Friday, August 31, 2012

Thoughts From the First Week

Friday was pretty much a paperwork day.. Nothing too exciting to blog about in general but it was still a tone of learning. I tried to get caught up on my blogging a bit. I also had my first international placement seminar chat with Catherine which went well. Talked about in general how I am doing in my placement and just being in a new country. Talked about my goals and was pushed to talk about them in a bit more detail and find stronger ways to be able to concretely show that I had completed or reached them (which I'm not surprised about, like I said I tend to like to focus on the bigger picture at times).
I have leaned so much in just a week about the program itself. I think I am really enjoying the fact that it is a block placement. By having it be a block placement (ie. A solid block of time – Monday to Friday, six weeks everyday vs 10hr a week for two terms) I am finding that I am much more entrenched into the everyday workings of the centre.. but then again it has been quite a few years since I have even done a placement. I just find that in my previous placements in my diploma it took me a month or two to get where I feel I am at the end of my first week which is super nice. I do know there is so much more for me to learn though. I can tell I'm just really starting to understand the work that is done here and starting to figure out how all the different programs work together, but are very separate from each other.
The other part of just this whole experience that I am really enjoying is getting to live in the community. I am finding that I am getting an opportunity to see different sides and views of the community, of the services, and just a more well rounded experience of getting to know the environment/community where the young people I will be working with are from. I think this can only help me in understanding some of the social issues more clearly and relating it back to my experience in Canada.
I think a big learning for me has been figuring more in-depth what the centre is even really about. Coming into it I thought the centre was more of a the type of youth centre you might find in Canada, and me saying that is kinda funny in the first place cause I really have no idea what a youth centre in Canada is really like other then from word of mouth since I have never really worked in, gone to, or visited a youth centre in the community. But with that being said, I think I do have a general idea of what some of the youth centres in Edmonton area where friends and classmates have worked and done placements at are like in the most surface level way. But my experience at the centre has helped me to even question that. Here there are multiple programs all running under the same roof but are not all necessarily joined and are not funded by the same funding bodies. The centre has more so turned into a hub for youth work. Because of this I have found it to have a very diverse staff team all working under different agendas helping each other build each of their practises and meet their goals. It also gives them the unique ability that if a young person is ageing out or not a good fit for their (FAN) program, they have multiply other programs to try and see if they might fit better into one of those programs (Education Program/Detached Youth Work).
Pizza Oven
One of the other really exciting things about this week is I have slowly been introduced to different projects the centre has been working on. Mick talked to me about a bunch of different projects from a garden, to building a pizza oven, to working with young people from prison on building a pad area outside built with stones made in prison. Martin from the Fan project has been working with the youth on different painting projects around the building to help update it's looks and give the youth who are now using the facility more ownership of the building and make them feel more a part of it. I was also told about some of the videos the youth have done (acting, writing, directing, filming, etc) and how they have won awards for these short films. Martin (from the Education program) and Dara (from the Efforts program) explained to me more in depth the Hero project getting youth from Northern Ireland to mix and play Hockey with youth from Finglas in a partnership with some Canadian hockey coaches. 

