You say goodbye, I say hello

Currently sitting at the University of Ulster student union. We just finished are final group presentation where me and 3 other peers were discussing contemporary issues surrounding the interfaces and peace walls that still exist in Belfast. The past weeks have been consumed with researching, writing, late nights, anxieties and reflections on the remainder of the trip as well as the coming days as we all split are different ways to home or further travels. The transition from Belfast to our Dublin trip to now back to Portrush has been difficult but as Nigel puts it, "it's all very intentional" and useful in our experiential learning experience here! I know it will be hard to explain to people when I get back the true experience and stories that I have been exposed to, especially given the deep historical, religious, and political jargon and context that Northern Ireland is so deeply rooted in. While I was confused of what the Troubles entailed before taking on this journey, knowing even more about it has probably enhanced this confusion but the social, political and economic implications that have come with each experience and situation will be helpful when looking at these structures within Minnesota and the United States.

Besides spending hours in the library, and late night discussions, we've had taken advantage of the beautiful beaches that Portrush has to offer and we've been lucky to have wonderful weather these past weeks!!! Sunsets, long walks on the beach, informal soccer matches with local drunks joining in are only a few of the moments to highlight the past weeks! :D

This evening we will be eating at Nigel's house with his family, and then tomorrow and Friday we will be returning to Knocklayd- Corrymeela retreat center where we started our journey in February and decided on internships and talked about issues surrounding social justice and social change. It is once again all very intentional, and with the worry and anxiety of saying goodbyes mixed with Iceland's vomatocious ways, the coming days will be some what of an emotional rollercoaster.

On a closing note, Nigel showed us this video of Cornel West a Princeton university professor, about his note to Barack Obama. I think it reflects the loving pressures that we all put on ourselves, and one another to continually search for social change, social justice, and hopefully peace. If we aren't angry, frustrated, and passionate about the issues we love than what is it that we're really fighting for?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/world_news_america/8471606.stm

Its All Good

It has been a while since my lovely adventures during spring break in Scotland and London so I will do my best to update! Spent the last two weeks at Aware helping out with the depression awareness week doing mail outs, goodie bags and various other helpings. James and I also met with the U.S. Consulate to Belfast Kamala S. Lakhdhir and we talked about the happenings at Aware, as well as some suicide issues that have been prevalent recently in Northern Ireland. Along with meeting with Kamala, I met up with Steve from an organization called Cara-Friend that works with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender groups (LGBT) in Belfast. Essentially James wants to work with Steve in setting up some more support groups that are connected to the mental health issues associated with this cohort. So, I had a couple meetings with Steve in setting up a proposal in what a support group focusing on the mental health of LGBT groups might look like.

My last hoorah! at Aware was participating in the Depression Aware Week launch which took place at the Belfast City Centre, which is a beautiful building as well as going to Bangor at the Woodlands Juvenile Justice Centre with Andrea and Pat for their mood matters program! The launch was successful and I got my picture taken with the Lord Mayor Naomi Long, and Lynda Bryans (BBC personnel) was also present at the launch! Then James threw me a wee "American" party! It was fun! On that Friday Andrea, Pat and I went to Bangor to the only juvenile center for kids aged 11-17 in all of Northern Ireland. There are a range of felonies that the kids have committed including murder, to stealing money, clothes etc. Some of the kids responded very well to the presentation about depression and others could care less.

For our last weekend in Belfast Abby and I went out on the Shankill road which is a predominantly Protestant working class area as well as the Falls area which is a Catholic area. In between the two neighborhoods lies a peace wall or an interface. We are doing a group project on the peace walls and interfaces and took this day to go photo the area. Its all very foreign as an outsider and I can not imagine the impacts of living in fear of "the other" for a majority of my life as many have.

Spent the evening out with James, Andrea, and Liz! We started out at the Duke of York, then went to Robinsons, though tried to get into Fibbee Maggee's which is in the back part of Robinsons but there was a Scottish band playing and it was packed! Liz left us after a while and then James and Andrea went to the Spainard which I hadn't been to yet and was really fun and I liked the atmosphere a lot.

Sunday Claire, Janel, Erin Hocking and I traveled to Ian Paisley's church. We had attempted to at the beginning of our time in Belfast and didn't make it time so we made sure it happened for our last day! It was an interesting service. We were clearly the outsiders as we did not have our Sunday best on which would've included a huge hat and gloves. The congregation was not that big at all, but afterwards Ian came and shook our hands and introduced ourselves to him. It was definitely an interesting experience!

