Finishing my first week of work...

Thursday, June 26 at 9pm

Good day. Visited the Garden Center (an HSE Mental Health program) early, then on to Letterkenny, topped up my phone at the O2 store, went shopping at Penny’s (love it!), ate a coconut scone, visited the FAS office (job placements/training through HSE MH), learned a bit more about the Mental Health Services in Ireland, came back to Falcarragh, lunch, vision statement exercise, internet (reserved my lodgings for Dublin, tickets, etc.), home, dinner.

My accent is softening. It’s not quite Irish but I am softening my vowels and picking up words. The coolest word is “craic” (pronounced “crack”) which can fill in for a number of different phrases such as how’s the craic (how’s it going), that’s a good craic (that’s a good time), this is good craic (this is good stuff).

Other words: grand – great, footpath – sidewalk, rubbish – trash, bin – garbage can, smart – sophisticated, jumper – sweater/sweatshirt, football – soccer, intellectual disability – mental disability from birth, acquired intellectual disability – brain injury, dole – disability check, gob – mouth, boot – trunk, bonnet – hood, lorry – truck, coach – bus, fag – cigarette, out for a puff – out for a smoke, folder - binder, freephone - dial toll free, rota - roster, hash - pound sign, notice board - bulletin board, take the piss/hand out of you - codding you - to get you riled or wound up, take the biscuit - takes the cake, suck it and see - see for yourself

The weather is quite funny. You can rise to a sunny, cold day. It’ll rain for a half hour out of no where, then be sunny and warm, then get cold and windy, then get sunny and rainy. It’s like Florida.

This team and program are truly incredible. In RYLA we talk about teams that have that indefinable “it” (as in, you can’t get “it” until you’ve seen “it”), that magical chemistry and mission that somehow works yet is difficult to explain. This team is “that team” and what they are doing is incredibly difficult to describe (especially in a blog). Our theoretical modeling would describe “it” as the balance of community, effectiveness, and efficiency – and “it” is here. There is a tangible sense of community within the group, both staff and participants (which are undefined here, as in many ways the program is participant-led). The program is effective, with success stories after its short life of 2.5 years (published research has been performed in Australia). It is also efficient, or as we like to call it here, incredibly simple.

Right now, the team is in a forming stage of development (yes ryla counselors, get out your Ledge and Crow diagrams). Therefore, I have the exciting role of taking part in the development while at the same time standing from without and viewing it objectively. I asked to step up and was allowed to facilitate the vision statement exercise (which I modeled after the Morty one) and it went grand. It was exhilarating to ask the existing team for their personal visions, and get not only a better sense of the purpose, but to become a part of the team as well. I’m soo happy to be here. I’m going to build a wiki.

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Friday, June 27th at 4pm

Today was a true office day. Filing, printing, copying, stapling, typing - the works. It's a great atmosphere and we discuss cultural differences, accents, and laugh more than anything.

Tomorrow I'm going to Dublin by bus early in the morning, going trekking around the city to see all the sites, staying in a 20 bed mixed hostel, visiting the Guinness Storehouse, having a traditional Irish meal in an old pub. Will post stories upon my return.