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Finglas South

Thursday was fairly quite during the first part of my day at placement. I mostly worked on finishing the first draft of my work plan and worked a bit more on setting up my blog site to get it up and running. My work plan is coming along; it is just goals that I’m going to try and complete during my placement. I often get kinda stuck on details when I'm working on a project like this for some reason, trying to word it just right or make it fit in how it would make sense to me. Because of this I feel like it has been taking me a while to finish it off. But I am excited about it! I am excited because the goals I have decided to set up for myself, while challenging (due to time frame and pushing myself a bit), are very manageable and will help me leave my placement with a ton of information and, hopefully, new skills.
Working on my blog was enjoyable mostly because I go to work more on the details of the site then the writing. Designing the site gave me the opportunity to have fun and be creative with it. In any project getting to be creative it the part I end up spending the most enjoyable amount of time doing. Content is not as fun all the time but very important; thus I continue to write. The blog is a challenge for me because it's not something I’m completely comfortable doing. I do like to journal and write on my own because I find a great way to express myself, play with ideas, explore thoughts, and a way to track ideas, how they change during a time of massive learning (such as this). But what I am not as comfortable with is putting them out there for the world to see. Once something is written in an open forum it is there.. to be judged and torn apart.. but hopefully nothing I have to say is that interesting or that controversial. It's coming along.. well, as you may someday see since you are reading this.
More conversation about the program and more reading filled most of my earlier afternoon. Again lots of tea and good conversation in the office. Not too many youth coming in, but some as it was the deadline day for some funding grants and school applications. I think yesterday I was getting a bit frustrated and worried that maybe it was always going to be this slow in the Centre, I think largely because people keep asking me what is going on with my placement and at times it has felt like I didn't had much to say. As well, I think the first part of yesterday might have influenced that as well, by at times just not feeling like I knew where I belong. Today I think I am able to fit the piece of how things are working in the centre together a bit more. I do for sure understand that things are going to pick up and that it just part of the transition period between programs. At times it just hard not to let the pressure of so little time and wanting to take in so much get to me a bit.
In the evening I went out with the detached Team, this time with Mick and Derek. I had spoke with Michael, the program manager, in the morning and he stated that if home visits came up in the future there was no issue with me going if I wanted to which I was very excited about. Mick and Derek are both so wonderful though, and great at giving me information on the community and young people they work with. The night again was pretty slow with no major interactions with young people but I still was able to learn a great deal from just walking and getting to know the area and having good conversation. Finglas, part of Dublin 11, is a suburb of Dublin north of the city centre. It s made up of Finglas South, Finglas East, and Finglas West. As of right now there isn’t much of a north created. Finglas South is the area that the Den is in and is the area that FAN, Detached, and Educations Projects are funded to work with although workers in all of the programs have told me they would not work with a youth if they asked for assistance from another area in Finglas. Derek and Mick also explained how within Finglas the areas of East, West, and South did not get much cross over from the locals. If you lived in one area you would not go into the other or really even associate with other people from other parts of Finglas in the most extreme cases. In Finglas South some of the major issues would be substance abuse, family break down, lack of community supports, high unemployment, low graduation rates from secondary schools and post secondary schools. Of course this is not the case for the entire population in Finglas South but the numbers are higher in the area. As well, understanding how small the area is and how many people actually live in it is important as well. 
When Detached goes out in the evening they are able to cover basically all of Finglas south, so that shows that the area is not that big compared to how spread out an area of a suburb might be in Canada (which Finglas might be looked at as). As well in this small area there are 10,000 people living there. That is like having the whole population of Lacombe, a small town I grew up in in Alberta, in a much smaller area. The entire population of Finglas is 31, 529 people (about 12,000 in Finglas South alone), living in an entire area of 7.01 km2. The entire population of Lacombe is 11, 707, living in an entire area of 20.89 km2. This hopefully will help give you a better idea of what I'm talking about.
During the walk it started to rain a bit giving me a bit more of the true Irish weather, since I have been very lucky to have had fantastic weather since I arrived which I have been told many times in very different from how their summer has been. As we were walking there was this HUGE rainbow. It was really beautiful.. so I took a picture I think I'm going to put up.. but hopefully as well gives more of a look into the area the Detached Team does their work. The guys set up a couple of different meetings with people to come into the centre to get help to apply for jobs and talk about helping them find out ways to complete their probation hours. We talked with a few different people before the night was done and the guys made sure I got home OK before leaving me for the evening.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

