Tip O'Neil Lecture Pictures

As promised, pictures from our eventful day yesterday:

Deputy First Minister Martin McGuiness (lives a couple houses away from us)

After the speech, President Clinton with Dept. 1st Minister
McGuiness and First Minister Peter Robinson

He was so excited to receive a book as a token of thanks.

We were totally right by the door used to go in and out of.

Group shot after lecture. In order left to right: Kayla, Andy, Megan, Josh,
First Minister Peter Robinson, Becca, Dept. First Minister Martin McGuiness, myself,
Ashley, Kati, Mindy, Jen and our Programme Director Mervyn.

Overall I must say this was a very exciting day for all of us. So thankful for all the experiences we are fortunate enough to be involved in here in Northern Ireland. All the thanks must be to Mervyn for all of his earnest effort and dedication to this programme. 

On a somewhat funny note, late last night Megan and I had gone up to our classmates house, Kayla and Jen to visit and use their internet for a bit. Walking home, 2 streets up, we stop at the corner store for milk and bread. Coming out of the store who else do we run into but our neighbor Dept. First Minister Martin McGuiness!! We really couldn't believe it. He was nice and held open the door for us but we didn't say anything because it happened too fast and we were already in our PJ's! But in all honesty he does live a few houses down; we actually share a back wall with him. It is very interesting because politicians here are not hyped up by the press nearly as much as in the states. Thus, they have much less, if any security. Very different from the US.

Hope you enjoy the pictures! Best wishes.

-Amanda

The Tip O'Neil Chair Lecture

Yesterday we had a very unexpected, but lucky opportunity on campus. We received a public email to the student body at Magee Campus that there would be a VIP on campus Wednesday and we had to have our student IDs on us at all times and other security measures they were taking throughout the day. So word got out who our VIP was, former President Bill Clinton. How ironic is it that while we are in another country an American President comes to our campus?! So intrigued as we all were, we tried to find ways to see him. Andy and Josh tried to get tickets to hear his lecture but even the Registrar didn't know he was coming. I emailed Mervyn and he was in the process of getting us clearance to see him. As it ends up Mervyn has a lot of fortunate connections over here. He was able to get all ten of us students invitations/clearance to listen to President Clinton's lecture the very next day (Wed). So we changed our class time to right before the lecture and he instructed us to dress nicely.

Showing up Wednesday there was a lot of buzz about as everyone waited to see who the VIP was, (some people still didn't know) or catch a glimpse of Bill Clinton.  Here in Northern Ireland President Clinton is much more warmly welcomed than perhaps in parts of the States. For most of us however, it didn't matter our political preference, we were simply honored to have an opportunity to see/listen to someone of such great importance. Through the rush of the day and all the anticipation we arrived quite early to the Great Hall where President Clinton was to speak. It ended up that some of us were in the third, fourth and fifth rows from the front. 

We were surrounded by members of Stormont-NIrish parliament; the Mayor of Derry; US Consulate General; Nobel Peace Prize Recipient John Hume and his wife Pat, and many other important political figures.

President Clinton was here to speak for the Tip O'Neil Lecture. "The Tip O’Neill Chair was inaugurated by President Clinton on his first visit to Northern Ireland in 1995 and commemorates the former Speaker of the House of Representatives who was well known for his support for the cause of peace in Northern Ireland.  The Chair is based at the Magee campus in Londonderry. Nobel Laureate John Hume holds the Tip O’Neill Chair in Peace Studies, currently funded by The Ireland Funds.  The Chair is awarded to a ‘person of great distinction: a peacemaker, academic or statesperson of worldwide eminence’." http://www.ulster.ac.uk/ton/ 


President Clinton spoke on Economics, both Northern Irish Economics and the world economy. Again, I feel no matter you preference on politics any person of such importance, their views on the situations at hand are at least a great starting point for discussions of our own which is exactly what his goal was with his speech. He gave the NIrish people five main suggestions for growing their economy. 1. Continue and Expand with their focus on clean energy. 2. Increase Tourism-Bill specifically mentioned the 'beautiful golf courses' 3. Rise of aquaculture. 4. Jobs-financially direct, expanding market with the US due to the preexisting relationship. 5. City of Culture. Derry is bidding for the 2013 UK City of Culture and they are already in the process of setting up more interest in the city but President Clinton also expanded this idea to the surrounding areas of NI. This will also play off the tourism aspect. 


