The Last One

Hello!

I am Minnesotan once again. Sunday after a 7 hour plane across the Atlantic, an hour layover in New Jersey, and a 3 hour flight to the midwest, I made it safe and sound back to my homeland. Safe and sound, but happy? Perhaps. Torn, I would classify it. I am happy to see my family and friends, feel sun on my face, and have a wee car to zoom about in. On the other hand, I already miss the accents, the excitement, and not knowing what might lie down the road.

The Last Supper...err..breakfast in Norn' Iron.


Homebound!


I suppose it was only natural that it was raining as we left...



Anyway. I'm having a hard time figuring out what I should say when people ask, "How was your trip?" What response would be appropriate? "Good" doesn't seem quite right. Very strange...

I went down to campus last night and was reunited with many people. I'd say 90% couldn't comprehend "Northern Ireland" from "Ireland", and the remaining 10% had very limited knowledge or provided very amusing summaries of the place, such as: "Huh. That's where people shoot each other and stuff, right?" and "Oh wow. You made it home alive I see, that's good!"

The beginning of the end, the end of the beginning. Who knows. I'm at a content place, I believe. I love Northern Ireland and I love my life in Minnesota. I know I'll be happy in this place for a while. However, I may or may not in the future be looking into what Irish citizenship entails. *Shifty eyes*

All in all: Successful travels. So closes another chapter of my wee life. Ta, Norn' Iron!




-Karen/Kah-ren/Kieren

Goodbye Coleraine

Well, I have about 15 minutes left in Flat #3 of Building F, Cranagh Student Village and about 24 hours left in Northern Ireland. I have extremely mixed feelings on the matter. For one, I can't WAIT to see my family/friends/dog and move back to a land of conveniences and familiar things. On the other hand...

I won't get to see the ocean almost every day:

Instead of 40 shades of green, there'll be perhaps 7:

I can't open my mouth and be recognized as foreign anymore.
I can't use like "wee" and "craic" and have no one blink an eye.
I won't be able to open my windows and look out on the River Bann.
The people I've experienced this place with won't be near me:

Our fearless leader, Nigel, will return to his quiet life until the next HECUA class comes next Spring. He clearly won't love them as much as us.
My cell phone number will begin with 763 again, rather than 028.
I won't be able to go to the pub for a pint anymore.
There will be diversity again? Weird.
I'll have to get used to the passenger and driver side of the car switching again. JUST WHEN I FIGURED IT OUT.
Taxi's will be a rarity again.
Listening to Cara Dillon and Paul Brady will only stir up nostalgic memories.
Catholic and Protestant will never mean the same thing as they did before I came here.
Nigel won't be there to find remedy plants when I touch stinging Nettles:

There won't be wee sheep everywhere I turn my eyes:

Lydia and Caleb...

My umbrella won't have to be stashed in my purse/jacket on every single outing.
Tea, coffee, and bikkies will slowly be a thing of the past.

Aye, enough o' that chat, like. It was good craic, so it was. Amazin'. Brilliant, like.
Cheers, all the best. Bye, bye bye....

Time flies, so it does.

Hi hi. I think today might have been the nicest weather I've experienced in my adventure abroad. Brie and I actually napped in a field in the sun, which was slightly epic because: A) The sun usually doesn't exist here and B) The grass is usually soaking wet. Hence, I am now vitamin D filled and feeling happy.

I turned in my independent study paper last Friday, and am 90% finished with the group study project.


The monsoons of the past week at one point led me, Alyssa, and Lindsey to seek immediate shelter on a walk to Portstewart. Amusingly under this:

Just the usual hangout, you know.

Yay! Paper writing in the sun :)


I guess you can't attach documents to blog posts otherwise I would attach my research paper. I CAN now, however, disclose that my topic was "Exploring cross-community contact in the education system in Northern Ireland" and I highly enjoyed researching the matter. Hooray.

I absolutely cannot believe I have six mere days left in this wee country. Time flies, so it does. Achh I am not going to discuss my departure yet. I don't think any of us are quite ready to address the subject yet.

cheers,
Karen

Rain, rain rain

It has rained every day for the past 6 days. Grrr. The weather and the papers are making everyone crabby and stressed, so they are.

Thursdays at The Anchor in Portstewart are Traditional Irish Music nights. We went in our first few weeks in Northern Ireland, and ever since we moved to Belfast we've been looking forward to attending again. WELL. Thursday night rolled around last night and only about half of our class ended up going, due to unfinished papers, "lack of motivation," etc. Sad. Despite, the lot of us who did go had a marvelous time and Brie got to reunite with her man:


Ta ha. He's class, like.

We filled the night with a little dancing, a pint, and chatting with some *gasp* American men-the first I've met in Coleraine, I believe. It was quite refreshing and somewhat nostalgic. It really is amazing how you can often pick Americans out in a crowd solely by the way they move, their mannerisms, and the way they interact with other people. Also, it was very, very odd meeting someone and not being curious about their "identity." What is this place doing to us?