I 'CAN' Learn



Front Doors
On Wednesday it way my first really kinda slow day; I think it also really did not help I was so tired. Still struggling with sleeping a bit, waking up early then getting tired later in the morning no matter what time I am going to bed. Continued to get more familiar with the programs and reading up on information different people were giving me to look at. Lots of tea breaks helped me stay alert. In the early afternoon I was given the opportunity to help Martin, who works on the FAN Project, with a creative arts project he was doing with the youth. Those of you who saw the building when you came know from the outside it is a little 'prison' looking, a big rectangle building with only small windows with bars on them, and a big black metal door at the front. Martin decided to have the youth paint the front doors of the building, to brighten it up as well as create a way to have the youth take more ownership of the building. I helped get the stencils ready to put on the door and helped get the youth ready to go. The small moments are the ones that I feel like I am starting to connect with some of these youth, like teaching a young boy how to roll tape to make it double sided. It was a pretty amazing sight to see these young boys all dressed up in overalls, goggles, mouth and nose masks, and gloves. Martin patiently taught the youth, first two at a time to how to use spray around the stencil and not waste the paint. It’s funny how a skill they have used in their 'delinquent behaviour' can have so much potential to it when done with something creative in mind rather then just tagging a building. This gave another chance to work with the youth a bit more which I really enjoyed. But I do find it a bit more difficult to really build relationships in such an unstructured environment. Since I mostly just helped with set up, supervision, and picture taking, I was in the background. There was one youth who was very much going out of his way to try and steal the 'cans' (spray paint cans). Several times I had to jokingly tell him to put them back which is always hard when you're new, cause there is no relationship there and if you push too hard they can very easily tell you to f* off. At the end we realized a few cans had been taken; talking with Martin helped give me a bit different perspective on how he saw it. He had counted them at the beginning because he wanted to know but that it was a trust exercise as well, giving these boys opportunities to prove they are trust worthy and give respect back. Having a box of 15 cans out and only two disappearing with these boys is positive even if two did go missing. What was even more interesting was that a couple of the boys obviously made it apparent they had taken them so they had to give them back, but again it showed that even though they could of got away with it they choose not to. They saved face by letting us be the bad guys telling them to give them back in front of their peers.
More Art Work in the Centre Done By Youth
Later in the afternoon I started working on my learning work plan to get it ready for Eileen (my placement supervisor) for Monday and continued with more reading. Derek had told me that I didn't have to go with him tonight as he had Mick, another Detached team member, working with him tonight. I offered to go anyways a couple times but was just told not to worry about it, they would be fine on their own. I wondered a bit about why as on my schedule Eileen had given me I was supposed to do it; it made me worried a bit that I had struggled yesterday or been in the way. Later in the evening Derek ended up telling me the reason why he wasn't going to have me come tonight was due to the fact they were doing some home visits and he didn't know if I was allowed to come on these visits due to them taking place in the home of families from the community. After hearing that I felt much better just because I now knew it wasn't something about me and I could completely understand why. Derek ended up explain a bit more information about home visits, how they were set up, and why they would happen (mostly when families are in crisis for whatever reason).
Living Room Where I will Watch the Telly
So I headed home earlier then I had thought. Carmel called to check in and stated she was bringing me something home. The night before we had talked about how I have never tried curry fries but had been told by some of my Irish mates that they were lovely and I would greatly enjoy them. Carmel stated she was going to bring me some home when I got back from work and she got off. So.. I had curry sauce, fries, rice, and chicken balls all in one meal. I have to admit, it was pretty amazing. Not something you should maybe eat more then a couple times a year, but for sure it was lovely. Carmel's daughter Tara dropped by with her son Devin. Devin is going back to school next week, so we talked a bit about that and I got to know Tara a bit better. In the evening Carmel and I watched a documentary on the Romma beggars in Dublin. It was very interesting; there is a great deal of frustration on the part of many Dublin people of having the Romma beggars on their streets. I drew a few similarities to how some Albertan’s think about immigrants people in Alberta, but it is always a very specific issue to here in Dublin. The program looked at peoples opinion on the Romma beggars and some of the speculations like if they were involved in organized criminal begging rings. It then did investigation into the issue and speculation of being organized crime but in the end was not really able to find any hard evidence of this, just that families were begging for themselves. The whole issue is pretty interesting. It's very easy for us as humans to make judgements and assumptions on groups of people when there is no communication or connection and in a lot of situations it's very hard not to when it seems like that is all you see. Often we can forget that everyone has their own story, and just because they look as if they can fit into a nice box most of us are not square. But issues like this are a lot more complicated than that; I am very aware that I am a Canadian who is very far away from the issue and don't really have much right to say or pretend I really understand. It is interesting though.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Being Part of Detached

