"Breathtaking....I have no words"

Well, before I start to talk about my weekend, I'm just going to leave a few (okay, it's a list) of random thoughts that don't really fit in anywhere, but I want to say.

1) We went to see the play Derry 24. It's about....I actually have no idea. It was the weirdest thing I have ever seen. Not even trying to sugarcoat it. There were puppets, and random people, and t.v. screens. It was confusing. And even Dr. O, the literature professor, came out at the end and had no idea what just happened.
[On a side note: I think it was about a woman who lost her husband during the Troubles and just couldn't cope with life. The final scene (Which was surprisingly really powerful considering the rest of the play and the fact that there was a puppet petting the lead actress during the monologue) I think was her going to a riverside and talking to her husband, seeing him in the water, and killing herself to be with him. Again, I have no idea what actually happened, but that's my guess.]
2) I have finally seen a stereotypical cow. I kept seeing brown cows, and black cows, and surprisingly white cows, but never a black and white cow. Check that off the list of things to see.
3) Same with sheep.
4)I've heard more American music than Irish music here.
5) And everyone here dances like the "white boy who can't dance" in America.
6) Which is fine, because that's how I dance.
7) Irish Weather is more unpredictable than Ohio weather. Let's just say I don't even check the weather and I go with "Damp, Dreary, Colder, and it's gonna rain at some point."  I haven't been wrong yet.
8) I underestimated the rain here in Ireland. I figured "It rains all the time in Pittsburgh and Berea. I'll be fine." While it doesn't rain that hard often, there's almost always a consistent rain when it does. Which doesn't bode well that I only brought lightweight shoes.
9) I have never eaten so many sandwiches for meals in my life. But at least they're good.
10) I may have mentioned this before, but I am completely digging the European Lifestyle compared to the American Lifestyle. Relaxed v. Frantic. Relaxed wins.
11) I feel like people here genuinely care. If you ask them where something is at in a store, they won't tell you where it is. They'll walk you to it.
12) We met 2 other Americans from Swathmore College through Nick and Megan's Service Placement. So if I refer to Sara or Lauren, now you know who they are.
13) It's weird to look on Facebook or Twitter and see people back at BWU posting about things that are going on. I feel like I should be there, but at the same time that I shouldn't. It's a weird feeling. Is this what it feels like to be graduated and see someone still in school posting?
14) There is SOOOOO much to learn, and so little time to do it. The Pat Finucane Centre is legitimately the perfect service placement for me.
15) Finally Skyped my mom today. Kelcy and I decided that we're going to Vancouver this summer. Deal.

....And random thoughts complete.

So weekend story time, and this is definitely a weekend I may never forget.

Saturday I really didn't do anything except experience some local establishments with live music. Pretty standard thing to do. We laughed. We sang. We had fun.

Sunday was amazing.

A group of us (Taylor H., Devin, Robyn, and Myself, later joined by Luke) decided to go to the Giant's Causeway up in Ballycastle up in County Antrim. We took the train, which was only about 45 minutes, up to Coleraine, then took a bus up to the Causeway. It may have also been decided that a trip to Castlerock was in order just so we can go swimming. When in Ireland, right?

The only words I can use to describe the Giant's Causeway are these:
Breathtaking.
Legendary.
Speechless.
Pure Beauty.
Outdoor Sanctuary.

The landscape is incredible. Everywhere you looked was b-e-a-utiful. The Rope Bridge was the best part. Which is ironic....because I am terrified of heights. A rope bridge between two rocks, over raging water. Awesome.

But don't worry guys. Iceland is only 1281km away!

I know it seems like I am giving you the short-stick when I'm talking about the Causeway, but the truth is, no matter what I say can give it any justice. If I could even think of words to say. This place is unbelievable. You have to go if you are ever in Ireland.

And you have to stand out on the rocks in the water. It is the most serene thing in the world.

Changing subjects a little bit, Today was an interesting day at the Pat Finucane Centre.

Today was the (London)Derry book launch for the book "Lethal Allies". It was written by one of the workers in the Armagh Office, and it's all about British Government collusion with Irish paramilitary groups (namely the UDA). I skimmed through it a little while I was sitting there, and it seems pretty interesting.

