Visits, visits, visits

Okay. So it's been a while and I should really go to sleep but here is just the slightest of recaps with more detail to follow soon. In the last two weeks: Mary and Lydia came to visit from Edinburgh and highlights included plenty of culinary treats, city whimsies, and lots and lots of walking. Work has been going along really well and just as I was getting really in the swing of things, spring break snuck up on me and I was off to Istanbul to visit another good friend, Joey, studying there for the semester. Unsurprisingly, highlights in Istanbul included culinary treats, lots of sites and walking and people watching and soaking in the amazing city. Then this weekend yet another Mac friend, Jon, was in town doing a bit of UK touring on his spring break from studying in Salamanca, Spain. We showed off the Belfast sites, rode the Wheel of Belfast (London Eye for beginners one could say), ate some free stew, and tried in vain to find Van Morrison's childhood home in East Belfast...

All in all it's been a jam-packed few weeks and I've really enjoyed exploring more of Belfast with Mac friends and exploring a completely different, wonderful Istanbul.

More soon, hope you're all well!

City Legs.

Ulster Museum -Queen's Quarter, South Belfast.

Queen's Arcade, my first Lanegran slide. City Centre.

Claire, Libby, Eddie, Mary, Lydia. Crepes. St. George's Market, Markets District.

"Bagel: regeneration is social cleansing" ...commentary on Cathedral Quarter, North of City Centre.

Erin and I dance on musical pavement. -Prince Albert's Clock, Laganside, Belfast

"Every turn of the wheel is a revolution" -outside the John Hewitt Pub, Cathedral Quarter.

Fish.

Food Notes

Battered pizza- Mary introduced me to this delicacy my first night in Edinburgh. Like many things I've consumed in the British Isles, I felt on the verge of a heart attack as I ate this culinary masterpiece. Imagine combining the deliciousness of mozzarella sticks and fried dough, and you'll get battered pizza. I'm usually unable to access that part of my brain that tells me to stop eating, but lets just say in the battle of battered pizza versus Lily, battered pizza won.
Big British Breakfast/Ulster Fry- The UK is quite the enabler of heart disease and obesity (not that the US isn't putting in some solid efforts across the pond). An Ulster Fry consists of eggs, toast, bacon, beans, sausage, tomatoes, chips, mushrooms, and sometimes another meat or blood pudding... I tried my first in Edinburgh (thus the "Big British Breakfast" title) and I'm pleased to report it lived up to its reputation. Here you're somehow tricked into thinking that you're eating something that might be sort of somehow good for you (enter mushrooms and tomatoes!). Don't be fooled. Regardless, an Ulster Fry is so far the shining star of Nor'n Irish breakfasts, a high compliment coming from a breakfast-o-phile.
Our Saint Patrick's Day festivities (naturally) including a few pints of Guinness, a bit of Bailey's, and of course, a stop at Bishop's for some fish and chips smothered in brown sauce. It's been great exploring pubs and restaurants in Belfast, they combine two of my most favorite activities: food and drink and people watching. And watching as people consume such food and drink as the night goes on...

Kilts Galore

Last weekend, I went to Edinburgh, Scotland to visit my friend Mary and see some men in kilts. To be honest, I didn't have very high expectations for Edinburgh as a city and was kind of expecting something similar to Belfast. I was proved completely wrong. Edinburgh is a beautiful city full of cute cafes, old stone buildings, museums, and plenty of hills. Mary and I did lots of wandering around, eating yummy food of all sorts, doing some touristy site seeing, not to mention buying myself a fantastic wool sweater and scarf (no judgments people).

Major things of note: the Scottish Parliament building is new and modern and wild looking, check it out. We also stumbled across an antique map dealer and a cool children's book store so basically Mary and I are set for future jobs. We explored a farmers' market, plenty of tourist shops, walked the Royal Mile and saw the Edinburgh Castle, the Queen's Palace at Holyrood, and many other exciting and historic buildings. We also spent a bit of time coloring and trying on costumes in the Edinburgh Museum, but that's probably another story for another format. Mary took me to the Library Bar at the student union which was as great as you think it was, a few good pints, a lovely atmosphere, and excellent for people watching. All in all, definitely a city I’d want to return to and a much-needed break from Belfast. Now Mary is coming to visit Belfast this weekend!

"Good Guinness, Good Food, Good Craic"

So this past week was St. Patrick's Day (as I'm sure you're well aware) and its a state holiday here which means everyone of all ages was out and about celebrating in their own manner... We passed a bar with a blackboard out front advertising "good Guinness, good food, good craic" which seems to sum up both the day Wednesday and the past few weeks in in the British Isles. Just in case I forgot to mention in a previous post, the term craic is used here like someone in the states would ask what's good? or what's up? For our St. Patty's Day, we went to the city centre, wandered and people watched for a long time before getting some lunch and doing some pub hopping, ending our day with Bishop's Fish and Chips and a drink at the Queen's student union bar. Most of my coworkers seemed to treat the day off like I might treat Veteran's Day or MLK Day- an excuse to catch up on errands and maybe go for a hike or a bike ride. That said, there were definitely plenty of people celebrating with many pints and green enthusiasm.