I woke up early, unable to sleep, showered and got ready to go. Sent some emails and did some reading. Around 10 am I started to feel pretty tired and ended up falling asleep until 12:30 pm. I got up just in time to start getting ready to head to work and to try and have something to eat before I left. Part of the beauty of living so close to the centre is that I really do only live about a 2 min walk away, but because of being so close I also need to watch my time management and not cut it too close. Again today was a bit slow at the centre. I read up on the programs and was given different resources to look at. Dara, part of the EFFORT Project, gave me a resource looking at what was a national crime awareness initiative called Copping On, that due to the lack of funding over the past few years was cut. It dealt with providing resources and training for creative approaches to prevention work with young people and seemed to be very forward in how it addressed the issues. Derek also got me some resources so I could get a better understanding of the juvenile justice system in Ireland. I looked through the National Youth Justice Strategy from 2008 – 2010. I read up on young person’s probation, community sanctions, and other orders. I also started reading one of the articles Eileen had given me on juvenile Justice; all this information helping give me a better picture on juveniles in the system and about different forms of prevention, detention, and rehabilitation. Also, I started to get a better understanding of how funding works for the programs and where the money is coming from.

The Office
I have been learning more and more about the centre and have discovered that the centre it’s self is less of a drop-in centre and more of a building to facilitate the work of the specific programs. Umm, let me try and explain maybe a bit better; there is no one actually hired on as workers to directly deal with drop-ins (although the centre does allow for this at times). Everyone working here is funded under a specific project and they get their funding from different places. One of the groups doesn’t even really use the facilities but just uses the office space, the EFFORT Project team. The Project teams just work together to make the centre as accessible as possible to the community and the young people in it. If youth are bored and want to come play a game of pool, the team will try and make this possible by taking turns giving up a bit of their time to supervise them when they are able. If a young person drops in for support, team members will take turns depending on if there are relationships already there to work with that youth to assist them with whatever they need, whether it be help with a resume, filling out applications for funding or education, getting them in contact with other community supports to assist them in a specific area.

Main Area Used for Drop-In's
I had an opportunity when some youth came over to play pool to get to know them a bit and just hangout. I think one of things I will always find a bit intimidating about this work is when going into a new space with new youth, you never can sure how the dynamics are going to play out. After working in the field for 7 years and working with young people for over 10 years I still go into these situations being very mindful of letting the youth lead the dance. The youth were a bit held back and one of their first responses to learning I was from Canada and doing my practicum in Finglas was, “Why would ya come to Finglas?” I found this question to be sometimes intimidating but have got better and much faster with a response since it seems to be a common question. The youth chatted to me about school, and asked me questions about Canada. A couple of the greatest being, do I have a pet bear, or do I know Justin Bieber, good openings into a few good laughs.

More of the Flinglas
In the evening I completed my first evening-shift doing work with the Detached Team; Derek and myself went out to walk the streets of Finglas. Derek explained more about the project and how Detached's main focus was to meet people where they are at, with youth who may be 'detached' from other services like The Den or some of the other projects that they would never access. As we walked I started to get a better feel for the community. Derek asked me a great deal of questions around Canada and some of our struggles. We didn’t see too many people and the young people we did see often would just say a quick hello and continue on their way most of the time, not taking the time to stop. But there were a few of the young people that Derek met up with that made plans to come into the centre because they needed some help with forms or finding a job. Another young man, Derek let know his probation officer had called to check up on him as he said he was keeping a low profile as people were looking for him. I was able to see the relationship that was formed with the community and the Detached Team and understand that when people were in need, these would be the people they would come to because their was trust was already formed. Derek explained their role in the community and the goals of the project. We talked, walked, met some bigger players in the community, and got a feel for the culture of Finglas and some of the struggles going on within this community (lack of employment; drug and alcohol abuse; economic issues; lack of community supports). But in contrast I was able to see the passion of the workers, strengths of the community, and the bonds that hold together the families.
Dinning Room and Kitchen, where I often drink my Tea
I came home around 9 pm as we had started a bit earlier in the evening as things were slow. Just as I got in Michael called to welcome me to Ireland; it was super lovely to hear his voice and I am so excited to meet up with all my friends in Athlone. Carmel came home after helping her son Shane wallpaper some rooms in his new home. Carmel make us some supper, which again was amazing, we had a glass of wine, and chatted. I am so lucky to have the opportunity to be staying with Carmel. It’s wonderful living in the community and getting to have a view from a family living in the community. Carmel has been so open and welcoming, I really could not ask for anything better. Amazing conversation and a great cup of tea, a wonderful way to end a very full day.

