Finding Freedom

The last 2 weeks in Coleraine went way too fast.  We finished up all 3 of our final papers and spent a lot of time just sitting around trying to spend time with each other before we had to separate. I wrote a reflection on our time in Dublin, an independent project about punishment attacks and a group project with Adam on masculinity theory in Northern Ireland.  Instead of giving a group presentation, the UNESCO Centre and Nigel decided to have us do a presentation on our experiences in Northern Ireland.  We did that on Wednesday the 15th at Skainos in Belfast.

Our presentation went really well and I think everyone who attended was really impressed by what we had to say.  My part was to give some final reflection and conclusions on my time.  I talked about 3 big things that made my semester great.  The first was the way we got to learn.  Nigel always reminded us not to separate learning from emotions.  Also, the whole of Northern Ireland was our classroom, not just a stuffy classroom at the University of Ulster in Coleraine.  The second thing was my internship with Public Achievement and working with the BCC WIMPS crew.  Everyone was so welcoming and made me feel like I was making a difference there.  The third thing was our group.  I talked about how we come into Northern Ireland as complete strangers and were leaving as best friends.  It was because of how the program is set up that we became so close.  We got to learn, experience and reflect on everything together.  My final conclusion was that despite being very shy when I came to Northern Ireland, I was able to open up and find a community for myself there and I'm very proud of that.  I wasn't sure how well I really was able to convey my feelings about Northern Ireland, but I took comfort in the fact that I had made people laugh and cry. It was also nice to see my supervisor, Davy and my coworker Jayne one more time, as well as see a bit of Belfast again.

On our last weekend in Northern Ireland, we took a day trip to Portrush.  Right when we got there, we discovered Barry's, a small amusement park right by the train station.  We decided to go on the Hellraiser, which is a Waltzer (Tilt-a-Whirl).  We had tons of fun on that as the worker made us spin very very fast for a long time. My legs had turned to complete jelly by the end and I was feeling a bit dizzy.  After that we took a dander around the town, went into a few shops and visited the beach.  It was so beautiful and I got to put my feet in the cold ocean water for the first time.  We then went to supper in a fancy restaurant and had a delicious three course meal. I ate whole fish, like with the heads and tails still on them.  It was interesting and I'm shocked that I actually did it.

Our last week in Northern Ireland was emotional but we got to do a lot of great things.  We revisited Murlough Bay on a sunny, beautiful day, stood on the incredibly amazing Fairhead cliffs (and had a funny incident with a tap where I tried to drain the ocean), and walked across the terrifying Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge.  I was especially proud of crossing the rope bridge since I'm so afraid of heights. They were all so lovely that it was hard for my mind to comprehend it.

On Friday, we dropped Anna Mae and Jaira in Belfast.  It was a tough goodbye.  Those girls mean so much to me.  Before dropping Jess off, we took our time driving around Belfast and even visited the little fair in Bangor.  Too soon, we were heading back to Coleraine minus 3 great people.  On our last night in Northern Ireland, Mallory, Rebecca, Megan and I hung out for awhile then tried to get a bit of sleep before our flight.  We were at the airport by 9am and on our plane by 11.  It was also tough saying goodbye to Nigel, who has done so much for us, and Adam. Us 4 girls flew to Newark together then Mallory headed off to Detroit, Rebecca to Sioux Falls and Megan and I to Minneapolis.

It was surreal coming home and Northern Ireland felt like a crazy, amazing dream I'd had.  Leaving so many friends and my heart in a place where my dreams had come true was the hardest thing I've ever done. I'm going to keep in touch with everyone as much as possible and I'm already planning to go back and visit next summer after graduation.

This semester has done so much for me and I feel like the luckiest person in the entire world for all that I got to do and all the amazing people I had the privilege of meeting.  I've also changed in a lot of ways.  I've come out of my shell and found freedom and independence that I've never had before.  It's hard to put in words what that felt like but I know for sure I want to hang onto that here in the United States.  It might mean I need to make a few changes in my life but I feel like it's worth it. I don't want to settle back into my old habits here because I love the new person that I've become.

Last few bits of advice: take risks! Try new things, get out and meet new people and have fun! It will be the best thing you've ever done for yourself.