That evening we had gone to the Queen's Film Theatre to see a movie called "We carried our secrets." The Belfast film festival was happening so there were lots of movies happening all over the city but this was a free one and just so happened to be relevant to our coursework and studies in Northern Ireland! It was a documentary about a theatre production of 7 individual stories of those who have been affected by the troubles in some way or another through what is known as Theatre of Witness I believe and was started in Philadelphia I think. It was a very powerful film and talked a lot about when is it the right time to tell your story, and how that can be helpful in the healing process.

Later on that night the whole Belfast crew met up at Robinsons for a couple drinks for we were celebrating Justin's 21st! Than we traveled to none other John Hewitt for one last time. It was a wonderful last evening and the singer sang Happy Birthday to Justin! :D

Monday Nigel picked us up with the Derry folk already in the beast(the van) and we headed to pick up Erin and Eva from the train station who were coming from Ballycastle. We were heading to DUBLIN!!! It was mostly a travel day though we did stop by the River Boyne where the Battle of the Boyne took place, and then also at Newgrange which is an ancient tomb site from the neolithic period, and was probably built 5,000 years ago! O my! Our accommodations for the week were at All Hallows College and is said to be pretty haunted, according to one of our taxi drivers! That evening Claire, Abby and I met up with Lesley one last time at the Gaiety Theatre to see the musical Evita! It was so much fun to see her again and the show was awesome.

Tuesday we went to Trinity College which is one of the oldest colleges in Ireland, and we saw the Book of Kells. We had lunch in St. Stephen's green and then headed over to Kilmainham Gaol which is an old prison and housed the 14 people who were involved in the Easter Rising of 1916. And how can I forget we then went to the Guinness Factory! Got our free pint and were on our way!!! Wednesday we went to the Irish parliament and met with various representatives from different parties. It was all very interesting to hear there parties perspective on how they view the state of Northern Ireland and the peace process. Wednesday evening we did a literary pub crawl around Dublin! We started at a bar called the Duke, headed to O'Neills, a bar where Michael Collins used to drink where Ashley, Erin and I talked with two 80 year olds who happened to be brothers! Then ended up at a bar that some of us didn't stay at too long cause we were tired.

Thursday we traveled to the Wicklow mountains to an organization called Glencree. They are a peace and reconciliation organization and we talked with them about what they do, and some of the groups that they have dealt with dealing with paramilitary organizations and issues surrounding conflict. We had a wonderful lunch there and then played a game of football (soccer)! It was a lovely day! Then we went to an old monastery called Glendalough. Went walking through the mountains and then went up to the old monastery site where there was a graveyard and some other old buildings. We stopped for food and then headed back to All hallows!!!

Friday we were heading back to Portrush! On the way though we stopped in a town called Crossmaglen where we met with Ian Bothwell who is the director of an organization called Crossfire Trust. He started the organization 30 some years ago and has a very interesting story and background. Crossmaglen is a predominantly Catholic town and is located very close to the border. We then went to the Darkley House where Ian has set up his organization and Darkley is an old Mill so there is a large facility for them to use for the many aspects of their organization. Crossfire Trust is a faith based organization and Ian has run into many hesitant people because of this. He also met with George W. Bush before we went to Afghanistan and Iraq and said one thing to him, "Blessings are better than bombs." Then of course we went to war. Very interesting man with a very unique story.

On the way back to Portrush we traveled through Nigel's home town and he finally told us his story. It was a very moving story and has been a long time coming considering he is the back bone of our experiences here. Got back to Portrush pretty late so we all just unpacked and hung out. It is a little weird being back in Portrush. It seems like we were just here. Tonight we are going back to Kelly's (biggest night club in Northern Ireland) for Eva's 22nd birthday which is tomorrow! Then we also have Monday off because it is a bank holiday. It should be an interesting final 2 weeks in Northern Ireland considering we want to pack in as much as possible as well as starting/finishing papers, and projects. Look for at least one more blog update before I head back home on May 15th.

