Some more of the beautiful countryside

11th Century Church in Wiclow National Park. I was amazed that so much was still standing, and some of the details that went into the archways and architechture.

Off to the Country

One of my co-workers, Anna, graciously invited me out to her home outside of Dublin to spend the day with her family and to get to see some of the country side. What a contrast to the city! The natural colors of the coast and country are unreal. It happened to be a gorgeous sunny day, and the blues and greens of the ocean popped. I felt like I was driving through a painting as we made our way out to Wicklow Mountain, passing by fields of the greenest grass and rolling hills I have ever seen dotted with sheep, horses and beautiful country homes.

Hiking through Wicklow Mountains was gorgeous. At the foot of the mountains were two pristine lakes, and as we climbed higher into the trees there were babbling brooks and flowing waterfalls. At one point as we were climbing towards the top of the mountain in a section of woods where the trees created a ceiling, blocking out the wind and noise of other hikers, when all of a sudden it began to snow. Peeking through the ceiling of trees were beams of sunlight and flakes of snow, and I have to say it was pretty magical. As we climbed higher, the snow picked up and the wind gained incredible strength, we decided to turn around before Anna, her daughters and myself got blown off the mountain!

Settling in after a long day of enjoying nature, Anna invited me to have dinner with her family. We had a delicious meal of thai food. I was so thankful to Anna and her family for welcoming me into their home. It was great to be at a kitchen table having a meal with family, and gave me a taste of home that I’ve been missing a bit since being in Dublin.

Hello Mr. President

Meeting my new co-workers has been such a joy. I really feel welcomed into the YAP Ireland office, and everyone has been great about making sure I am settling in to the city, and that I am getting the most out of my experience with YAP Ireland. Immediately, I was given the opportunity to attend the “Older and Bolder” convention, which dealt with linking older and younger generations because often those two groups are not given the opportunity to have their voices heard. I was able to meet two other advocates and their young people, which was great to get to know some of the Dublin youth. One young girl we were with was an 11 year old and she was so outgoing and full of questions for this American visitor. We talked about music, food, pop stars and joked around for the day, it was a great introduction.

The President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins gave a speech at the conference as well, and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to hear him speak. It was interesting to listen to his speech, because he has a background in sociology and seems to really ‘get’ the cause of social problems, and the need for social justice and human rights. As an aspiring social worker, it’s really refreshing to hear a political official talk about these subjects, because in the states these topics are often ignored unless you’re talking about budget cutting.

Throughout my  time in YAP Ireland I will be given the opportunity to work on some creative projects with young people, and I think this will be a great way for me to get to know some of the youth in a fun, creative way. I was able to participate in a games night, where kids and their advocates come into the office and play different video games. This was another great icebreaker to meet some new young people in a more relaxed environment than a formal meeting.

All in all I’m settling into my new home and office and I’m looking forward to seeing more of Ireland, and (hopefully) leaving a positive mark at YAP Ireland.

New Kid in Town

This first week of living in Dublin brings me back 10 years to when I was dropped off at college for the first time. You’re on your own in a new place, you don’t really know anyone and are forced to figure it all out. It’s a strange combination of being lonely, scared and incredibly excited all at the same time. After the initial shock of “what did I get myself into?” I found myself saying, this is going to be my home for the next 9 weeks so let’s dive in.

Living in a hostel puts me in an interesting position because there is such a wide mix of people from all over the world. It’s incredible to hear peoples traveling stories and what has brought them into town. In a way I feel like the odd man out, because most people I have met are here for a long weekend or a week to sightsee, whereas I’m here to work, study and see as much of the country as possible. I almost feel guilty taking time to read and study and keep up with my work because I feel like I should be out exploring every minute of the day, but I know that’s not a possibility. After this first week I think I’ve set a pretty good routine for myself, and I have to keep reminding myself that I have 8 more weeks to see all the beauty Ireland has to offer, so it’s ok to take time to be a student, and intern and a tourist.

 Caught in a bit of a freak snow storm at the top of Glendalough Mountain, quite an adventure!

 Gorgeous hiking trails in Wicklow National Park just south of Dublin City Center.

Life can be an interesting book, depending how you write the chapters.

As I pack and prepare to leave (procrastinating every step of the way, of course). I’m reminded of one of my favorite poems by Shel Silverstein

The Voice

There is a voice inside of you

That whispers all day long

“I feel this is right for me,

I feel this is wrong”

No teacher, no preacher, parent, friend

Or wise man can decide

What’s right for you – just listen to

The voice that speaks inside.

