IFE a Irlanda

Jan Ros adventure

Hello again! Today Jan Ros is going to explain us his adventure in Ireland.

Hi, I’m Jan and I live with the Crean’s. The mother’s name is Rachel and her husband is Hugh. I have three siblings called Patrick who is 11 years old, Sean who is 13 and Tom who is 15. They are really kind and I went with them to Kerry and met his family.

I attend st. Olaf’s school and when it finishes I do my homework and then I play with Patrick and his friends: Hu, Killian and Joe. We use to go to the school because we live really close to the school and we play soccer or basketball. Living so close to the school makes the mornings easier because it’s impossible to be late.

When I arrived it was difficult to adapt to the dinning hours. For example they have the lunch at 12 and the dinner at 6, but now I’m completely adapted.

On Saturday I wake up at 8:30 and I go to Rosemont school. There I have to take a bus to Rockbrook where I met my friends and mr. Bretons. Then we attend to an English lesson and after lunch we do an excursion all together.

I’m having a good time in Ireland and I’m learning a lot of English and that’s my experience.

PS: I want to dedicate this writing to my sister because today it’s her birthday! Happy birthday!

6th Saturday: Explorium

Hello again!

This week has been the Science week in most of the schools so we have decided to continue exploring and learning.

Today we have visited Explorium, a huge science museum where the boys can learn, test and have fun with scientific experiments.

They have tested their running velocity, the gravity force and have played with robots. At least they have had a great time exploring with science. Who knows, maybe the next Nobel prize will be one of our students.

We also have missed Lucas who is with his host family in Longfort, what a lucky boy!

Before the excursion, as always, English class, lunch and soccer match.

5th Saturday: Bowling

Hello!

We are on the 5th week and that means we have passed the first half of the program. All the students are improving their English level and working hard in the school and in the Saturday classes.

In a month they will be taking the TIE exam

After the class and the lunch we have gone to Bray, a small town near to the coast. There is a bowling with slot machines, pools and a laser tag. What a great combination!

We have started with the slot machines and then we have gone to the laser tag. Some of the boys are pretty good, too many Fortnite and Call of Duty?

In bowling the winner has been Mr, Bretons with 92pts, followed by Lucas 79, Jordi 69, Jan 53, Jean Paul 49, Alejandro 44, Aritz 41, Edu 23, Marcos 22.

The boys love this kind of activities!

4th Saturday: Cinema

Hello!

This Saturday we are back to the routine: English lessons in the morning and excursion in the afternoon. Last week the boys have celebrated Halloween with their costumes: zombies, ghosts and other scary costumes. All of them have had a huge amount of sweets and chocolates!

The boys are working hard and improving his English level. I’m sure they will get high scores in the TIE exam.

After lunch we have celebrated Jean Paul’s birthday, we have singed happy birthday and have ate a cake.

Today we have gone to the cinema to watch Maleficent: mistress of evil, the new Disney’s movie. Of course we have watched it in English, another great opportunity to improve our level!

After the movie we have been in the Dundrum mall eating some snacks and having fun.

See you next week!

Natural History Museum

Hello again!

The day before Halloween we have had the last midterm break excursion and we have gone to the Natural History Museum, located in Merrion Square in the center of Dublin.

In the museum the boys have seen all kind of animals: mammals, insects, birds, fishes… it has been like going to the zoo but there’s one difference: all the animals are dead. That’s why Dublin people call this museum “The dead zoo”.

The boys in the Natural History Museum

Inside the museum we’ve seen small and giant animals, exotics, in danger of extinction and, of course, the common animals like lions, elephants or monkeys.

You can see animals and their skeletons!

Mr. Bretons has been our guide inside the museum and has been explaining the different animals. We’ve learned how lioness catch their preys, the different ways preys avoid their predators or the food a bird eats depending on his beaks.

Some of the animals you can find in the museum

After the visit we have gone to Merrion Square to have our lunch and play and run in a playground area.

It was early so we have decided to visit the city center. We have been inside the Trinity College and have walked through it huge campus.

After Trinity college we walked up to Grafton Street and have eaten a snack in St. Stephens shopping center. Some of the boys have bought presents in Carroll’s, the typical Irish shop.

Before going back to Rockbrook we have gone to St. Stephens Green, a very beautiful park with a big pond with ducks and swans.

Luckily we have had a sunny day and despite the cold we have enjoyed our excursion. Tomorrow they will dress up in Halloween costumes and will eat lots of candies and chocolates.

See you next Saturday!

Kilkenny castle

Hi!

We are in the midterm break and the students have the week off because the schools are closed.

Today we have met in Rockbrook at 10:00 and we have gone to Kilkenny, a town in the south of Ireland. We have visited his famous castle, builded in 1195.

We have seen the dinning room, the library, some bedrooms, the playroom and the picture gallery.

The boys paying attention to the explanation

After the castle visit we have gone to St Canice’s cathedral, the second longest cathedral in Ireland, after St. Patrick’s.

St Canice’s cathedral

After visiting the cathedral we have gone for a walk to visit the town and gone back to the bus.