He also spoke on the need for young people (like ourselves) to take an interest in economics. He said, "Every person in the world who wants to shape their future and has access to a university schooling must be knowledgeable in our national and interdependent world economies." He also reflected many times through his speech of the difference in the air from the last time he was here. He said it was of much relief that he only had a few people on the street passing by saying hello instead of 30,000 going to him for help with the peace process right after the Troubles were ending. He said, 'This is what the pace is about, giving people a chance to live a normal life, working to earn money and raise a family.'


Anyway it was a great honor to get to listen to his lecture and this is definitely something I will remember for the rest of my life. He spoke a lot of truths I felt about our need to work for a living as well as the necessity of working together; realizing our commonalities rather than our differences. I do apologize but my computer will not upload the photos right now but I will try to get them up as soon as possible. 


Best wishes!

The beautiful places we see...

Hello  again after a long weekend away from internet. I do apologize, I would love to be able to blog more but time spend on the computer is greatly shorter when you only have an hour or so each day, it is harder to get everything caught up.

Friday afternoon we had our Irish Dance class and I was able to get a video clip of it:

I am not in it because I was the one taking it but my classmates do a fine job. :)

This is one of about 4 we know now. We are also taking our tin whistle class but that one is not as enjoyable to listen to so I'll wait on that one. Then, Friday evening there were a bunch of things going on around Derry for the City of Culture night. We decided to go on a tour of the Freemasons hall first. My dad and all of my grandfathers were/are masons so I have always been interested in the organization. It was a great opportunity to see the hall, conisisting of many rooms in which they meet.  We next moved on to St. Columbs Cathedral. It is a very old, historic church in Derry. After that we began to walk the walls of Derry as there were performers and a fashion show going on. We ended our night at the Guildhall, watching a performer and even seeing the Mayor again. From there it was a quick stop for chips (fries) then off to a pub for a little bit.

Saturday we slept in a bit then decided to wander through town looking for halloween costumes. Haloween is a huge deal here; Derry get's it's largest influx of visitors for that one weekend/day. I still haven't thought of anything--ideas welcome!!

Sunday then we were off to Donegal. Our Programme Director arranged for us to have a bus tour of the Inishowen Peninsula of County Donegal. It was beautiful! Definately what you think of Ireland to be. Best way to describe it is pictures, but the one thing they can never communicate is the serenity you can find in the countryside. Honestly there was a place at the second fort we went to that looked out over the fields and cottages, the mountain and the mouth of the River Foyle and I was content. I just sat down and took it in. Found me a nice little grassy spot actually-ha! But that is simply one thing I cannot understand, how with the beautiful scenery here, people fought so much during the Troubles and it just feels as if Derry is surrounded by hatred but when you look out you see it is really surrounded by grass covered hills...

Pictures of Donegal: (oh and a video!)

Inch Island

Playing in the really old fort.

Roommate picture finally! This is Megan. :)

The hill to the top of the fort. Yes I climbed it, yay for hiking!

Here's me and the pretty mountain!

Countryside.

My friend Becca, we are traveling together afterwards with Megan as well.

Just us girls, having fun on the beach!

Well that is about all for now I think. No class tomorrow! Yay! But then Saturday we go to the Ulster American Folk Park with our history professor, then Monday we are off to Dublin for the week! Always moving! Have a good week!

With love.

More daily happenings in Derry

This weekend was a great weekend to rest up. As I posted in my last blog we will be very busy in the upcoming weeks so my housemate, Megan, and I decided to take it easy this weekend. I had planned to work on papers but that didn't get very far. So far this week though I have been much more productive! Anyway we basically watched a bunch of movies and vegged out with our classmates.

I haven't talked about it yet but it is really different living in another country. I am finally settling with it, not that I can really adjust to it, but it is what it is. I do miss home but trying to focus on the things I am learning here. Learning about the conflict and continuing struggle here is quite amazing to me. It goes back further in history than the birth of America and they are still having issues today. Matter of fact about every couple of days while we are sitting in the computer lab we hear the bomb sirens go off. Very similar to a fire alarm but unlike in America, no one freaks out, no one even moves unless it lasts for more than a few minutes. Very different experience, Megan and I just look around to see what the locals do. And honestly, it is nothing to worry about involving our safety. Every one here has told us that we are in no danger as long as we use common sense about things. This is actually a far safer city than say Detroit, maybe even Columbus.