But I got to sit around and sell the book today with Amie, one of the people I work with. We spent most of our time sitting there waiting for people to buy the book having a nice chat (besides lunch. Whatever that Chicken spear thing was was heaven sent). And she said the most mind-blowing thing today.

"Some people don't know about the Troubles. They don't learn Irish History in school. Some even grow up without knowing there is a different side of religion."

I'm sorry, what?

I can't imagine not growing up with American History. OR NOT KNOWING ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT AND RELEVANT PIECES OF MY COUNTRY'S HISTORY.

How do you know where you're going if you don't know where you came from? I'm a firm believer in the quote "Those who don't know their history are doomed to repeat it" (Thank you 7th grade history and Mr. Knor!) I seriously think that if people aren't educated about the Troubles, and if/when tension boils over again, mass violence is going to break out again.

It is still so hard to wrap my mind around the fact that something so beautiful is littered with a history of violence and destruction.

Gettin' Busy in the Bogside

I've come to the conclusion that there's something about Northern Ireland and (London)Derry in general. I'm not sure if this 'something' is good or bad, but something is there. One minute this city takes my breath away with the scenery and the views and the ability to try to rebuild after all of the Troubles, but the next it makes me stop and think about how this city was a war-zone controlled by paramilitaries and tanks and how religion has drawn such divide between the Protestants and the Catholics. I feel happiness to hear stories of people who have been able to move on despite the horrible things that happened to them, but at the same time I have no idea how they aren't more messed up because of what happened to them. To literally walk from my house in the Catholic side under a bridge to get to the Fountain (a Protestant/Loyalist section of the city) and it feels like I am on a completely different Continent. 

It's definitely an interesting feeling. I'm still trying to figure it all out in my head. 

But on a different note, I got to spend the majority of my day in the Bogside.

My day started with a tour of the Bogside Artist Murals (they're kinda of a big deal. Seriously, Google them/creep on my Facebook/look at them somewhere. They are so well painted and awesome.) We were lead around the tour by Tom Kelly, one of the artists (there is three of them). 

I mean, I've seen the Murals before in person (walking home from my service placement), but I get chills every time I see them. The artwork...it's more than just a picture. It tells a story of what happened in the town, the history of what happened on that street. It's chilling to hear the stories of a little girl who had her head blown off on her way home, or the artists friend who had his torso blown up and reached out to him as the life left his body. And then you realize you're standing on the same spot that it happened. 

It kinda puts things in perspective, huh?

I ended up getting a hair cut at Sweeny Todd's today. That was cool. (Not important in the slightest, just a fun fact). 

We ended up going to the Derry City v. Limerick game to celebrate En'Ante's birthday. First European football (soccer for all my American friends) game! It was so cool!

The stadium was kind of sketchy (hello barbed wire atop the walls) and kind of reminded me of the Wolverina (throwback to high school football for all my Pittsburgh followers). But the atmosphere was so much better! The crowd was cheering the whole entire game (drums included). It was like being back at a high school football game with an obnoxious student section. The energy was phenomenal! I can definitely now see why football (soccer) is such a big sport here.

Today was just overall a great day in the Bogside. 

Mural of Peace/Civil Rights leaders

Peace Mural

Hunger Strike Mural-first one ever defaced

The Rioter mural

Civil Rights mural

The Runner Mural

The Motorman Mural

Bloody Sunday Mural

Petrol Bomber Mural

One of my favorite pictures of the day

Bernadette Devlin Mural

The Death of Innocence Mural

Bloody Sunday Memorial Mural

Ways of Life

I don't really know where to start with this one, so I'll just jump in.

The vacation feeling is gone.

The Pat Finucane Centre is really cool. I work with a couple other people, so it's definitely easy to feel comfortable asking questions about things I might not know or am unfamiliar with. And I've done that. A lot. There is just so much interesting stuff that I am going over that I need to talk about to fully understand it; whether context, background, reasons why one side would have done it, or just to hear someone else say 'That's the point. It makes no sense.'

And it's become very clear even after only the 2 days of looking through all this information and talking with the people I work with that some very terrible things have taken place (Obviously. Most people have heard of the horrors of the Troubles in Ireland.). It's one thing to sit in a classroom and hear lectures, read books, watch movies, and see pictures-it's a completely different thing to hear these people's stories while you're sitting and having coffee with them. 

