A weekend in Dublin

This past weekend Claire, Abby and I headed to Dublin! We took a crowded bus filled with the 6 nations rugby fans for the Ireland vs. Scotland game mid morning and got down there around noon! We were meeting up with Lesley who is a family friend of my Aunt Mary and Uncle David Laird who live in Vancouver. She was great, and showed us all around Dublin on Saturday. We went to the Dublin City Center, Christ Church Cathedral where Strongbow is buried, and Dublina which is a Viking museum connected to the church. We had a chance to have a bite to eat with Lesley and her son Barry who met up with us. Our true reasons for going to Dublin were our connections to Minnesota rap artist Brother Ali. It was a small venue, and not too big of a crowd but I think we were all surprised to see how many people supported and knew his music. It was great! We actually ran into a kid from St. Thomas who came up from Spain. Small world!

Sunday, Lesley took us to a suburb of Dublin called Dalkey. It is right off the Dublin bay and we were so fortunate to have a beautiful day outside. We walked along the pier and saw some people swimming, kayaking, boating, scuba diving you name it! We had a chance to see some fancy houses where supposedly the writer or producer of "The interview with the vampire" live, and where U2 spent some time recording music in a beautiful house until the Republic of Ireland made artists start paying taxes so they moved to Belgium. hmmm... It was a wonderful weekend and we'll be heading back to Dublin at the end of April with the rest of the group so hopefully we will be able to sight see a wee bit more, and maybe meet up with Lesley again.

Today was one of our seminar days in Derry. We met with a man named William who works at a community center in an area called the fountain. Derry is a heavily Catholic populated city and the fountain area is the protestant area. There are now only 300 residents living in the fountain, and this community faces a lot of discrimination, and violence still with it's youth especially. Most of the time we had with him was asking him questions, and I had asked him at one point of whether or not he thought the conflict had, had an affect on the mental health of the people of Derry or the Fountain specifically and if that was a barrier to seeking a peaceful future. I was surprised to hear him say that no he doesn't think it's a barrier. He felt that the events and things that the people have seen in this country have hardened them in a way that it has no affect. I thought it interesting because I think maybe this is an older generational view of looking at how to deal with environmental changes such as violence, sectarianism, or maybe it is just because there is that fear of even talking about personal issues such as depression, or ill mental health, let alone talking to other communities that feel as though they are being discriminated against in the same way. If the communities in Derry, the Fountain (protestants) and the Bogside (catholics), both fear each other then why can't they find a way to realize this fear and work together for a peaceful, safe and secure society? I've come to realize that not all my questions can be answered here, for the people are still trying to find the answers themselves. It's a society deeply rooted in history yet how can the people of Northern Ireland find a balance between not repeating the past and moving on to a better tomorrow? Many questions have rose within the past 7 weeks. YES! 7 weeks have gone by, which means we are half way done. It has been a wonderful journey thus far. I have learned so much about myself, the world, relationships, people, etc. etc. And I know there will be more to come!