On a better note, we went to a pub quiz on Thursday. It is in this little old pub that little old men go to ha...anyway the craic was good and we actually didn't do too bad. Pub quizzes are like random trivia from all over and you are in your own groups and write down the answer. I am not sure how they score it actually, I think the guy in charge last week felt bad for us young Americans so we ended up in 2nd place ha...  Megan and I's host parents went as well and they were the group that beat us.

On Saturday we slept in way too late and then decided to have a Star Wars Marathon. Megan had not seen them all so at 3pm we started Episode 4, 5, 6, 1, & 2 (in that order) and by that time it was past 2 am. We will be finishing the 3rd one this week but we already had one girl asleep and the rest of us were fighting it.

Well tonight we will be going to our Tin Whistle class (I haven't practiced) then Friday is our Irish Dance class. I will be trying to get pics of us practicing soon!

Cheers!

More exciting things to come!

Today is Thursday, our lay in day. So very nice to have a relaxing day to get things sorted through. However, I was just talking to my roommate Megan and days like today are going to be hard to find in the upcoming weeks. We have 4 final papers we have to start researching/writing that are due end of October and many trips coming up fast. We will be traveling to Donegal, Ulster American Folk Park and Belfast, each for a day in the next weeks. In addition to a week in Dublin! Then we are finished with classes end of Oct and have a week to "finish papers" and then we move on to our placements for a month.

We just found out yesterday where most of us will be at for our placements. I was very excited to find out that I will be going to my first choice, back to the Corrymeela Center.  This is where we spent our first week and I can't wait to go back to. My roommate, Megan will be going as well. We will be working at the Christian reconciliation center either with groups or doing various tasks for the center. Either way I can't wait to go back.

I also wanted to show one more picture I forgot to put up yesterday. This is a group shot of Becca, myself, Sean (our Corrymeela/Belfast friend), and Megan! We had a great time in Belfast look forward to many more enjoyable times with Becca and Megan on our travels afterward.

Wishing you a good end to the work week in the states! (Enjoy the warm weather for me!)

A Wonderful Weekend in Belfast

On Saturday morning five other girls and myself started our journey toward Belfast. Our first task, well mine was waking up on time, but otherwise our task was to make the bus on time. It is fairly cheap to travel around Europe but you just have to learn the rail/bus systems. So we hopped on a bus for an hour and a half ride into the city and there we were! So now what...? Well we had to figure out where exactly we were as the stop I anticipated us getting off at was passed so thankfully we had a map and started walking. Walking is the other main form of transportation over here. I do not even want to guess how many miles we walked this weekend.


We arrived at our hostel and we weren't too thrilled about the quality of it but decided to stick it out so we reserved our beds and then went out to find lunch. Stopped in few shops before making it to the food court in the mall. We have been very good up to this point of not eating fast food/American food so we kind of had a splurge this weekend starting with Chinese. Mmm chicken fried rice never tasted so good. But I asked for Sweet and sour sauce as well, as my mom would agree we both enjoy it, and it was £1.50 for the extra sauce! (Also note, £1=$1.50) So needless to say I did without the sauce. After enjoying our 'American lunch' we continued our shopping quest and I finally found my brown boots I have been wanting! I was very excited because the rain just doesn't work in my favor around here and my shoes are always soaked. We also made our last stop in the mall called Castle Court, at a Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream stand. hehehe...it was so very delightful.

This is Castle Court mall

Then we decided to go on a Taxi Tour of Belfast. We all had a grand time seeing West Belfast, where most of the violence occurred during the Troubles, and where there are a lot of murals in memory of these events.

This is just a semi-normal scene to us now.



The group at the 'Berlin Wall' of Belfast
The murals/artwork along this stretch of road
are painted on what is called 'Peace walls' they separate
the two opposing communities-Catholics and Protestants.



This is a very famous mural in West Belfast of Bobby Sands. It is painted
on the side of the Sinn Fein Headquarters, they are one of the
major political groups in Northern Ireland.