It's been really hectic at my internship these past two weeks and I've been busy helping my supervisor with a series of projects in specific urban neighborhood renewal areas in Northern Ireland. I've been helping prepare for meetings, gathering images and setting up presentations, as well as compiling notes and images for sketch designs, writing community consultation reports, and learning my way around photoshop. I've also been getting to know my coworkers and indulging in endless cups of tea and scones. My tea and scone intake is definitely becoming an issue, but that's a topic for a different discussion.

On Monday last (as they say), we had our seminar in Belfast and went to Belfast City Council and the Northern Ireland Parliament at Stormont. I think we were all expecting to find the day difficult and frustrating, given preconceived notions of and previous experiences with politicians and political structures. Certain aspects of the day were difficult to accept and process: for example, Stormont is possibly the most inaccessible and uninviting political building I’ve ever seen. The whole place gave off a very controlling vibe and seemed unbelievably disconnected from the rest of the city. On the other hand, we met with 2 Good Relations officers at the BCC who spoke about creating shared spaces, focusing on access and perceptions of safety and ‘cultural value,’ which I found really interesting and physical access and transportation isn’t really something we’ve heard people talk about much here. At Stormont, we were able to speak with 6 representatives or spokespeople from 6 of the 8 (yes 8!) parties in the NI Assembly.

There are 108 MLAs or representatives in the Assembly, which come from 18 districts and represent a total of 1.5 million people. This ratio is pretty high but sort of necessary given the problems in political representation and the fact that NI has a mandated power sharing government. We spoke with reps from the Alliance Party, the Green Party, the DUP, the UUP, Sinn Fein, and the PUP. The Alliance and Green parties are two of the parties that do not have a national leaning or connection while the DUP, UUP, and PUP are Unionist parties and Sinn Fein (along with the SDLP) are Nationalist parties. The role of national identity in politics here is fascinating because in many ways it completely trumps social, economic, and other considerations. The sentiment behind much of the politics, even today, is that people vote along these lines because they don’t want the other guy in power. I could write and write about Stormont and the political system here but this post is already quite long so I’ll spare you. In short, I think we were all pleasantly surprised by the genuine nature and openness of nearly all the politicians we spoke to. While there was certainly a bit of rhetoric being thrown around, many of the individuals actually answered our questions, perhaps a bit surprising. Given how difficult it would be to get a Congress(wo)man or Senator to sit down with 15 foreign students in the States, the opportunity alone was refreshing.

Last weekend, the weather in Belfast was beyond beautiful and while 3 of our flatmates went to Dublin to see (MN hip-hop artist) Brother Ali, the rest of us spent as much time in the sunshine as possible. We went Saturday to the Ulster Museum: a really interesting renovated building, full of exhibits on art, history, and natural history. Always interesting to see how museums talk about local histories, especially when you’re studying that history. Then we ate burritos from our beloved Boojum in the park and had a relaxing evening in the flat. Sunday I went for a long walk by myself along the River Lagan and in some old industrial areas near the City Centre I haven’t explored yet. It was another beautiful day and a very different side of Belfast, which I really enjoyed and look forward to seeing more of. I tried to stop at a pizza place near us that looks potentially promising but it was closed so I went to the Spar and decided to try Sweet Thai Chicken crisps. Exploring another country’s snack foods could be a lifetime occupation in of itself.

Monday we were back in Derry for seminar. This time in the Fountain estate (essentially a tiny, Protestant enclave in the very Catholic, Nationalist Derry) meeting with a man from the community who told us the story of his community and his experience with politics, the police, and the Troubles. The discussion brought together a lot of topics we’ve been floating around including the tension between class and sectarian identities, the role of police, the underdog mentality that both sides seem to hold, and the obstacles to integration and peace in a place like Derry.

The past two days I’ve been helping with a conference for my internship called Grow Our Own, helping local groups think about setting up community farms and gardens. There were some really interesting speakers and it was nice to get out of the office and spend more time in different parts of NI and with my coworkers.

Parking the Beast

This entry is entitled “Parking the Beast.” The beast is otherwise known as the 17 seat mini-bus Nigel drives us around in and to be perfectly honest, many of the funniest moments of the last month have occurred in the beast or, occasionally, at the beast’s expense. It’s been a crazy week as we all settled into our internships and spent some time exploring Belfast this weekend. Internship placements seem to be going okay for everyone, but it has definitely been a stressful week. Personally, I’m enjoying my internship so far- learning a lot and trying to get to know my co-workers and the feel of the place. Unlike most of the other placements, this organization has never had a HECUA intern so I think we’re all trying to figure out exactly what my role will be. Needless to say, there have definitely been some rough evenings coming home from work and feeling pretty unsure of the whole thing.

