After the tea/toast/smoke break (which happens every day) we met up again and started working on a group project. The program director, who was leading the group today, has connections with people at a California University, I believe. Later this year he is going to do a lecture and present case studies for master's level students to analyze. So he decided to let the women help create the case studies. They started with the first one today and it was incredible to watch them get excited about it! They all worked really well together and it was obvious that they were pulling a lot of ideas and information from their own lives, whether they realized it or not. I think this is a great activity for them, not only because it makes them think about certain aspects of an addict's life, but it also gives them a great sense of purpose that they are creating something that will be used academically to help others learn.
At the end of the class we discussed how everyone's week went and plans for the weekend. When we got around the table to me I told them all how difficult of a week this has been...leaving my home, family, friends and comforts and going to a completely new place all alone. Their response was great. They all applauded my confidence and willingness to take on this journey which made me feel really good about where I'm at. I was nervous at first about how these women would act towards me, but they have been nothing but extremely kind and welcoming.
I feel really good about my placement here at SAOL and I am excited about the opportunities to come. I love the kids so much already and am happy that I will get to spend a lot of time with them. I am also very excited to work more with the women. I think I will learn a lot from this experience with them and I hope that I can teach them a thing or two myself. Addiction is such a difficult area to work in, but it's important to have strong people in the field. I'm not sure yet if this will be my career path, if I'm strong enough for it, but I will take my experiences and use them in any way I can. I could write on and on about my feelings and reflections for the day, but I'll stop now before I overwhelm myself and anyone reading this.
On another note, I got lost coming home today. I was released a bit early from work so I decided to go to O'Connell Street which is where the Rising occurred in the early 1900's. I do not know too much about the Rising...I need to brush up on my Irish history a bit. Now the street is just full of shops and restaurants. There is a store called Penney's that several people have told me to check out so I did. It was insane!! There were so many people and clothes everywhere! But things are pretty cheap there. I bought a couple things but nothing too exciting. Anyway, I knew I had about a 1.5 mile walk back and it was pretty much just a straight shot up O'Connell to the main road I live off of. Well, I got confused at one intersection and turned down a street I shouldn't have. I ended up in some quiet neighborhood, totally off the main road. Thank goodness my dad's good sense of directions was somewhat inherited because I can't use my GPS on my phone unless I want to pay roaming charges. I was only lost for maybe 5 or 10 minutes and I found my way back but the only reason I got scared was because I had to pee really bad and didn't know what to do if I couldn't hold it any longer...
I made it back safely though and tonight I'm going to a bbq for my housing agency which should be fun. Here are a few pics that I took while walking along O'Connell Street...I am in love with all of the old buildings here and the absolutely gorgeous churches!
No comments:
Post a Comment