Tea, Biscuits & Irish Stew

Even before leaving the U.S., I was told that the people in Northern Ireland were welcoming and friendly. Arriving here 10 days ago, I was excited to meet lots of people, but still hesistant that as an American I would be a laughable foreigner. Obviously there are moments when my visitor-status is completely clear to me (and everyone else!), but most of the people I've come into contact with have been tolerant and understanding -- able to tell me kindly that the word I heard as "rats" was actually the word "riots."

Food is perhaps the most universal way that people express gratitude, love, and a whole plethora of warm fellow-feelings. Since I am offered tea and biscuits at least three times a day, I can only assume that Northern Irish people have a lot of love to give. On Friday, when Mike and I arrived at work at the Credit Union of Lisburn PSP (Prisoners Support Project), Sharon greeted us with blueberry muffins and told us to ease into our short work day.

That's another thing -- the pace is so refreshingly different here. The people I'm working with clearly care about their work, but they don't rush from meeting to meeting. They also aren't persnickety -- Joanne, my officemate says. At first, I was concerned that I don't possess skills that are relevant and useful to my placement with the Lisburn PSP and LaganView Enterprise Centre. Then I found out they wanted me to write a sort of evaluation report on the community centre where I'm working and my first thought was, I have no idea how to do that. I don't have any experience with business or consulting! But this week I learned that I can and if I actively develop my newfound skill, I will be able to contribute in a meaningful way to this program.

But back to FOOD. Mmmm. Today I was hanging out with Ruth, the manager of Farset International (the hostel where we're living), and we were figuring out how to upload photos to her Facebook. Having just returned from the gym, I realized that I only had canned beans to quiet the rumbling sounds my tummy was making. Without missing a beat, Ruth insisted that I have some of the stew she made from scratch yesterday. Her offer was music to my ears. After devouring the whole bowl, I felt full (hehe) and so grateful for a home-cooked meal.
Our wonderful long weekend included a group trip to Derry and the Continental/International Market in Belfast and now another week is about to begin. Will write again soon!

Quick hello...and cheerio!

After an entire week at our placements, I can say this much: a) public transportation in Belfast is extremely prompt, but a 7-mile journey that takes 45 minutes can become slightly tedious, b) I am learning how to do consulting by trial-and-error, but have tons of helpful people helping, c) tea/coffee is offered to me approximately 5 times a day, and d) I am still pretending that "biscuits" aren't actually cookies and have some nutritional value.

I will give a more complete update on all of the happenings this past week has brought, but I didn't want to seem like I was neglecting you all (sidenote: I have been saying y'all way too often recently...SCARY).

Our group is off to Derry/Londonderry (termed Stroke City for attempting to be neutral in its name) in about 10 minutes!!! A two-hour trip to the northwest and we will soon be learning about the city's history, particularly about Bloody Sunday. Look it up and then read this short article: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/bloody-sunday-report-to-be-published-on-15-june-1983918.html

My director passed this article onto us and it will be interesting to be here when the report is released on June 15th...

Apologies that this is so quick and rushed -- more to come soon. CHEERS!

A Tale of Two Cities?

While everyone else seems to have adjusted to the time difference, I've been waking up at 5am for the past two days. Great. Since the sun doesn't set here until 9:30pm or so, it is very easy to lose track of time and stay up late. Then, sunrise at 5am awakens me with its gloriously bright rays, which (especially after a night out in Belfast) I do not necessarily appreciate. However, the brilliant early morning sunshine has been indicative of beautiful weather for the past few days. We all came prepared for the monsoon season/Ice Age and have been pleasantly surprised to enjoy jeans/t-shirt weather thus far. Yesterday, Mike and I took a wee jaunt to the longest Belfast peace wall, which separates the nationalist Springfield Road and the unionist Shankhill Road. Clearly this peace wall attracts visitors/tourists from all over and while I was first reluctant to whip our my camera lest it betray my foreigner status, I quickly relented. As we moved down the mile-long wall, Mike and I wondered how much of the amazingly colorful graffiti was done by people who live in the area. Although we can't say for sure, I would like to believe that most of it is.

Here are some of my favorites:

Now those are tourists... =)

This doggy is very small compared to the dogs we've seen around Belfast -- some of them are huge, especially considering that most yards are quite small.

(Mike is capturing a note scribbled on the wall.) I'm wary of the notes that talk about bringing peace to Belfast. There are a lot of people here who have been working for years to promote and sustain a peace that is still quite tenuous, but comes from within Belfast. Peace is a struggle, something each person has to work towards on a daily basis. Great work has been done and people are beginning to talk to each other. Many of our community partners facilitate conversations between Loyalist and Republican ex-paramilitaries -- people who literally used to kill each other. There is hope.

But above all these colorful murals is a 30-foot high wall -- a reminder that Belfast still remains a city divided and not at peace. The director of Healing Through Remembering reminded us yesterday that ignoring the past is not the way to heal. HTR firmly believes that forgetting can be as detrimental to the healing process as it is difficult.

On Monday, we begin work. But much of our work has already begun -- we have started to understand (albeit in small ways) what challenges still face the communities in Belfast.

