Uñt’ayata: 14.04.2021
Hello,
the past two weeks I had Easter holidays. I was actually looking forward to being back in school, and now I'm already back at home. But I'm not complaining. This way I had a two-week transition back to school after all the homeschooling. And to make sure it's not too much, vacation right after two weeks ;D
I still can't really believe it, those were actually the last holidays I had... The next ones are the summer holidays, when I'll be going back to Germany.
But what this post is actually supposed to be about are my Easter holidays. They were nice and I was able to do a few things, despite the restrictions!
I met up with another exchange student in Mallow and we explored our hometown for 2-3 hours. After such a long time at home and always being with the same people, you start to feel a bit restricted.
OUR REAL EASTER BUNNY
One evening, our dog was chasing something small in the garden. It was a small wild rabbit or something similar. We saw it in time before anything could happen and took care of the rabbit. My host siblings wanted to keep it. It already had a name: Easter - a few days later it was Easter. But in the end, there were a lot of tears because we ended up releasing it back into the wild.
EASTER
On Good Friday, the kids my host mom looks after were here. We organized some games for them and the neighbor's kids. So we had an Easter egg hunt and lots of chocolate. So we were able to 'celebrate' Easter a little bit. And on Sundays, we had a typical Easter breakfast from Rome; yummy.
But I think my highlight was that I met up with a friend from school twice. Including on my birthday. She taught me the basics of Gaelic football, an Irish sport. And it was so much fun! My plan is to join a GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) club at the end of April when it's hopefully possible again. (If that works out, I'll provide more details later).
HAPPY 17TH BIRTHDAY
I knew from the beginning that the day wouldn't be easy. Simply because it's the first birthday separated from my family in Germany, especially my twin brother. And honestly, there were tears and I missed them all very much. But I still had a fantastic day! In the morning, I had the meeting with my school friend and the 'Gaelic football class'. That would have been enough for a successful day. My host family took care of the afternoon. So at least we celebrated with the family. Before dinner, I called my family at home and my brother and I unpacked gifts together over Skype - it was nice. I also shed quite a few tears, but that's also part of being on an exchange year. In the end, I had a great day and went to bed happy. Even if there were no restrictions, I wouldn't have wanted the day to be any different.
BLUE SKIES & SUNSHINE
The Easter days and the last 2-3 days of the holidays were perfect weather-wise. Who would have thought, but in Ireland you also need shorts, sunglasses, and sunscreen. We spent the days outside in the garden. It was too nice to sit inside. Especially here in Ireland, where warm sunny days are not very common.
NEW ADDITIONS TO THE FAMILY
I almost forgot. Since our tarantula Trixie died in February, we got a second one. It was very small at the beginning. So small that I dared to hold it in my hand. It has grown since then and I don't know if I would do it again... probably not. It's already big now and more active °-°
And... a snake! I know, by now we're more like our own zoo, but it's cool to have not so ordinary animals. At least as long as I don't have to feed them and take care of them properly ;D.
As you can see, I have a few things to tell from the holidays. Of course, I would have liked to see or do more things, but I think I made the best of it.
By now, I've finished my first week of school after the holidays and it was really nice to see my classmates again.
Stay healthy and take care of yourselves,
Your Davina