Wednesday we had our seminar day and the whole program met up for the day in Belfast; each week we convene either in Belfast or Derry (usually on Mondays) to discuss our experiences, meet with organizations, and of course, ride around in the beast. This week, we went to the WAVE Trauma Center in North Belfast, which works with victims and survivors of the Troubles. After Nigel expertly maneuvered the beast through some very tight spots, we spoke with one of the organization’s leader who lost his wife and father-in-law in 1993 in the (Protestant/Unionist) Shankhill Road Bomb that killed 9 people, including one of the IRA bombers. The event caused quite a controversy because Gerry Adams, the leader of Sinn Fein (the leading Nationalist party), carried the coffin of the IRA bomber who was killed.

We’ve talked a bit about a hierarchy of victims, the idea that not all deaths should be treated the same, and it was really interesting and clarifying to hear this man’s story and opinions on the relationships between victims. It’s truly amazing how many people’s stories we’ve been able to hear; I know each one gives me a whole new set of questions and brings a new depth to my understanding of the Troubles and this society.

After WAVE, we went to Northern Ireland Alternatives, an organization centered around the idea of restorative justice and also one of the HECUA placements. We spoke with some of the leaders of the organization about what restorative justice means and what they do to promote justice at the local level. Then we had a tour of East Belfast, a heavily Protestant/Unionist/Loyalist area, and got to hear a pretty strong Loyalist perspective, one we haven’t heard much from. It was interesting to walk around the neighborhood and hear how socio-economic deprivation affects peoples’ thinking about conflict and division. It was another pretty intense day that ended with a Q&A with a leader of the UVF (a Loyalist paramilitary group).

It’s been really nice having seven roommates having parallel experiences and we’ve definitely had our fair share of bonding moments in the flat and on some really fun city adventures. This weekend we were all in need of some good craic (which is what the locals call ‘a good time’)… Friday we went to a Mexican restaurant, which was basically a Chipotle and so, so delicious even if it wasn’t an Anna’s burrito or a Los Ocampo al pastor taco. We explored a few bars and did some dancing and all really enjoyed ourselves. Yesterday we explored the St. George’s Farmers Market, the City Centre, and Victoria Sq. Mall- it was a beautiful day and a lot of fun to walk around, people watch, and do a little shopping.


Tomorrow we’re off to Derry for a seminar day and then back to work on Tuesday. Last night, Erin (a fellow Mac student and one of my Belfast flat-mates) bought tickets for spring break to go to Istanbul to, among other things, visit our friend Joey! And next weekend I’m off to Edinburgh, Scotland to visit my friend Mary and try some haggis, or something…

Belfast Girl

So when people asked me where in Northern Ireland I was studying abroad I said Belfast, it was much easier than saying Coleraine, Belfast or Derry, Dublin, then back to Coleraine. Really, would you know where half of those places are? Probably not, and given that I still get funny looks when I tell people in Massachusetts I go to school in Minnesota, I just said I was studying abroad in Belfast.

What’s weird is that now I am in Belfast. And even though we’ve been in N. Ireland basically a month, today was almost as scary a first day as the real first day. Maybe I was just nervous, but I think people in Belfast talk faster than other people I’ve met here, which didn’t help my nerves on my first day of work. The organization I’m working for does landscape architecture and helps communities transform public spaces- all the work they do sounds really interesting and I’m excited to learn more about what they do. Hopefully I’ll also learn more about what I’m going to be doing and get to know the people who work there better. In many ways, its completely different from other places I’ve worked but I’m really excited to learn and hopefully contribute.

The Belfast 8 (Real World Belfast anyone?) moved in yesterday to Stranmillis College which is in South-ish Belfast. We’re about a 15-minute walk from Queen’s University and about 30-40 minutes from the City Center. Our flat is basically one extra-long hallway with bedrooms (and a bathroom for everyone!), a kitchen, a bathtub room, and some other doors that we can’t open. We don’t really have a living room or common space, but we do have a room with just a bathtub so I guess that’s something.

We moved in yesterday afternoon and after Nigel took us to a Tesco-extra (if Super Target and Super Walmart had a baby and it took steroids you’d get Tesco-extra) to stock up on groceries, we tried to fit 8 people’s groceries into a mini-fridge. What is possibly most comical about our flat is that while we have a kind of inadequate fridge, we have a freezer so large we each get a fairly sizeable shelf. Oh well, it’s definitely a funny place but we’re enjoying it so far.

After settling in, we walked to the Botanic neighborhood, which is between Queen’s and the City Center. It’s sort of a hipster/student/yuppy kind of place with hip-looking Indian and Mexican restaurants, a pub called Springsteen’s, a myriad of coffee shops, and plenty of fish and chips places. It sort of reminds me of a lot of places I’ve been- kind of a Coolidge Corner meets Uptown meets Greenwich Village meets Victorian-era Belfast. It’s exciting to walk down streets and see diverse types of people and stores. On today’s walk to the train station, I spotted many a Belfast-hipster and countless teenagers on their way to school in their smart uniforms, which makes them look way older and way cooler than I ever did as a high schooler. I’m already excited for the weekend; hopefully we’ll explore some of the sights and ride the big Ferris wheel next to City Hall (its not as cool or as big as the London Eye but this is Belfast, okay?)

Hey! Where is my mail, people? (Only my mother is exempt from this question- thanks Mommy!)