Belfast ended up being a lot of fun, but I think I can say that I enjoyed Dublin more. The tension that you can feel in Belfast from the conflict is a little overwhelming...definitely not an area I would want to grow up in. I already miss the Ireland seminar so much. The group of people was a lot of fun, our professor and TAs were amazing, and I just had a great experience.
I arrived safely in London yesterday, and we checked into our hotel that we stay at until we find a flat. I'm starting that search tomorrow, so I will report back, and hopefully be able to show off pictures of where I live. Even though I am in the city of London, I don't feel it yet. Maybe it's because I'm staying in a hotel for the time being, or that classes haven't started, but I just don't feel like I'm really here yet.
Hopefully once classes start, and I have a flat, and I know my way around the area I live in, I will really feel at home here in London.
And I plan on posting some pictures from Ireland soon :)
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
From Dublin to Belfast
Sadly, my time in Ireland is already halfway over. We just left Dublin this morning and arrived in Belfast, and our hotel has free wireless internet! Yay! Alright, let me try to unload everything I've done in the past few days without rambling...
Fun things first: We visited the Guinness factory, which was really interesting. Because I'm allergic to beer I didn't get to have a free pint of "the freshest Guinness you can get" but I still enjoyed the tour. We also had a full-on Irish dinner at The Merry Ploughboy Pub, complete with entertainment in the form of a four-man band and some Irish dancers. Last night we went to the national theatre of Ireland, the Abbey Theatre, and saw a play called The Plough & The Stars. It was a really emotionally-charged play about the Easter Rising by the Irish Republicans in 1916, which was really cool because we've been learning about it in some of our lectures. The play was so controversial when it came out in the 1920's that it caused riots in the streets, and I can see why! And finally, tonight we went to a rugby game at Ravenhill Stadium in Belfast - it was a BLAST, and the hometeam won! We've also had plenty of time to explore on our own, so I've enjoyed seeing things of my own choosing, and just getting purposely lost in the city and then finding my way back.
As for the academic side, we've been working HARD! They weren't kidding when they told us to prepare for a lot of work. It is a 3-credit course in 10 days after all. We generally have about three or four academic events in a day, usually lectures or tours. We've visited a jail, toured both Dublin and Belfast, toured the Belfast City Hall, and had lectures on all sorts of interesting topics ranging from the well-known Irish travellers to religion and political conflict in Ireland. It's really cool because there is still a decent amount of tension between many groups here in Ireland, so we learn about it in the classroom and then can see the effects in the city today.
Needless to say, I am very tired. We have a pretty full day tomorrow, so I better go get some sleep. I'll be going strong for the next four days in Ireland, and soon enough I will be starting up my semester in London! Hopefully I'll get in one more post before London starts up so that I can wrap up my time in Ireland.
Until next time :)
Fun things first: We visited the Guinness factory, which was really interesting. Because I'm allergic to beer I didn't get to have a free pint of "the freshest Guinness you can get" but I still enjoyed the tour. We also had a full-on Irish dinner at The Merry Ploughboy Pub, complete with entertainment in the form of a four-man band and some Irish dancers. Last night we went to the national theatre of Ireland, the Abbey Theatre, and saw a play called The Plough & The Stars. It was a really emotionally-charged play about the Easter Rising by the Irish Republicans in 1916, which was really cool because we've been learning about it in some of our lectures. The play was so controversial when it came out in the 1920's that it caused riots in the streets, and I can see why! And finally, tonight we went to a rugby game at Ravenhill Stadium in Belfast - it was a BLAST, and the hometeam won! We've also had plenty of time to explore on our own, so I've enjoyed seeing things of my own choosing, and just getting purposely lost in the city and then finding my way back.
As for the academic side, we've been working HARD! They weren't kidding when they told us to prepare for a lot of work. It is a 3-credit course in 10 days after all. We generally have about three or four academic events in a day, usually lectures or tours. We've visited a jail, toured both Dublin and Belfast, toured the Belfast City Hall, and had lectures on all sorts of interesting topics ranging from the well-known Irish travellers to religion and political conflict in Ireland. It's really cool because there is still a decent amount of tension between many groups here in Ireland, so we learn about it in the classroom and then can see the effects in the city today.
