Bittersweet

My final blog about my placement in Ireland will be written in English as it is nice for my Irish family to read it as well.

The past few weeks were crazy! I knew the 'end' was coming but somehow I just ignored it as I did not want to leave at all!!

On Sunday the 11th of August we had another guided tour in the Wicklow mountains. This tour was only two days in Wicklow and 5 days in Wales. This means that I had to say goodbye to Christpher earlier than the rest as he had to guid the tour in Wales!

On Sunday we had dinner at Byrnes and Woods, the pub with the live music in Roundwood. I was standing at the bar with Christopher and when he ordered his pint of Guinness I suddenly realise that this was our last night in Roundwood for a long time! I didn't let myself think about that for too long as tears would come which would ruin the nigth!!

We hade a lovely evening with the group listening to the live music. The next day was my first day of the final week at work! So strange as I was so used to this job! The Monday was my final day at the office with Christopher, the plan was to work on the web and the Walking Festival in October, however he got a phone call at about 13.30 that one of the walkers from our group (a young boy, the age of 12) who was walking with Sheelagh on the Spinc in Wicklow tripped over a rock while he was running on the hill. The skinn on his legg split open and you could see up to his bone! As Christopher is also part of the Mountain Resque team, he and Conny, one of the volunteers, went op to the Spinc and carried the boy down. Christopher had to go to the hospital in Dublin and this took up the entire day!

In the evening Teresa and I went out for dinner again with the group and had a lovely meal! It was a good night, however Christpher, the boy and his mum came back from the hospital at abour 21.30! It was a long day and the group had to be up the next morning at about 5 to 5.30 as Christopher would pick them up at 06.00 to drive them to Dublin port to catch the ferry to Wales! A strange and busy day! During the evening I had a final glass of wine at Teresa and Christophers house and then we really had to say good bye! Christopher is not a man of many hugs but I got one! :D haha It was strange to say goodbye so soon but we agreeed that this was not a goodbye, it was a goodbye for now as we both now, I will be back!

The next day was an even more strange day for me! Christopher had left at 06.00 in the morning which was sad, but my friend Claire from England surprised me a week before to tell me that she wanted to come over! :D Sooo much fun to see her again after four years!! We met in Australia and within the four years we did not have the time or money to see each other again! I met her on the Tuesday evening at the Glendalough hotel as it was impossible for her to find my home up in the hills! She got a bit lost in the Wicklow Mountains, but finally we saw each other again!! It was so weired but so normal to see her again! Like we haven't seen each other for four weeks instead of four years!! We had a lovely meal and after that we went up to my mobile home.

That evening we went up to see Bridie (Nanna) as I had to say goodbye to her as well! We had a lovely evening with too much food and drinks which is very normal at Bridies! ;) At about eleven we went home again and I said goodbye to this lovely lady! I lost my own grandmother about 1.5 years ago and for six months I had the feeling I had a nanna again! Such a lovely warm person and I will miss her heaps!

We walked back home in the dark with no street lights, underneath a sky full of stars! It was so pretty and it reminded Claire and myself back to the time we slept outside in the outback underneat the stars! It seemed like yesterday, but then again, it was already 4 years ago!!!

We had a good night sleep and the next morning Claire went off (as she had her own car) to Glendalough to go for a walk. I had my usual day at the office and in the evening we had our dinner in the mobile, after that we went off to Byrnes and Woods for a pint and some live music! :D We had a great evening and we made a promise that the next time we will see each other will be within the 4 years!!! The next morning Claire left and went off to Galway to explore some more good stuff in Ireland! We hugged and I got a lovely present from her home town.

The fact that Claire was leaving, meant that I had to finish my packing! Friday was my final work day at the office, it was a day like any other day in the past six months! Such a strange feeling to lock the office t 17.00 realising this was the last time!

In the evening Sarah, Diana, the kids, Teresa and myself had a pizza night at Teresa's house. Sarah gave me a lovely silver neckless and some Irish good luck! I love it! In the evening Mary, Jean, Oliver and Shauna came over to have a drink and to say goodbye! Mary gave me a lovely little angel, beautiful! We had a grand evening but the saying goodbye part was hard! As soon as I gave Mary a hug I couldn't hold back the tears anymore!! These people were my family for six months and it is so hard to leave them behind after such a great experience!!