You hear their story and you get the real emotion. The hurt. The anger. The sorrow. The remorse. The confusion. The want to know why. The want to know the truth.

And for what? People get shot, attacked, beaten all because of their religion? Because of the color of your skin? Because you're different? I get it, every culture has had an issue of this sort throughout their history, and maybe it's just the generation I grew up in or the way I was raised, but I still don't understand the why. 

The worst part, without a doubt, isn't even the violence. It's the way people are remembered. "Oh, so and so? They were killed here like this by them." Or it's "London Street? Oh yeah, so and so was killed here." 

 It's very different to be living within a culture that just so...I don't know the right phrase here. I want to go with readily embraces and accepts death, but I feel like that's unfair to say. Maybe used to death? I don't know. But to be remembered by the way you died, or where you died, just seems so...wrong.

I'm not saying the Irish people are wrong and should start doing something else. It's part of their culture, and that's fine. It's just different for me, and I'm trying to figure out the best way to handle that. It is the complete opposite of my belief: People should be remembered for the life they lived, they relationships they built, the things they loved, the beliefs they held, the issues that they hold so near and dear that they would fight (and possibly die) for. 

Which is why I love the Pat Finucane Centre's ROLMA (Recovery of Living Memory Archive) program. Started in 2012, there is 3 phases 1) Advocacy, advice, and support to families 2) Record the impact of the loss and suffering on the families and survivors 3) Combining the investigation with the biography for documentation and archival in libraries. 

I got the chance to read one of the books that were made, and I was in shock after reading it. This man was murdered because he was a Catholic who was making a pretty decent living in a Protestant area. To read his life story, his children's (he had 7 I believe) comments on him, to read the aftermath of what happened to his family....I was speechless. I literally didn't know what to say. What do you say after reading something like that?

All of this makes it so much better to see programs that are encouraging the youth to intermingle with each other. We got to go to a community youth center today down in the Fountain, and to be able to play and have fun with these kids just made my day. We didn't even do anything meaningful; we danced and did yoga. But they were laughing and having fun. It was definitely a relief to see that kids in different countries are pretty similar.

"Death lives with us everyday. Indeed our ways of dying are our ways of living. Or should I say our ways of living are our ways of dying?"

"So, like a big boy job?"

Today was my first day at my service placement, and it was awesome.

The whole point of the trip is the service placements. We are working in community groups to get hands on experience and learn from the local people who experienced the issues first hand. Most placements relate to the person's major, and if it doesn't, then they are at least working with people who can show them around the city.

My placement (I don't know if I said yet, but oh well) is at the Pat Finucane Centre, a human rights centre that is focused on uncovering the questionable tactics used during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. My job (I don't think I can be that specific with what I am doing...I should probably figure out what I can and can't tell people) is to sort through declassified documents, read them and tag keywords in them so it makes it easier to search the database. For the most part, the documents are pretty interesting to read, but some are really confusing.

It came time to leave and I asked the one lady which bus to take, and she looked over at me and said "You don't. Most people walk to the Diamond at this time of day." Oh. Well, there's that.

To be honest, I'm glad I have to walk. It's only around 15 minutes to do. I have to walk down this big hill and I come right down through the Bogside, right next next to the mural of the girl that got shot walking home from school (right by the "You are now entering Free Derry" sign)

I don't know anything else from the story behind the Mural yet. We haven't done our Bogside Mural Tour around (London)Derry yet. And if you have no idea what I'm talking about, Google "Bogside Murals Northern Ireland". You won't regret it.

Anyway, I have to cross the street and go back up the hill (towards St. Columb's Cathedral). First off, it's actually kind of intimidating to walk towards it because this huge wall barricades you out (Hence, the Walled City. I think it was a fort at one time). On the wall there is graffiti, including "IRA" and "R.I.P. [name here]". Add in the steep hill, and its a little intimidating.

But the view from the top of this hill, standing in front of the wall, overlooking the Bogside, was breathtaking. I know I've said that multiple times so far in this story, but there is just something about the Irish landscape that keeps taking my breath away. This view...I forgot that my legs were starting to get tired. I forgot that it was cold and dreary and lightly raining. For a minute, all I could think about was the beautiful scenery of the Irish hills and the town down below. For a minute I was reminded of driving through the mountains back home, looking up and admiring the colors and the trees and the mountains themselves.

