Oh me, oh my!

So its been a few days since I posted anything but it's been kinda crazy and i've been kinda lazy so...

Thursday night was really fun! We went and heard traditional irish music, and I'm pretty sure we somehow managed to polka to it several times throughout the night! There was definately an older crowd there than we're use to but they seemed amused by us to say the least! Friday morning came quickly and by 9am the 8 people going to belfast were on their way (I got up to say bye, and because I needed to pack and buy my tickets for spring break!) The rest of us left around 2:30 and had a sing-along on the way to derry! Once we got here we moved into our awesome flat, went grocery shopping/go something to eat, and started to settle in. We had a quiet night in with west wing episodes as we were all really tired.

Today we made a feast for brunch with fried potatos and eggs. I didn't really help with the cooking but i did the dishes so it was definately a team effort! After that most of us just went into town and walked around and did a little shopping. We found a cute coffee shop and they had the most amazing chocolate cake! It was sooo good. As for the rest of tonight, it'll probably be low key seeing as how all of our energy levels are really low. There's talk of checking out a wine bar, or just finding a little pub to just hang out in.

:)

Ash Wednesday and Last Thursday

Ok, so yesterday was Ash Wednesday (which I only knew because of the posters up around school thank you UU), but it was also our fieldtrip to Belfast. Let me just say that "fasting" on day long field trips is harder to do than you might think...but I did it! By fasting, of course I mean just not snacking between meals or anything like that, but it was really tempting when we stopped to get coffee in belfast and their were fluffy scones the size of my hand!

Anyways the highlight of yesterday was definately the fact that we got to hear from people involved on both sides of the troubles-loyalists and republicans/unionists and nationalists/protestants and catholics. Their stores were definately powerful especially when paired with visiting and being in shankill and Milltown cemetary.

Today we had some preparation for our internship, followed by lunch at Nigel's house. His kids are soooo cute, and well naturally his wife was so nice (especially cause she made soup and bread for us, and welcomed all 13 of us into her home for lunch!) After that we were surprised with a trip to the beach, and although it was a little cold and rainy it was still awesome! Tonight we're going to celebrate our last night all together by going to the anchor to listen to some traditional irish music! It should be fun and I hear we're all dressing up, which I'm really excited for cause that means I can wear one of my new dresses!

Anyways, promise to write more later!
Katie :)

Fat tuesday...Does that mean I get to eat more?

*Girls Pic this past Saturday!

*Peace Mural...My Favorite!

*Free Derry...er Gaza Sign

*Dunluce Castle :)

*By Giant's Causeway :) Beautiful ain't it?

*Group pic first weekend out

So today has been a good but long day! It started with me deciding sleep was more important than getting up and showering. And while this isn't a new dilema for me, it was the first time I had this thought here, and only the second time i didn't shower first thing in the morning (last wednesday was the first, but it was just because the water was so cold that i just couldn't bring myself to shower, i did wash my hair in it though so...but i digress) Anyways that extra sleep and a little bit of coffee held me over through a presentation on education here in the us-actually really interesting, so interesting in fact that i went and looked up a bunch of stuff at the end of the day. Our speaker went over about a half and hour so we ate a really quick lunch before and during our next presentation which was on how children view the troubles and reconciliation-really interesting too! Then we went and cashed our stipend checks for the next 8 weeks, needless to say i was very protective and aware of that money-I've never had so much cash! We finished up the day with a little orientation to belfast and watching parts of a video that show separatism through children's eyes.

So tonight I made my delicious pasta with tomato and chedder cheese but this time the plate was huge and probably weighted at least 5-10 pounds...I'm not exaggerating (Drea took a pic so that will be coming soon) And now I'm just kinda thinking about things and reading a book about the omagh bombing, and planning on going to bed early cause i'm exhausted! (And we're leaving at 8am tomorrow!)

Ok so the last thing I want to put in here is some of the quotes that have really stood out to me over the last three weeks or so...quotes just really stand out to me so I usually make a note or take a picture of them. Anyways here are a few of the quotes...

"History, despite its wretching pain, Cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again."~Maya Angelou

"First Casualty of war is the truth."~Adrian, the tour guide in derry

"History=divided PLACE or a divided PEOPLE" Nigel...I think...