The next morning I was ready to go, had my bags packed and the mobile was empty. I had a strange feeling in my stumic but as the titel of this blog, it was bittersweet, as my sisters were waiting for me in Dublin! I did not want to leave Trooperstown but I wanted to see my sisters sooo bad!!!

Layla, Amira, Ryan and Diana came out of their beds early to say goodbye! I had some final cuddles and kisses and my last biscuit from Ryan! haha. As we were standing outside Teresa handed me an envelope to thank me for the work I had done for Footfalls. I was totally surprised as I did not expect anything at all! Well people, I can assure you that the present they gave me was waaay to much and too kind!! They really shouldn't have done it at all, but I appriciate it a lot!! I couldn't believe it and again tears role down my cheeks! All these emotions during this final week was a bit too much for me. I said my final goodbyes to Saray, Diana and the kids and gave them a big hug as I will miss them soooo much!! Teresa and myself did our final round of luggage transfers and at about 12.00 she dropped me off at the Ripley court hotel where my sisters were waiting for me! It was sooooooo good to see them again, and I could finally hug them!!! The fist thing Teresa said was "oh my god you look a lot like each other!" haha, not the first time we've heard that! I dropped of my luggage in the hotel and I said goodbye to Teresa, it was hard to see her leaving as this was it... this was my time in Trooperstown, my time at Footfalls, my placement in 2013.

I was so glad I had two days in Dublin with my sisters! We went shopping, shopping, shopping, having lunch at pubs, Chris and I got a tattoo, we listened to live music, I showed them around in the city, and we had a BIG room in the Ripley Court Hotel, it was a room for four people so lots of space for all of our stuff!!

On Sunday afternoon we flew back to Holland. I did not really realise that I was leaving the country untill I steped into the plane. As I walked from the airport to the plane, I could see Sugar Loaf Mountain, this mountain was also visable from my Mobile home... I realised, I was leaving!

We had a good flight, it as a bit of a bumpy ride as there were a few clouds up in the air but everything went ok! Arriving at the airport Niels and Sharon were waiting for us!! Oh my gooood it was sooo good to see Sha again!! Missed her a lot!!! And ofcourse Niels, my brother in law to be gave me a big hug and a warm welcome home!

At the train ride back home I had a strange feeling in my stumic, I wished I was back in Ireland again :( but I know Ireland is only one hour away from me by plane and I know I will go back as soon as possible!

After an hour train ride, Koen picked Chris and myself up at the train station in Breda, I got a big hug and a large box of chocolates from him!! Good man! ;) Finally when I got home I got to hug my mum again! It is always good to hug your mum (and dog) after a long time!! We had one of my favourite Dutch meals (zuurkool met worst) and it was good to be home.

As mentioned before, it is bittersweet but I am so glad and thankfull that I got the oppertunity to work at Footfalls as I did not only gain experience in the tourism field, but I got an entire Irish family!

I just want to thank some people who mean the world to me!
I want to thank Christopher and Teresa for giving me the chance to work at Footfalls, for their good faith in me, for welcoming me into their home, lives and family and their generosity!.

I want to thank Bridie for the warm welcome she gave me everytime I went over to her house. I want to thank Mary for the great summer we had together, for being such a good friend to me and for helping me when I needed some good advise! I want to thank Sarah and Lassaad for making me feel so welcome into their home, Lassad thanks for being my WIFI man! You saved my life several times when the WIFI did not work anymore! ;) Sarah you are like a big sister to me, nothing was impossible and everything could be arranged! From BBQ's to Cocktail nights ;)
I want to thank Diana for being such a good friend to me! I will miss the Thursdays when we usually had our lunch together!!
I want to say thank you to Layla, Amira and Ryan who are such good kids!! When I will have kids in the future, I want them to be like you!! So Layla, maybe you should come over in a few years so you could be the nanny! :D I will miss the fun we had, the hugs and laughter!!

Thank you all for making my time at Footfalls in Trooperstown unforgetable! I will miss you all soo much but as I said before, I will not say goodbye, I will say..... Until we meet again!

It was all I ever wanted and more than I expected it to be!