The Rocky Road to Dublin

The last 2 days of my internship were emotional and tough.  On Thursday, we had the meeting that I’ve been helping to plan during my time there with a bunch of different organizations in Belfast and I think it went really well.  We had a good turnout, the young people from the WIMPS Belfast Central Crew that came were really impressive and we got a good start on the youth voter registration campaign.  I wish I could be there to see it through.  That night, I also attended my last WIMPS BCC meeting.  We did a bit of storyboarding for their “Meet the Crew” video and joked around.  They got me an adorable caterpillar cake for my last night and I brought candy bars for them.  I also got the chance to do a short interview for them answering questions about my experiences in Northern Ireland and Public Achievement/WIMPS.  I’m going to miss them quite a lot but I know we’ll keep in touch.

My last ever day at Public Achievement was so hard.  Before work, I grabbed a bunch of ice cream bars and two cards, one for everyone and one for my supervisor, Davy.  I was emotional while writing in them that I had to go upstairs to the training room and have a good cry.  I thought I was doing a good job of keeping it together after that until they presented me with a bunch of going away gifts and I lost it while trying to express my appreciation for everything.  They got me a Belfast sweatshirt, cupcakes, an American cookie cake, an Ireland trinket box with a shamrock on it, a card, my very own journal and a WIMPS Crew t-shirt, my favorite thing of all.  I cried every time one of my coworkers came to say goodbye for good.  It’s amazing how you can become so attached to people in such a short time.  They said it was like I’d been there forever and assured me that they were sure I’d be back.  I felt very loved that day.  I also wrote an article on Monsanto for the WIMPS site that day.

That night, I got to go out with a couple coworkers for my friend’s 30^th birthday.  We started at her house and had a couple drinks then headed to a club called Mynt.  We had a good time there and danced the night away.

On Saturday morning, I got on a plane to London to meet up with my bestie, Victoria for the weekend.  I was pretty nervous about getting around London by myself but I finally made it to the hostel around noon and we got some lunch and walked around a bit. We had both gotten up pretty earlier so we took a rest at the hostel for a bit then rushed over to make our tour at the Harry Potter Studios by 5:30pm.  It was amazing and a dream come true!!  We spent two and a half hours that way, just freaking out and taking tons of pictures.  Due to various transportation difficulties, we got home about 11 and fell into bed. 

The next morning we grabbed breakfast and checked out of the hostel to explore the city.  We took the tube over to Waterloo and saw the London Eye, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abby, the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace and a bit of the British Museum.  I had a really lovely time and it was great to see Vicky again.  Unfortunately, I had to rush over to the airport a lot earlier than I wanted to.  I was worrying about missing my flight due to delays on the way over when I met 14 Irish guys who had been in London for a stag party and were also flying to Belfast.  I pretty much stuck with them till we all got on the flight. I got back to Belfast and we went our separate ways though I ended up running into one of them on the walk back to Stranmillis.  It was funny.

On Monday morning, we reunited with the Derry people and piled into the van to go down to Dublin.  On the way down, we stopped briefly in south Armagh to talk about the violence around the border.  We then got to visit Newgrange, which is a famous burial site.  It was really interesting to learn a bit of history about it and how the Winter Solstice lines up with the small window above the entrance to light up the tomb.  It was also a beautiful day and I really enjoyed it.  We made our way down to Dublin and checked into our rooms at All Hallows College.  It was super fancy and nice with comfy beds, private bathrooms, heated towel racks and a huge window with a great view of the front lawn.  That night was pretty quiet, we just had supper at a pub and headed to bed.

The next morning, we were up bright and early for breakfast before heading to Trinity College to view the Book of Kells.  It was really interesting to learn about such an ancient and studied piece of work.  They also had an amazing library there (I secretly want to be a librarian for the rest of my life) and I decided I would’ve gone to Trinity if I’d had the opportunity.  We then headed over to Kilmainham Gaol Prison to take the tour there and then over to the Guinness Storehouse.  We learned how to pour the perfect pint of Guinness and then got to enjoy our pint in the Gravity Bar which has a wonderful view of Dublin.  That night was also pretty quiet.

