In the middle of the riots....

I just got back from a week-long trip to Northern Ireland and Scotland...which means technically my country count is up to 3, woohoo! We left from Dublin last Sunday for a day bus trip to Belfast in Northern Ireland....our program (30 kids) took classes for a week at Queens University. We were brought there at an unusual time, it's a very complicated situation but basically N. Ireland and the rest of Ireland do not like each other, and there are huge fights that have been happening between Unionists and Nationalists (Protestants and Catholics). A brief history, but the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 established peace in the area and they have been working toward it ever since. So basically on the 12th of July they have a parade and the Unionists are celebrating their defeat of the Nationalists....they parade through Catholic neighborhoods and there are riots at night with large bonfires. The parade has become so peaceful that we were allowed to go to the parade--the first group ever allowed to go. Although a bit scary, when you take a step back and look at it, the fact that we COULD go is a huge step for how far they have come, even though they still have ways to go. To put it into perspective because it's much more complicated to understand, imagine the KKK parading through the streets of New Orleans and other Southern cities. Also, I called Kari to catch up because they told us we paid the same rates as in Dublin and they lied to me so all of a sudden my phone died and I had no money left on it and no internet so it died right after I told her all of the above...whoops! Anyway, the rest of the week we layed low.....we were put on larger floors and since it wasn't really safe to be wandering at night we had group bonding time--lots of playing cards and talking time. Wednesday we took a day field trip to the Antrim Coast---to see the Giants Causeway and the Carrick-a-rede bridge....again, beautiful and breathtaking and a fun day trip. Thursday morning Allison, Carly and I didn't have classes so we took a taxi to a movie theatre and saw Harry Potter!! If anyone hasn't seen it, there's a new director and the movie is much better than the previous ones. Going to a movie and relaxing was also awesome, it felt good to get out in the city a bit. Thursday night was probably the highlight of the trip. Our group got a tour of Stormont, N. Ireland's parliament buildings....AND THEN, when the tour was over, we were taken to one of the assembly rooms where Great Britain used to plan military defense during World War II. Four members of parliament from different parties came in and we got to ask questions and have a debate. All of us were supposed to submit questions and 6 people were picked to ask their question...they got to read it aloud to the panel of parliamentary people and I was picked as one of the 6 people!! Public speaking and me do not go well so I got nervous even though it was a one sentence question! This kid named Matt made jokes until I settled down, yikes. Anyway, it was an awesome experience. The first question asked was about the parade and the riots and it was extremely heated. We had members of both the Unionist and Nationalist party and they were at each others throats over whether these parades were okay or not. A group of 7 of us went to Glasgow Scotland for the weekend, taking trains, ferries, and planes to get there and back. It was fun, but kind of relaxing just eating out and shopping which we all needed. Some of us are getting sick and others are just tired and worn out so the weekend was good. That's all for now, time to write a paper for film!

Pictures won't go up....

I can't get pictures up...hold tight I'm working on it. By tomorrow they'll either be on here or on facebook!

Seagulls attacking, cool program events, the place I want to live someday....

It's been awhile....things have been crazy busy around here.  I think I'll give a brief run-down and then try to show the rest in pictures. It's hard to believe there is only one month left in the program.  It feels in some ways like we've been here for months and in other ways like we just arrived 2 days ago.  To change it up from the day by day detail, I'll try something new.  The program has done a wonderful job of planning events for us....and not only planning events but getting in a wide variety of events so we can truly experience many aspects of Irish culture and Dublin in general.  Last week, we attended a play at the Abbey Theatre (very cool)....'The Last Days of a Reluctant Tyrant" by Tom Murphy.  Everyone had to go, but it was more beneficial for those of us taking drama as one of our classes.  Last week we also had new and rising author Claire Kilroy read to us from her newest novel which is selling out in bookstores all over Dublin called "All the Names Have been Changed."  We also had a day field-trip to the Loughcrew Cairns, Hill of Tara, and Trim Castle. But that's not all.  On Sunday, we went to the Lester Hurling final at Croke Park between Dublin and Kilkenny.  I got some info out of one of the professors and Dublin is not very good at hurling, this is their first time in this final since 1991, but Kilkenny has been winning it for years and it is talked about in Ireland that they have the best hurling team to EVER exist in the sport.  So we bought Dublin shirts and rooted for the underdogs!  Last night Seamus Heaney-Nobel Prize winner in 1995 came and read his poetry to us. So cool...I got his autograph.  Today we had a tour of the Kilmainham Gaol (Jail) which is extremely old and famous, and tomorrow we have another reading from an up and coming author.  So needless to say, they have given us awesome opportunities in lots of different aspect of Irish life. Last night before the reading, my friend Allison and I went to The Brazen Head for fish and chips and beer...it is the oldest pub in Ireland so we figured we had to go.  We met a guy that I went to high school with, Pat McCarthy, who happened to be in Dublin and messaged me to see if I was around.  It was cool to see a familiar face and have a nice chat over some amazing fish and chips! Funny story.  So our dorm rooms are in this courtyard, and we have various doors along the courtyard where all of our rooms are located.  Well there are seagulls in the courtyard who just had babies.  Not good news.  The thing is, the seagulls think we are going to attack their babies...so THEY ATTACK US!  You think I'm exaggerating, right?  It's okay, so did Allison (who doesn't have to walk into the open part to get to her room).  But last night I say, "I hear them, watch this."  So I start walking to my door and all of a sudden one of the gulls swoops from behind and is inches from my head....at this point, I am sprinting toward my door and still have about 10 feet to go....the gull turns around mid flight, swoops again from the front and tries to get me.  I finally made it to my door.  Everyone of course was watching from their windows.  But I'm not the only one...it happens to everyone.  Even the poor housekeepers who are just trying to do their job! So we wake up this morning and there are signs posted all over that we shouldn't provoke the gulls, they are protecting their children and we shouldn't run from them or anything. Seriously?  We are getting attacked! It's not cool--especially since it's such a pain to leave our room now....but neverthless a funny story I'm sure for anyone not involved.  And we've gotten some funny pictures too. Okay, so last weekend I went to Cork (in Southern Ireland) with Allison, Jacki, and Jacki's dad (we call him MF).  Cork is an okay city, we didn't really like it that much, but we did go to the Blarney Castle and kiss the Blarney stone!  What was cool about it is that on Friday, Jacki, MF, Allison and I hired a driver and took a 10 hour tour of the Ring of Kerry.  We saw enough that you could theoretically spend 3 weeks there doing it all and we did a sprint version of it all.  We saw parts of Killarney National Park, Torc Waterfall, Glen Bay, the Skellig Ring (my favorite), and much more.  Our driver's name was Pat....and he was SOO worth the money.  He took us to places we couldn't see on a bus tour, and were allowed to spend as much time as we wanted at each place.  MF payed for the driver, thank you so much!  So Allison and I bought lunch and dinner for everyone, a fair trade off we thought.  I fell in love with southern Ireland and want to move there for the summers---hopefully I can convince my family to go next summer??  Beaches in the mountains.  Green hills.  Clear water.  The most beautiful landscapes in the world and the best food---I had soup, Shepherd's Pie, and coleslaw--all things I HATE in the states.  Need I say more? Hopefully the pictures below will give you a better idea of why I fell in love than any words can describe....