“Culture” is a word I have been using quite often since I first arrived in Ireland. Between the language, the pace of life, and social norms, I have felt as though I have become more “cultured” as they say. However, yesterday was a day truly like no other…a day in which I had the opportunity to experience a lifestyle so foreign to me. I experienced a day on an Irish farm.
My American teammate, Feesh, and I went to visit two of her friends, Aine and Ann, down in Kilkenny who happen to live on a farm. We were excited going into it, but we never knew that it would soon turn out to be one of the best days of our lives. Having arrived at Aine’s homes, I immediately fell in love with her beautiful view overlooking endless green hills of grazing animals. She supplied Feesh and I with a pair of “wellies”, or as we Americans like to call them, rubber boots. The four of us then hopped on a quad as we took off for the animals. My heart nearly exploded as I witnessed eight newborn lambs. Just hours old, some of them were even still wet from being born. As an avid animal-lover, this was a dream come true for me. But after picking up the lambs and taking a few pictures, the “work” began.
Feesh and I were taught how to tail a lamb to prevent it from developing maggots, followed by marking it with spray paint so as to decipher between whose lamb is who’s. It is vital for lambs to drink their mother’s milk within the first few hours of life as it contains immunogens for the lamb to fight off future illnesses. My next task was to squeeze milk from the sheep and force-feed the lamb by prying open its mouth. Next, we put down fresh, new bedding for the lambs, which required rolling a hay stack around before evenly spreading out the straw. After this was completed, we went next door in the barn to witness the new calves, including one that was born just twelve hours prior. We put down bedding for the cows, but only after driving by a field in which a sheep had just given birth to two lambs minutes ago. We watched as one of the lambs learned, only after failing several times, to stand on its own four legs for the first time.
With the help of Aine’s sheepdog, we then had to lead direct a herd of sheep from the field down the road and into the barn. In making sure the lambs did not veer off the path, I was given the job of waving at them and screaming “Yah!”. Nervously I awaited this task, as soon came forty sheep heading down the road towards me. I waved frantically, as the last thing I wanted to do is have to chase down the herd in Kilkenny. Fortunately, I succeeded in sending them in the right direction. The sheep veered right, heading for the barn for Aine to be weighed in order to determine if they were heavy enough to be sold. This required aggressively grabbing the sheep by their hind leg to get them on the scale, and the sheep did not want any part of this. After weighing them, we sent them back to the fields, only to take in the pregnant ones in case any lambs were born throughout the night. And so that ended the day’s work…
Feesh and I could not help but find ourselves repeatedly saying “what a day.” We drove a tractor, held newborn lambs, pet newborn calves, performed bedding, rode a quad overlooking Kilkenny, in complete all the entire time. Meanwhile, for Aine and Ann it was just another ordinary day. Despite how amazed I was by everything, it amazed me even more that for some people this is the norm. Because for Feesh and I, it was the most unique day we’ve probably ever experienced. Different terms, different outfits, different views, different means of travel, different pets, different everyday tasks….different cultures.