The next day we got to meet two politicians, one from Fine Gael and one from the Labour party. They talked about their views on Northern Ireland and what their party is up to in the Republic.  Afterwards, we got a tour of the parliament buildings and sat in on a debate of a transportation bill.  I enjoyed the tour but the debate was so dry and boring that I fell asleep multiple times up in the balcony.  I was glad to leave and go get a yummy burrito at Tolteca (just like Chipotle).  That night I went with a couple girls downtown to get supper and have a drink at the famous Temple Bar.

On Thursday morning, we headed up into the Wicklow Mountains to visit Glencree Peace and Reconciliation Centre.  We got a tour, presentation and did some activities there.  It was such a nice day out that we kicked  soccer ball around for a while then journeyed through the beautiful mountains over to Glendalough to walk through and see the sights.  I’m so in love with the countryside here and I’m going to miss it dearly.

The next morning, we checked out of All Hallows and made some stops in south Armagh again to talk about Nigel’s experiences with the conflict.  It was a lot of time on the road that day but it was a good time.  We stopped in Belfast to eat supper at Build-a-Burger (amazing!) and then finally got up to Coleraine back to our apartments.

It upsets me that I leave this amazing place only two weeks from today.  I think that if someone offered me a couple more months here, I would take it.  I’ve done so much and come so far and I’m really proud of it all. It’s going to be strange being back in the United States. There’s so much I’m leaving behind here.

Goodbye Belfast

The days since returning from spring break have gone so fast.  I've been busy with my internship and trying to see the last of the sights in Belfast before I leave.  We went to the ballet at the Grand Opera House and saw The Great Gatsby, Anna Mae and I went to breakfast at Maggie May's, we went to the Bot once more and I visited the Ulster Museum on my own last weekend. I'm hoping to see a couple more things before I leave.

Tomorrow is the meeting that I've been helping to set up in my internship and then afterward is my last WIMPS meeting with the Belfast Central crew.  This breaks my heart. I've enjoyed hanging out with the kids and just doing whatever, talking about issues or joking around or storyboarding.  I'm bringing candy bars as a farewell treat for them.

Friday is my last day in my internship.  This also breaks my heart. My coworkers have come to mean so much to me despite the short time I've spent with them. I wish I had a few more months here to get to know them and the work they do here better. I'm also going to my coworker's partner's birthday celebration on Friday night which should be fun.

Belfast is my favorite city in the world.  I've made so many great memories and met so many amazing people here. I've been able to do things I never thought I'd be able to do and I will never forget it.  Last Friday, I also got a tattoo of a shamrock on my foot done by an artist in Belfast to have a tangible reminder of my experience here.

On a lighter note, this weekend I'm going to visit my friend Victoria.  We are getting together in London to see some sights and do one last trip together before I head home. I'm really excited to see her again so we can catch up!

On Monday we leave for Dublin for a week to experience how the conflict affected the Republic of Ireland.  It's going to be a bit strange but hopefully good to have the whole group back together again. I'm interested to get to know Dublin to see how the south differs from the north.

Spring Break

Friday brought the arrival of Spring break.  Everyone at my internship had the day off so I didn't go in either.  I got my hair cut and then hung out at our dorms until we got on the bus to Dublin at 2pm.  We got to the bus station around 4 and immediately checked into our hostels, which happened to be on the next block over.  Afterward, we walked around the city centre a bit and got dinner then hung out before returning to our hostels to go to bed for a few hours before our very early flight at 6am.

I didn't enjoy my hostel, My Place Dublin.  Our room had 20 beds in it and smelled like sweat.  I didn't sleep at all either since Adam, Mallory and I were in a room with about 17 old men, most of whom snored loudly.  We got up at about 3:30am and headed to the Dublin airport.  Everything went pretty smoothly from there and we arrived at the Beauvais airport outside Paris around 10am.  We then took a bus from the airport to Paris and then a taxi from there to our hostel.  We stayed at St. Christopher's Inns which we liked for the most part.  Our room was lovely and had a great view.  The bunk beds were nice with curtains to block out the light.

