Editor's note: The following is a letter from a Sparks High School graduate who moved from Sparks to Longford, Ireland in June. The following is her account of playing hostess to the Reed High School marching band students who recently spent a week in Sparks' sister city to play at a city music festival.

Well, the group from Sparks left by 3:30 a.m. today (Sept. 28) and are on their way back home. I spent four full days with them, although none of them stayed in my house. They had to keep groups of children together with a certain number of chaperones and my house wouldn’t accommodate that large a group.

I began my time with them on their second day here, which was Thursday (Sept. 24). We took a tour of WB Yeats country in counties Sligo and Leitrim and went on a mining tour in Arigna. The miners themselves gave the tour and all had worked in this particular mine. Most had started when they were about 14 or 15 as soon as they’d completed National School. They worked in an area no bigger than 18 inches deep and 24 inches wide and often were lying in several inches of water while they spent the day hand-digging out coal. Many of those they had worked with were now deceased because of the lung diseases they developed while working as miners. At the time, however, the jobs were highly desired because they paid as much or more than other professional positions such as teachers. We also took a short boat trip down the Shannon River starting from the town Carrick-on-Shannon. That day, the Sparks group marched down the main road of the town as the opening act of the Banjo Festival.

On Friday (Sept. 25), we all took a tour of Dublin and, of course, went to the Guinness Hopstore and had a sample of Guinness (only the adults, of course). We also saw the Houses of Parliament and City Hall and visited parts of Dublin that originated with the Vikings. That night, we went to one of the concerts for the banjo festival and the music was fabulous.

On Saturday (Sept. 26), we had a guided tour of the Corlea Trackway in the Kenaugh Village, which is just a short distance from Longford. It was built in 148 B.C. and is the only known example of an Iron Age roadway. Its purpose is not known but it was thought to be a road that took people into the bog, which is extremely unsafe to cross, and maybe played a role in sacrificial ceremonies.

Unfortunately, the road wasn’t used for very long because of its extreme weight and it eventually sunk into bog, which preserved it. The timbers used to make it were massive and it had to have taken great cooperation, time, energy and engineering finesse to have cut down the trees as well as to build it.

We also visited a few other historical sites including a rock formation that was from about 500 B.C., which will remind you a bit of Stonehenge. It’s hard to understand how men from that time were able to place the stones the way they did.

That evening, I think, was the best of the activities arranged for the group. We went to the village of Haggard and the people there had prepared a meal for us and entertained us with traditional music (singing and instrumental), dancing and storytelling. It was an absolutely fabulous evening and one that displayed the heart and soul of the Irish people and their warmth and generosity.

On Sunday (Sept. 27), we went to a Gaelic football game. This was not something I was particularly excited about but I thought I should go since sports is a huge thing for the Irish. They don’t have sports teams associated with school. These activities are completely separate. You have one team per parish and they are highly participated in by all. Girls can play up until age 12 with the boys but after that they each have to have their own teams.

It’s a little rough but not as much as the game Hurling. No equipment is worn and there doesn’t seem to be that many rules. There are 15 players on each team. You get one point for getting the ball between two posts and three points for making a goal. The game only lasts one hour (this I really liked) unless the team is tied, then you have overtime until someone makes a score. They run, pass or kick the round, heavy ball down the field but if they are running with it they must bounce it every four steps. You aren’t allowed to tackle another team player but you can shove them in the shoulder. I actually pretty much understood this game, which I thought was a heck of a lot easier to comprehend than our football, and in the end I enjoyed it more than I expected. The crowd was noisy, boisterous and definitely cheerleaders for their team.

After that, the group had a short break and then we had a farewell dinner. I have to say the kids, who ranged in age from about 15 to 20, were really well-behaved and were excellent ambassadors for their schools, the city of Sparks and the United States in general. It was fun spending time with them and their parents.

Overall, I had a really good time with everyone and it was fun to talk about home and see how positively everyone from Longford reacted to the group. I’m going to miss the constant activity.