Monday, February 22, 2010
Look! A New Post!
As I've settled into life here a bit more, it's been harder to think of things to write about. It seems like there is always something I could or should be doing. Since one of my classes ended last week though, I should (hopefully) have some more time now - maybe I can actually start doing some work, but that still seems like a foreign concept to many students.
So, going backwards, here is a pictorial summary of what I've been up to lately.
My program took all of its Ireland students to Belfast this past weekend. It's a really interesting city because it seems to have so many different identities. At one point, it was the world's leading producer of a ton a different goods, so it's very industrialized. For many years, it was one of the four Bs to avoid (along with Beirut, Bosnia, and Baghdad - quite a group to be lumped in with). The violence may have ended, but the tensions are still there: the wall separating the Protestant and Catholic sides of the city has stood longer than the Berlin wall, and in a some-what recent vote, the citizens decided to leave it standing. Since the Good Friday Agreements though, the city has begun a new phase with tons of new development projects in the works.
The murals covering parts of West Belfast (the center of the sectarian violence) tell part of the changing story of the city. The tour guides/drivers kept strongly urging us to take pictures to the point where it got weird. They offered to take photos of us standing in front of them, but do you really want a smiling tourist photo in front of such reminders of violence and hatred? I compromised and only took a few photos of the ones I liked and the ones that were the best representatives of the general themes present in all of them.
Some are beautiful and uplifting: (The banner says "Let the children" and the first line of kids spells out PLAY)
On a totally different note, the Titanic plays a huge role in Belfast. There are apparently already plans in place for a massive memorial week next year (the 100th anniversary of the launch - and sinking). We went to see the dry dock where the ship was stored while it was being outfitted for the voyage.
Yes, it really is just a massive hole in the ground.
If you can make out the little yellow person near the line running through the center about two-thirds of the way back, you can get an idea of the size - these statues stand about 5'5". You also have to keep in mind that the ship would have come up over the sides of the dock. Pretty crazy.
My favorite part of the weekend was the day trip up to the northern coast. We were on a bus for much of the day, but the coastal motorway had impressive views and our tour guide kept us entertained with facts and stories about the area we travelled through.
Troll makes an appearance!
Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge (courtesy of Erin):
From left: Megan, me, and Erin:
One of our stops was Dunluce Castle, which literally sits on a cliff overlooking the ocean.
The lady of the castle hated living there since it was so isolated, and she had grown up as a city girl in London. One time she was having a dinner party for several important guests and close friends when they heard a crash and discovered that the kitchen, along with the cooks and several servants, had broken off and fallen into the ocean. Needless to say, she definitely didn't warm up to the place after that.
By the time we made it to Giant's Causeway, the sun was beginning to set, the sky had cleared from the earlier rain/sleet/snow, and everything was covered with this warm golden light.
And now, really quickly, some pictures from London last week:
I think that's all for now!
So, going backwards, here is a pictorial summary of what I've been up to lately.
My program took all of its Ireland students to Belfast this past weekend. It's a really interesting city because it seems to have so many different identities. At one point, it was the world's leading producer of a ton a different goods, so it's very industrialized. For many years, it was one of the four Bs to avoid (along with Beirut, Bosnia, and Baghdad - quite a group to be lumped in with). The violence may have ended, but the tensions are still there: the wall separating the Protestant and Catholic sides of the city has stood longer than the Berlin wall, and in a some-what recent vote, the citizens decided to leave it standing. Since the Good Friday Agreements though, the city has begun a new phase with tons of new development projects in the works.
The murals covering parts of West Belfast (the center of the sectarian violence) tell part of the changing story of the city. The tour guides/drivers kept strongly urging us to take pictures to the point where it got weird. They offered to take photos of us standing in front of them, but do you really want a smiling tourist photo in front of such reminders of violence and hatred? I compromised and only took a few photos of the ones I liked and the ones that were the best representatives of the general themes present in all of them.
Some are beautiful and uplifting: (The banner says "Let the children" and the first line of kids spells out PLAY)
The older ones, which are more militaristic in tone, are pretty petrifying:
The gunman's muzzle is like the Mona Lisa's eyes: it follows you where ever you move.
The wall that runs through part of the city:
People still try to throw stones and bottles over the wall; one of the drivers pointed out some fist-sized stones that littered the sidewalk.
