6th -14th August
6th August i got up, finished packing, then went down and threw my stuff into the bus which we'd be bustling about in for the next week. What'd we all do on the way down??? I just remember sitting in the 2nd row of seats on the left (beside the seat with awesome legroom), and getting a Stone Roses CD going through my big headphones.
Like 5 hours later we pulled into Limerick, which looks no different to when i was last there in February (that's no bad thing), we pulled up our bus, unloaded it and chucked all our stuff inside. All the Limerickans were there waiting for us, and so we met all of them (Sam, David, Paul, Mark, Bethany & Jon), who turned out to be pretty big legends. We played some incredibley random games, and got to know each other, and told jokes (yes, the pea on a fork is a good joke). So we just spent the night laying down the ground rules and eating raw chicken at one point. The first night i spent on my good old windowsill, only to wake up at like 4am to find me pretty much falling off it, so i resorted to the floor for the rest of the time.
Sunday we got up, had breakfast at the big long tables which are still there, and went to the morning service, which was pretty cool. There seemed to be a few more about than last year anyways. Sunday afternoon we got the place "rigged up", and bascially messed about.
Monday we kicked the kids club off, and we got a nice little number, including quite a few of the kids from last year. Theme was Pirates this year (LandLubbers), and i have to say Mal & Niall made two damn good pirates as they had their antics through the week. As did the drama team, lead by Jamie, and backed up by the king's man Phil Emerson, who wandered on stage once every few days, and gave one of his trademark PE performances. So the kids club was all well and good, and we just spend Monday afternoon hanging, playing Mashed, and doing stupid things. Oh yea, we also set out to send fliers about and had some good times, seeing the places which hadn't changed at all. Extreme was launched on Monday night, and we got more than last year, which was great. So all the usual went on, but the highlights had to be DJ Mal and his DJ Set, and the triumphant return of Hanz und Franz, in the bodysuits and all. And of course, we got the Limerick beats going full pelt again, and all piled out onto the street after and did our usual antics.
And about those antics, one thing which i will always remember will be the fact that Irish truckers are always up for a laugh. I spent a large portion of the bus trips in America trying to get the Yankees to pull the horn, and none of them did. However, the truckers going down the main street of Limerick seemed happy to, and we kicked ass at getting them to do it. I'll also remember the trucker from up here, who we tried to get to beep his horn, but he couldn't because it was bust! At least he tried. But yea, we got them to beep their horns, then we all went nuts as the passers by wondered what on earth was going on!
The next few days were Landlubbers & Xtreme again, and of course all the stuff in the middle. The hair dye had made it's way out again, and you can only guess what colour my hair made it to :). As for the afternoons, on Tuesday we just went out & about, giving out more fliers. Niall was by far the best at it, and he is able to walk up to any randomer and give them one, even if they look as if they are about to stab you! We also discovered this cool sign on the hotel building site. It was basically a "No Entry" sign, but with an outline of this guy mouthing "Stop!" and putting a HUGE hand out to show that going in was a big no no. It was so quality that a picture was taken of it.
Wednesday was only Landlubbers, and our numbers had increased to an all time high, so we got on with the job and did it well. I must mention Phil T, as he did a quality job as the Guy in Charge of Games. "I will shout out a characteristic!" "Let's diverisfy people!" You are a quality games guy, whether you like it or not. The way he addressed the kids was awesome! Unforunately Jon left, becuase of a family bereavement, which sucked, as it was only Wednesday. While he was there was great though.
In the afternoon we took off in our minibus to the full on Limerick pool, and i went up and tanked it in the gym, then went swimming. This was all while Graham & Phil T got refused for entry becuase they had no I.D at all!! We then went off to a Dutch guys house in the country, and had a good BBQ while chillaxing nicely. I was peeved, because i fell asleep on the bus, which i hate doing! Nevertheless, the bus journey back was a full on party, as David & Paul joined in our singalongs and slagging of the English football team. Quality. Then we ended up at Xtreme Bowling in Limerick, except it was even better than last year! The neons were on the rip, the music was pumping, and we all were having a good time. Neil, who was the temporary youth worker at the church, was always coming about with us, and he was a great guy when he got going, and quite a crazy one at times too. He's from Newcastle (our Newcastle, thankfully). Also, he is one awesome ten pin bowler, the only one i know like him is the J man, but anyways, Neil just rolled in the strikes like it was A B C. So that was all good, then we went back to our "living quarters", discussed how to improve what we were doing, and tried to go to bed, except our nights were getting later!
Mr Grumpy originated around this time. For anyone who doesn't know, Mr Grumpy is Niall's friend. Niall told Phil Emerson to shut up or Mr Grumpy would come out, and in true Phil style, Phil made plenty of noise, and so Mr Grumpy came out and proceeded to try and eat Phil. Mr Grumpy was then put to bed by the almighty Jimbo, who had been awoken!
