mary. Before she came I was thoroughly warned of her less-than-sunny disposition. Her tendancy to complain and be generally grouchy all the time had me slightly nervous and so I was prepared to need all of my patience to get through the weekend. But she arrived, was lowered down on the lift on the van, and glanced up with a HUGE smile on her face! As it turns out, she was in a great mood for the entire duration of the break! Her speech is a little unclear but she would just mumble away, and then chuckle and then her chuckle would turn into a full-blown laugh, at which point her dentures would come out of place. To be honest, I rarely fully understood what she was laughing about, but her laughter made me laugh. At first, myself and the other volunteers seriously wondered if she had been put on anti-depressants or some other mood altering drug because her demeanor was so drastically different from when she had been in last. Khadija assured she was not, so I was just thankful that I got to be with her on a 'good' weekend!



The rest of the members were also fun but I want to make special mention of a man named Keiran. I first met Keiran in my first couple weeks here when we went to the Pantomime production of 'Jack and the Beanstalk.' We sat next to each other and chatted a little before the show began. During intermission, Keiran disappeared for a while and returned with two ice creams in his hand--one for him and one for me. I tried to graciously decline the ice cream and encouraged him to give it to another member, but he insisted I have it. So that was our first meeting, and from then on I've always had a little place in my heart for this thoughtful, and immaculately dressed man. So I was really excited when I found out he was coming in for a group before I left. I had heard rumours of his dance moves from the other volunteers and couldn't wait to see them for myself. Luckily, on Friday night, we went to the Hilton where a live 'band' (if you want to call it that, really it was a guy on the electric keyboard and another guy with a guitar playing covers of horrible soft rock songs) was playing. But music is music so the dancing began...even Mary said she wanted to dance so her and I got up as I wheeled her around in her chair. Keiran is a big fan of the spotlight and so when everyone else sat down to take a break, that's when he got up to show us all what real dancing is. And I was not one bit disappointed. He had the whole crowd cheering with moves I have never even seen. Some of my favorites involved a full handed hair stroke (see picture below), and some exaggerated hip circles with a popped collar when an Elvis Presley song was played by request.





On Sunday afternoon, after we arrived home from Mass in Seabury, we had a really nice picnic in the backyard. It was the first of the summer-y season and we all donned our sunglasses to enjoy the beautiful weather. Below is a picture of Sister Mary, the nun who lives in the house full time. She has been with CASA since the beginning and although she is now in a wheelchair and needs full time assitance from a PA because her MS has progressed to such a stage, she still helps out with Mass at the house and leads the welcome prayer for adults groups. I realized I didn't have any pictures of her on this blog, but this one below of her and one of her PA's, Claris is a good one and thought I should add it.



We had 3 days off after the group and the girls and I planned a little indulgent day in the city centre. What started off just being a plan for a haircut, turned into a haircut, lunch, AND dessert. Claire, Kate, Lisa and I went to a hairdressing school that does cuts for only 10 euro. While Claire, Kate and I all just got regular haircuts, Lisa went a little wild and got a large panel of her hair died pink. Our haircuts were followed by the best lunch I've had in a while at this vegetarian restauraunt kind of close to Temple Bar area called Cornacopia. Stuffed, we walked around a bit and ended up laying in the sun in St Stephen's Green for an hour or so. It was beautiful. The flowers were in full bloom and the sun was shining. The four of us then headed to Queen of Tarts for dessert where we all shared from a selection of desserts (my top choice was the raspberry cheesecake tart). It was a nice way to spend an afternoon. We walked out of Queen of Tarts vowing to never eat again, but it was totally worth it. And nice to spend a day with the girls outside of the house.



Tomorrow is my last group...It seems so crazy to be near the end of my time here at CASA. But it's a kids group, which are my favorite...they are more exhausting, but so much fun...and we are going to a place called Hurly Burly which is basically a huge playroom with pits of plastic balls and things to climb in and jump through.

I hope everyone is doing really well back home. I hope school is wrapping up successfully and that exam stress is not getting to anyone. I love you all and miss you!

Love,

Kate

In the Land of Kilts and Shortbread...