Monday, August 27, 2012

First Day of Placement and Endless Amounts of Tea

The Centre

I often get nervous on my first day of anything due to anticipating what could be to come. This normally makes it impossible to sleep and leaves my mind racing. The night before my first day of my placement this anticipation, along with struggling to adapt to the time change, and making the choice to sleep during the day left me struggling even more so to try and relax into my bed. I ended up not finding any sleep until at least 4:30am (that would around 9pm Canadian time), giving me a good 3.5 hours of sleep before I needed to be up. Carmel, wonderful as always, had tea ready for me when I made my way downstairs. I grabbed some toast and ate it quickly while I tried to make sure I had everything I needed and looked half presentable. Carmel insisted I take an umbrella (which made sense because it was raining) and then would not take 'no, thank you' as answer when she stated she was going to give me a ride to my placement (which did not make as much sense as the first). Since I had arrived there had been questions on where my placement was actually taking place. I was pretty sure it was a building that the locals referred to as ‘The Den' but was met with some skepticism due to it being such a small centre. There was a bit of a guessing game going on to where it was I really did have my placement at. Carmel, looking out for me again, wanted to drive me just to make sure it was indeed the right place. Seeing as how the place was only 2min walk away, I did try to protest but lost due to the rain. Once I had indeed made contact with the centre and got confirmation that they were expecting a Canadian to arrive, Carmel seemed to feel comfortable enough leaving me to it.

I walked in being a bit nervous, Martin, one of the caretakers, was getting the centre ready for the day. I waited a bit as I had made sure to be a bit early for my first day. People began to arrive slowly, Martina, a member of the Education Project, was one of the first people to come in. She introduced herself and chatted a bit. She gave me a tour of the facilities and made me a cup of tea. She gave me an envelope with a letter and outline from Eileen, my placement supervisor (who is on holidays until next week). The letter talked about how my first week was going to look, gave me names of all the people working in the centre and their positions, she gave me information on all the projects being run, information on models of youth work being practiced in Ireland, a work plan to model mine after, and other articles related to work in Ireland with children and youth and in the juvenile justice system. As others arrived I was introduced to them and was given information on the projects they were working on. Derek, part of the Detached Youth Work Team, arrived and spoke to me in more detail about the work that project did. He also made sure to introduce me to Michael, the centre Manager, who I had been in contact with throughout the months leading up to my arrival. Derek set me up on a computer and gave me some office space. I went through some of the information I was given, drank quite a bit of tea, and got to know different staff members as they arrived. The day was kinda slow, as many of the workers are still on holidays and others just returning. Martin, part of the FAN project with Eileen, the team I was going to be working mostly with, spoke to me a bit about the project. Martin also had creative arts projects he was going to get the youth involved with tomorrow and invited me to help out as everything was so slow at the centre this week. I was only scheduled to be at the centre for a few hours during my first day to meet people and get to know the centre. I felt very content with everything that happened. I enjoyed getting to know the staff team around the building and got a very warm welcome by everyone. I am looking forward to getting to understand a bit more in-depth about the programs and working along side the team at the centre. It's been rainy off and on throughout the day; but I am still enjoying it much more than our 30 degree, then thunderstorm weather from back home. Although the humidity is huge here, it’s not like living in sweat like our summer has been.