I was only getting out of my "bed" at the very last minute in the mornings, but some people like Jamie Graham & Phil kept getting up at 6am for no reason. Why?!?! Anyways, the last 2 days of the schemes were great fun, and we put ample effort into them. It was all a success in the end, and i'm pretty sure we helped some people have a good time, as well as teaching them stuff. Hanz und Franz was a complete riot, especially when they made me & Graham drink a concoption of tobasco, cat food, coconut milk and sardines. If you ever want to try something horrible, try that! On the Friday night we all piled down to Abrakababra, Jimbo & Stevie in the Hanz und Franz muscle suits!! Now that was funny, all the looks we got!
Saturday we went off to Kilkee again, and got that cool boat again, played pool in the same Irish pub, and went to the same swimming pool and had a right old laugh and great craic. We actually ended up in bed quite early! And i missed the damn 4am "reunion on the stairs" because my alarm didn't even wake me up. Weird. This post is getting huge so i'm just going to go over some of the best bits (actually writing about this is incredibely hard to do 2 months after it happened, and i won't be able to do it justice!)
Neil was such a great youth worker, and what he taught me was amazing, and i haven't forgotten that. His food also improved! And the nachos ruled!
David & Paul were the brothers & musicians, and David was a legend at the old piano, and both a real laugh to be with.
Sam will be a leader someday, as he is just the guy for it. Always up for everything!!
Jon, although he left early, was a great guy to have about, and got on with everybody.
Mark is such a laugh, does anybody remember when him me & Sam went into the perfume shop & just sprayed everything and anything on us. Yes we did. And we smelt awesome afterwards.
Bethany nearly didn't talk that much, but when she did it was great! i'm pretty sure she had a good time, and she looked older than 13. Everybody knows that.
Also i will list the rest:
Stevies "sexy" costumes....
Mint choc chip ice cream!
Mal's car trip (throwing chocolate bars at Neil's car)
Mashed
That afternoon we all just lay on the floor so randomly!
Danger Danger High Voltage
That shop round the corner that sold the lovely sandwiches
Scoobies!
And the bus trip home, which was generally just a laugh and a mix of scoobies (rope thingys for those who don't know).
Well that's the best i can do on Limerick. It was great fun, but i can't really explain it that well!! If i've left anything out, chuck it in my comments box!
Like 5 hours later we pulled into Limerick, which looks no different to when i was last there in February (that's no bad thing), we pulled up our bus, unloaded it and chucked all our stuff inside. All the Limerickans were there waiting for us, and so we met all of them (Sam, David, Paul, Mark, Bethany & Jon), who turned out to be pretty big legends. We played some incredibley random games, and got to know each other, and told jokes (yes, the pea on a fork is a good joke). So we just spent the night laying down the ground rules and eating raw chicken at one point. The first night i spent on my good old windowsill, only to wake up at like 4am to find me pretty much falling off it, so i resorted to the floor for the rest of the time.
Sunday we got up, had breakfast at the big long tables which are still there, and went to the morning service, which was pretty cool. There seemed to be a few more about than last year anyways. Sunday afternoon we got the place "rigged up", and bascially messed about.
Monday we kicked the kids club off, and we got a nice little number, including quite a few of the kids from last year. Theme was Pirates this year (LandLubbers), and i have to say Mal & Niall made two damn good pirates as they had their antics through the week. As did the drama team, lead by Jamie, and backed up by the king's man Phil Emerson, who wandered on stage once every few days, and gave one of his trademark PE performances. So the kids club was all well and good, and we just spend Monday afternoon hanging, playing Mashed, and doing stupid things. Oh yea, we also set out to send fliers about and had some good times, seeing the places which hadn't changed at all. Extreme was launched on Monday night, and we got more than last year, which was great. So all the usual went on, but the highlights had to be DJ Mal and his DJ Set, and the triumphant return of Hanz und Franz, in the bodysuits and all. And of course, we got the Limerick beats going full pelt again, and all piled out onto the street after and did our usual antics.
And about those antics, one thing which i will always remember will be the fact that Irish truckers are always up for a laugh. I spent a large portion of the bus trips in America trying to get the Yankees to pull the horn, and none of them did. However, the truckers going down the main street of Limerick seemed happy to, and we kicked ass at getting them to do it. I'll also remember the trucker from up here, who we tried to get to beep his horn, but he couldn't because it was bust! At least he tried. But yea, we got them to beep their horns, then we all went nuts as the passers by wondered what on earth was going on!
