Today’s guest post comes from Alex, an 8th grader at Innovation Academy. She traveled to several European countries this summer, and wanted to share a bit about her experience in Ireland. Sounds like a great adventure!

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This summer, I traveled all over Europe, but I am specifically talking about Ireland, where most of my relatives are and we had a reunion. I experienced all sorts of Irish culture, from the food they eat (there is a certain type of food that has blood as an ingredient) to their dances (I attended a dance night at a house in the country). I had a lot of fun. I took a tour of Derry (in Northern Ireland), I danced some traditional dances, I learned about Irish history, I met some distant relatives, I explored abandoned castles, I went on hikes to see many beautiful landmarks, I had tea in an a traditional tea house, and saw sheep, sheep, and more sheep.

This is my family photo at the reunion I went to. In the bottom row, from left to right, there is my cousin Andrew, my cousin Mary, and my sister Sarah. In the second row, there is my cousin Joe, my grandmother Elaine, my grandfather Eugene, my brother Sean, and me. In the top row there is my aunt Bevin, my uncle Steve, my aunt Laura, my uncle Barry, my father Brian, my mother Meg, and my aunt Brenda.

One example of Irish culture is step dancing. In the dance, dancers stiffen their upper bodies, and they do a series of complicated, intricate steps. Costumes are also key to the success of a performance. It can be performed solo or with a group. There are two types of shoes used, soft shoes, which are similar to ballet slippers, and hard shoes, which are similar to tap shoes. Irish step dancing is an important part of Irish culture.

This is an Irish step dance called the four hand reel. It is danced with soft shoes. The girl in the short black dress is my second cousin Maggie, and other girls are more distant relatives of mine.

~Alex