'Do we have to go home?'

Síle has an enormous garden which the children are loving!

The 17 girls in Teach Síle, perched on the hillside overlooking island studded Carrickfin Bay, were tucking in to supper before running outside for a last go on the swings and trampoline before bed time. The flame red sun pulsed one last time before disappearing over the horizon, though it seems to never truly get dark here at this time of the year.  The sky is streaked with light even at half past one in the morning and it is fully bright at 4 a.m. (Insomniacs like me have some advantages!)
Síle, a lovely lady and the mother of four young children herself, is delighted with her visitors and can't say enough good things about them.
The girls were still in high spirits after a long but lovely day. And as we teachers set off down (yet another!) mountainside they waved from the garden and their bedroom windows.
And, yes, of course they want to go home - but they don't want to leave here either!

One last jump before bedtime.

It was similar high spirits in the other houses we visited last night.  The 6th class girls in Teach Bríd were trying on outfits for the disco and, sitting relaxed and cross legged on their bunks, discussing hair styles. The bedroom floors were strewn with clothes and left overs from midnight feasts.  Some were taking their beauty routine very seriously and were sporting face masks which they had cleverly applied as though they were face paint. They let out some long and meaningful groans when we told them they had to be packed and ready to go before the disco itself on Thursday night as we will leave early on Friday morning. Naturally they asked 'how early?'  Suffice to say our idea of early and theirs miss each other by a few crucial hours!

Holding morning court in the school yard.

The daily routine had started with the usual few minutes in the school yard catching up with friends from other houses.  With the ringing of the school bell, they filed into their classrooms for lessons - these are going well.  Ms Gurney, who is learning Irish, sat in on some yesterday and was most impressed with her fellow students. The Donegal accent can be fairly impenetrable even for seasoned visitors like myself - sometimes we wonder if they are speaking Irish or English! But the children are coping admirably and some even profess to have learned a thing or two!  Again, it is utterly impressive to see them mixing so effortlessly with the other schools - new friendships are being formed, and dare I say it, there is even a little flirting going on! (They can flirt with each other in the mornings even though they can barely put together a sentence with an accompanying grunt for an adult!)
Lunch was a fairly quick affair - the first relay of buses would leave the College at 2 o'clock on the half hour journey to Burtonport.   The sun was beaming down as we boarded the buses - a colourful assortment of bikini clad (not the teachers!) and hawaiian shirted pre-teens with rolled up towels tucked under their arms relishing every minute of their freedom. There were one or two with a bit of sense (all from 5th class!) and they were properly prepared for a boat trip on the North Atlantic.

The trip to Arranmore is utterly magical - and even more so under a cloudless blue sky.  As the old diesel engine chug chugged across the bay, weaving between the rocky outcrops and tiny islands, the children crowded the decks and craned their necks to catch a first glimpse of the promised land.
Out on the bay sea breezes whipped our hair around our faces and grew goose pimples on any bits of bare flesh- but it didn't matter, the views were stunning, the children ooh and awed and were ridiculously amused at the sight of cows having a paddle at the water's edge on a tiny, uninhabited island.

The towels came in handy!

Then came the Invasion of Arranmore - population around 500 brave souls.  Dozens of children ran hell for leather along the two shop, one post office main street and onto the golden sands.  They threw off the towels and ran straight into the water. Cue screams and yells which outdid the catcalls of gulls on a stormy day!

Before the Invasion!

The conquerors - complete with ice-cream and slush puppies!

In what seemed like a very short time later, they left again, sun kissed and wind burned, exhausted but focused on the Talent Show.  Classic Kilian's - it's hard to keep up with these kids!

                                                            The Conquerors!

                                              

Now, on occasions we teachers have jokingly dubbed it the 'lack of talent' show - but not last night!
More coming later........