Looking out over the Bogside made the walk worth it.

And the Best Part?

I get to do it everyday that I am in Ireland.

Dublin: The Final Chapter (at least for now)

Part 3 of a weekend stay in Dublin. And let's just say that it did not disappoint.

Kuz, Nicole, and I decided that we were going to do the most typical touristy thing possible while in Dublin: visit the Guinness Factory.

We got off the stop (or, rather, the stop we thought we needed) and ended up walking around the brewhouse, which ended up being at least a mile around. So we finally walk up to the right place, but the security guard was telling us that we had to keep going down the road.

So we finally get there, and it was definitely worth the price of the tour. The information stuff was kinda blah if you're not into beer and brewing and stuff like that, but there was a couple things that made up for it. First off, there was this one woodwork art piece that was a representation of a Guinness glass. The designs were so intricate. Among the designs include a map of the world, the Guinness tucan with a compass underneath, and some horses. It was really awesome art piece.

The second really cool thing included in the tour was the Guinness Tasting room. This was the room where they taught us how to correctly drink a Guinness. We walked in and the room was bright white, there were these little pillars billowing smoke out of the top, and a bartender behind 8 taps of Guinness. The best quote I heard was as soon as we walked in. This guy walked in a said "It's like heaven. A bright white room with endless Guinness. I'm gonna come back a changed man." Priceless.

If you ever end up doing this tour, you have to (there is no option. you have to) go up to the Gravity Bar. You could see all of Dublin. 360 degree view of the city. It was breathtaking. I literally have no words to describe it. I couldn't get  any good photos, which was upsetting, but holy crap. Dat View Doe.

The best part was the "Perfect Pint" pouring room. We got to learn the art of pouring the perfect Guinness, which was awesome. We also got to learn the nuances of the beer as it gets poured and how it reacts and all that stuff. Very cool. I'd highly advise doing this room instead of redeeming your ticket at the Gravity Bar.

I find that I keep having a great travel experience/story, and the bus ride back to (London)Derry from Dublin did not disappoint.

We got on the 1:30 bus (remember, a 4 hour bus ride) and right as we pull away from the bus station in Dublin, this guy about halfway up the bus starts puking in the aisle. The group of us who took this bus were like "Wait, what just happened?", while the group of 5(?) ladies in front of us (one who had her hair in curlers. I didn't know that was still a thing, but to each their own I guess) started laughing. I mean, I felt bad for the guy, I really did (except that I later found out he was hungover. So I kinda judged him for getting on  a really bouncy bus, but that's a different conversation). But he did this twice(?) before we got to the Dublin Airport, when the bus driver came back to figure out what was going on. And if all you Americans think that understanding a foreign accent is tough, try understanding an argument while they are talking in a different language.

To make a really long story (a 3 hour and 59 minute story to be exact) short, the dude ended up throwing up a couple more times (in bags thankfully) before getting off. Moral of the story here: If you have a hangover and think that you're gonna hurl, don't take a bus. Bad Idea.

Anyway, we get off the bus at our stop and we walk up the hill to our house. The 5 of us who took the 1:30 bus were the first to get home, so I pull out my key and unlock the door. It opens, except it stops after about 3 inches (is that what they use in the UK/Europe? Maybe I should find that out....). Somebody (cough cough Megan cough cough) left the deadbolt on. So we're locked out of our house.

Side note from the story: some random townie came over asking if we were locked out/need help, and I said no. We talked for a second and I said 'awesome' at some point in the conversation. He starts laughing and says "Awesome? My, you sound like George Dubya." as he walks away. So I apparently sound like Fmr. President George W. Bush to people over here. Interesting.

Back to the story: Locked out, standing in the street, starting to rain (of course, right?). Kuz ends up pulling some black magic out of his sleeves and gest the door undone. Not that dramatic of an ending, but it was a relief to get back into our House in (London)Derry to relax for the rest of the night.

Anywho, time to end today's post. I have to be at my service placement bright and early to start tomorrow. Stay Tuned.

Guinness Factory

the part about the water used in Guinness

Such intricate woodwork

Tasting Room, also heard mentioned as the life-changing room

Perfect Pint Pouring room

Nicole with our 'Pour Leader' (if that's what it's called)

The chairs were Guinness designed