We’re all sad that the program is over halfway over, but we’re determined to make the most of our time left, and that wasn’t hard considering how exciting this week was! On Monday, the Arts and Culture (A&C) gappers made beautiful watercolor paintings and continued improving their charcoal skills, while the Adventure and Leadership (A&L) group finished making tree boxes in town and planted in them, then did a leadership workshop by the Duff River (including climbing trees, team-building games, exploring near a waterfall, meeting a cute dog, and roasting marshmallows)! We left for our second trip on Tuesday morning and arrived in Dublin, where we toured the Guinness storehouse to learn all about the history of the iconic drink and how it’s made before getting to try some. Then we had some free time to explore the city. Wednesday was our day in Belfast; we learned about the political history of Northern Ireland through murals on a Black Taxi Tour, then had a fun time out at a pub! We visited the Dark Hedges (a Game of Thrones filming site) and the Giant’s Causeway on Thursday, admiring the impressive geological formations of the rocks and learning about the legends of the giants. On Friday the A&C did more charcoal drawing and photography, and A&L biked around Glenveagh National Park, exploring the beautiful landscape and admiring the castle and gardens. We finished off our week on Saturday with a chill morning of watercolors, then another charcoal workshop and a boat scavenger-hunt challenge on Lough Erne! It was fun to navigate and drive the boat independently, and we learned a lot about the castles and monasteries on the lake. Sundays are free days, and we spent ours in town, having brunch and then having fun at Bundoran Adventure Park. Next week is our Galway trip! I’m so excited to do all the things my group planned.