The Black Taxi Tour brought us to the important political spots in the city and told us the historical facts about the violent history. It was a really strange experience for me. I'm glad I went on the tour, and I learned a lot, but the pain that the people went through is very apparent in all of the murals and memorials, and particularly in the voice of our driver when he spoke of the Troubles.
Despite the name of the company, our taxi was not black:
On a totally different note, the Titanic plays a huge role in Belfast. There are apparently already plans in place for a massive memorial week next year (the 100th anniversary of the launch - and sinking). We went to see the dry dock where the ship was stored while it was being outfitted for the voyage.
My favorite part of the weekend was the day trip up to the northern coast. We were on a bus for much of the day, but the coastal motorway had impressive views and our tour guide kept us entertained with facts and stories about the area we travelled through.
Troll makes an appearance!
Don't look down! Just kidding, it was actually really cool:
The rocks form really cool geometric patterns and create natural steps and ladders since the heights vary.
And now, really quickly, some pictures from London last week:
The London Eye:
Troll and Beaver meet at the Tower of London:
From left: Laura, Michelle, Me, and Katrina (it was ridiculously cold in London - definitely made the right choice weather-wise with Ireland):
I think that's all for now!
Monday, February 8, 2010
The Pros and Cons of Hosteling
This past weekend I travelled to Galway City and discovered what was perhaps my favorite town so far. It's a very friendly place, and while it does cater to tourists to a certain extent, it isn't as overt as Killarney. Plus it is right on the water and has an open air market, which automatically adds points in my book.
Since I'm fairly bored of the standard we-went-here-and-then-there-and-wasn't-it-pretty sort of blog posts, I've decided to use my vast knowledge of hostels (read: three nights total) to make a list.
Pro:
Cheap and easy. This is the most obvious reason to use hostels: we book online about a week in advance, and then show up and pay for our beds. We've also managed to pick places in really convenient locations, which makes it easy to see a lot in a relatively short period of time.
Con:
You get what you pay for, but I'm completely OK with that. Using bunkbeds only adds to the adventure.
Pro:
The hostels we've stayed in have been really friendly, warm places. Even though we haven't made friends or even had many conversations with other guests, it's comforting to be in a place that's so full of life, so to speak. That sounds a bit silly, but I can't think of another way to verbalize it.
Con:
People having fun can sometimes be loud, and warm only refers to atmosphere, not actual room temperature.
Pro:
Really warm blankets.
Con:
You're not quite sure how many people have thought about how warm the blankets are. This doesn't bother me too much since both hostels I've been in have been scrupulously clean, but I do bring my own sheet just to be on the safe side.
Pro:
Really interesting music selection - no boring elevator music here. No elevators either, now that I think about it.
Con:
No volume control of said music.
That's all I can think of off the top of my head so far. It's really fun to be able to just hop on a bus every weekend and go to a new place, and it is definitely the sort of mindset I want to bring back to the US with me. Next up on the agenda: London, and then Northern Ireland!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Fitting In
One of the things that surprised me the most is that everything is so similar here. UL is like any other college campus: students scurrying from class to class, trying to fit in a few hours of sleep in between lectures, extracurriculars, and socializing. Doing homework is purposely left off the list because it is apparently far too early in the semester to be thinking about that.
I've been keeping myself pretty busy by adhering to the philosophy that since I'm only here for a few short months, I may as well just do everything. This is an excellent idea in theory: I have a great time meeting other people, and I've made a few Irish friends as a result. Waking up for 9 am tutorials is a bit difficult, but that appears to be the only downside so far.
There are a whole bunch of challenges to fitting in:
1. Dress
While I got it right with black boots and black tights, the skirts I wear are about four inches too long, and my shirts are on the casual side of acceptable. Going out at night is a totally different story: I think I may possibly be the only girl not in four inch heels, and given my already short-ish stature, I get positively towered over on the dance floor. Solution: sharp elbows.
