It was a brisk cold morning walking in Ringsend next to the water looking. I was looking at the birds sitting on the cold black and blue ice made the surreal experience of being in Dublin for the first time became real. Fionan O’ Connell, a professional photographer, was showing us around Ringsend when something very unexpected happened. I looked down the dead end road that led into the docks and saw two minivans and a small mobile home parked. The vehicles looked worn down and there were towels and men’s shorts hanging from a line outside next to them. We huddled up in a tight circle so that Fionan could tell us a secret about Ireland: “There are gypsies in a mobile home over there, be cautious!”This is the first time in the trip that I have seen something very out of the ordinary, which gave my stomach a turning feeling, but I had the comfort from my fellow students, teachers, Fionan and the warm sunshine breaking through the clouds. We crept by the gypsies, known as “Travellers," who were occupying the end of the alley when a young looking grungy man came outside and said, “Stop taking pictures of my copper wire.” We learned from our teachers that some of the Travelers will try to make money off of anything and maybe this is the reason why he wanted us to stop taking pictures-- it could be because he wanted to charge us.
Walking across a platform we looked back to hear Irish music blasting from an old Volvo and a baby peering out the window. Fionan informed us that some Travellers occupy space all over Ireland and Europe as well. In Ireland it takes a $650 court order to get them to move from where they are. One example were learned about was a group of Travelers who were in a college parking lot in Ireland and instead of the President of the college getting a court order he gave them $500 dollars so they would pick up and leave. Through my eyes I believe this is a very unstable life and it is sad to see that some people really live like that to survive an everyday.
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