:D

Spring Break in London & Scotland

Where have I left off? Not quite sure but I'll do my best! Before easter holiday Abby and I went to see Rocky Horror Picture show, which was an ABSOLUTE BLAST! We laughed, sang and danced the time warp! We didn't have time to dress up but it was still good craic! :D Besides this I have recently returned from easter holiday travels to London and Scotland. Last weekend me and Erin traveled to London near Camden town where are hostel was located for the weekend. We hung out in the area the first night and on Saturday we ventured around the Camden Market, traveled inward more towards the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, St. Paul's Cathedral, the Globe Theatre, National Gallery, and Trifalgar square area. It was a jam packed day! On Sunday we celebrated Easter by walking down by Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and houses of Parliament area. It was a gorgeous day! Abby met up with Erin and I for a family easter brunch at a local Italian restaurant and then we ventured out to Abbey Road for some Beatles action. Besides almost getting run over by cars, we had time to jam out to "Hey Jude" right outside the Abbey Road Studios.

Sunday night Erin and I traveled to Edinburgh for the evening. The next morning we left on our 5 day Highland mountains bus trip with MacBackPackers. There were 30 of us from a wide range of places around the world including South Africa, Canada, Sweden, Germany, France, Australia, Tasmania, Czech Republic, China, and of course America! Monday we went to an old barracks site, the Tomatin Whiskey distillery where we got a free shot, and then that afternoon we all took a dip in Lochness with Nessie. It was freezin but totally worth it for that free t-shirt! :D That night we stayed at a hostel in Inverness. We went to a local pub where they had scottish punk music upstairs, and then traditional Scottish music downstairs. It was great! Then on the way back to the hostel we realized that we forgot our orange cards to show the people at the hostel that we were staying there. We ended up having to dance for them instead of having to pay but then ended up talking with Tyler and Dan who are both from America just working at the Hostel in Inverness. Crazy!

Tuesday we traveled to Isle of Skye, which is on the western part of Scotland. We went to the Culloden Battlefield, walked through Raven's Craig, Eilean Donan Castle and some old stone grave sites that may be older than stonehenge! Then that evening we settled in to our hostel which was in Kyleakin. We got fish and chips and drinks at the only pub in town called Saucy Mary's. There was a futbol game going on so we watched that and then later enjoyed some traditional local scottish music. By the end of the night Erin was showing me all of her scottish dance moves that she learned when she was a WEE child and everyone joined in with us. It was great!

Wednesday we started the morning off by dipping our face in this stream for 7 seconds for eternal beauty! It has to do with an old scottish legend with the woman warrior Scathach... I believe! It was quite refreshing and quite beautiful! Afterwords we stopped in a little town in Portree for lunch and then traveled to a Fairyglen, and then to another mountain overlook where we hiked for an hour. It was quite a trek and when we got to the top it was really windy but felt so nice after the sweaty hike! That night we went over to a different restaurant in Kyleakin which had just reopened for the season, and then traveled back to Saucy Mary's with the rest of our bus crew.

Thursday came too quickly!!! We packed up our things and left Kyleakin for we were moving onward to bigger and better things! ;) Our tour guide had been making tree sap beer (or something) so while we were passing through his hometown we stopped at a monument so that he could run into his family and get the tree sap beer! haha. We then went to the Hogwarts Express Bridge, stopped for some fish and chips, then went to the Ben Nevis whiskey distillery where part of Braveheart was filmed. That evening we stopped at the grocery store before heading to our hostel in Oban because we were all making a big dinner for the last evening. It was quite the procedure with 30 people on the bus, everyone helped out and it all turned out great. We got cheap wine, tried the tree sap beer, and had lots of pasta, potatoes, and veggies! Later on we traveled just down the road to the Skipinnish Ceilidh House which was quite the scottish music experience! (according to my ticket!) We did traditional irish dancing, hung out with other people on our bus tour, and had quite an interesting night there after. It was a great way to end the week with everyone and we all had fun reliving the moments the next morning! :D

Friday morning was funny! We started the day off with a Harry coo (Highland Cow) safari! We got off to take pictures of them and the sheep that were near by them, and we see that one of the sheep was laying on it's back. We all thought that it was playing dead but then soon discovered that it had a broken foot and looked like it was dying! Oh no! :( As we were leaving one of the cows went over to it and started licking it though. We then continued on to a church where Robert the Bruce has part of his shin bone buried...or something. We meet Hamish the king of Harry COO's, saw Doune castle where Monty Python and the Holy grail was filmed and then we ended the tour with the William Wallace (Mel Gibson-Braveheart) monument in Stirling, Scotland. Our tour guide Greham dropped us off back in Edinburgh and we all thanked and said good bye to him and everyone else who wasn't staying in Edinburgh for the weekend. Everyone else who was staying met up for dinner and drinks one last time before everyone went their separate ways. It was really the most fun I've had so far on the trip and was a nice break from the intense rigor of the program.

