I already knew I loved Belfast. I knew it the very first day I set foot in Ireland, in February of last yearwhen I turned to my travel-mate Laura and said, "I'm going to live here one day." I've now been in Belfast for four days, and I appreciate it more each day. The more that I learn about the atrocities that this city has had to overcome (and is still trying to overcome), the more I am amazed at its resilience, and the people's determination to move forward in peace, even in the face of fierce political & religious disagreement.
The Troubles
So...quick summary about what I mean, for those who don't know
much about Northern Ireland. The Troubles refers to the violence in N. Ireland over the past few decades:
PICTURED: Mural off Shankill Road
-1972: thirteen unarmed Catholic civilians shot dead by British police ("Bloody Sunday"...and yes that's where the U2 song came from)
-1981: IRA prisoners in N. Ireland go on hunger strike, demanding to be recognized as political prisoners instead of terrorists (ten of them die from the fast)
-1987: IRA bomb kills 11 people in Enniskillen (the Poppy Day massacre)
-1993: IRA bomb kills 10 on Shankill Road.
....and there are a lot more stories that I'm sure could be told. Altogether, 3,600 people were killed up till 1998.
6 counties make up Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK...so they're under British rule, and they use pounds for currency (as opposed to the Republic of Ireland, which is its own thing, and uses Euros as currency.) The roads up here are much better, and the accents are very different (much harder to understand!! think Brad Pitt in the movie Snatch)
Belfast Today
Today, there are about 80 gates throughout the city of Belfast, which close at 6 PM every night, so as to keep the Catholic & Protestant parts of town separated. (You can still get around the gates, but it's much more difficult...as one man explained, it makes it so people can't just run over to the over side, stab someone and run right back over to their own side.) PICTURED: Mural near bus station
This month, a policeman (remember the police is primarily Protestant/Loyalist) was seriously injured here from a car bomb. 2 soldiers and a policeman were murdered last year as well.
Yesterday, we took one of the historical Black Cab tours..which is where you pile into really old-school Irish taxis, and they take you around to the most important Shankill Road (which is protestant) and Falls Road (which is Catholic) murals and memorials. Shankill & Falls were basically battlefronts during the Troubles. There are murals all over these areas that reflect their respective religious/political sides--e.g. the sides of houses are gigantic paintings of IRA gunmen, King William's victory, and Catholics who died during the hunger strike. Very sobering.
My First Few Days: Scottish Women Know How to Swing
Ok, so all of this violence might make you wonder what on earth I'm doing here. I promise, it hasn't all been scary history lessons. The people here are crazy, hilarious, extremely friendly, and tall. And they generally love Americans. Even Americans, thousands of miles away, know that the Irish know how to have a good time, so I don't even have to really explain that part. The first night here, I danced Irishly in a "proper Irish pub" (as they say) called Fibber McGee's, where an Irish band played, and a group of female Scottish tourists (including "Aunt Carol"....whose dance moves I'll never forget) swung us around for a solid 2 hours (elbow-in-elbow...think the below-decks party that Jack took Rose to, in the movie Titanic). At the end of the night, the Scottish gave us their email addresses & insisted we contact them to stay at their B&B not far from Edinburgh. (One of the women called me "Bobbles" all night because when she came in Fibber McGee's, she asked me if I had a "bobble"--which is a hair tie, apparently--and I had no clue what she was talking about.) We are seriously considering doing it. Aunt Carol was pretty awesome.
PICTURED: Megan (US), Kelly (US), Aunt Carol (Scotland), her niece who called me "Bobbles," me, & 2 other Scots at Fibber McGee's
Originally, we were told that we would spend 3 days with a family homestay in remote parts of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. But the directors decided against it--Instead they are paying our hotel accommodations for 2 nights in DUBLIN for St. Patty's Day..Not a bad deal at all!
PICTURED: Belfast Opera House for a comedy show
Our first three days were spent in a hotel in the city center, mostly doing orientation-type things, going to pubs, going to the theater (saw a comedy show called "Porridge"), getting to know the other 16 students in this program.
Dr. Tim's Good Teeth
Our program director...Tim...we call him Doctor Tim (he seems to have just about every academic degree imaginable)...is this fabulous Ireland-born man who drives BMWs and always wears designer suits. He's very proper (he has a surprisingly PERFECT top row of teeth) but he's also hilarious. He sometimes comes out to the pubs with us, and he's always "good craic" (pronounced like "crack," means good fun) to be around. Today, when he dropped us off at our new dorms for the first time, we were all sad to say goodbye to him..as we said, it felt sort of like Dad dropping you off at the first day of kindergarten, "Make new friends!" We'll see him again soon, though..he'll be my professor for my Irish Studies class at Queen's University.
PICTURED: my school, Queen's University, the night of the international students dinner
Real World: Belfast
The living situation isn't half-bad. I have a single room, with my own shower and toilet! (first time in 4 years...shout-out to Margaret Choo!). The floor is co-ed, with 11 people on it, and a kitchen/dining room in the middle where everybody can hang out. I still haven't met all of the roommates...I've met 2 Irish girls & 2 Irish guys--Chris and Fergle the law student--(who I believe we're going out with, tonight) Then there are 2 girls (Sarah & Kelly) who are Americans in my program.
Gotta try to nap to catch up on this sleep before we go out to "The Bot" (the Botanic)...
Let it be known that I am happy. Love you all.
