Polo... In India!

Polo is a team sport played on horseback. The objective of the game is to score goals against the opposing team. Players score by driving a small white plastic or wooden ball into the opposition's goal using a long-handled mallet. Polo is played at fast speed on a large grass field up to 300 yards in length.

There are a number of different forms of polo, as there is with many sports. However, the traditional seven-a-side game of polo was derived from one of the seven states of India - the state of Manipur in north east India. The city of Imphal is the capital of the state of Manipur. Manipur is surrounded by three other Indian states and another country - Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south, Assam to the west and the country Myanmar to the east.

There are four major river basins in Manipur. The Barak river is the largest river in Manipur. It originates in the Manipur Hills and it is joined by a number of tributaries.  The Manipur river basin has eight major rivers. All of those rivers originate from the surrounding hills.

Almost all of the rivers in the surrounding area are in their youthful stages and so they deposit their load in the Loktak Lake.

Manipur can be classified into two very distinct physical regions. The first is an outlying area of rugged hills and narrow valleys. The second region is the inner area of flat plain. Not only are these two regions distinct from a physical point of view, but they are also distinct with regards to flora and fauna.

The soil can be divided into two broad types. The red ferruginous soil ,which is soil with iron oxide in it, in the hill area and the alluvium soil, loose and unconsolidated soil, in the valley. On the plains, especially the flood plains and the deltas, the soil is quite thick. The top soil on the steep slopes is very thin.

The vegetation in Manipur consists of a large variety of plants ranging from short and tall grasses, reeds and bamboo to trees of various species.

The climate of Manipur is greatly influenced by the topography of the hilly region. Manipur is wedged between hills on all sides. It usually enjoys an amiable climate but sometimes the winters are chilly. Snow sometimes falls in some of the hilly regions. Kind of like Ireland, the coldest month is January and the warmest month is July. The state is hit with monsoon rains from May until the middle of October.

Night view - City of Imphal, Manipur India.

Australian football... in Australia! :L

Melbourne is located in the south-eastern part of mainland Australia. It is within the state of Victoria. Melbourne is built on lava flows to the west, mud stones to the east and sand accumulation to the southeast along Port Philip, which is a large bay located in Melbourne. Port Philip is the largest bay in the state of Victoria and one of the largest bays of inland Australia. The southeastern suburbs of Melbourne are situated on the Selwyn fault, a discontinuity in the volume of rock, which transects Mount Martha and Cranbourne, two suburbs in Melbourne.

Melbourne extends along the Yarra, a river on which Melbourne was established in 1835, towards the Yarra Valley and further towards the Dandenong Ranges and Yarra Ranges.

Melbourne has a moderate oceanic climate and is very well known for its changeable weather conditions. These changing conditions are mainly due to the location of the city. It is situated on the boundary of the very hot inland areas and the cold southern ocean. The temperature differential in the Spring and Summer months can cause very cold fronts to form, resulting in all sorts of severe weather from gales to thunderstorms and hail, large temperature drops and heavy rain.
Port Philip is often warmer than the surrounding oceans. Narrow streams of heavy showers can affect the same places for a long period of time while rest of Melbourne and its surroundings stays dry.
Melbourne, like Ireland, is very well known for having "four seasons in one day". This name has been given to Melbourne because of the quick change in weather conditions every while.

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Baseball... in America!

Baseball is a bat and ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The goal of this sport is to hit a thrown ball and score runs by touching four bases that are lined out at the corners of a ninety foot square or diamond. Baseball is very similar to the traditional game of 'Rounders'.

Baseball first began in America in 1791, in Pittsfield Massachusetts.


Pittsfield is the largest city in Berkshire County. It is also the county seat of Berkshire County.Pittsfield is an in-land city. Lanesborough is North of the city, Dalton is to the east, Washington is southeast, Lenox is south of the city, Richmond is southwest of the city and Hancock is west of the Pittsfield. Pittsfield is located 135 miles west of Boston.

The city of Pittsfield lies on the confluence of the Housotonic River. This river flows south from the city towards it's mouth at Long Island Sound. Pittsfield lies between the Berkshire Hills to the east and Taconic Range to the west. From 1932 to 1977, this river was contaminated with PCB pollution. These discharges of pollution came from the General Electric plant in Pittsfield. Although water quality has improved in the past few decades, the water is still not clear of the PCB pollution.

The west of the city contains Pittsfield state forest. This forest is great for hiking. It has cross-country skiing trails, camping, picnic areas and a swimming beach.



Pittsfield, Massachusetts.



Baseball... in Cuba! :)

Havana, the city in Cuba, in which the first baseball team was formed, lies on the northern coast of the country. It is just below the Florida Keys, where the Gulf of Mexico joins the Caribbean sea. The city extends south westerly from the bay which is entered through a narrowed inlet. Here, the city divides into three main harbours.