Needless to say, I am very tired. We have a pretty full day tomorrow, so I better go get some sleep. I'll be going strong for the next four days in Ireland, and soon enough I will be starting up my semester in London! Hopefully I'll get in one more post before London starts up so that I can wrap up my time in Ireland.
Until next time :)
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Intro to Ireland
So I arrived safely in Ireland, and I am having a lot of fun so far. My flights were LONG and BORING - I had four flights in total, adding up to almost two whole days of travelling. For some reason it was a lot more boring for me than travelling to Cape Town, maybe because I had one more flight to deal with. It was nice to be travelling with a group for the second half, though, instead of doing it completely on my own.
We are in Dublin for five days, and we are staying at Trinity College, which is right in the center of Dublin. The dorms there are basically apartments, so I share an apartment with one other person, and I have my own bedroom! Last night we got into the city and just learned about what we will be doing in the course, and then we had the night to ourselves, which was a lot of fun. Today we had a walking tour of the city, and we are on a lunch break now, so I popped into an internet cafe so that I could let my parents know that I am alive. I don't have much more time because we have our first lecture in half an hour, so I have to get running.
Loving Ireland, more later!
We are in Dublin for five days, and we are staying at Trinity College, which is right in the center of Dublin. The dorms there are basically apartments, so I share an apartment with one other person, and I have my own bedroom! Last night we got into the city and just learned about what we will be doing in the course, and then we had the night to ourselves, which was a lot of fun. Today we had a walking tour of the city, and we are on a lunch break now, so I popped into an internet cafe so that I could let my parents know that I am alive. I don't have much more time because we have our first lecture in half an hour, so I have to get running.
Loving Ireland, more later!
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Packing
10 days until I leave! I've already started kind-of packing...well, at least I'm setting some stuff aside. I'm already worried that I am going to want to bring WAY too much. I have to pack about 4-months worth of stuff into just a few small bags. It was hard enough to choose what I wanted to pack for South Africa, and that was for only two months, and I was trying to bring clothes I didn't like and haven't worn in a while. I didn't have too many of those, so packing was actually easy. But Ireland/London requires a whole different wardrobe. It's going to be cold, it's going to be grey-skied, it's going to have rain/snow. Thank heavens I am prepared for this kind of environment from living in Michigan and going to school in Syracuse. But, that means I have a LOT of clothes that I will want to bring.
Anyway, getting really excited. In Ireland, we are doing some AWESOME things; I keep reading the itinerary. We are studying in Dublin at Trinity College, which has a beautiful campus. I am so excited to explore it and see what it is like being a college student in Ireland. We are also touring a prison! I am really excited for Belfast because the hotel we are staying at is right in the center of the shopping/nightlife center of the city. And we have a couple free evenings/nights, so we will get to explore the city on our own, which is cool. We also get to explore the famous Dunluce Castle, see a big rugby match at Ravenhill Stadium, and hear some really exciting lectures from some pretty interesting-sounding people. I am trusting that SU Abroad hooked us up with some really good professors. The Syracuse professor that is leading our seminar sounds really cool.
Gotta finish up my homework for Ireland!
Anyway, getting really excited. In Ireland, we are doing some AWESOME things; I keep reading the itinerary. We are studying in Dublin at Trinity College, which has a beautiful campus. I am so excited to explore it and see what it is like being a college student in Ireland. We are also touring a prison! I am really excited for Belfast because the hotel we are staying at is right in the center of the shopping/nightlife center of the city. And we have a couple free evenings/nights, so we will get to explore the city on our own, which is cool. We also get to explore the famous Dunluce Castle, see a big rugby match at Ravenhill Stadium, and hear some really exciting lectures from some pretty interesting-sounding people. I am trusting that SU Abroad hooked us up with some really good professors. The Syracuse professor that is leading our seminar sounds really cool.