2. Traveling in Packs
Since most Irish students in one course (what we would call a major) are in most of the same modules (classes) together, they tend to travel in fairly large groups around campus and all sit together in the very back of the classrooms. This is making it a bit hard to actually meet anyone in my classes, so I make it a point to at least sit next to someone in every lecture. It's only week 2, so this is an ongoing venture. I'm not all that concerned because the easiest ways to meet people are through...(keep reading)
3. Clubs and Societies
The constant refrain we keep getting told is to join clubs and societies in order to meet people. I've joined two: the International Student Society and the Archery Club. The clubs and socs work differently here, and to be honest, I think it's a far superior system to Tufts. Instead of charging each student an activities fee and then having other students dole it out to the various student groups, each group charges a small fee in order to join (I've paid 4 and 8 euro). This means that almost all the members are really enthusiastic about their group, and it means the groups themselves are waaaaay more active since each member is more accountable.
4. Archery (It was so cool that it deserves its own number)
Last night was so much fun: there had to be at least 40 of us in the shooting range for over two hours. It was really well organized: about one half at least were experienced members and the rest of us were newbies (their term, not mine). There were about 4 or 5 beginners and one coach to each lane, and we would take turns shooting 2-3 arrows each time. I started off shooting righty, but I was having trouble maintaining the proper firing stance and actually aiming (though I did hit the target every time). One coach suggested I switch to lefty since apparently how you look at the target is much more important than your dominant hand and since I wasn't wearing glasses I was looking at the target really strangely. I was a convert for the rest of the night, though I'm not sure whether I was actually seeing better or whether it was just easier to focus since the draw on the bow was significantly lighter (making it easier to hold the firing position). Anyway, the really fun part was the everyone was extraordinarily friendly. Lots of the experienced members stopped by our lane to introduce themselves and see how we were getting on and whether or not we planned on sticking around. I think they may have been even more excited about having us join than we were.
5. Accents and Slang
Even though I can get away with passing as Irish by the way I dress most of the time, once I open my mouth, it's usually all over. While I promise that I'm not trying to adopt an Irish accent (it would go horribly wrong if I did), I've noticed that I've started mirroring the cadence of Irish English, but only when speaking to Irish students, not other Americans. One of the coaches last night was surprised when I said I was American, which to be completely honest, was a bit flattering. It helps that I'm simply not as loud or as talkative as many other Americans. I'm getting gradually better at pronouncing Irish words and names, but I usually have to hear them said several times. The other night some Irish students were teaching several of us Americans to properly use some slang, but none of us could get the pronunciation down.
6. Socializing
Many, many students head home on the weekends, so the prime social nights are Tuesdays and Thursdays. While it felt weird at first to be going out on a week night, I've gotten used to it fairly quickly and have a lot of fun with the mixed group of Irish and American students that I've been going with. Considering that this is a public blog, I think I'm going to leave this point at that :-)
So that's that for now. I'm off to horticulture lab and a folklore lecture this afternoon, and then I'm free for the weekend! Laura, Michelle, Katrina, Elizabeth (we adopted another American travel buddy), and I are headed to Galway this weekend, so think thoughts of sunny weather for us!
I've been keeping myself pretty busy by adhering to the philosophy that since I'm only here for a few short months, I may as well just do everything. This is an excellent idea in theory: I have a great time meeting other people, and I've made a few Irish friends as a result. Waking up for 9 am tutorials is a bit difficult, but that appears to be the only downside so far.
There are a whole bunch of challenges to fitting in:
1. Dress
While I got it right with black boots and black tights, the skirts I wear are about four inches too long, and my shirts are on the casual side of acceptable. Going out at night is a totally different story: I think I may possibly be the only girl not in four inch heels, and given my already short-ish stature, I get positively towered over on the dance floor. Solution: sharp elbows.
2. Traveling in Packs
Since most Irish students in one course (what we would call a major) are in most of the same modules (classes) together, they tend to travel in fairly large groups around campus and all sit together in the very back of the classrooms. This is making it a bit hard to actually meet anyone in my classes, so I make it a point to at least sit next to someone in every lecture. It's only week 2, so this is an ongoing venture. I'm not all that concerned because the easiest ways to meet people are through...(keep reading)
3. Clubs and Societies
The constant refrain we keep getting told is to join clubs and societies in order to meet people. I've joined two: the International Student Society and the Archery Club. The clubs and socs work differently here, and to be honest, I think it's a far superior system to Tufts. Instead of charging each student an activities fee and then having other students dole it out to the various student groups, each group charges a small fee in order to join (I've paid 4 and 8 euro). This means that almost all the members are really enthusiastic about their group, and it means the groups themselves are waaaaay more active since each member is more accountable.
