My second week in Ireland has brought some struggles and successes. My computer died about 4 days after I got here so I finally got a new one about 3 days ago. Since then I've been reinstalling all my programs and transfering files onto my new one. We picked internships on Sunday and I got one of my top choices, Public Achievement, which is based in Belfast. Coincidentally, this organization began in St. Paul. It focuses on youth and civic participation. I'm looking forward to having a purpose here and being able to hopefully help someone.
We moved into our dorms at the Coleraine campus for the University of Ulster on Monday. We will be here till March 1st when we will split up for our internship sites. I've living with one girl from my group and 2 Irish girls who are both very nice, funny and helpful. I'm glad that we were able to meet them and get to know them a little. Alex and I got to get their take on the conflict and recent events in NI and the US.
This week also brought the start of our first class, Understanding the Northern Ireland Conflict. This is chiefly led by our program director, Nigel but we've also had a couple guest speakers already.
We've been doing a lot of walking this week. We found the main shopping center for Coleraine so we've walked down there a few times to get a few things that we need, browse the styles in Northern Ireland and waste some time.
On Sunday we visited a place near Corrymeela called Murlough Bay. Unfortunately that day it was very rainy and cold. Despite that, it was really amazing. I'd love to go back when the sun was shining.
On Monday we got to visit Dunluce Castle and Giant's Causeway. Both were very beautiful and so far Giant's Causeway has been my favorite place that I've seen. Standing on the hexagonal rocks watching the waves crash over them and thinking about where I was on the globe was magical. I'm still in love with the landscape here. If you haven't read the legend of Giant's Causeway I would recommend doing that. It was quite a walk down there from the parking lot and quite a walk back up, so much so that my legs were sore for a few days! It was also strange walking around the ruins of Dunluce Castle knowing that a couple hundred years ago, people were living there. I tried Fish 'n chips in NI for the first time and it was pretty great. What we call fries, they call chips and what we call chips, they call crisps. It was has been interesting trying to get the lingo down.
Tonight we are going to a club in Portrush called Kelly's. We're not sure how it will be since Irish kids go out on the weekdays (wednesday specifically) and go home and work on the weekends. Either way, it will be an experience. More blogging soon!
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