After we checked into our hostel, we decided to explore the area around our hostel a bit.  We found a great boulangerie (bakery) which made chocolate croissants (Jaira's dream).  We had lunch at an Italian restaurant.  The owner spoke Italian, the waitress spoke French and we spoke English.  It was an interesting combination.  The pizza was really great however.  Afterwards, we went back to the hostel to relax for a while.  That night, we took the metro (my first time) and tried to get over to Notre-Dame.  We ended up getting separated but eventually found each other.  The Easter Vigil at Notre-Dame which was amazing!  The service was mostly in French but it was educational for me to listen to and read along with in the prayer book.  We stayed till almost midnight there and then headed back to the hostel.

On Sunday morning, we headed straight over to the Louvre to beat the crowds and barely waited at all before getting in.  This was my favorite place to visit.  The Louvre is massive and beautiful and there are things to interest everyone.  We saw (or tried to see) most of the exhibits but honestly, one could spend days in there.  After that, we wondered around the courtyard, looked at the Carrousel, and then decided to head to the Arc de Triumphe.  On the way, we stopped for footlong hot dogs in baguettes, yum!  As we walked down the Champs-Elysees, we saw many street dancers and some of the most expensive shops in the world.  We crossed the 2 miles between the Louvre and the Arc and took many pictures in front of it.  The Arc is surrounded by a huge roundabout with at least 6 lanes and we weren't sure how to get over to it.  In the end we decided to run across, dodging cars and laughing our asses off.  On the other side, Adam was stopped by a police officer who laughingly said: "Monsieur, you cannot cross here."  When the rest of us saw the police officer, we scattered in all directions though none of us got in any real trouble.  That was my favorite moment of the entire trip.  Afterwards we explored the Arc, contemplated going to the top and decided to skip the lines and wait till the Eiffel.  We then headed back to Notre-Dame to see it during the day.  That night we had dinner in the restaurant attached to the hostel, shared a few bottles of wine, fruit and cheese and relaxed.

The next day, we went to the Eiffel Tour.  Unfortunately, that day was a bit chilly and windy and the lines were long so we played the Alphabet game to distract ourselves.  We finally got on the elevator to go up after about an hour.  The view was magnificient.  We took many pictures and decided to go all the way to the top top.  We finally made it there after another hour, enjoyed the view a little and almost immediately went back down to the ground where my feet like to be. We stopped in a small cafe and had some lunch then walked over to Luxembourg Gardens.  It wasn't much to see without the leaves on the trees and most of the flowers but it must be amazing during the summer.  The day had gotten nicer so we explored a bit then headed over to find the Catacombs.  Unfortunately, once we found them, we encountered a CLOSED sign.  We then headed back to the hostel after a long day of walking to relax.  Adam, Anna Mae, Jaira and Mallory decided to go to a pub crawl while all I wanted was to have a quiet night.

On our last day in Paris, we headed straight over to the Catacombs.  They were really interesting to see and I wish my boyfriend would've been there to enjoy them with me.  After that, we hurried over to Versailles.  After a mishap with the metro, we finally got there.  There were giant lines but they went surprisingly fast.  The tour of the house was amazing, everything was very rich and beautiful and I enjoyed seeing something that I had studied in my French Civilization class.  I even got to see the bedroom of the Sun King, Louis XIV!  The gardens were also grand and the day was nice.  I enjoyed the hours we spent there.  Unfortunately, we weren't able to take our time as we had to hurry to the airport to fly to Faro, Portugal.

We got to Faro at around 1am I believe and checked into our hostel, Casa d'Algoa.  While not much to look at from the outside, this hostel was my favorite and the people were great.  It was more like a small community than a hostel since they made group meals and everyone went out together.  The next day we got up and started exploring Faro.  The streets were confusing but we eventually found a little market, an exercise park and a municipal supermarket with fresh fish, fruit and bread.  It was much different than the Walmarts of the U.S. or the Tescos of the UK.  We got some food and headed back to the hostel.  We broke out our swimsuits and did some tanning on the roof while the sun was out.  That night, we decided to dress up and go to a fancy restaurant near our hostel.  That was my favorite night in Faro.  I tried some new dishes including cream of prawn soup, xarems and cockles with maize porridge, sangria, and wild berry vodka.  I also had a chicken sandwich, wild berry cheesecake and apple pie.  It was all wonderful and for less than 20 euros.  I shudder to think what a restaurant like that would charge in the US.