My New Home For a Month
Once back at home the first problem I encountered was that although Carmel had showed me how to lock and unlock the door in the morning, which seemed simple enough at the time, I was not finding it that simple at the moment. I struggled for several minutes, trying to look normal when ever a car would drive past or someone would walk near, don’t think I was really managing it well. I was thinking about giving up and just waiting until Paula showed up as we had made plans to meet up in an hour, but when I realized, due to the rain I needed to use the 'lou' (look, see i'm Irish already!), I thought it best I find a way in now. Mary, Paula’s Aunt lives in #5 next door. I had not actually met Mary but thought it was my best option, and had already heard from both Paula and Carmel that Mary was excited to meet me. I went next-door ready to be embarrassed by finding out how simple it was to open the door. Mary answered the door and the house was filled with people. She said hi and introduced me to everyone, asked about my placement. She invited me in for tea, but laughed when I told her about my predicament of not being able to get into the house. Carmel came home just as Mary was coming to the house with me. It turns out I not completely useless as Carmel had told me to turn upwards when opening so I had assumed I needed to do the same thing but learned that it was in fact the opposite for when unlocking. I made my way into the house with Carmel, she made me another cup of tea and chatted with her about my first day. Soon Paula showed up and joined the conversation. We decided to head off but were going to start at Mary’s first.


People who know me, know I love tea. Not only do I love tea, I love tea Irish style, with plenty of milk. But this trip turned into me getting a look at just how much tea is really drank in Ireland in a day (remember by this time i had already had about 2 cups at placement and had been offered it more like five times). We stopped off at Mary’s and had tea with her. After we made our way to Paula’s parents home and had tea again with Paula’s mother and some wonderful homemade soup. Paula’s mom is wonderful, as sweet and as welcoming as Paula. She told me about how she travels and the places she goes, how it is a family thing often as she travels with her sisters frequently. We then spent the next few hours shopping for a rain jacket and groceries. The rain jacket was a task that did not happen, being a 'big' girl, clothing shopping not often fun for me. That being one of the reasons I really did try to bring the things I thought I needed as I know it would not be as easy for me to buy replacement things if they were forgotten. I don’t think most understand the struggles of this unless you have really been 'big'. Yes, all women (and men) can struggle with maybe finding things they think they look good in or fit them just right (since we all can have self image issues), but the embarrassment of putting on jacket after jacket that does not even come close to fitting can be a lot to take in. So thus we move on to food which, ironically enough, seemed to be a much easier task. Paula was great with both, and helped me get through the first part a great deal. Groceries here are much cheaper than in Canada. It’s a fun experience as well because things are prepared and packaged often in just a bit different way. Also some of the household staples would be very different but I find very exciting to learn about and try new things. With groceries in hand we made our way to our last stop at Paula’s sisters. I learned that three of Paula’s sisters live in a very close area, close to their parents as well. Offered tea once again but this time declined as it was getting later. Paula drove me back to Carmel’s and helped me unload. Paula left back for home and Carmel returned home a little later.

The View From My Room
I had supper and Carmel and myself settled in the living room and a last wonderful cup of tea for the evening. We chatted and watched different programs until we settled on a movie about Michael Collins directed by Neil Jordan, a 1996 film, with Liam Neeson. Good film with an interesting look at the IRA and Collins role in the fight. I then headed to bed.

Getting Settled

So last night my new roommate/landlord/Paula's Aunt's neighbour meet me at the airport. After the change in my flights and getting there a bit late I felt kinda bad for the mess of everything but Carmel was wonderful from the start, even was understanding when I went to get into the drivers side of her car. She brought me to the house and helped me with my bags. She make me a grilled cheese (a toastie) and introduced me to brown sauce (which is basically BBQ sauce but maybe a bit more addictive) . She chatted with me about my flight and placement, about about her family, and how she knew Paula and her family. We both headed to bed around 2ish Am after a good talk and me feeling very sleepy.
The Block I Now Live On
I spend the first part of the next day getting some sleep and recovering from the events from the past 24hr. When I finally got up, I unpacked.  I began to feel more comfortable in my new home as I slowly started to figure out how to do simple things like use the shower. Tara, Carmel's daughter, (28) came over in the afternoon to check on how I was doing and say hi while Carmel was working. We had a nice visit and she told me about the area and asked questions about my placement. Carmel came home early in the evening and make some supper for her and myself. Carmel is an amazing cook and has really spoiled me since I got in.  Shane her youngest son (26), came over with his wife and few months-old baby boy, Donny. The entire family has been lovely and super welcoming. Shane came over later in the evening to walk the dog, Bobby, (a miniature Jack Russel) and later offered to help me pick up a phone card. After taking me out to get a SIM card for my phone he also made sure i was able to get it set up properly before going.

