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!
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Monday, March 18, 2013
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!
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!
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
#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
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
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Belfast, Je T'aime
A lot has happened since my last blog post. Last weekend we made the usual trip to Kelly's in Portrush. I bought a new black dress for going out that night and for the rest of the semester. Also bought a new gray scarf. Looove scarfs. We all looked very lovely that night and did quite a bit of dancing.
Last Wednesday we went on a fieldtrip to Belfast. I met my internship supervisor for Public Achievement. He seems like a fun guy and he told me a bit about what I'm going to be doing. He wants me on a voter registration project and hopefully I'll also be working with a woman who's involved in human rights and women's groups. Exciting! I start tomorrow at 10am and I'm definitely nervous but also happy to have a purpose here and something to do everyday. I will get plenty of exercise everyday since my internship is about 2 miles away. Wish me luck!
The Belfast fieldtrip was also interesting in that we met up with 2 former members of the IRA (Irish Republican Army) and a former member of the UVF (Ulster Volunteer Force). It was an experience talking to them. To top it off, we had lunch in a place where you can only be a member if you've been in prison for IRA activity. I realized on the way home that the more we hear about the conflict and talk to more people about it, the more questions I have. Hopefully I can get a little clarity as the semester progresses.
One of the first things I noticed about Belfast was all the barriers. There are fences, walls and hedges everywhere to separate everything. There are also tons of murals and memorials all over the city. Add in the recent flag protests and Belfast is a very interesting place to be. I hope that I will get to meet an assortment of different people while I'm here.
Last Thursday we also went to Nigel's house for lunch and we met his wife and kids. They were all great! His wife is so nice and his kids are just adorable. His wife also made delicious soup! Afterward we went to Downhill Beach. Although it was chilly that day, I really enjoyed the time we spent there. It was beautiful and I hope we can go back when it's nicer out.
I moved to Belfast on Friday with one half of my group while the other moved to Derry. We are staying at Stranmillis in student housing here. Although my room is small, it's very nice, has plenty of closet space and I have my own bathroom and shower. It's lovely. I think I will enjoy it here. My friend Melissa is studying in Belfast as well at Queen's and I was happy to be able to see her on Saturday. She gave me a tour of Queen's and I got to see the C.S. Lewis reading room in their library! It was amazing. It's nice that I'll be able to see a familiar face once in a while!
That's about all the interesting things I have to say right now. More soon!
Last Wednesday we went on a fieldtrip to Belfast. I met my internship supervisor for Public Achievement. He seems like a fun guy and he told me a bit about what I'm going to be doing. He wants me on a voter registration project and hopefully I'll also be working with a woman who's involved in human rights and women's groups. Exciting! I start tomorrow at 10am and I'm definitely nervous but also happy to have a purpose here and something to do everyday. I will get plenty of exercise everyday since my internship is about 2 miles away. Wish me luck!
The Belfast fieldtrip was also interesting in that we met up with 2 former members of the IRA (Irish Republican Army) and a former member of the UVF (Ulster Volunteer Force). It was an experience talking to them. To top it off, we had lunch in a place where you can only be a member if you've been in prison for IRA activity. I realized on the way home that the more we hear about the conflict and talk to more people about it, the more questions I have. Hopefully I can get a little clarity as the semester progresses.
One of the first things I noticed about Belfast was all the barriers. There are fences, walls and hedges everywhere to separate everything. There are also tons of murals and memorials all over the city. Add in the recent flag protests and Belfast is a very interesting place to be. I hope that I will get to meet an assortment of different people while I'm here.
Last Thursday we also went to Nigel's house for lunch and we met his wife and kids. They were all great! His wife is so nice and his kids are just adorable. His wife also made delicious soup! Afterward we went to Downhill Beach. Although it was chilly that day, I really enjoyed the time we spent there. It was beautiful and I hope we can go back when it's nicer out.
I moved to Belfast on Friday with one half of my group while the other moved to Derry. We are staying at Stranmillis in student housing here. Although my room is small, it's very nice, has plenty of closet space and I have my own bathroom and shower. It's lovely. I think I will enjoy it here. My friend Melissa is studying in Belfast as well at Queen's and I was happy to be able to see her on Saturday. She gave me a tour of Queen's and I got to see the C.S. Lewis reading room in their library! It was amazing. It's nice that I'll be able to see a familiar face once in a while!
That's about all the interesting things I have to say right now. More soon!
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