Not to mention incredibly sad. I'm sorry to say I'm going to start my blog off on a sad note again but I want people reading to realize what a big problem this is over here. The fact that I've had two posts in less than a week regarding suicide is a bit alarming to even myself. The latest was a 15 year old boy on Saturday who apparently had a fight with a family member and decided that ending his life was the best way to deal with it. His sister plays Gaelic Football with me, which is why the match was cancelled on Sunday. I found out shortly after my post yesterday.
They're holding the funeral today and I would normally be going with the rest of my team (who went as a group wearing their GAA jackets) but we already lost half of our small work crew to the funeral and somebody has to stay on site. I don't mind as I had never met him and the guys missing were all school mates and neighbors. I'm just so sad for the family.
It's weird because although you hear general radio announcements when they're trying to raise money for the crisis hotline, you don't see much else about it. As an American friend of mine pointed out - why aren't they papering the town with crisis hotline numbers? Why aren't they holding forums to discuss what might be happening? Where are the public speakers to address the kids at school and discuss what's going on with them?
I can only imagine that if something like 2 suicides in one week happened in my home town, there would be psychologists and counselors running rampant in the schools and board meetings and PTA meetings and every other kind of meeting going on trying to prevent the next one from happening. From what I can tell from listening to people talk and listening to news radio in the evenings, it's a topic people don't like to discuss - it's 'swept under the rug' like a lot of issues here. Suicide, sex-ed, child abuse, underage smoking/drugs... Maybe if we ignore it, it will go away? Don't get me wrong. They're making progress, but having come from someplace where we finally have so many of those issues out in the open and where real progress is being made to deal with things like that, it's tough to watch.
On a less dreary note, I've planned a completely touristy trip for this weekend. Blarney. Yep - Home of the Stone of Eloquence, better known as the Blarney Stone. Will I kiss it? I'd like to say no because the idea is kind of gross, but everyone I've ever known who says no (even my sister Shaine) ends up going and kissing the damn thing anyhow. So yes, I will probably kiss the stone that millions of people have gone and kissed. Did you know they hang you upside down to do it? There's a guy who holds on to you as you tip back and kiss it. Blogger is being a major pain in the toukas today and won't let me upload the pic of my mom kissing it this summer. Maybe later...
So I'm looking forward to the trip because I promised myself I would do lots of touristy things while I'm here and I've been a bum about it for the most part. I'm just hoping they don't reschedule the Gaelic match for this weekend. Guess I'll have to wait and see. ;-)
They're holding the funeral today and I would normally be going with the rest of my team (who went as a group wearing their GAA jackets) but we already lost half of our small work crew to the funeral and somebody has to stay on site. I don't mind as I had never met him and the guys missing were all school mates and neighbors. I'm just so sad for the family.
It's weird because although you hear general radio announcements when they're trying to raise money for the crisis hotline, you don't see much else about it. As an American friend of mine pointed out - why aren't they papering the town with crisis hotline numbers? Why aren't they holding forums to discuss what might be happening? Where are the public speakers to address the kids at school and discuss what's going on with them?
I can only imagine that if something like 2 suicides in one week happened in my home town, there would be psychologists and counselors running rampant in the schools and board meetings and PTA meetings and every other kind of meeting going on trying to prevent the next one from happening. From what I can tell from listening to people talk and listening to news radio in the evenings, it's a topic people don't like to discuss - it's 'swept under the rug' like a lot of issues here. Suicide, sex-ed, child abuse, underage smoking/drugs... Maybe if we ignore it, it will go away? Don't get me wrong. They're making progress, but having come from someplace where we finally have so many of those issues out in the open and where real progress is being made to deal with things like that, it's tough to watch.
On a less dreary note, I've planned a completely touristy trip for this weekend. Blarney. Yep - Home of the Stone of Eloquence, better known as the Blarney Stone. Will I kiss it? I'd like to say no because the idea is kind of gross, but everyone I've ever known who says no (even my sister Shaine) ends up going and kissing the damn thing anyhow. So yes, I will probably kiss the stone that millions of people have gone and kissed. Did you know they hang you upside down to do it? There's a guy who holds on to you as you tip back and kiss it. Blogger is being a major pain in the toukas today and won't let me upload the pic of my mom kissing it this summer. Maybe later...
So I'm looking forward to the trip because I promised myself I would do lots of touristy things while I'm here and I've been a bum about it for the most part. I'm just hoping they don't reschedule the Gaelic match for this weekend. Guess I'll have to wait and see. ;-)
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