"I'll wear no Convict's uniform, nor meakly serve my time"~hunger strikers memorial

"Let Our Revenge Be The Laughter Of Our Children"~Hunger strikers memorial

Just words that make you think...

A rambling kind of day

So I guess the last two days have been relatively calm and uneventful, which can be relaxing at times, but then sometimes too much free time on your hands leads to too much thinking (although I haven't really hit that point yet, and now I'm just rambling...)

Anyways yesterday...what did I do?
Oh, I made an amazing lunch of mostacholi with tomatos and shreadded chedder cheese (it looked amazing trust me!) and watched shipwrecked(a young adult survivor-like british reality show) which has become a sunday tradition for me, drea, and sarah. After that I just went to the library and did some of the reading, but while i was at the library I discovered some adult episodes of "Doug." In an effort to protect my childhood memories i only watched one though (although I must admit i'm kinda intrigued)! Anyways I watched superbad and finished the reading and went to bed! Not too exciting, but it was kinda nice to have a kinda slow day.

Today Derick talked to us about relationships and building trust in northern ireland, and reconciliation. Class and lunch were the first times I had seen some people since friday night, and apparently they're all getting sick :( After that Nigel talked about "dealing" with the past which as much as I've seen and heard horror stories of the troubles for some reason I still teared up at the pictures he used in the slide show. I don't really think becoming immune to the images is helpful because it's important to remember that each victim had a family and a life that got changed forever. Sorry I'm rambling again, i guess its just one of those days! Anyways after class, I did laundry and ate some pizza before coming to the lib to use the internet and finish reading. Hopefully going to bed early cause tomorrow is gonna be a long day between three seminars, and going to get our stipend checks, but it should be fun!

Oh, so talk of what everyone is doing for spring break has begun already! The good news, flights are really cheap and I have a couple of different options for who with and where I go, the not-so good news is it will require a little planning. Oh well more stuff to think about!

Loving Northern Ireland more and more,
Katie :)

It definately smells like Wisconsin today!

Last night, the potluck was delicious, and Sarah's birthday candle was carved into a potato! It was really cute too because the boys really went out of their way to make things perfect. When we got there, they had moved all the furniture around so that we could all fit around a large "table" in the center. The night really began after dinner, when because we are poor american college students, everyone began drinking, aka pre-gaming. I learned this term a few years ago, but it wasn't until recently that i understood the importance of it (You drink before you go, so you don't spend all your money at the bar!) Let's just say that we all had a good time, and we were all happy Becca decided to come out for a little bit even though she's been sick! Oh and they played one of the last songs I would have ever expected to hear in a club- 9 to 5 by dolly parton! Even more shocking we all knew at least part of it!

Curious about the title? Well even though it was warm and sunday when we finally left to go shopping today (it was 2:30 after all), it was windy and well the smell of manure was/is particularly strong today. I'm sure its one of those things I should just get use to, and I'm trying to I swear, its a little off putting nonetheless. Anyways we took a cab to and from the town square so it really wasn't a big deal. So Alyssa, Drea, Sarah, and I were all really excited to find all these movies on sale, until we realized they might not be playable on our computers or when we got home. So we put all the movies back and decided to drown our sorrows in shopping, and we did! I got a cute top and purse for 5 pounds each and two dresses for 30 pounds total. The dresses were good buys in particular because my lack of dresses has become apparent recently due to the fact that we go out every weekend, and well sometimes its just nice to get dressed up to go with friends! When we got back after a quick cab ride from our new favorite cab driver Kenny (who gave us free admission tickets to club aura last night) the ideas of naps, showering and eating were on our minds, and yet I came to the library cause theres still plenty of time for that!

As for tonight, maybe either a movie night or some of us were thinking of going to kelly's, which is supposedly a complex with three or four different clubs/bars where everyone goes on wed. nights, but a couple of people have told us we should go tonight so maybe we will. We were going to go this wednesday but thursday is shaping up to be a little longer of a day than we thought it would be so maybe not.

Still loving northern ireland and its people! :)

Potluck + missing contact=a good friday!

