Lectures

Hiya.

The past two days have been extremely busy-it definitely hasn’t been an academic cakewalk around these parts! We sat in class from 9:00 in the morning until between 4-5:00 p.m. both Monday and Tuesday of this week and endured some of the most interesting (and probably longest) lectures I’ve ever experienced in a college classroom. Yesterday we met with Derick Wilson, who helped found Corrymeela Centre and we heard him speak about “Agents of Change.” We looked at contributions made by organizations around the country to aid in the peace process, as well as just what individuals are doing in general. We ended the days on a pretty sorrowful note when Nigel showed us a slideshow he put together. The background music was “Run” by Snow Patrol (a band from N. Ireland who I saw at First Ave a couple years back :)), and the pictures in it showed numerous events throughout the troubles relating to personal stories and death of loved ones. The most moving picture was probably a young boy helping carry his father’s coffin at his funeral. Honestly, I’m not really sure how many more days we can take about learning about this stuff as it’s all slowly taking a toll on our initially hopeful selves. There really doesn’t seem to be any practical answer about how to make anyone happy-but I suppose the same goes for life in general. It’s not about winning: it's about accepting, compromising, and overall respecting.

Today’s lecture was a bit lighter-we looked at the education system in Northern Ireland and discussed how it affects young people’s perception of their own society. Sadly, only 6% of schools in Northern Ireland are integrated-meaning they contain both Catholic and Protestant students. Most children are educated separately, have separate social lives, and have a friend circle containing a majority of their own identity. On the happier side-it seems through studies most children nowadays are very open to and interested in the idea of intermingling with others different from themselves, they just haven’t been given as many chances as they would like. Strange stuff. At the moment there isn’t a demand for any more integrated schools, hence why the number sits at 6%. Parents who grew up in the midst of the conflict feel more comfortable knowing their children are among people and families they trust.

NI/USA difference of the day: Most of the toilets here have “sense” flushers-so genius!!! You stick your hand in front of the sensor and it flushes. No touching bacterial infested knobs, no trying to kick your leg high enough to reach buttons. Shudder. Way to go, Northern Ireland.

So far the songs I have been listening to a lot here:

-Really anything Snow Patrol-“Run”, “Eyes Open” and “You Could be Happy”, primarily.

-“Zombie” by the Cranberries. Who knew before coming here it was about the troubles? Not I.

-“If I Ever Leave this World Alive” by Flogging Molly

-“Sweet and Low” and “Boston” by Augustana

-“Where Do I Stand” by As Tall as Lions

-Anything by Explosions in the Sky.

Besides the music playlist, everything else is going well here. We’re headed to Belfast tomorrow for the day where we will be meeting with members from the Republican and Loyalist parties. “Tough guys” as Nigel has warned us. We’re also headed to the Shankill Road to mingle with some ex-paramilitary men. Yeah? Yeah. Should be interesting. I think I’ll be wearing some sort of neutral color tomorrow.

Lastly, we found out our living arrangements for our Belfast adventure (we leave Friday morning!). The 8 of us interning in Belfast are sharing an 8 person flat on the Stranmills University Campus. We each will have our own bedroom and bathroom, but a shared kitchen/dining area. I think I may have to have a “dishes” discussion before we settle in, as some of the girls I’m living with at the moment haven’t quite grasped it. Ew. Anyway, I have high hopes for our 7 week adventure in the city, despite the recent rise in crime. Who ever thought about random bombs going off in the city you live in? Certainly none of us before. We’ll be fine, it just ain't Kansas anymore.



This was the sun setting out my window last night :)

Alright! I must depart. We’ll be in Belfast tomorrow until late, so I’m not sure I’ll get a chance to update tomorrow but perhaps Thursday I’ll have news and pictures.

Cheers, mate
Karen