Saturday Erin and I went to the Edinburgh Castle which was literally right outside our hostel, and then journeyed out to Rosslyn Chapel. Rosslyn Chapel is most famous for it's conspiracies of having the holy grail, Mary Magdalen, Jesus' head, (and many more) buried there. It is such a gorgeous church and there is so much detail with the architecture in and outside the church. The history and the stories that go with it are just as interesting. Saturday night Erin and I just laid low, reminisced about the past 5 days and packed up for Belfast for Sunday's travels.

It was an amazing break and it'll be hard jumping back into the routine that I was in before, especially since there are really only 4 or 5 weeks left of the program. It has all gone by soooo fast and probably the coming weeks will go by just as quick! We have lots of papers, group projects, and presentations to be working on and all we want to do is explore the city and talk about the issues, but I suppose something needs to be shown for it all! Two more weekends in Belfast, a week in Dublin and then 2 weeks back in Portrush/Coleraine area. Until next time...

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!

Past 2 weeks/St. Patrick's Day!

So I have neglected to update my blog now for the past two weeks. My apologies!

I left off on Monday March 8th. The Belfast kids bused to Derry for one of our seminar days. We spent the day at an organization called Children in Crossfire. One of our peers is working there, and we had a chance to meet with the Director of the organization Richard Moore. Richard Moore has a very moving story and we were all thankful to be able to listen to it. Richard grew up in Derry in the midst of the Troubles and when he was 10 he was shot in the face with a rubber bullet. From that day on he would be blinded for the rest of his life. He has a book out called "Can I give him my eyes?" When Richard was rushed to the hospital and they later found out that he would be blind, his father asked the doctors if he could give Richard his eyes. He eventually went on to meet the man who shot him, and has an amazing sense of forgiveness. Children in Crossfire works both on a local level and an international level with countries in Africa to face poverty and hunger issues. In the afternoon we talked about the first weeks at our internships with Nigel and everyone else in the group!

Last Tuesday March 9th I was a WEE bit under the weather and decided to go experience Northern Ireland's health services. I was directed to an office just down from Stranmillis and within 20 minutes saw a nurse, doctor, and got a prescription for Penicillin! WOW! Didn't have to show my passport, paid 10 pounds for the medicine at the General Chemist (pharmacy) and all was grand! Take that health insurance! The rest of the week I was still recovering and drinking lots of liquids and taking lots of medicine! I am feeling much better. Later that evening I had a phone interview with Jared from Camp Buckskin. I had applied for the camp in January, which is based in Ely, Minnesota and works with kids with learning disabilities, Aspergers disorder, and A.D.D. The interview was rather long and we were doing role plays. My battery on my phone died so the interview was postponed.

On Wednesday March 10th, James and I met up with Nigel to go over my learning agreement that we had worked on the day before. I will be writing two policy papers. One which I am currently working on is about employment rights and opportunities for those struggling with depression, and then the other one will be regarding education and depression, and how the programs at AWARE are working towards getting rid of the stigma and discrimination associated with depression at a young age.Towards the end of my time at AWARE I will then have the chance to go meet with MLA's, and present my papers to them, and receive feedback.

On Thursday night I finished my interview with Jared and will find out soon whether or not I got the position. Thursday and Friday at work I was working on an outline and doing a lot of research for the papers. Also was looking up research and articles for the group study project that four of us are focusing on. We are looking at the interfaces and peace walls in Belfast. More specifically the history/theory, the physical, emotional, and mental affects they have on the communities and relationships, what local organizations are doing and what the future holds for these communities.

Friday night a few of us went out to the Pavilion Bar which is near Justin's internship. We hung out for a little bit, played pool and then moved on to the Parlour bar where we were last weekend. We danced some more and talked with some local students. It was good craic!