Really short blog cause I need to go get ready for tonight and make garlic bread for the potluck. The seminars today were really interesting cause they dealt with social work in N.I. as well as recognizing our own prejudices and the assumptions we make when we first meet people...a lot to think about on a friday afternoon! To complicate things my contact fell out sometime before I got to class making me semi blind for half the day, oh and I forgot my key too! I know good start to the day! On the brightside I discovered the deliciousness of nutella and peanut butter sandwiches! After class I took a brief nap before deciding to come to the library to just check my email.

Tonight we're having a potluck dinner/bday party for sarah over at the boys' place, followed by what is sure to be a fun night out at havana. Sloppy Joes, garlic bread, something i can't remember right now, and chocolate cake are on the menu so it should be delicious!

Oh and as for my internship which starts a week from monday, here's a little info:

My internship supervisor said I'd be helping with projects that bring together different groups of kids through classes and activities, and possibly a retreat which would be interesting to say the least. She also mentioned me maybe working on some research with the community with surveys, questionaires and what not which could be cool too. It sounded like there are a few different projects going on so there will be a chance to work on different projects. Honestly my biggest worry will be making sure I take the right buses to get to work the first day, and even then she said not to panic if i'm a few minutes late because i got lost or something. Mind you I won't be late because a. i'm going to make a point to be early, and b. I don't start til 10:30!!

As for this weekend, I have no clue but maybe going to tk maxx to get a cute dress because everyone else has one and well i want one too in case we do another dress night! And you read that right tk maxx, aka tj maxx in the states!

Hope everyone has a great weekend! :)

Gimme, Gimme, Gimme

So this may seem like a random post but well i'm kinda random so I guess it fits my personality then. Anyways I can't believe I've only been here 2 weeks! Don't get me wrong it's been an amazing two weeks, but I've already learned and experienced so much that it seems like its been much longer. Tonight some of us were talking about a Northern Ireland playlist and some of the songs that would have to be on there. Some of those songs include:

Gimme, Gimme, Gimme- by Abba
Single Ladies-Beyonce
I kissed a girl- Katy Perry
Hot and Cold- Katy Perry
The island- don't know who sings that one
Open your eyes- Snow Patrol (who hail from N.I.)
Take back the city-Snow Patrol
Closing time- Green day

And a few others I can't think of. Obviously some of these are significant because they are about N.I or the troubles, and/or because they are played during car rides, while others are the songs they play everytime we go out! Either way I can't listen to them the same way- now I have only good memories associated with them!

Today was ok, the first speaker kind of repeated the historical stuff we already know now, and didn't talk as much about his actual experience as part of the negotiations team that came to the good friday agreement, but overall he was ok. The second speaker talked about his experiences working and teaching in different countries in africa and what that has taught him about global social justice. It was really interesting, partially because he was really funny and because it was nice to talk about a different topic than the history of the troubles. Plus tomorrow is Friday! I'm so excited! Its Sarah's bday so we're having a potluck dinner/get together and then going out to Havana again. We always have a good time, but considering most of us haven't been out in a week, I have a feeling its going to be an interesting night!

It was the best of days and the worst of days...

Ok so today was an amazing! It was one of those days you know you'll never forget, but you don't really necessarily know how its changed me but i feel like it has. The stories of our bogside tour guide and john kelly who runs the free derry museum and whose brother Michael was killed in the Bloody Sunday disaster just made everything so real and personal. To hear him describe not only his brother's death, and the stories of how other victims died was sobering, but then after we toured the museum we got to have a little talk with him at a nearby community center he talked about how he and his family dealt with the loss. The way he sought revenge and justice for his brother was by pushing for a second inquiry into bloody sunday, and in doing so making the soldiers who killed testify (although all but one completly lied under oath, and it wasn't until the second inquiry that the one semi-honest soldier testimony was allowed, keep in mind the rest of his batoon tried to beat him up and he's now in witness protection.)

Anyway, there was something so moving about the bogside, I mean to stand where people died and essentially started the troubles moved me more than I can say. I bought a signed limited edition print of my favorite mural-the one thats all about peace of course! Oh and its signed by the artists themselves, and i just figure it'll be a perfect reminder of the day, the people, and the history.