My Scotland trip was good...it was my second taste of independent travelling and Erin's advice to me at the beginning of this whole trip is certainly true: You just do it; there is no one else to help you so you find a way, and just make it happen.

I slept in the Dublin airport because of my early flight out the next day, and found a really great padded bench which allowed me to sleep for like 5 hrs straight...not bad for a noisy and bright airport terminal! I arrived in Edinburgh to sleet and wind...the kind of wind that breaks people's umbrellas, but was able to find my hostel and dry off for a bit. I went on a walking tour of the city, and despite the miserable weather, the city itself is quite beautiful.



That afternoon I watched movies in the lounge with some other people from the hotsel and then played pool and drank free beer that the hostel provided. I hung out with a girl from Conneticuit who was really interesting to talk to for most of the night and we went on the hostel's pub crawl. She was also travelling alone so it was nice to find someone to hang out with but not feel like a 3rd wheel.

The next day, I took the train to Glasgow and caught a bus that was going up to the Isle of Skye. I arrived at night to this really kitchy hostel but the lady was really sweet. There were signs that indicated every possible direction for the place (ex: where hand towels were to be hung in the bathroom, to only put bread in the toaster, to plug in phone chargers in outlets, etc.) I hung around Kyleakin the next morning, walking around and exploring the area.



At a bus stop, I met a guy who claimed to be a Shaman who had the ability to call on spirits when he was in need of things, such as a ride to a place. You seriously meet the most eclectic bunch of people while travelling. The bus took me down to the Bridge of Orchy where I got of and hiked 7 miles on the West Highland Way to the town where my hostel was located.



At this hostel I met a British guy who attended Harry Potter Conventions in the States, where he actually met his future wife along with a British guy who was teaching snowboarding lessons at the ski hill. We all watched a movie on the snowboarding guy's laptop, during which, he was drinking straight vodka with water chasers. Needless to say, he obviously got drunk and it was pretty amusing seeing as he was the only one. The next day I carried on along the West Highland Way to the next town. I had planned to do more hiking but the weather that day was horrible, and the next few also looked bleak. So I cut my losses and took a bus down to the Glasgow Bus Station, looked at the departures list, and left on the bus that left the quickest, which ended up heading to Inverness.



Having not booked any hostels or done any research on Inverness I was kind of walking into the whole situation blindly, but ended up getting a room. In the middle of the night, the fire alarm went off and we all trapsed outside and waited for half an hour until the fire brigade came to sweep the building. I woke up to rain (surprise, surprise) the next morning but took the opportunity to find another hostel early because there was no room in the one I was at the night previous. I found one...it was horrible, but it was a bed. Just one bed, in a room, with a shelf and a nasty stained duvet cover/pillow and a window with bars on it. I walked around Inverness in the rain and went to a movie to kill some time, but eventually had to face the music and return to this horribly lonely room. I read, listened to music and hit the hay at 9 o'clock.

I awoke on Easter Sunday morning to SUN!!!! It made me so happy!!! I knew I didn't have to catch the bus until noon, so I attended a Church of Scotland service. While we were waiting for the service to start, the organist played 'Were You There When They Crucified My Lord' and it reminded me of home and Stuart Gardiner. There were a couple other very familiar hymns that were sung during the service and it was just really nice to be able to have that little bit of home with me during Easter.



I took the bus to Oban where I stayed at a hostel that was 100% better than the last night's. The owner was a gardener and served homeade jams and marmalade at breakfast. I had day of laying in bed, reading a full book, drinking tea and relaxing because, once again, it was raining outside. The following day it was raining too, but I took the bus down to Glasgow where I was meeting up with Lennart. We went out to a movie that night because all the shops and tourist attractions had closed. The next day was spent walking around (in SUNSHINE!). We went to the botanic gardens, the Museum of Transport, the Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery, St. Mungo's Museum of Relgious Life, and The Glasgow Cathedral and Necropolis. We also made a very exciting stop at Tinderbox, the coffee shop that Erin worked when she lived in Glasgow! SUCH GOOD COFFEE!!!



We caught the last bus from the airport to Malahide and rejoined the rest of the volunteers to talk about our holidays. We've got a group coming in any second, so I should get going. Hope everyone had a very happy Easter!

Love,

Kate