4. Archery (It was so cool that it deserves its own number)
Last night was so much fun: there had to be at least 40 of us in the shooting range for over two hours. It was really well organized: about one half at least were experienced members and the rest of us were newbies (their term, not mine). There were about 4 or 5 beginners and one coach to each lane, and we would take turns shooting 2-3 arrows each time. I started off shooting righty, but I was having trouble maintaining the proper firing stance and actually aiming (though I did hit the target every time). One coach suggested I switch to lefty since apparently how you look at the target is much more important than your dominant hand and since I wasn't wearing glasses I was looking at the target really strangely. I was a convert for the rest of the night, though I'm not sure whether I was actually seeing better or whether it was just easier to focus since the draw on the bow was significantly lighter (making it easier to hold the firing position). Anyway, the really fun part was the everyone was extraordinarily friendly. Lots of the experienced members stopped by our lane to introduce themselves and see how we were getting on and whether or not we planned on sticking around. I think they may have been even more excited about having us join than we were.
5. Accents and Slang
Even though I can get away with passing as Irish by the way I dress most of the time, once I open my mouth, it's usually all over. While I promise that I'm not trying to adopt an Irish accent (it would go horribly wrong if I did), I've noticed that I've started mirroring the cadence of Irish English, but only when speaking to Irish students, not other Americans. One of the coaches last night was surprised when I said I was American, which to be completely honest, was a bit flattering. It helps that I'm simply not as loud or as talkative as many other Americans. I'm getting gradually better at pronouncing Irish words and names, but I usually have to hear them said several times. The other night some Irish students were teaching several of us Americans to properly use some slang, but none of us could get the pronunciation down.
6. Socializing
Many, many students head home on the weekends, so the prime social nights are Tuesdays and Thursdays. While it felt weird at first to be going out on a week night, I've gotten used to it fairly quickly and have a lot of fun with the mixed group of Irish and American students that I've been going with. Considering that this is a public blog, I think I'm going to leave this point at that :-)
So that's that for now. I'm off to horticulture lab and a folklore lecture this afternoon, and then I'm free for the weekend! Laura, Michelle, Katrina, Elizabeth (we adopted another American travel buddy), and I are headed to Galway this weekend, so think thoughts of sunny weather for us!
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Navigating Through the Countryside
This past weekend I took my first trip out of Limerick with Laura, Michelle, and Katrina (an awesome mix of Boston and Canada). We took a bus out Saturday morning, and the adventure began there.
Random aside that the above picture reminded me of: almost everything official in Ireland (like road signs) is written in two languages: English and Irish (Gaelic). Irish is the official national language, and it is compulsory for students to take it for twelve years in school. I haven't met many people who are completely fluent though since only certain regions speak Irish as the primary language.
So, back to the trip: driving through Ireland is much different than in the US. Towns are very distinct; you know when you leave one town and enter another, and the area in between is only lightly populated. Being on a tour bus is a really strange experience. Since most of the buildings are quite small compared to US standards, I quite literally felt like an invader each time we entered a new town. About half way through the ride, an older woman sat behind Laura and I and started talking to us. And asking us questions. And then talking about her family in the US. And then asking us more questions. And then telling us more about her family. And then asking if we had boyfriends. And then asking some of the questions she started with. She was nice, but it went on for a really long time.
Once we got into Killarney, we found our hostel with some help from a University of Limerick alum we happened upon, and then set out to explore the town a bit.
One really nice thing about traveling with friends: they don't mind taking pictures of you:
But other people usually don't mind either:
We went back into town for dinner and tea, and then went out to a pub that we thought was going to have live music. We didn't get a chance to hear much music because not too long after we settled in, some middle-aged Irish men (who had already had already consumed an undetermined amount of drink) became much more friendly than we were comfortable with. When one of them proposed to Laura, we quickly finished our pints and high-tailed it back to the hostel.
Sunday we all went to Mass at St. Mary's Cathedral, which is an awe-inspiring Gothic building.
So after that we went out the Muckross House, an amazing estate that is beautifully decorated since Queen Victoria stayed there for two days.
The view from the house was stunning, and we had a beautiful, sunny day:
We then spent an hour (yes, a full hour) walking back into town (to save the taxi fare). We picked up our bags from the hostel, grabbed some lunch, and jumped on the bus back to Limerick. It was such a good weekend that as soon as we got home, we planned our next two: first Galway, then London!
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