This poem works for me in a few ways. For a long time, I listened to others and let their fears or doubts influence my choices but recently I began to listen to my instincts, or as my mom would say: my gut. Since making that decision I’ve had this amazing opportunity to go to a country that I’ve always wanted to go. I stopped listening to the people who had negative things to say. ‘Oh won’t that be expensive?’ ‘Won’t you be scared?’ ‘Won’t you miss home?’ Well, yeah, but if you never take chances, you never know how far you can push yourself.

If there’s one thing I hope to instill in my work with youth, both here and in Ireland, it would be to listen to that voice to decide what feels right and what feels wrong. Don’t let negativity bring you down or stop you from going after a goal. Never let your fear (or others) decide your fate. 

Final Countdown

Tying up loose ends is the name of the game as I get into crunch time for my trip. Making sure I have all the information and supplies I need for 9 weeks away from New Jersey, the only home I’ve ever known. I’m not sure when reality is going to set it for me about this trip, maybe when I say goodbye to my family and friends, maybe when I’m waiting for my plane, or maybe not until I step foot on Dublin soil.

Sending Ceremony

Let the countdown begin! Today was the sending ceremony for all those traveling abroad. Basically Monmouth University holds a ceremony to show the faculty and student body support for the students leaving for an international internship placement. We were presented with words of wisdom, encouragement and told stories of past traveling experiences. Then the 7 of us who are leaving were presented with journals to document our experiences. Much like this blog, I can’t imagine how the pages and entries will look like in the weeks to come.  I had a surge of feelings: blessed, excited, nervous, anxious. This is the first time I’m going to be doing any kind of major traveling and the reality of it all set in today. I feel like this experience is going to force me out of my comfort zone and open up so many doors. I’m not sure what to expect, and people keep telling me this is the experience of a lifetime. I’m not sure how to react to that because this is all so new to me. I’ve often questioned my decision to go  back to school, because I’ve had  to make a lot of sacrifices over the  past year or  so to make this happen.  I’ve often felt that my life has been on pause since going back to school. I see friends and family start exciting chapters in their own lives, while I’ve had to give up some independence and have had my nose stuck in a book or behind a laptop. This ceremony made me feel part of a community, our little social work family.

Passport is here!

My passport came in the mail today, and I couldn’t be more excited! This may not be a big deal to some people, but for me, this fresh unstamped little blue book is a key. A key to adventure, opportunity, who knows what else!  The only time I’ve been out of the country was to go on short vacations with friends, nothing like this. 9 weeks away from home, on my own. Holding the crisp, unstamped booklet makes me excited and I look forward to making the most out of it. I’m not sure what the coming weeks will bring but I’m excited to see what will happen.

How’d you like to go to Ireland?

A simple opportunity from school.  One question that for me, only had one answer: sign me up! I was drawn to Monmouth’s International program because of the opportunity to travel and be a part of something bigger. I’ll admit, when I saw the list of possible places to travel to, I was intimidated. I’m a newbie to traveling and wasn’t sure if I wanted my first solo experience to be to such an unfamiliar setting. When I was asked about Ireland, for me there was no question. The opportunity to do what I love in a country I have always wanted to explore seemed too good to be true.  I jumped into this opportunity with both feet, not thinking about the details because I was so excited at the chance. Finances? School? Social life? Work? That’ll all work out…when is my flight leaving?

Cead míle fáilte

Welcome to my blog! On the road to getting a Masters in Social Work and International Development I was given the opportunity to travel to Ireland and work at Youth Advocate Programme in Dublin. Over the course of the next few weeks left in New Jersey, and 9 weeks in Ireland I’m going to be telling the story of my experience traveling and creating an interactive photography project with kids in Ireland. They say if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life, and that’s how I feel about working with kids. They days are sometimes long and hard, but it never felt like a chore to be helping out kids.

How did this opportunity come to be? Is a question I’m asked often by friends and family. Well, here’s the long and short of it. I’m studying for a Masters Degree in Social Work, with a concentration in International and Community Development (whew!).  Part of the program allows students to travel overseas to practice international social work in a variety of settings, depending on the student’s interests and experience. Since September 2011 I have been interning with Youth Advocate Programs, on the international development team. For the past several months I have taken a break from my more traditional social work role counseling youth, to diving into research and meetings on policy, advocacy and emerging topics that affect youth across the globe.  This experience has not only opened my eyes to a lot of things going on, but presented me with an amazing opportunity that is going to unfold in this blog. So welcome to my adventure!

The arrows point to the two locations I'll be staying at over the course of my stay. For the most part I will be based in Dublin, on the east coast of the country, but I will be spending a week in Galway on the west coast as well.