Lets see...First off the internet is very tempermental, meaning it only works at sometimes inconvient times (grant it we don't have to leave the room so I guess that's something to be thankful for!) Oh and I'm starting to learn how to do something that kinda resembles cooking...and so far the meals have looked and tasted great!

Today was our first seminar day and it was in belfast. It was really nice to see everyone (the sad thing is that it had only been like 4 or 5 days since we were all together! Originally the plan for this weekend was to go out in derry, but now it looks like Becca, Sarah, and I are going to volunteer at Corrymela with Justin and Lindsey is heading to Belfast to hang out with the rest of the gang! And the following weekend we are going to take a day trip to donegal, which should be amazing! I'm really excited for this weekend, and I don't know why but hopefully its a good one! Tomorrow is my first day really working with one of the youth groups and I'm a little unsure of what to expect, and a little nervous that I won't understand what they're saying because of their accents but with any luck mine will sound just as odd to them!

:)

First Day of Internship!

So yesterday turned out to be pretty interesting I must admit! I got lost on my way to work, because there's a leisure center with the same name sorta next to it but not really and I got off one bus stop late, but I still got to work early so it all worked out fine! I think I'm going to be a tea drinker after living here, because tea is offered throughout the day and I've already become a coffee drinker (Mom you'd be so proud of me I drank a whole cup of coffee with only one sugar and no milk) Anyways I spent the morning/early afternoon reading up on St. Columb's Park House and their projects, and then went to the Fountain and walked around the area for a little while before going to a meeting. It was definately a little harder to understand some of the people in the fountain because they seemed to have a heavier accent, but I'm sure I'll get use to it in no time.

So the internet was down last night, so we watched LA Story with Steve Martin...interesting movie. Oh and we were interupted (but in a good way) by two students one of whom is running for overall president and then the conversation somehow turned to west wing (which the other student is obsessed with too!) and where to go out to (each day has a different hot spot of course!) And then he was like "yeah the student union bar opens at 11, but wait you guys don't drink then, only the irish drink that early!" And I must admit 11am is a little early for drinking especially during the week!

So I don't start work till 2:30 today(hence why I'm writing this now) which is good I guess, it was just weird waking up as everyone else was leaving for work, hopefully I'll get use to it cause I think this internship is going to be really interesting to say the least!

I think that's all for now...oh and I'll try to add more pics soon!

A sunday stroll through Derry...

So last night, after having a delicious feast we ended up just watching wedding crashers and hanging out. It was fun to just chill, but I'm definately looking forward to going out somewhere next weekend (is that bad?), just because it's fun to go out too! Today was pretty low key, I just did a little laundry, ate a lot, and took a walk into town...all by myself! From that walk I learned a few things: 1. That although Derry is cute, its still a major city 2. I actually kinda like just walking around. Now I should probably point out nothing happened to me, and there weren't that many people out being that its a sunday. One thing I did notice was people, and more specifically men around here tend to stand outside bars drinking, smoking and talking during or after football/soccer games, and it was almost exclusively men (large groups of them). The other thing was that on my way home (while carrying a large pink duffle bag mind you) two guys passed me on the main road and two seconds after we passed each other I heard this loud noise...One of the men had just thrown his half full glass of beer over his shoulder(like how some people throw salt over their shoulders)! I'm pretty sure they were just so drunk that they didn't realize how close I still was to them cause one of them kinda muttered "oh sorry" I'm not going to lie it kinda freaked me out a little bit, but I certainly don't think I have to be worried walking in and out of town during the day. I mean I'm not scared to walk around downtown chicago by myself, I'm certainly not going to be scared to do it in derry. Besides, in general most people are really friendly here so I'm not worried!

Tomorrow I start my internship...this should be interesting! :)

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 :)