The Dublin/ New Grange Trip

On the 8^th of November I went on a trip to Dublin and New Grange from my organisation. We met at 7:30 am on Sunday morning in Cork. I was the only exchange student and the others were all Aupairs. By a Mini bus we drove up to New Grange. New Grange is the oldest built by humans and still standing monument of the world. It is an over 5000 years old ancient temple (uralt, altertümlich ehemalig) which is located in the Boyne Valley, County Meath. It is a big circular mound (Hügel) with a stone passageway and three small chambers (Kammern).When we arrived it was raining. We walked through the narrow (eng, schmal) passageway into the middle of the temple. It was really small so we had to stand close together. In the middle was a big room with 3 chambers on the sides. The people who built New Grange used the chambers to burry their dead people. On the walls were the typically engravings (Gravur) of the celtic people, for example the spiral. The construction of the roof was so good that in over 5000 years no rain could come trough it, so we were perfectly dry inside=). Our tour guide told us that on the shortest day of the year, the 21^st of December the sun rises over the valley and shines through the passageway and straight through the middle of the room to a wall inside one of the chambers. We had a short demonstration with electric light how it would look like (magical...). There are thousands of people every year who want to see this event, but just a small group of around six people can stay inside New Grange when at 9 am the sun rises and shines inside the temple. The group for 2015 was already drawn (ausgelost) but we could apply for 2016 ( what I did =)). I know I won´t be there next year but it´s so unlikely that I get chosen so I just did it for fun. There are still lots of unanswered questions about New Grange. For example none knows where the people who built it went- they simply disappeared. It was a pity but we weren´t allow to take pictures inside.

After the visit our bus driver drove us to DUBLIN! When we arrived there was a mist (Nieselregen) so we first didn´t go on the top of the double decker hop on hop off bus. We got out at Grafton street, the most expensive shopping street in Dublin and had to go on the bus again after just 30 minutes. Then we continued our sightseeing tour through Dublin (on top of the bus). It was the bus was open on top but luckly there was a roof over the first couple of seats. We didn´t have enough time to hop off at another place, but we could see a bit of the capital city of the Repuplic of Ireland from the bus. At the end I bought a Dublin jumper then our bus picked us up again and drove us back to Cork. I was really tired afterwards but it was a great trip!

New Grange

Group picture at New Grange

Grafton street in Dublin

"The needle"- a famous sight in Dublin

My first work experience week

My first work experience week is already over and the second week started this Monday. 

From last Monday ,9^th, to last Friday , 13^th, I had work experience at a vet in Cork. I learnt a lot of new terms, but don´t worry I wrote down the translations for everyone, deren Englischvokabular im Bereich der Medizin/ Tiermedizin ein wenig eingerostet ist.=)

I was at the veterinary together with another girl from my school. In the first four days we were mainly watching surgerys (Operationen) and the treatments of the animal patients.The animals which came in the veterinary were all so cute! The surgerys were interesting but also a bit disgusting sometimes. For example there was a dog with a growth (Wucherung) on his leg and a dog got its tonsils (Mandeln) removed by surgery (tonsillectomy- Mandelentfernung) because he always had a tonsillits (Mandelentzündung). On the first day there was a cat which had damaged her pelvis (Becken) and was constipated (verstopft). The vet had to open her stomach and put out her intestine (Darm). He mad a cut in it and got out the feces (Fäkalien) which were stuck inside. At the end he closed everything again with some stiches (Nadelstichen). 

We got tasks like clipping the nails of the dogs and cats, preparing injections (Spritzen) and cleaning the operation table for the next surgery.  All in all it was a interesting week with lots of new experiences for me and of course lots of new vocabulary!

The veterinary

A trip to Cobh

On Thursday, the 29^th, I was in Cobh with some other exchange students. Cobh is a city about 20 minutes away from Cork. We went there by train- it was my first time on an irish train and it was really comfortable. First we went to the Titanic Experience. That is a museum about the Titanic, because Cobh was the last place where the Titanic had stayed before it sank. Together with the ticket you get the name of a passenger who went on the Titanic from Cobh. At the end you find out if the person survived. It was really interesting. We stood on the terrace where the passengers waited for the arrival of the Titanic over 100 years ago. Then we saw the rooms of the third and first class passengers (pictures). We also saw a short demonstration movie how the titanic sank. There were lots of information about the Titanic and at the end I discovered that my passenger, a 27 years old woman from third class survived. Afterwards we visited the cathedrale. It was huge and had beautiful stained glass windows (Buntglasfenster). All in all it was a great trip!

View from the train on the return journey...