The Almenderes River flows through the city from south to north. This river enters the Straits of Florida a few miles west of the bay. The Almenderes River is forty five kilometres long and it acts as a water supply to the city of Havana. Several industrial plants line the banks of the river, like construction plants, food production plants, breweries etc.

The city lies on low hills which gently rise from the waters of the straits. The straits are the channels of water that lie between two land masses. Within these hills is an elevation of 200 feet. This elevation is a limestone ridge that slopes up from the east and reaches its highest point in the heights of La Cabana. This is a site of colonial fortification.

Havana, like most of the country, has a pleasant tropical climate all year round. This climate is tempered by the island's position in the trade winds and by the warm offshore currents. Rainfall in Havana is heaviest in the months of June and October. There is little rainfall from December through to April. Cuba is occasionally struck by hurricanes. Havana is one of the cities in the country that is less likely to be damaged.



City of Havana, Cuba.



Day two of complete success! :D

So today was the second day of the West Leinster Schools Athletic competition in Santry. Even though the weather was not as good as Tuesday, we still had an enjoyable and very successful day out in Santry.
Like Tuesday, we took off to Santry on the bus at around nine o'clock. On Tuesday, we didn't get seats in the the stand but today we did. We were lucky to get these seats because at stages throughout the day there were a few light showers of rain.
The day started well, continued well and finished well. Nearly every girl that competed got points for the school and there were plenty of individual medals to be had as well. Our school, for the second year, won the overall best girls school trophy. We also won the overall minor and junior cups. We got second in the senior category. We were all delighted with these fantastic achievements.
We weren't able to stay in the complex to receive our trophies because quite a lot of us had to get a vaccination back in the school at three o'clock.
One of the p.e teachers had driven to Santry so he was able to wait and collect the trophies.
As you've probably guessed it was a great day of success, excitement and enjoyment. Thank you very much to our p.e teachers who put in so much time and effort for this great event.
Here's to claiming the trophy, and more, again next year! ;)

Niamh! :D

'As graceful as a swan' :)

Today, after our great "Easter Feaster" that we held for class Emnet, we went to see a ballet show in Belvedre College, Dublin. The Irish National Youth Ballet Company were performing at the college. One of our own TY students, Hayley Cunningham, and a third year student from our school were both performing in this show.

The show was amazing. They put on three pieces, with an interval between the second and third piece. Hayley was in two of the pieces that they performed. There were five boys in the show also. They were brilliant. It was great to see that they were enjoying it just as much as the girls were enjoying it. The ages of the show performers was varied. There were young boys and girls and then there were older boys and girls.

Hayley wasn't aware that we were coming to see her so I think she was quite surprised when she came out to us at the end of the show. She had a solo part in the show which was absolutely fabulous. She was so graceful and elegant up on the stage, along with the other performers.

Ballet wouldn't be my first preference of entertainment but I must say that I really enjoyed today's show and I was very happy that we were there to support Hayley.

After the show we got back on the bus to head home. We stopped off in McDonald's on the way home for about twenty minutes as well.

Thank you to our TY co-ordinator, Ms L and our school principal, Ms B, who accompanied us on this outing to the ballet show.

Niamh! :D

Party pay back! :P

Earlier on in the school year, just before we broke up for the Christmas holidays, class Emnet prepared a lovely breakfast for all of us in class Amina. We were very thankful for what this breakfast and so we decided to make it up to them this morning.

We did this by inviting them to our "Easter Feaster"! :)
Last Monday, we decided to host this party. We assigned different tasks to everyone. Some people baked food while others bought jellies, bars and soft drinks. We had sooo much food when we set up the table this morning in the library.
We took about ten or fifteen minutes to set up and then we sent for class Emnet to come down. They all got a plate with the food along the tables and they sat down to eat it. We had the tables set out in a way that everyone was included and was able to chat away to others that weren't beside them.
When all of Emnet were sitting happily with their food, our class went up to get some food as well so that we could join Emnet. Everyone was chatting away and munching happily. We had some music playing softly in the background.
Before we started cleaning up, we raffled off three small lindt Easter eggs to class Emnet. They were about to go back to their class to let us clean up, but before they did they presented us with a lovely "Thank You" card as a token of their appreciation for our party. 
Most of the food was eaten.. "surprise surprise!" :L However, there were a few things left over so we decided to pack the leftovers into peoples' lunchboxes as we were going to be at a ballet show later in the day so the food would have been eaten then.
We got everything cleaned up pretty quickly.. the Emnet heads weren't very messy! When everything was back in place in the library we waited for the bell to go for break time. We were all really happy with the way things went. Emnet enjoyed themselves really well.

 

Niamh! :D