belfast, ireland

carrick-a-rede rope bridge

dunluce castle

just had the most amazing day in ireland yet! we drove a few hours to the northern coast and it was absolutely amazing. first we went to the carrick-a-rede rope bridge for some beautiful scenery and to cross the bridge. only some of the bravest completed the physical challenge of putting our hands up the whole way across. ellie and a few others afraid of heights even made it across - so proud! then we went on to the dunluce castle to explore the ruins there. I felt like such a kid running around taking fun pictures. lunch was in 'the wee cottage' where the prequel goes every year, so the owners give us the entire restaurant and it was great. most delicious scones of my life and they made a gluten free one for adam - his first scone ever! after we were stuffed full (wolfgang lets nothing go to waste, he tried to give jenna 3 pieces of cake), we headed to the giant's causeway, apparently a wonder of the world. the rocks there grew naturally as hexagonal shapes, it was so crazy. a few of us hiked longer to see even more. we drove along the coastline home and now we're taking over the hotel lobby as usual to get internet.

our first day in belfast we toured city hall then went on a walking tour of the city. it's so much different than dublin, it's very built up and modernized at least in comparison. that night we all got to watch a rugby game! so intense, i might enjoy it more than football (which i never enjoyed all that much lol). the next day (yesterday) we learned a ton about the politics of northern ireland and the republic of ireland - the 'troubles' and the conflict within ireland is just crazy. peace walls covered in fantastic graffiti divide the city. it was so strange to see completely opposite sides where one flies the ireland flag and then two minutes away we see the UK flag. we also took a 3hour long tour to see the billions of murals around belfast, which was interesting, but just way too long. tomorrow is our free day to research and explore more around belfast, then we leave for london on monday! I can't believe the prequel is almost over, it's been so wonderful.

dublin, ireland

guinness storehouse - gravity bar

i spent the last five days in dublin on a prequel seminar with 30some other students and it was a blast! we were constantly busy though, touring local landmarks like the guinness storehouse and the gaol prison, and listening to lectures on Irish economy, urbanization, religion, travellers, etc. the first day we went on a walking tour of dublin city in the area around trinity college dublin, where we stayed.

every day after the group activities, we went off on our own to explore. we made it to a bunch of pubs each night, but hardly made a dent in the number that exist in the area haha. we looked around a little on grafton st., which is the main shopping drag. We ate out a lot in cute little restaurants, like the brazen head, which claims to be ireland’s oldest pub! the only authentic Irish food i think i’ve eaten so far though (instead of ordering a sandwich or something i could probably find in the US) was at the merry ploughboy pub, where we had our group dinner. vegetable soup to start, chicken and potatoes with some sort of tangy sauce i couldn’t make out as the main course, and hot apple crumble for dessert. Yum. we got to see traditional irish dancing there (yes, think river-dance) as well as an irish band that played fun folk songs!

so for this prequel, we have to write a paper in dublin and another in belfast about something having to do with each city (really very little instruction/guidelines). because i had noticed so many homeless people around the city and I used to be involved in my church’s homeless awareness project, i decided to write about the issue in dublin. not only did i research and contact someone from a local organization, but i also wanted to be able to write from experience. so on our free research day, i spent an hour on the streets with a small cup for change in front of me. yup! after a half hour of being ignored by everyone who passed, i was about to give up when a man named john stopped and sat with me for a few minutes, inquiring into my background, so I acted shy and nervous (which I was). he asked where i was from, why i was in ireland, what kinds of problems i was having, etc. he said i must come from a good family because I have nice teeth (thanks dad!) and seem to be well educated. he made sure i was not “sleeping rough” (an irish term for sleeping on the streets) or taking drugs, and then gave me a large gingerbread man (which i took a bite from only after he did the same to make sure it was ok). as he left me, john dropped 75 cents into my cup, shook my hand, and wished me luck. i was so pleasantly surprised and cannot wait to write my paper. strange feeling haha.

this morning we took a 3 hour bus ride to belfast and had a longgg day, but now just chillin in the lobby of the hotel we're staying in to get free wireless! woo! i can already tell belfast is a lot different than dublin, but I'll post again all about it after our 5 days here.