I almost forgot the next part of our day--Megan, my roommate would be very upset with me. We had the taxi driver drop us off at the Titanic Quarter. It was unknown to me before arriving here that the Titanic was built here in Belfast. So, as the locals call it, we went to see the 'hole in the ground.'

This is the pump house that pumped the water out of the hole.
And in front of it is the hole...

Here it is...

Me by the pump house.

It is hard to give an adequate scale to the size of the hole.
But here you can see the little yellow dude at the bottom.

This is the view of the main part of the city on our way back.

After goofing off a bit and enjoying the Titanic Quarter, we had a nice long...walk back to the other side of the city. So we had to stop for dinner of course, and we are cheap college students so (don't tell Mervyn our Programme Director but..) we stopped at McDonalds! It was different than most American establishments in that it was completely modern/contemporary decor and more limited food choices. It was also 3 stories high. Then  we headed out for the night. First stop was to meet up with our friend Sean, he lives in Belfast but we met him during our first week stay at Corrymeela. He was our group volunteer and we got to know him quite well. So we headed off to the Crown Saloon and the craic was good. (Common Irish phrase for, very lively/good fun, prounced Crack) Then some of the group headed home and then actually the 2 other girls I'm traveling Europe with after NI, and myself stayed and went with Sean to the Nightclub/bar that he works at. It was great fun and very different than most American clubs.

On Sunday we got up and met Sean to walk around West Belfast a bit more. We had to stay on the Falls Road area for the most part because he didn't feel it was safe for him (he is a Catholic) to walk around the Protestant Shankill Road area. We also walked through one of the cemetery's:

Very cool, yet a little different than most in America today. They are very close and most are very elaborate with crosses, etc on them. Sean was telling us at the newer cemetery they actually have a 6 foot wall beneath the ground separating the Protestant and Catholics buried there...

We had a bit of time to waste before Sean had to leave and we had to catch our train home so we first stopped for yet another round of American food at Burger King. I am so over this American fast food frenzy we had...Anyway then we spent the afternoon goofing off in the shopping centers enjoying the last bit of time we had. Then we were off again on our first train ride!

This will be the common theme for our travels afterward. Becca is the blond on the left, Megan is behind me. It will be us three traveling from Rome-Venice-Germany-Paris-London for 2 weeks in December.

So as I go I will leave you with a blurred, but pretty picture of the Northern Ireland Coast from our train ride. Best wishes to all and more to come as time allows.

 Love and peace.

Quick Hello!

Hey all! Sorry it has been so long since I have posted. This past weekend 5 other girls and myself traveled to Belfast, NI and we had a great trip. I have just finished updating facebook and will do this as soon as I can, either later today or tomorrow. Sorry! Have to head to class now. Hope all is well!



This is the group at a peace wall in West Belfast.

Derry Life

I am beginning to get into a routine quite well here. We have one class a day for 3 hours at a time so my life only revolves around those for now. We are learning about not only the history and political troubles that Northern Ireland has faced but also the peace efforts and even international reconciliation techniques. We have a very hands-on class where we are learning practical mediation skills and for the 3 hours, that is mainly what we are doing through role plays. Tomorrow is Friday and in addition to our 5 classes, we will be starting our Traditional Irish Dance Class and next Tuesday start our Tin Whistle Class!

Last night we had our weekly group meal that we make together. It is nice to meet outside of class and just relax with each other. I think it really helps us to have some sense of 'normalcy' in a foreign country. Anyway we stayed up till past midnight playing cards as usual so that makes for today being a long day for me. This weekend we are talking about heading off to Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland, to spend Saturday/Sunday there. We will go again one day this month as a group but there is so much to see and do and with this beautiful weather we have been having (only 2 days of rain so far!) we need to go explore!  So wish us luck as we venture on our first trip on our own!  Best wishes.

Oh I almost forgot! Here is a picture of four of us girls in Pedar O'Donnells pub the other night!

This way you can see the whole pub, kinda.

And then a nice guy came and took our picture too!

Oh the joy of rain!

Last night I heard the unwelcome rain start it's downpour and it hasn't stopped yet. This is my life for the next 101 days. Yes I do have it counted down to days now. We are all a bit homesick I think, and a few are actually sick with colds. I think we are all pretty well adjusted to living here now, just have to actually adapt to their culture for a little while.