So there was thing that really stands out in my mind, but not for good reasons. It was something i didn't take a picture of -partial because I didn't really want to remember it, and more because after reading it I wanted to puke, punch someone, and cry all at the same time. It was just one of apparently many letters sent to the families of the victims of bloody sunday saying that their son or loved one deserved to die because he was (fill in the blank with any number of expletives) and that instead of saying may god watch over him at the funeral, that it should have been something like thank good that pig died because he was a traitor and blah blah blah...IOh and at the end it told them they could either leave the bogside (area of derry where bloody sunday occured) or be burned out of their homes. 'm sure I'm not even beginning to describe it but it was the most horredous, hateful, merciless thing I've ever read.

Despite this, and that it started at 8am it was an amazing day! I met my internship supervisor, who is really nice, and discovered there are a lot of stores and bars in derry so i'm sure a good time will be had there! lol I'm excited to move there, I mean I'm gonna miss having the whole group together and four and half people is a really small group, but like everything else I have faith it will all work out for the better!

Oh and I was really surprised by how much stuff there was about the israel/palestinian conflict there was. The free derry sign now says free gaza, and on top of the hill/wall overlooking the bogside, protesters spelled out gaza with palestinian flags. And there's a few murals about it too. Speaking of interesting symbols Che is everywhere...I really liked the mural remembering him too! (on a random side note)

So the not so great part is that my beloved ipod has pretty much died and erased all the songs making it completly useless. I can't tell you how much i loved and used my ipod but really its just a thing, so i'm trying to not be too upset. It just reemphasizes how i need to get a job for this summer since it looks like i'll now be buying an ipod and laptop...these purchases better last for a couple years lol!

Maybe this day has just been draining and left me with a lot to think about.

Loving N.I in a whole new way,
Katie :)

Not everyone's a fan of Americans

So I should probably start by saying that overall everyone has been really friendly and welcoming to us...with a few exceptions that is...

Saturday a group of people walked into portstewart to go to Morelli's again for lunch, and on their way back a group of 9 and 10 year olds egged them after finding out they were american. Luckily the little boys had bad aim and only managed to hit Karen's foot, but still...Apparently Jordan was ready to fight them, but seeing as how it was on their turf that probably wouldn't have been a good idea! Oh and a girl tried to start a fight with Justin at the club on thursday, and somebody almost got in a fight with some of the girls at the club on saturday. Somehow I've managed to miss all these incidents but they have made me a little more aware of how I and we as a group act in public.

Saturday turned out to be mellow...a bunch of us just stayed in and watched part of "Nick and Nora's infinate playlist" until the movie stopped, and then of course we turned on an episode of west wing! Isn't everyone's v-day like that?!

Sunday a few of us girls walked into coleraine to do a little shopping and get a few things! Everything was on sale- it was amazing! I ended up getting a cute black hat for 3 pounds and this ridiculously awesome hoodie for 16 pounds! It's got rainbow stripes and black background...its cool, trust me! Oh and when we got back I ate, and read, and Sarah and I did laundry! Yay for clean clothes! Oh and we finished the movie...cute ending!

Today we had class from 10-5, and we talked about identity, the conflict, and the murals. It was really interesting. Plus for the afternoon class we joined a class for history teachers, so it was cool to get to talk to them a little bit. Like most other people we have met here they were friendly and it was fun to have a little break from class to just talk with them! Tonight will probably be low key, we have a little homework, and some reading for later on in the week!

I'm kinda liking getting into the swing of things here so hopefully it continues to go well...we have a fieldtrip to derry on wed. and even though we leave at 8am I'm really excited for it. Oh and I discovered good hot chocolate and instant mocha coffee so that's exciting too!

That's all for now...I think,
Katie :)

Like the irish...

So one of the main stereotypes of the Irish is that they drink a lot...while after a week of living in Northern Ireland I can honestly say that as a whole they sure know how to party! Most of us can't even imagine going out and partying everynight, but here they have specific places they go to each night of the week. While I don't claim to have gone to bed by 9pm everynight this year, I still think they go out A LOT! With that being said, I'm certainly enjoying the benefits of going out a couple times a week and enjoying a drink or too!