I have yet to meet one of Carmel's sons, Timmy (33) but have been reassured that it wouldn't be long until we are introduced. It was super wonderful to see how close the family was and how open and excited they were to welcome me into their life. I ended the first day with some tea and chatting with Carmel about placement, Dublin, school, and things to come

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Delayed



My bag broke on both sides like this  :(
So I finally arrived yesterday at 1am!  The flight it's self turned out to be an adventure. I thought the first little delay was going to be the 'glitch'(that one thing that has to go wrong before things can go right) of the trip (well that and my bag breaking off at each side). It ended up getting a bit more crazy but not too bad. I arrived in Toronto at about 6:15pm, I always get scared I am going to get lost or not make it to my terminal in time. I started to make my way to E81, which I think had to be one of the furthest away terminals. Once at the terminal I got a banana nut muffin, checked out the airport bathrooms, found a spot to settle in, and tried to get comfy for the three hours remaining before my flight boarding would take place. One thing about flying for me is that i just don't do well, not that I get scared or have fear of it but just that my anxiety goes up due to being excited, as my anxiety goes up my ability to recognize my own basic needs goes down, thus forcing myself to eat a muffin and making sure to hit up the bathroom. As I sat waiting, more and more people came and started filling up the seats around me; a couple families with various accents, a middle aged women with an Irish accent, and a young couple from Canada. I entertained myself by repacking my carry on bags, playing on my phone, and writing my first blog. 
When I got In - Kinda hard to see but 2:45Am
Once boarding started at about 9:25pm we all made our way onto the plane. In the seat next to me ended up being a young man who just recently turned 20 from MinneapolisDalton (if you know why this is kinda funny you will know).  He was very chatty, which put me at ease knowing that at least for this long flight I would not be sitting by someone for 7 hours in almost complete silence, with the odd occasional awkward bumping elbows moment or waking up with my head and drool on their shoulder. As we sat and make small talk, over the intercom came the captain stating that there was issues with filling the big fuel tank and stated we would need to wait 20min before it would be figured out. 20min turned into 1hr, and 1hr turned into 4hr. During this time the plan changed from trying to fix the tank that wouldn't open, to filling the smaller tanks, to having to add a stop to the flight in St. Johns or Montreal for refueling on the way, to finally that they had reached their time limit and we were asked to deboard the plane. By this time my seat neighbour and myself had started to bond (partly because of the frustration from waiting). We then were held another 45min inline, after walking across the airport, to get a voucher to a hotel to stay the night. I got into my hotel room around 2:45am by means of a airport shuttle and was told to be back at the airport by 10am. The only kinda cool thing which I wasn't sure to be excited about or not was that I think this was the first time I was staying in a hotel room all by myself.. well maybe the second, but still weird. Having the two beds kinda made me want to get up halfway through my sleep and use the other one just so I could get the full experience.