On Thursday morning, we headed out to Desertas island to spend a day on the beach.  We enjoyed it while the sun was out but we ended up getting soaked by rain on the way back to Faro.  After getting back and changing, we visited the Bone Chapel which used over 1000 remains of monks to build a memorial for them after having to dig up the bones to build the church.  I thought it was a strange memorial.  We had a group meal at the hostel which was really delicious.  That night, we went out with a woman who works at the hostel and a couple German guys who were staying at the hostel.  We started at a bar which was fun and then headed to a club.  Overall, it was a pretty good night.

The next morning, we took a train to Lagos to spend one more day at the beach.  It wasn't quite warm enough for swimsuits and was pretty windy but we spent a few hours then and then headed back to Faro.  We explored some shops in Old Town and got a bottle of port which wasn't great.  I went to bed early since we had another early flight to Manchester.

On Saturday, we arrived in Manchester at 10am to brave a 12 hour layover till our flight back to Dublin at 10pm.  We spent about 8 hours hanging out in Cafe Nero, alternately eating, taking naps and reading.  Once we went through security, we had dinner in the airport and explored the shops.  We hung out at the gate for a few more hours and took the very very short flight to Dublin.  They barely turned off the seatbelt sign before it was back on and we were landing.  We spent a couple hours in Dublin before the bus back to Belfast.  We arrived in Belfast between 3 and 4 am feeling very exhausted.  The bus driver even had to wake me up when we arrived.  We all collapsed into bed that night.

On Sunday morning, we got up and headed downtown to Primark to buy some cheap clothes for the Festival of Colors.  We all settled on a pair of leggings and a white shirt.  We ate some falafel and watched the entertainment until it was time for the color party.  We then got in the ring for 8 minutes and threw colored powder at each other and strangers, the result of which was comical.  We walked back to our dorm and received many strange looks and laughs.

The next day, we got on a bus to Derry/Londonderry and got there about 10:30 for our seminar there.  We met a man who gave us his opinion on the troubles and explored the Fountain.  We talked about our spring breaks a little and other matters relating to the program and headed back to Belfast.

It's weird to think that as I'm writing this, I only have 11 days left of my internship.  I can easily say that my last day will be a sad one and I will miss everyone I've met here a lot.  I can only hope that I'll get to come back and visit someday.

Office Relations

This week has brought the halfway point of my internship, there's only 3 weeks left once I get back from spring break.  It's going so fast.  It's typical, the minute I get really comfortable here, the time starts flying.  I can tell already that I'm going to miss everyone a lot.  My coworkers and my WIMPS crew.  They're all a ton of fun and have made me feel so welcome.  I wish I knew how to make the time really count here.  I think no matter what I do, I will regret leaving here.  I suppose that's a natural consequence of forming new relationships so far away from home.  It makes me happy that we have Facebook and Skype to be able to stay connected all over the world.

It has been a bit busier at work for me lately.  I've been made a big part of planning a meeting for bringing a bunch of organizations together to brainstorm ideas for our upcoming voter registration campaign.  I had an interesting time trying to make a mail merge to send out invitations and then work the printer.  Not so good with technology at times.  However, it did finally get done to my relief.

Tomorrow I'm getting my hair cut (w00t!) and then we are leaving for Dublin to stay (part of) the night there and fly to Paris early Saturday morning.  I'm so ridiculously excited, mostly for Paris. I'm looking forward to just being a tourist there and having fun and seeing everything.  Of course packing could be going better, there's more I wish I could bring but I have to settle for about half.

I'm going to finish packing so I will update after spring break!