So Thursday night after doing a few of my readings for friday and sending in my cv (resume) and letter of introduction for my internship, we headed out for what I thought was just a drink or two at the anchor. We ended up hanging out at the pub for a while, before heading up to club aura for a little bit. Because I am really talented at procrastinating I still had 2 readings to finish before class on friday so I left with the early group but it was still fun...if not a little weird since our first real day of class was the next day.

Friday started off on a not so good foot with most of us girls being about 5 min. late for class! I hate being late to class normally but I really felt bad cause our classes are like seminars with people coming in just to talk to/with us. It didn't help that apparently we're the first group to ever show up late! Not really the record we wanted to set! It did get a little better though, because the seminars were actually pretty interesting, and the afternoon one was about whether the conflict was religious. The lecturer was really good at making you think about different things from different angles. After class Drea, Alyssa, Laureen and I took the bus into town to get some stuff at the grocery store. It's funny that here they have signs saying we card anyone who looks under 21, whereas in the us its way higher. Oh and apparently I must look over 21 cause I didn't get carded (grant it I only bought one bottle but still). Its a little weird to almost never be carded here, when I'm still not old enough to but it in the u.s.

Anywho, last night everyone kinda split up after class to take a nap, eat, do whatever before we all went out later that night. It was the first night in a while that we all went out together, which was really fun. We headed over to the boys flat for a little bit before hand (to "pregame" because otherwise we'd spend way too much money in the pub) and it was fun to just hang out with each other. After debating which bar to go to we finally settled on Havana in portstewart. Originally we were going to go to one in Portrush but a lot of people wanted to dance, and it was obvious that we were too loud to hang out all night in a quiet, local pub! Havana was a really nice bar and club- as Iain put it "It's so much classier than Aura" Oh I should mention that friday was becca's "bday"(not really her bday but the first day she was off her antibiotics...definately a reason to celebrate!). We made it a rule to celebrate everyone, whether or not their bday is actually during the trip or not. Havana was a lot of fun, and it was good that everyone could just kinda relax and have a good time. One weird thing though was that they had a picture of Che as part of their logo... I left with laureen, becca, and lindsey at 12:30 or 1:00ish which was probably a good thing cause after a pb+j sandwich and some water, I fell asleep right away!

As for the rest of the weekend...there was talk of a movie night tonight, but others were talking about going out again, I'm kinda hoping for/thinking about the movie/west wing night cause I'm just feeling lazy and mellow today, which is why I didn't walk into town to get laundry detergent even though I really need to do laundry soon! I'll probably save going to get that and doing laundry for tomorrow so I have something to do.

Still loving Northern Ireland!
Katie :)

A quiet ulster thursday...

Ok first off I realized I left out one little detail yesterday, which was that when we got back to our flat we found a note saying that we had too much garbage and it needed to be removed by wed. (yes as in the day we got back and finally saw the note :) On top of that we discovered someone had done our dishes and reorganized the kitchen. To say it kinda creeped us out to know someone had been in our flat while we were gone is an understatement. Come to find out someone cleans the common areas once a week (something we didn't know) so that kinda explains it but still...

Anyway today was kinda your basic welcome to the university day, we got IT stuff explained, and talked with student services, etc. It did start off somewhat interestingly because we crashed a seminar, where this man pretty much said that volunteering to paint a house is really only helping yourself feel good, and that it's not actually making a difference or addressing the problem. Which on one hand i agree with but having done some service trips disagree that most service trips are pointless. He also talked about an 80/20 ratio and this 5/50/500 ratio which illustrated how even though we donate to countries in need, we take much more than we give, harming the countries even more. It was interesting and I think a lot of what he said was meant to be controversial and spark thought and conversation.

Tonight I'll probably just finish reading, and hang out since tomorrow begins all the seminars!

Castles, whisky, and cliffs oh my!

So its been a few days since i've written anything, but I have a good reason for that...we spent the last three days on the coast at a retreat house, meaning no internet. We left bright and early monday morning, not really knowing what to expect, or if we'd even be able to make it there because of the icy roads, but we made it and it was actually kinda nice! We spent monday "getting to know" each other, but the weekend had pretty much been the biggest ice breaker ever so that was ok. Oh and I'm glad we did those exercises monday afternoon because we discovered we are onions-multiple layers that need to be pealed in order to really get to know each other! Monday night was really interesting because we went with nigel and derick to corrymela center, where they work on bring the communities together as well as helping people deal with and move on from the troubles. I don't think I could even begin to describe how I think we all felt listening to derick talk about how powerful and emotionally some of their events had been. It was kinda one of those you had to be there moments but it really got us all thinking and, at least for me made the stuff i'm reading come to life.