Gotta finish up my homework for Ireland!
Thursday, August 5, 2010
More Pics
Sitting around, nothing to do, thinking about how much I miss South Africa and everyone there. Here are some more of my favorite pictures from the two months I was there.
Bungy jumping from the world's highest bungy bridge
You think vuvuzelas were annoying to you? Try having them EVERYWHERE! Ayoba!
I had to get one...
Just landed from skydiving! I'm hooked :)
A few of us in Tofo, Mozambique - paradise!
To everyone I met in South Africa, I hope you are well - I hope to stay in touch with each of you, and I know that I will see some of you again!
Bungy jumping from the world's highest bungy bridge
You think vuvuzelas were annoying to you? Try having them EVERYWHERE! Ayoba!
I had to get one...
Just landed from skydiving! I'm hooked :)
A few of us in Tofo, Mozambique - paradise!
To everyone I met in South Africa, I hope you are well - I hope to stay in touch with each of you, and I know that I will see some of you again!
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Prepping for Ireland
So, as much as I am still in the mindset of wanting to relax and reflect from South Africa, I am leaving for Ireland in a couple weeks and I have quite the list of things I need to get done before I leave. Today, I bought my flight from Detroit to New York so that I could meet up for the group flight I am taking to Ireland (with a connection first in London, which will be weird because it will be a brief snapshot of what life will be like a couple weeks after that!)
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Just as an update to anyone who doesn't know me personally or hasn't been following my blog from the start, I am going to Ireland for 10 days for an academic seminar through Syracuse University Study Abroad. The seminar is called "The Pale and Beyond: A Sociological, Political and Economic Investigation of Life in the Republic of Ireland and British Northern Ireland" Quite a name, huh? The seminar is split between Dublin and Belfast :)
After that, I am moving into a London flat for about four-and-a-half months for my Fall 2010 Semester in London (also through SU Study Abroad.)
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Today we got our itinerary emailed to us regarding our day-to-day activities in Ireland. It is a nice mix of academic related stuff and designated "free time." The seminar leaders tell us that we must be aware that we are completing a 3-credit class in 10 days, so there will be lots of work; but that they also know that we want to have time to enjoy Ireland on our own as most of us have never been there before. It seems like we get to meet a lot of great people and hear some interesting lectures. I am REALLY EXCITED to continue traveling, but honestly one of the things I am most excited about is that I get to be back in an academic mindset. I just like feeling productive.
So, I should use that productive feeling to finish up my list of things I need to do. I have some short essays about Irish films to write (so of course, we have to watch the films) and just a lot of other "prep" stuff to do.
17 days until I leave!
----
Just as an update to anyone who doesn't know me personally or hasn't been following my blog from the start, I am going to Ireland for 10 days for an academic seminar through Syracuse University Study Abroad. The seminar is called "The Pale and Beyond: A Sociological, Political and Economic Investigation of Life in the Republic of Ireland and British Northern Ireland" Quite a name, huh? The seminar is split between Dublin and Belfast :)
After that, I am moving into a London flat for about four-and-a-half months for my Fall 2010 Semester in London (also through SU Study Abroad.)
---
Today we got our itinerary emailed to us regarding our day-to-day activities in Ireland. It is a nice mix of academic related stuff and designated "free time." The seminar leaders tell us that we must be aware that we are completing a 3-credit class in 10 days, so there will be lots of work; but that they also know that we want to have time to enjoy Ireland on our own as most of us have never been there before. It seems like we get to meet a lot of great people and hear some interesting lectures. I am REALLY EXCITED to continue traveling, but honestly one of the things I am most excited about is that I get to be back in an academic mindset. I just like feeling productive.
So, I should use that productive feeling to finish up my list of things I need to do. I have some short essays about Irish films to write (so of course, we have to watch the films) and just a lot of other "prep" stuff to do.
17 days until I leave!
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