Touring West Belfast: Sectarian Murals

In a few hours, I might be enjoying (surviving) my first authentic Guinness, but first I will mention some highlights of my first few days in Belfast. For the past two days, our DukeEngage group has been learning about the history of the Troubles from those who witnessed and experienced the violence over the past 30-40 years. Gordon Gillespie is the man who led our first tour of West Belfast, which highlighted areas of significant conflict and the renowned murals (both Loyalist and Republican; brief terminology lesson to follow).

An example of a Republican mural on Whiterock Rd. (a Catholic "estate," or neighborhood):

...And this is a Loyalist mural on Albertbridge Road (one of the Protestant areas of W. Belfast):

(photo by Mike Fritz)

Because the terminology is a wee bit confusing at first, I will explain/define a few terms to the best of my knowledge.

• Republican and Loyalist are terms used exclusively in the context of paramilitary groups, who were active during the years of the Troubles. Most of these paramilitary organizations decommisioned after the peace aggreement was signed in 1998 (Good Friday Agreement), but some only recently handed over their arms -- even within the past year. Bascially, you only use Republican/Loyalist in relation to those who support armed struggle as a means to their end.


• Nationalist and Unionist are related to political agendas/persuasions. Nationalists tend to support the complete independence of the state of Ireland from the United Kingdom (including Northern Ireland), while Unionists want N. Ireland to remain a part of the UK and separate from the Republic of Ireland.

Hmm...I set out to describe the past two days in Belfast and managed only to cover approximately 3 hours. Thus, I will be posting frequently over the weekend to update you more... Expect many more photos!

Volcanoes, Shoes, & other Inconveniences

In three days, I will leave for Belfast from the Tom Bradley International Terminal of LAX. I have so much to do before then -- plus, the Newark-Belfast leg of our journey could be complicated by ash clouds from the eruption of Iceland's volcano, Eyjafjallajokull. Its effects on European air travel have proven to be just as intense as this volcano's name. However, assuming that we can make it out of the country on Tuesday, I need to get down to business: packing.

With the contents of 3 full suitcases dumped on my living room floor, I quickly became overwhelmed by the task at hand. Seriously, how can I fit everything that I need (or could at some point need) for the next 2 months into 1 checked item? Let's be real -- my rain boots have already usurped about one-quarter of the allotted space. Interestingly, Belfast natives apparently don't wear rain boots too often, which I find strange and slightly impractical considering it rains there approximately 213 days/year. Well, my feet will be dry and I won't be obscenely conspicuous because I opted for my dark blue ones over the hot pink with polka dots. I doubt the decision to include my rain boots only when I look at how little room it leaves for clothes...

In all honesty, the pressure of packing has been considerably alleviated by two main forces:

1) The nature of our DukeEngage program. None of our community partners in Belfast will be expecting us to wear business casual to work -- jeans are the standard dress and a comparatively simple wardrobe will suffice for the summer. When you don't have the expectation of looking cute everyday, it becomes infinitely easier to leave lots of things at home. It's actually kind of liberating.

2) My mama. She's the most practical & efficient packer I know. Besides remembering all the essential things (yes, I usually forget a toothbrush wherever I go), she also is very willing to tell me when I'm going a little overboard. I think we're setting the shoe limit at 4 -- somewhere near the upper limit for her, but lower limit for me.

It's been said that people resemble tea bags, in that their true colors show when they are put in hot water. Though for most it isn't comparable to being steeped in boiling water, packing certainly reveals truths about a person. After having moved from home to Tufts and then from Tufts to Duke, I still cannot claim any advanced/superior packing skills. But each time I did leave some things behind, in dorm rooms, hallways, and trash cans. And I'm pretty sure I've never once thought to myself, Where in the world did I put ___? In the end, there are very few material things that are uniquely necessary to existence -- the most important we carry inside. And the rest, we acquire and use as we go.

My mom always has me make "priority piles" before I start packing my bag, which basically boil down to this: need, want, & don't need. To a certain extent, this compelling framework guides our lives. We ask ourselves from time to time, even when we aren't packing: What is high-priority? And what can I bear to leave behind?

A Long Time Coming (Back)

Remember those times when you've gone on Facebook, hoping to see a little red box that announces you have 3...5...17 new notifications, and an hour later you are flipping through pictures of a 30-year-old guy living in Guatemala because he just wrote on the wall of someone who was in one picture of your cousin's wedding album? Don't lie -- this situation is all too familiar, particularly to us Millenials (yes, I discovered today that's actually a coined term). Minutes and sometimes hours pass in a partially-conscious blur. Glued to your TV at 1:15am, you realize your 10-minute break turned into a 3-hour one. Pulling up to a familiar hangout in your hometown, you can't actually recall driving there and you hope no traffic laws were unwittingly broken in the process.

Tempus fugit...

I am sitting on my (sister's) bed at home in California, contemplating the reality that time really can escape. Looking at my archive, you'll see that my last blog post was dated November 2009, but don't throw up your hands in submission to the inevitable demise of another forgotten blog! The truth, which is written eloquently by Andy in the Shawshank Redemption, is that "no good thing ever dies." Although it has gone without updates for many months, this blog was never far from my mind. As I have told some of you, I consciously abstained lest this blog become too much like a journal, particularly during the difficult few months after breaking my foot. Admittedly, inertia took hold at some point and, well, here we are 6 months later.

For the next couple of months, this blog will mostly be dedicated to anything/everything relating to my 2-month summer of service in Belfast, Northern Ireland through the DukeEngage program. More details to follow...very soon!