The next few days were Landlubbers & Xtreme again, and of course all the stuff in the middle. The hair dye had made it's way out again, and you can only guess what colour my hair made it to :). As for the afternoons, on Tuesday we just went out & about, giving out more fliers. Niall was by far the best at it, and he is able to walk up to any randomer and give them one, even if they look as if they are about to stab you! We also discovered this cool sign on the hotel building site. It was basically a "No Entry" sign, but with an outline of this guy mouthing "Stop!" and putting a HUGE hand out to show that going in was a big no no. It was so quality that a picture was taken of it.
Wednesday was only Landlubbers, and our numbers had increased to an all time high, so we got on with the job and did it well. I must mention Phil T, as he did a quality job as the Guy in Charge of Games. "I will shout out a characteristic!" "Let's diverisfy people!" You are a quality games guy, whether you like it or not. The way he addressed the kids was awesome! Unforunately Jon left, becuase of a family bereavement, which sucked, as it was only Wednesday. While he was there was great though.
In the afternoon we took off in our minibus to the full on Limerick pool, and i went up and tanked it in the gym, then went swimming. This was all while Graham & Phil T got refused for entry becuase they had no I.D at all!! We then went off to a Dutch guys house in the country, and had a good BBQ while chillaxing nicely. I was peeved, because i fell asleep on the bus, which i hate doing! Nevertheless, the bus journey back was a full on party, as David & Paul joined in our singalongs and slagging of the English football team. Quality. Then we ended up at Xtreme Bowling in Limerick, except it was even better than last year! The neons were on the rip, the music was pumping, and we all were having a good time. Neil, who was the temporary youth worker at the church, was always coming about with us, and he was a great guy when he got going, and quite a crazy one at times too. He's from Newcastle (our Newcastle, thankfully). Also, he is one awesome ten pin bowler, the only one i know like him is the J man, but anyways, Neil just rolled in the strikes like it was A B C. So that was all good, then we went back to our "living quarters", discussed how to improve what we were doing, and tried to go to bed, except our nights were getting later!
Mr Grumpy originated around this time. For anyone who doesn't know, Mr Grumpy is Niall's friend. Niall told Phil Emerson to shut up or Mr Grumpy would come out, and in true Phil style, Phil made plenty of noise, and so Mr Grumpy came out and proceeded to try and eat Phil. Mr Grumpy was then put to bed by the almighty Jimbo, who had been awoken!
I was only getting out of my "bed" at the very last minute in the mornings, but some people like Jamie Graham & Phil kept getting up at 6am for no reason. Why?!?! Anyways, the last 2 days of the schemes were great fun, and we put ample effort into them. It was all a success in the end, and i'm pretty sure we helped some people have a good time, as well as teaching them stuff. Hanz und Franz was a complete riot, especially when they made me & Graham drink a concoption of tobasco, cat food, coconut milk and sardines. If you ever want to try something horrible, try that! On the Friday night we all piled down to Abrakababra, Jimbo & Stevie in the Hanz und Franz muscle suits!! Now that was funny, all the looks we got!
Saturday we went off to Kilkee again, and got that cool boat again, played pool in the same Irish pub, and went to the same swimming pool and had a right old laugh and great craic. We actually ended up in bed quite early! And i missed the damn 4am "reunion on the stairs" because my alarm didn't even wake me up. Weird. This post is getting huge so i'm just going to go over some of the best bits (actually writing about this is incredibely hard to do 2 months after it happened, and i won't be able to do it justice!)
Neil was such a great youth worker, and what he taught me was amazing, and i haven't forgotten that. His food also improved! And the nachos ruled!
David & Paul were the brothers & musicians, and David was a legend at the old piano, and both a real laugh to be with.
Sam will be a leader someday, as he is just the guy for it. Always up for everything!!
Jon, although he left early, was a great guy to have about, and got on with everybody.
Mark is such a laugh, does anybody remember when him me & Sam went into the perfume shop & just sprayed everything and anything on us. Yes we did. And we smelt awesome afterwards.
Bethany nearly didn't talk that much, but when she did it was great! i'm pretty sure she had a good time, and she looked older than 13. Everybody knows that.
Also i will list the rest:
Stevies "sexy" costumes....
Mint choc chip ice cream!
Mal's car trip (throwing chocolate bars at Neil's car)
Mashed
That afternoon we all just lay on the floor so randomly!
Danger Danger High Voltage
That shop round the corner that sold the lovely sandwiches
Scoobies!
And the bus trip home, which was generally just a laugh and a mix of scoobies (rope thingys for those who don't know).
Well that's the best i can do on Limerick. It was great fun, but i can't really explain it that well!! If i've left anything out, chuck it in my comments box!
posted by TheNightMonkey at 21:17
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