Blarney Castle I
It took only one hour and a half to arrive to the marvellous village of Blarney. Fernando took us in the van and Jack, one of the guys who is coordinating some of the activities, came with us. The weather was extremely cold, but that was not a serious problem. We climbed a 100 steps to get to the original Blarney Stone and up there the wind was incredibly strong and the temperature was freezing. We thought that it would be easy to kiss the stone, but surprisingly there were two men waiting for us to help us lean backwards to kiss the stone. We took plenty of pictures as proof of our daring adventure. The legend says that if you kiss the stone, you get the gift of the gab (eloquence) for the rest of your life! By Melanie
Blarney Castle II
On Thursday we visited the Blarney Castle. It was huge and very old so we were very impressed. There were more than 100 steps on the way up, and we were very tired, but it was worth it. On top we were offered to kiss the famous stone, which is said to grant you the gift of eloquence (to be able to speak a lot).
Later we went to a 20 minute walk and there we climbed the wishing steps. However, we had to climb them backwards and with our eyes closed, as we wished what we wanted to happen in one year.
Finally, to end the day, we went shopping to Crescent’s shopping mall where we saw the backstage of a fashion programme. We bought many things at cheap prices and we enjoyed the day.
By Federico, Natalia, Belen and Fernando.
University of Limerick
When we arrived at the university it was huge, bigger than anything we had ever imagined. It was like a labyrinth; however we find our way easy. At first you will find the main campus, where hectic undergraduate students are everywhere. You can choose different directions to go to several places.
There is a language centre, where we are given classes, as well as a sport centre, where there is a 50m swimming pool (second largest in Ireland), a rugby pitch and a running track. There is also a huge library, where we can read or access to free university student’s internet. As it’s very extensive many students have the opportunity of living in the campus so for them there are some shops, like supermarkets and cafes/pubs.
At last but not least, I have to mention the living bridge in which you can feel the whole of it moving under your feet.
Classes
I’m going to talk about classes at the University of Limerick. We start at nine o’clock so we all meet at the Language Centre with our teacher, Juliet, who’s really friendly. We go to the Students Centre where we talk about our country, Ireland and many different things. Also, Juliet show us some interesting places of the University and ask us to do a project in which we have to investigate about this country, prepare a presentation and show it to her. But I think the most interesting part was when we had to make questions and then asked them to Irish Students.
By Natalia
Arts
Art is present in all ways here in Ireland. Limerick has plenty of talented and alternative artists, and the city is full of street art, such as graffiti artwork, stencil graffiti, sticker art, wheatpasting and street poster. Yesterday we went to an art gallery that was situated in the Hunt Museum, where we saw different and contemporary masterpieces made by independent artists. After that, we went to another gallery where most of the stuff shown was drawings and paintings made by other artists, including our friends Jack and Owen! Limerick is the perfect place to think, relax and appreciate the marvellous power of art.
By Melanie
Families
I would like to talk about our families in Ireland, the ones we are staying with. They are all really nice and very considerate. They prepare delicious, and sometimes traditional, dishes for dinner and also we have breakfast with them. It is really amazing because you can ask them whatever you want to know about life in Ireland as they ask about Argentina. Staying in the house of people from here is a really good experience and another way to improve the language and to get to know the culture.
By Belen