On another note, I got my ice cream fix. Ha! We went shopping, as usual, this weekend and I tried Banaoffee ice cream. No, not banana and coffee, but more toffee flavor I guess. It was pretty good, tasted like real banana and it had carmel and biscuit (cookie) crumbs in it. Still not the same as ice cream in America though... I really think American's have perfected the taste of every unhealthy food product imaginable. Even the peanut butter over here doesn't taste the same. However, the bread they make, my favorite being the Wheaten bread, is superb. And they know how to use potatoes in every meal and make them taste good.

Also, some of you have been asking about the fashions, sorry mainly female differences noticed.  They wear a lot more skinny jeans, tights, and leggings all the time. They always look like they are dressed to the T, ready to go out no matter what time of day it is. Tunic tops/long sweaters and tank tops are still being worn with the leggings. They also wear those gladiator looking sandals, flats or heels. (I got a pair this weekend of blk heels for £7! That's about $11)  Most girls always have make-up on as well as their hair done. Short hair seems to be more stylish here, still in bob's or cuts like that. Brightly colored hair is normal. I saw a girl at the mall who had rainbow sherbet looking hair, no joke she had every color covered. Even though they seem 'stylish' I feel as if anything goes, especially if it looks like you have never left the 80's. I have bought leggings myself and 2 tops to wear with them but for the most part I am sticking with my comfortable, warm American clothes.

Well we've started another week here at school, it's time to start planning papers and planning trips. We also have to decided by Wednesday where we want to do our placements during the month of November. I've yet to decide as now I am having second thoughts on my first 2 choices...wish me luck!

My view of the Bogside

So as promised, I have pictures of the area I am living in which is called the Bogside of Derry. People have just always had two (or three, depending on who you talk to) areas of Derry: Bogside (mainly Catholic), The Walls, and Waterside (traditionally thought of as Protestant side). Any way all is well here and here are some pictures of a semi-typical walk home from town.

First off, our school. This is the building our classroom is in.

The Peace Mural

The location of Bloody Sunday and now a memorial for it.

Free Derry Sign and murals.

Looking up to the walls of Derry.

This mural is in honor of the hunger strikers who died.

That is just a glimpse of what I get to experience here. Very fortunate to have a great host family and for the most part we aren't too far away from anyone or anything! Very happy to be done with classes for the week and we only have 6 more weeks of classes before we do our volunteer placements! We had the whole group (10 students) over last night for a 'community dinner'.  It is really  nice because we all try to do stuff together at least a few times a week. We had a Taco Bar and everyone brought food to add to the meal. Then we sat around the table and talked for a while before playing cards until midnight! It was a lot of fun and we will see what we will get into this weekend! I'll update more next week!

Getting into a routine...

Well it has been just another day here in Derry. Get up go to class grab cheap lunch and shop! The fashions over here are very different from the states so we feel like we have to have some style...anyway that part of the routine needs to be postponed for a bit before the allowance runs out.

 It is very interesting because people realize very quickly that we are Americans and ask us how long we will be in town. The first time someone asked me I was like, yeah it's pretty obvious we aren't from here isn't it..ha.  We realize how loud "Americans" can be compared to the rest of the population so we are trying to watch that and keep quite I guess; but that does not include in the pub really...everyone is loud especially when the music is playing which is my favorite part! We went to Peadar O'Donnells Pub on Monday and there is live music/singing every night I believe. We all had a good time together and got to sleep in the next day :)

Well tomorrow after class I am hoping to walk around our neighborhood some and take pics of the murals and monuments close by. There are so many and they are all very well done. Every day the realization sets in a little more that this is not post-conflict like most like to believe. They are still in the peace process, just the violence has diminished quite a bit. I don't think I really want to attempt to begin discussing the politics etc in this blog because I am still learning everyday more about the past and current affairs as well as the fact that it is very difficult to understand from an outsiders view. This is why it is still difficult for me but being surrounded by it, being taught it, and speaking to people from the past and present about it helps me to begin to get an understanding.  There is no way I could ever fully understand the conflict but I can be willing to learn about it.

Well give me your thoughts and feedback or suggestions if you have anything you would like to see or for me to talk about and answer I will try my best. I should have semi-frequent access to internet now so I'll be checking this every day or two.

Hope all is well!