Ireland - Day 8 - Immersion and Theatre

In the morning, I got to sleep in a little bit and then I headed over to the Buttery (the campus restaurant where the food tastes like college) where I met up with about four of my group mates and one extremely awesome counselor in Ireland who works with gays and lesbians. We got to talk and explore the issues they face here and he gave us a ton of information. I think one of the most interesting things was a study he did that showed counselors who have lesbian and gay friends and experiences in that community are more likely to want to seek further training than those who are less familiar (because they don't think they need sensitivity training even if they know nothing about that culture). That feels pretty unethical to me, in my opinion.

In the afternoon, we had a lecturer come into talk about credentialing (which was kind of a big snooze. No offense to her). And one of the faculty on our trip presented on intersexuality. She did a great job with the material and I felt like I was back in my Sociology of Gender class again :)

After lecture, we took the group picture and headed out to see the play, The Rivals, at the Abbey Theatre. It was a great romp through the Georgian era and the characters were interesting. There were a few parts that seemed slow but overall, I laughed a lot.

Ireland - Day 8 - Immersion and Theatre

In the morning, I got to sleep in a little bit and then I headed over to the Buttery (the campus restaurant where the food tastes like college) where I met up with about four of my group mates and one extremely awesome counselor in Ireland who works with gays and lesbians. We got to talk and explore the issues they face here and he gave us a ton of information. I think one of the most interesting things was a study he did that showed counselors who have lesbian and gay friends and experiences in that community are more likely to want to seek further training than those who are less familiar (because they don't think they need sensitivity training even if they know nothing about that culture). That feels pretty unethical to me, in my opinion.

In the afternoon, we had a lecturer come into talk about credentialing (which was kind of a big snooze. No offense to her). And one of the faculty on our trip presented on intersexuality. She did a great job with the material and I felt like I was back in my Sociology of Gender class again :)

After lecture, we took the group picture and headed out to see the play, The Rivals, at the Abbey Theatre. It was a great romp through the Georgian era and the characters were interesting. There were a few parts that seemed slow but overall, I laughed a lot.

Ireland - Day 9 - Lectures and Dalkey

Today we had more time in the classroom and talked about our interview experiences. It was really interesting to hear the stories and what other students got to do. Then, we talked about what careers look like in Ireland and how the work ethic is more laid back then the US. There was also a presentation on religion in Ireland and then we watched a video on how to counsel deeply religious clients.

But!

I did step outside the walls of Dublin today by taking the DART to Dalkey with six other group mates. It's a beautiful sea side village and I got to spend some time on the pier taking in the smell of salt and water and feeling the spray against my face. Sadly...I met no cute Dalkey boys but I did get to see the outside of the castle that belongs to the ambassador from Morocco.

I am feeling a bit worn down tonight though so I'm not going anywhere else except the computer room and bed.

And I really can't believe that in slightly less than 48 hours, I'll be on a plane for home.

It's amazing how fast the time flies and I'm really going to miss this place.

Ireland - Day 9 - Lectures and Dalkey

Today we had more time in the classroom and talked about our interview experiences. It was really interesting to hear the stories and what other students got to do. Then, we talked about what careers look like in Ireland and how the work ethic is more laid back then the US. There was also a presentation on religion in Ireland and then we watched a video on how to counsel deeply religious clients.

But!

I did step outside the walls of Dublin today by taking the DART to Dalkey with six other group mates. It's a beautiful sea side village and I got to spend some time on the pier taking in the smell of salt and water and feeling the spray against my face. Sadly...I met no cute Dalkey boys but I did get to see the outside of the castle that belongs to the ambassador from Morocco.

I am feeling a bit worn down tonight though so I'm not going anywhere else except the computer room and bed.

And I really can't believe that in slightly less than 48 hours, I'll be on a plane for home.

It's amazing how fast the time flies and I'm really going to miss this place.