Tomorrow we will go to the Natural History Museum and to the city center. Stay tuned!

3rd Saturday: Jumpzone

Hello again!

It’s Saturday again so that means excursion and English class all together. In the classes the boys are preparing for the TIE exam. They learn grammar and they improve their listening and speaking level through funny activities.

The activity we have done today is the jumping in the Jumpzone, a big space full of trampolines where you can try all kind of tricks. We have seen backflips, front flips, some fails and a lot of laughs.

After the jump zone we have gone to Nutgrove shopping center. The boys have been eating chocolates and snacks to recover the energy lost while jumping.

The boys love this plan because they can burn all their energy (and they are full of it!). We also have missed Jan who is in a family trip in Kerry, lucky him! Fortunately next week is the midterm break so we are going to have excursion on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday they will be with their host families asking for sweets and chocolates dressed in their Halloween costumes.

Alejandro Molina’s Irish adventure

Hello again!

Today Alejandro Molina is going to explain you his Irish adventure.

Alejandro at St. Colmcilles, his Irish school

Hi, I’m Alejandro Molina and last week was my birthday so now I’m 12 years old.

First of all I’m going to talk about my Irish family. The mum’s name is Ciara and dad’s name is Ciaron. I have 3 siblings: Oien who is 11 years old, Joseph and Aoifa wich are 7 years old. All of them have Irish names. They are very kind and Ciara cooks pretty good, I love it! In the afternoon I like going to the green and play with Oien and his friends Andrew and Charlie.

I go to a school called St. Colmcille’s school. I have a lot of friends there but specially Leo, Darrah, Isaac and Leyla. The school starts at 8:40 and finishes at 2:30.

I wake up at 7:15, have a shower and then I eat my breakfast. I use to eat cereals and a toast with butter. Before going to school I have to take my lunch because in the school there’s no dinning room.

When the school is finished I go home to do my homework. After homework I go with my Irish brother to play soccer, ride a bike or a scooter.

On Saturdays I wake up at 9:00 because I have to go to Rockbrook with my friends and my teacher Mr. Bretons. There we have an English class to prepare the TIE exam. After the class we go all together visiting Dublin and having fun. We have been at Phoenix Park and we have played foot golf.

The October 17th was my birthday and I get a surprise party at the school and at home with my Irish family. At school my teacher asked me to go outside and when I came back all the class were singing “Happy Birthday” to me and we ate cake, cookies and marshmallows. Mr. Bretons also came to the school and gave me some chocolates and wishes happy birthday. With my Irish family I ate a cake and they gave me a t-shirt and sweets.

The last thing I want to say is that I’m so happy of being here, I’m enjoying a lot my Irish adventure and I’m learning a lot of English.

2nd Saturday: Footee

Hello again!

The last Wednesday we celebrate our first week in Ireland. The students are settling down, adapting to the Irish culture and starting the after school activities: soccer, rugby, hurling, Gaelic soccer or LEGO. They are conquering Ireland!

After the English class the boys have singed Happy Birthday to Alejandro because his birthday was on Thursday. Mr. Bretons have bought a cake and they have ate it before going to play footee.

The boys celebrating Alejandro’s birthday

Footee is a mix between soccer and golf. You have to put the soccer ball inside the holes using your foot. The winner is the player who needs less kicks.

We have been divided into two teams. The teams were in one hand Jean Paul, Marcos, Jesus, Jan and Lucas and in the other hand Alejandro, Aritz, Jordi, Edu and Mr. Bretons.

The scores have been: Mr. Bretons 75, Jean Paul 80, Jesus 82, Aritz 85, Alejandro and Lucas 89, Edu and Marcos 91, Jan 92, Jordi 93.

Although it has been a rainy day we have enjoyed the excursion. In Ireland showers are common: it rains for an hour and then stops, and it rains again… Irish weather. What is sure is all of them have enjoyed the day and have charged their batteries for another amazing week in Ireland.

Next week starts the Mid Term Break and that means Halloween is coming! It will be a funny and scary week!

See you soon!

1st Saturday: Phoenix Park

Hi there!

After two days in Ireland today we’ve had the first excursion all together.

In the morning we’ve had the English class to prepare the exam and the project. When the class have finished we’ve eat the packed lunch in Rockbrook. Fortunately it was a sunny day so we ate it in the garden.

After lunch we’ve gone to Phoenix Park, one of the iconic places in Dublin and one of the biggest parks in Europe. There we’ve rented some bikes and have gone to explore the park.

We’ve seen deers, squirrels, ducks and swans. Aritz, Edu and other lucky boys have feed the deers with carrots.

We also have visited the Pope’s Cross, a giant cross placed where Pope Francis celebrate a Mass last year with the Irish families.

Edu and Jean Paul feeding the deers

The boys were really excited to be with their friends and they have explained each other their firsts days and experiences in Ireland.

I hope we can enjoy more days like today because all the boys were smiling and really happy. Let’s cross our fingers to have another sunny day next Saturday.

See you soon!