The following morning we were all a little groggy when we made our way to the Europa bus station for our travels to Derry. We met up with most of the group and Nigel with
"The Beast" (the van)for we were going to Donegal! Our first trip to the Republic was beautiful. We first went to Grianan Ailligh which was a large stoned-wall fort! It was a windy day but the views were beautiful! Then we stopped for fish and chips in the town for lunch and then in the afternoon we went to Glenveagh National park. It is right in the heart of the Derryveagh mountains in the Northwest part of Donegal. GORGEOUS! And there is a castle! Of course! Nigel than took us to see the Atlantic Ocean. We played a WEE game of Rugby and climbed cliffs and sang Enya songs. Enya is from Donegal and supposedly Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick have a holiday home there. We also later found out that Matthew Broderick was in a drunk driving accident in Enniskillen and killed two people. Just a little known fact about Matthew Broderick! ANYWAYS, We didn't get back till really late last night cause we had to drop the Derry kids off so we crashed when we got back!

On Sunday March 14th I tried to get some of the flatmates to go to Ian Paisley's church. Though we didn't know exactly where it was and we were running late for the service. Also no one was really all that motivated to go to his service probably because no one likes him. Ian Paisley was a MP(Member of Parliament) as well as a MLA (Member of Legislative Assembly) of the DUP (Democratic Unionist Party) until may 2008. He is also a preacher of the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster. He has very extreme views regarding Anti-Rome, Anti-catholicism,and has campaigns against homosexuality. Ian is in his 80's now and doesn't have good health but his son Ian Paisley Jr. is an MLA currently and on Monday March 15th during our seminar day we had the chance to go up to Stormont to listen in to a session.

Later on Sunday night Eva, Abby, Erin and I went to the John Hewitt bar. We talked with the locals, found someone who looks like they couldve been John Hewitts son, sent him a biscuit cause the bar was closing and laughed about it on the overly priced taxi ride home.

Monday morning we were at Belfast city center talking with Caroline Wilson and David Robinson about Northern Ireland Politics and their roles within the good relations unit at the city center. Then in the afternoon we went up to Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly, Stormont, whatever you wanna call it! We sat in one of the sessions. Then had MLA's from every party except the SDLP come and give us a brief overview of what they were doing and we had time to ask them questions. There was one MLA Shannon from the Progressive Unionist Party who was an American! It was a friendly surprise to hear a familiar accent.

On Tuesday I worked some more on the outline and did research for the employment policy paper. Then Erin came down to Belfast from Ballycastle and her, Abby, Claire and I headed over to the Crown bar by Europa and then to John Hewitt's again for a pint or two and met fellow Americans who were spending some time in Ireland for a St. Patty's day holiday! We later than met a man from London who was a general surgeon, and talked about how the first nose job was done in 300 b.c. in India. Supposedly! The next day would be St. Patrick's Day, which means we got the day off!

ST. PATTY'S DAY! We all slept in, then Erin, Abby and I headed down to Belfast city center area to watch the parade. Tons of people were out and about supporting their green colors and red hair of course! We later ventured to a little restaurant in the Queen's arcade area called the Fountain. Got a pint of Guinness, some Haddock and garlic chips! It was delicious! We were all pretty exhausted already so we went back to the flat for a wee nap than woke up and went out to the Queen's University Union bar area.
It was pretty packed and we met some new friends and their cousins, and brothers, etc. There was a traditional Irish band playing as well. It was GRAND!

The next day was a little foggy at work for us all :D Worked on putting together the policy paper, as well as some homework for HECUA such as our daily internship logs, and our individual essay proposal. I'll be doing research for that about the relation between those who lived through the conflict and their mental health. How the environmental changes of the violence, death, and sectarianism affected their well being. Today there were some bomb threats in Derry where 5 of our peers are doing their placements. They could not go to work because of bridges, and streets being blocked off. We don't know too much about the details of the threats but everyone is well and that is all that matters at this point! Mom don't worry!

Tomorrow Abby, Claire and I will be taking a bus to Dublin. My aunt Mary got me in touch with one of their family friends Lesley and we are gracious enough that she will be hosting us tomorrow. We will be sight seeing a little bit, and then in the evening getting our "Minnesota on" with Brother Ali at the Crawdaddy. The weekend shall be good, and hopefully I won't neglect my blog for this long again!
:D