Since I was younger, I used to travel to different countries with my parents. Later, my parents decided that I needed to start going abroad to English countries. The first place that I went was Ireland. It is situated in the North of Europe, close to Great Britain.
In this country there are two different languages; the principal being English and the other Gaelic (Irish). Ireland is a multicultural country but most of the people are catholic. The symbols of this country are: the harp, the shamrocks, the leprechauns and Celtic things. But my favourites things in this country were the Celtic music, the typical sports there (Hurling and Gaelic football) and the people of the village. All the people there want to get to know you and tell you about their lives, so it is a very social country. The only problem that I could find was the weather; in winter it snows a lot but not like Spain and in summer the climate is warm but as hot as in Spain. The food is different too; in Spain we usually eat later. Another important thing is that they drive on the left of the road which is different to Spain.
When I went for the first time I was only eleven years old, I was the youngest on this trip and the only girl from Cantabria. I went to Cork in June. It is a small village in the south of Ireland, near the coast. We arrived by aeroplane to Dublin, so we had to get a bus to Cork, which was horrible as it took a very long time. When we arrived at Cobh (Cork) I was very nervous, because at this point you have to meet the family which you are going to spend one month with. Later at home; I was excited because I felt like I was in a dream. I was travelling alone to another country that I had never been to.
It was awesome!
The next year, I repeated the trip. But instead I chose Dublin. I didn’t want to go again by bus for a long journey. My new family was different: the man of this new family was English, the woman Tunisian and their daughter was Irish. They explained to me that in Dublin, most of the families are multicultural (There are people of different countries)
On these trips, in the mornings I always went to school with other Spanish and Irish students in the same class. Later at eleven or twelve o’clock we would have a break to have lunch in the canteen. After that we had more classes again. In the afternoons I usually did activities at the school like sports (Hurling, basketball, Gaelic Football, hockey…), excursions, visiting castles and museums…
On Saturdays we usually had a complete day of excursions for example to Dublin, Limerick, Cork…
And finally we spent the Sundays with the family. Meeting their family, experiencing their customs, their routines…
On the whole my favourite trips were:
-The Guinness Factory: It is a factory where they make black beer. From the top of that building you could see Dublin.
-The Spire of Dublin: it is a spire of steel, measuring 120metres. It was the highest monument in the world.
-The bridges: Dublin is a city where there is a river running through it, so they need to have some bridges to cross over it. My favourite one is the Bridge of Wellington. On one of the sides there is the bohemian street (Temple Bar) and on the other is the O’Donnell street; the most important of Dublin.
-A match of Hurling: It was the first time that I had watched a match of this sport. Hurling is a typical sport in Ireland. In this sport you hit the ball (sliotar) with a stick (hurley). There is a variant of the game for women (camogie)
At the beginning of the month I was afraid, I didn’t meet anyone, and I couldn’t have a conversation in English. So I knew it would be a challenge. At the end of the month I had made new friends, I had visited new places and the most important thing of the trip was that I could understand English. It is a different experience for learning another language. I’m sure that whenever I can I will repeat it.
by María Martínez Cuevas
