WOW it's been a long time, and a lot has happened...

So, since last time, here's the quick update:
I have a signed a lease and am moving on september 1st to a room in a 3 floor 7 bedroom house, with my kitty, in Brighton. I also have an internship with Volunteers of America at a women's substance abuse rehab program - i'll be a clinician, running groups and doing individual counselling sessions with my own client caseload. I'm excited, and terrified, at the same time. My experience working in New Haven at the crisis/respite house will come in handy at this place, but i will have a lot more responsibility and involvement than i've had before... So i'm thinking of it like a healthy skills-growing challenge. I'll break out of my experience vise next year, get an intership somewhere i have zero experience or training...

Also, my favorite part, i went to Ireland for 10 days in august, just got back last thursday! It was a really life changing experience -- of course i spent days walking around Ireland with the rolling green hills spotted with cows and sheep, the looming, mysterious mountains shrouded by mist, watching the waves crashing against rocky beaches in breezy violence, enjoying the warm company of various friendly locals and fellow travelers...


Yes, it was all of this, but the trip also had many hiccups, like when two different hostels "lost" my reservation and had no more beds available and no more in that whole town so i had to change plans and pick a random nearby town out of my rough guide based solely on whether i could find a bed or couch for that night.




And when i then needed to leave town, there were no buses or even taxis to take me to the next town, and i was walking down the road with my 80 lb backpack and it started to rain so i pulled out my cell phone to call the nearest town's taxi service no matter the cost, but my cell phone wouldn't complete a single call even though it had full reception, so i had no choice but to suck in my fear and stick out my thumb and pretend i wasn't actually hitchiking for the first time in my life, in a foreign country, in the rain.

There were a lot of stinky socks, a lot of packing and unpacking and repacking and then forgetting that i needed that one last thing at the very bottom of the bag, and a lot of stopping random people everywhere for directions and advice. I learned a lot about myself - my capabilities, limitations, weaknesses and strengths.



I learned that i can talk myself into being in a good mood and pushing worrisome thoughts into the back of my mind just by saying "i'm in Ireland, i'm not complaining about ANYthing!"


I also learned that i seem to be developing some sort of fear of heights, or general anxiety around heights. There were at least three distinct occasions where I was climbing up something particularly high and unsteady and i had such overwhelming physical anxiety that i had to stop, and twice actually started climbing back down, before i said to myself "you are in Ireland, don't wimp out, you'll regret it" and forced myself all the way to the top, before scrambling back down. This, i think, is new.


But most importantly, this trip gave me a sense of accomplishment -- i finally went on the trip i've been dreaming of forever, which was possible because i've worked hard for the past four years to support myself, save up, and finish my undergraduate degree, and on this dream trip i proved to be self-sufficient, flexible, and competent enough, in the end. This kind of makes me feel like, oh ok, i actually can handle life.



Anyway, the pictures are all on facebook, you do not need an account or anything to see them, just click on the link and double click on the first picture, and the commentary is on the bottom.
Ireland trip (CONDENSED) album 1 of 2: http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2006109&l=85ec1&id=1248110887
Ireland trip (CONDENSED) album 2 of 2: http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2006164&l=110bd&id=1248110887



And in case you are like me and just can't seem to get enough looking at pictures of beautiful Irish landscape, there are like 600 pictures altogether, which can also be accessed through the 10 album series on facebook.
Ireland (COMPLETE) album 1: http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2005991&l=0b8ba&id=1248110887
Ireland (COMPLETE) album 2: http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2006022&l=ef9d2&id=1248110887
Ireland (COMPLETE) album 3: http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2006025&l=325bf&id=1248110887
Ireland (COMPLETE) album 4: http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2006027&l=ce7a0&id=1248110887
Ireland (COMPLETE) album 5: http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2006028&l=c1143&id=1248110887
Ireland (COMPLETE) album 6: http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2006029&l=27c20&id=1248110887
Ireland (COMPLETE) album 7: http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2006030&l=eb1cf&id=1248110887
Ireland (COMPLETE) album 8: http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2006031&l=8aba2&id=1248110887
Ireland (COMPLETE) album 9: http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2006032&l=b1003&id=1248110887
Ireland (COMPLETE) album 10: http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2006033&l=4b425&id=1248110887



Enjoy the pics, lemme know what you think!!