My heart will go on and on

These last few days have brought some interesting things.  On Thursday night, I was privileged enough to be able to attend a WIMPS crew meeting.  WIMPS stands for Where is My Public Servant? and is a part of my organization, Public Achievement.  WIMPS works with youth and gets them to work with other communities (ex. Catholic and Protestant) on a project together.  For example, they could make a video addressing the issues that they are facing in their communities and be able to present it to the public to try to solve the issue.  They write and produce it on their own after being taught how to use the equipment.  So on Thursday night, the group was discussing issues such as teen pregnancy and 2 of the girls are writing an article on it and for which I will be interviewed to give an American perspective on it.  The kids were a lot of fun and I plan on going every Thursday night until I have to leave Belfast.

Friday brought the arrival of my best friend/roommate Victoria from St. Thomas who is studying abroad in Manchester, England.  It was really exciting that she got to come over and visit and experience St. Patrick's Day in Northern Ireland.  It was a happy time.  Right when she got here, we had lunch, I introduced her to my coworkers at Public Achievement and then we went on a quest to find something to do until she could check into her hostel.  We made our way to the Tourism Center where we picked up some brochures and bought tickets to the new Titanic exhibit here in Belfast.  We walked up to Queen's University and explored a little in the main building and the Botanic Gardens.  After that we checked into her hostel and headed up to my place to hang out until later.  The HECUA group and we went to a club called El Divino that night, which was far too classy for me but still a good time.

The next day Vicky and I headed to the Titanic exhibit.  It was really really interesting though sort of depressing.  We read about the people who made the ship and a bunch that had sailed on it, learned about how it was made, took a virtual tour of it, saw some sample bedrooms, carpeting and dishes, and watched a short film about discovering the Titanic wreck in the Atlantic Ocean.  The size of the Titanic is just crazy.  After that, we came back to my place and watched the movie with Leo di Caprio and Kate Winslet.  Neither of us had watched it since we were young so we found that we understood a lot more.  It was honestly a horrible, tragic event.

The rest of that day was pretty chill, we watched Taken 2 and then both went to bed early.  The next day was the most interesting.  We went down to city hall to watch the parade and then ran into our friend Melissa who is studying at Queen's in Belfast and stayed with her group most of the day.  Vicky headed to the bus station at about 6 and I just relaxed that night.  Wish she didn't have to go back though!

Today has also been pretty relaxed.  I slept in, watched some Workaholics, did some homework and things around my room.  I'm looking forward to going back to my internship tomorrow and keeping busy for the week.  More soon!

#Move4Equality

The last week and a half I've been concentrating on settling into my internship.  It's been a bit awkward and I've been a bit clueless but I'm hoping to figure things out soon.  If nothing else, I will have met some great people and had a great learning experience.  Last Friday was International Women's Day (the theme was #Move4Equality hence the title of this post) and I got to walk in the parade here in Belfast with some of my coworkers.  It was rainy and cold but I was happy to be able to participate, if only by holding the umbrella while my coworker tried to take pictures.  I was also inspired by the women who spoke and how many men I saw there :)  Women can accomplish a lot but I don't think we can achieve complete equality until we have men acknowledging the injustices and working with us to right them. 

I had an epiphany during work when I was sitting in on a really interesting meeting about youth and police and interfaces.  I realized this is exactly what I want to talk about and the problems I want to help solve when I get a job.  I was so happy that someone actually cares what youth go through these days.

It's quite a walk down to my internship (about 2 miles) and my lack of good walking shoes has led to a lot of blisters but thankfully, the bus system is just like in the cities so I've used it a couple times.

Last week was a bit tough as it was my boyfriend's 21st birthday on the 5th and I was wishing I could be home for it but when I get back, I'll make sure we celebrate properly.

It's shocking how fast time is going even if it doesn't feel like it in the moment.  This weekend is already St. Patrick's Day weekend and I'm ecstatic because my roommate/bestie Victoria is coming from England to visit!  Who knows what shenanigans we'll get up to!  I'm just excited to show her the beautiful country that is Northern Ireland!

In 2 weeks we leave on spring break!  I'm preparing for it by doing a bit of shopping :) since I somehow forgot to pack my swimsuit or shorts or flipflops.  I'm also planning on doing some studying up on my french since I'll be in PARIS soon! Another dream come true.  I'm the luckiest person in the world!  Even if I don't get to do this again ever, at least I'll have had this experience and I'll remember it with love.

If I have any regular readers out there, I hope you are doing wonderfully! <3