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!)