As all good tourists shouldn't do, one day we decided to walk around Limerick City without a map or any knowledge of what was and wasn't a "bad" area. After what seemed like a good walk, we found ourselves walking down a narrow pathway in a direction we couldn't tell.
In the distance we could see a group of boys playing on a rope that was connected to a tree. They were using the rope to swing around a ditch that was close by. As we passed the boys, one signaled to Erin and asked if he could get a sip from her water. She told him he could have it, and handed the drink over. Excited by the attention, we stopped for just a little while to play with the children. We were excited to meet such nice boys. Looking back, I think it was the fact they called us sir and miss, common terms used in schools. We even agreed to take a swing on their rope. Not thinking, we set our bags to the side while we played along.
We had the digital camera with us as well. We decided a picture was in order. After doing my swing routine, I realized something was up when I noticed a few boys hovering around our bags. I slowly walked over and saw that one of the boys was trying to get into Erin's bag. I was the only one that noticed this and quietly told the boys to stay out of the stuff.
Meanwhile, the others were taking pictures. They handed me the camera and asked me to take some pictures of them with the boys. This is when the boys showed their true colors. Looking at the pictures closely, one can see that in the first picture, the boys are making some perverted gestures on the top row. In the second picture, the boys create further mischief by acting out for the camera. In the third picture, the boys posed innocently for the camera as if nothing they had done was the least bit questionable.
Gaining the opportunity for exit, we quickly made our way out of the area. As we left, we noticed older boys that were making their way towards us. We felt sure that if we had stayed much longer, we might have lost all of our bags, as well as endangered our lives.
Of all the people that you will meet in the world, the French are some of the more interesting and entertaining. I say this only because they can be every bit as proud as we can when it comes to their country. One way this shows is through the expression of their language. To be fair, English is full of its wacky sayings: "off his rocker," "I love you pumpkin", etc. The French have some of their own sayings.
One time, as I was coming down for a night on the streets of Limerick (we were going to a pub), I made the mistake of getting a little too dressy. As I approached the French students who were to join us, on commented to the other. Together they started to laugh. When in another country, with a different language, you learn to become very suspicious of others. You feel as if everyone is talking about you. In this case, I was right. When I asked what they had said, they said that is was a compliment that the translation was not good. In short they had said that I was dressed very nice, but in the translation it would come across as "he is pretty like a truck." Now they assured me that this was a compliment although I still have my doubts.
From that time on, my American companions said I looked pretty like a truck every time I got dressed up.
The Fight Over an Imprisoned Father
When teaching, there will inevitably come a point when two students will start fighting. Children fight for various reasons. Perhaps they are working to make their place in the pecking order or because someone took their seat on the bus. In this case, the fight was much the same.
There they were, two girls fighting it out. Yelling, screaming, throwing their arms as each other, hoping to catch just a little piece of the other. Name calling and fighting words came as they usually do. At one point things turned serious. One of the girls turned to the other and called out, "(words omitted for pg-13 audiences), your father is in prison for killing someone..." I was quick to separate the girls, asking them to apologize to each other. Still though, the words of the girl were disturbing to hear.
It wasn't until later that the host teacher told me what the truth was, that in fact the one student's father was in the local prison for killing a man. I was shocked. In my particular school, it is common to find parents that are in non-traditional situations. It wasn't until that point that I realized some of the backgrounds were beyond their control, and that special attention is necessary for these students to give them the support they may or may not receive.
Click on the Pictures for Close Ups.
Click on the Pictures for Close Ups.
Click on the Pictures for Close Ups.
