We’ve been here for a week and its only felt like a day! The rest of this week has been so exciting! First, in honor of pride month, we went to the Outhouse which is a LGBTQ+ resource centre. We spoke about what they do to support the community as well as the history of being queer in Ireland. I would say that it is very similar to America where being part of the LGBTQ+ community was criminalized harshly and unaccepted by the majority of people. In the centre, they recreated a gay club from the 80’s called Flikkers, it was so cool! They had pictures and records and decorations that all showed how this club made people who were part of this community feel that they could truly be themselves although others were so cruel. After our tour, they actually had a cafe where we all sat down and had coffee and some traditional Irish sausage rolls, sooo good!
Next, we went to the Deaf Village and spoke to our guide about their centre and the resources they have. She talked about their accommodations they have in the building including wider hallways and staircases to allow for signing space for people to communicate through ISL. She said something really touching as well that I don’t think a lot of people realize, she said that being deaf is not a disability but a language barrier. People who are deaf are able to live quality lives but they simply speak another language! This was really eye opening to me and I think its really important for people to not think of disability as a ruined or painful life but just a life with a different routine.
To end the week, we went to the Ireland Women’s Cricket Game against South Africa. Honestly, I had no idea what was going on most of the time but it was really entertaining to watch! Maybe I’ll train with Ireland and join the Penn State club cricket team😳. Overall, this was such a fun week and I really enjoyed going to all of these different places and experiences!