One thing about an experience such as this is that through adversity relationships are build. It was interesting to see how a community was kinda forme
d with all the travellers by being part of this shared experience. Another interesting part of this for me was hours before boarding the plane I was writing my first blog writeup about how incredible and surreal this experience seemed. Having all of the following events take place definitely gave opportunity for the excitement to dissipate a bit and a larger feeling of just wanting to make it there take over.
Hotel Room at Courtyard Marriott
The next day when I arrived back at the airport people were talking about flight, that it was still not showing up online or on the flight board. This brought on a little panic due to knowing my practicum started on the Monday but was somewhat relived with thoughts reminding myself that there was nothing I could really do to change the situation and that things would come together how they would. So there, with some other still worried passengers, we all settled in and waited. Very interesting and kinda cool to observe the different bonds that had been formed between people. There was a change in the passengers that I had seen from yesterday when we had all first sat down for our flight. Finally the plane arrived and we started to board. After getting settled again we were told we needed to wait a bit before we could go as their needed to be some final clearance given. The caption came on again, stating we were ready, we taxied down the run way, and after another small wait, began our take off. As the plane took flight a roar of applause went off from the passengers. I couldn't help but laugh after everything.
Oh Air Canada.. 
We arrived in Dublin at around 12:15am. Customs held me for a few minutes to read over my paperwork, just to make sure I wasn't planning on staying and taking their already scarse jobs. As I reached the baggage area I realized I lost my only rainproof jacket somewhere between the plane and where I was now standing. I had carried that thing all the way from Canada to Ireland and lost it in the last 15min (something I had done with a very expensive piece of artwork on my first international travels alone four years ago). I tried to go back but wasn't able to find it, I talked to some lady at a desk and she stated she talked to the plane cleaners but was only gone for a second. With no luck, and kinda feeling a bit defeated I picked up my bag and heading out not even sure who was picking me up. I looked around for the familiar face of Paula or a stranger searching for me but must have been clouded by the disappointment of the jacket incident, not able to see anyone. Not long after, a women came up asking if I was Vanessa, I looked up and saw a small sign with my name on it. At this point a wave of relief filled me and the jacket felt less important.

Friday, August 24, 2012

On My Way




Carry On
So the week leading up to this day was pretty much what should have been expected. I think I often hope I am going to better then I do when it comes to things like this.. but I never really do. What I mean by “things like this” is transition periods of my life. Things I have been looking forward to, putting a great deal of preparation into, and just in general getting excited about.,I tend to mess them up a bit by trying to pack in way too much, become super stressed, and turn into somewhat of a crazy person. I have been very blessed to have some wonderful understanding friends and family to help me get through it.

Now here I am. SO CRAZY. I mean I have been trying to make this happen since September and it's so hard to believe it's really here. Several times on the plane I was so overwhelmed with me even being on the plane, it felt so unreal, the thought that I was on my way to Ireland. I have so many people to thank for helping me get here today, Jenny, Catherine, Lynne, Donna, my friends, my family... so many people that support me and helped to make this trip come together.


Very Important
As of right now I am sitting in the Toronto airport waiting for my next flight to Dublin. Since I have yet to leave Canada, it is all still a little dreamlike but I know I'm on my way.

I'm not sure what the plan for this blog is other then to try and share some of my experiences through-out this trip and give me a way of reflecting back on the everything that happens throughout. I am not going to put any boundaries or expectations on myself at this point to how often or what I am going to write about as I kinda want it to be created as the experience happens. Anyways, had some time and thought I would share some thoughts and 'thank you's from the first steps of the trip.

So excited for what lays ahead.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

A Little Info..

My name is Vanessa Cutler, I am a 4th year student who is currently finishing off my Degree in Child and Youth Care (CYC). I graduated with my diploma in CYC, June of 2007, and decided to take a couple years off before finishing my degree. Over the past three years I have been working full time with youth in transition, along with finishing my degree part time.
Two years ago I took part in MacEwan University's first visit to Athlone Institute of Technology with a student group as they started their partnership between Athlone's Social Care Program and MacEwan's CYC program. The following September I approached some members of the CYC faculty to talk to them about the idea of me doing my 4th year placement in Ireland as I felt it may be a direction they might want to go in the future with their students. With a great deal of support from the program we moved forward in hopes of making it a reality.
So here i am, many months later, starting the last practicum of my degree in Dublin, Ireland. I decided to take this chance as a way to gain a better understanding of what Social Care in Ireland looks like, learn more about some of the international youth work being done here, connect with other passionate practitioners using creative/innovative ideas to enhance their practice, and become more aware of international struggles and success that are happening in the field of CYC.
This is my story...

Disclaimer

Please do not judge the quality of the writing in this blog as I know it will not always be amazing. It's not my strength and has taken some courage for me to even attempt to do this so.  With often little time and little sleep it does not always help the situation either.

As well, please keep in  mind that the thoughts, ideas, and how I explain the experiences I am having here are only from my point of view at that very moment. It is only ever going to be a small picture of my whole experience because there is just way to much to try to be able to capture and process. As well, i'm sure as times go on and after reflection different things will come up or be thought of differently. So just take it for what is..

So Much Love.