One more paper to go! Here's some photos from the last day or so:





Ta,
Karen

Republic Reflection paper, Independent Thesis Project, Group Thesis Project.........

Term papers are eating me alive.

Ahhhhh.

Full Circle

Whoa two posts in one day. I simply feel as though I must document the state of happiness the last 5 hours has brought me to :D

The group had had a wee discussion last evening about continuing the tradition of Saturday morning walks to Portstewart, but it was unfortunately only Justin, Becca, and I who woke up and found motivation to go through with it. Justin met us "Block F" ladies at the Cranagh Student Village around 11:30 this morning, and (with no jacket, may I emphasis) we began our trek to the coast.

Although we spent a month up here at the beginning of our adventures, I unfortunately have never known the north coast with sun. When we arrived, Northern Ireland was experiencing its first snowstorm in years and we were caught up in a society of stress (an inch of snow and the world stops up here, I tell you) and cloudy skies. No complaints, since the weather was still about 40 degrees warmer than MN, but after coming back here and feeling the sun on my face I now can say this place is better than I even remembered. An that's saying a lot, since I initially loved it. Anyway, the three of us walked 45-50ish minute to Portstewart, ate our traditional Morelli's lunch, and enjoyed wee ice cream cones by the sea. I love to claim that I'm a city girl who loves the hustle and bustle, but I'm coming to terms with the fact it's a a bold faced lie.


Becca and Justin enjoying a seaside Morelli's lunch


My trusty roasted red pepper panini and cappucino


FINALLY!! My never-ending quest for tofu in Northern Ireland is complete


It's really the simple things in life, aye?


Oh P.S. Mom: I forgot to tell you when we were driving through Co. Wicklow on Thursday I saw a "Mary O'Loughlin's Opticians".


Love love love,
Karen/Kah-ren/Kieren

The craic begins to end

I have officially lived without internet since Monday, and I'm happy to say I did fine (minus slight shakes and a headache, of course). Luckily, our group arrived back in Coleraine last night from a week together in Dublin and now have universal communication once again. Hoorah!

This program has been amazing in giving us an in depth, accurate, and fair understanding of Northern Ireland, but I think everyone in the HECUA class would agree the trip to the Republic was vital to making it complete. The bottom line of the issue is even if N. Ireland's majority wanted a unified Ireland, it's really in the hands and decisions of the Republic. Let's just say it's common in Dublin to smile and claim you'd support a united Ireland, but when you get to discussing what that would actually mean, many aren't so sure anymore. The reality, actually, is barely anyone in the south has ever BEEN to Northern Ireland. When the topic of Belfast comes up, it's "Oh yeah, the Falls Road, yeah. You didn't go to the SHANKILL, did you?" Or, "Yeah I've heard of Derry. The Bogside, right?"
Yes, Falls Road, the Bogside...all very important places. Unfortunately that's really only half of them. AND the kicker is if you want a united Ireland, you have to take all of it, Shankill and Waterside included. And you have to make them feel welcome, give them all healthcare, and give up your weekly trip 2 miles North of the border for cheaper shopping.
The other interesting I personally noted down in good ol' Éire: It's interesting how much Republicans in Northern Ireland strive to be Irish and identify themselves with it. In my opinion, they're different. They're similar to people I met in Ireland, but Northern Ireland really just has it's own unique people with different ways of thinking, speaking, and relating to each other. It's the same with Unionists. They try to identify themselves so much as English or British, but they just simply aren't. Northern Ireland is such a great place and it makes me sad neither of these parties can recognize its greatness for what it is, rather than for what it isn't or what it "should" be.

On a more touristy perspective of Dublin: The city was large, bustling, and almost so Irish that it wasn't Irish anymore, you know? A lot of us felt like the use of the language and the traditional "pubs" and "foods" were used too much of a tourist-catering way and strayed away from the actuality of it. We had fun seeing Trinity College, the Guinness Storehouse, and Kilmainham Gaol, where they held and executed the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising. I found Kilmainham fairly amazing and it was definitely strange to see the leaders portrayed as heroes, whereas in the North the topic is controversial and it probably wouldn't be wise to run around calling them "heroes" or "freedom fighters" unless you had a wish to possibly put your health and well being in danger.
Our class also met with a few different political parties in the Republic, including Sinn Fein, Fianna Fael and Fine Gael. Let's just say a few of them had extremely interesting views.
On our last day in the Republic, our class visited Glencree Peace and Reconciliation Centre in the Wicklow Mountains. It was probably one of the most beautiful places we've seen thus far...

Team Belfast says a final farewell to Arboe Hall :(




I'm proud to say I finished, and actually enjoyed a Guinness for the first time in my life. I will also say it tastes a lot better here than it does in the North.

Wicklow



Fairy Tree!


Yay for being back in my room in Coleraine. I've got things on the agenda for the day though, so I must depart for now.

Ciao
Karen