With Tuesday came my first taste of poridge, aka oatmeal, and it was pretty good especially with the brown sugar! But it was so filling that i was too full to eat the freshly baked coffee cake...sad day! In the morning we went over course stuff, and in the afternoon we had the not so fun task of picking internships, aka everyone sitting around trying to get the one they want, and choosing as a group, sort of how, who would go where. My placement was made easy by the fact that I wanted to do one that no one else wanted! Yay! I love avoiding confrontation, purely by luck! Anyhow, two hours later, it was all settled without any tears, massive dissapointment, or fighting! Later that night we went out for a drink (a very popular pasttime around here) at a local pub and that was fun. Oh and we also watched twilight ok movie, made better by the incredibly sarcastic and ridiculous commentary! Unfortunately yesterday signaled the point where we're all starting to not feel so good, so hopefully we get better soon!

Anyways, Wednesday (aka today) we went to giant's causeway, the bushmills (whisky) distillery, and a castle (hence the title!). Honestly giant's causeway was amazing but scared the heck out of me for probably the first like 10 min. because I got stuck on the edge, alone, and didn't know where to go, but nigel helped out and soon the slippery rocks didn't bother me soo much! Then we grabbed lunch, and headed to the distillery. Pretty sure you could get drunk just standing outside of it. Whisky...interesting taste... a little intense by itself but yeah interesting! The castle was AMAZING and gorgous!

Will write more tomorrow time to go watch west wing and read a little for friday!

BTW I'm Loving Norn Iron! :)

First off we have to go to the library to get internet and me being the lazy american I am might not get to it everyday but hopefully y'all will forgive me!

Anyways on Friday we registered here at the university which took a while and then we had tea and scones with some of the unesco staff. Ok so maybe i had coffee instead of tea, but it was still really good! After that we all went into to town to cash our stipend checks and get cell phones. I'm pretty sure 12 of us all coming in at once kinda scarred the bank tellers and saleswoman at the phone store, but oh well. I feel like we kinda cause that reaction everywhere we go...grant it we've been going places in one or two large groups but still. But at least everyone's been really nice to us, including a lady who saw us walking down the road, and stopped to ask if we needed a ride or directions. I <3>

On Saturday...

Most of you know that I'm really lazy so I don't really know why I decided to go on a 3mile each way hike to portstewart...but it was fun, beautiful, and well worth it! We went by the ocean(which of course I had to touch!), along some cliffs and through the main part of town. So much fun! Then came saturday night... We decided to go back to portstewart (cause that's where the good bars and nightlife is) but this time we took cabs which were cheap and easy! So after finally checking in with mom, we headed out for a night of fun! I now know why some of my friends always say "I'm not drunk!" when they really are! Oh and for the record I'm a really happy drunk! We drank, danced and met some interesting people! Overall a really good time, and the right way to start off this adventure!

We'll be on a retreat til wednesday but I'll write more when I can!

Love and miss y'all mucho,
Katie :)

I'm here!

So I've been here for about a day now and so far it has snowed a little bit and then got sunny and the temp. has been in the 30s and 40s so I can't complain. I woke up in a panic this morning thinking it was 8:45 and I needed to meet up with everyone at 9 but it was only 7:45 so I got to shower yay! Anyways I think it's probably just starting to set in but I'm sure this weekend will help with that! I'll write more later :)

Twas the night before Ireland...

So I'm sitting in my hotel room and I can't help but think how amazing and slightly strange it is that tomorrow I'll get up, go to the airports, and before I know it, I'll be in Northern Ireland. At this point I'm just really excited and slightly nervous but I have a feeling the nervousness will fade away and excitement will take over. I don't know if anyone is really reading/going to read this but at least I'll have it to look over and remember this adventure. The fear of the unknown is really scary but I think its also really exciting!

Anyways, I miss you all mucho and promise to have fun and come back with stories!
Katie