Final Days in Belfast

It's all so bittersweet. I can't believe I leave tomorrow, granted the time can't go by fast enough, I still can't believe that three months are gone. I went on the Belfast wheel yesterday and saw the city, it was so strange to not know if I'll even come back, I mean I lived here and I learned so much and to not know if I'll ever see the murals or walk down Falls Road again is just strange for me to think about.
I'm avoiding packing right now, and I can't think of anything but leaving but at the same time I'm so anxious and nervous to leave. I know I have changed, wheter for better or worse has yet to be seen (Heather said better), It's almost like I've been looking forward to this for so long that now that it's here I can't possibly believe it.

Paris

I was in France for 5 days, Paris for only 2.

The first day was spent entirely at Armelle's house in Villas (I believe that's where we were). Heather needed to catch up on sleep and we all just needed to relax for a bit. We wandered the small town, smaller than Mitchell, and went grocery shopping.
The second day we proceeded to Paris and first stop was the Louvre. I was in awe and personally surprised myself about how much I knew about art and history. The Mona Lisa wasn't all that great compared to the rest of the artwork contained in this one place. I honestly don't get her appeal. Well after wandering for about an hour or so Armelle and Heather decided that they would rather sit and talk rather than look at the paintings, needlessly to say i left them behind but couldn't help feeling a little slighted. After the Louvre, we ate our lunch and Heather decided it would be fun to feed the pigeons and incidentally one pigeon almost died as it decided to venture into Armelle's purse only to be smacked into a wall by Armelle herself. We decided to walk around a bit and spotted the Eiffel tower off in the distance, so that became our new point of interest. The Eiffel tower was pretty but not too exciting, the best part of it were the guys selling cheap souvenirs and their running away from the police of bikes. The Army men were a little intimidating, what with their guns and all, but I realized that they found this ritual of selling and running as funny as I did.
Day Three we decided to head to the Red Light District. Moulin Rouge wasn't all that impressive, and there was scaffolding around the windmill, of course because it's part of the EU. We then ventured down to a very Red Light District museum, which was hilarious in its absurdity. After the museum, we ventured up toward Sacré-Cœur Basilica. On the way Heather got propositioned for sex by some random French guy, considering Heather speaks even less French than I do it was rather hilarious, and once we got Armelle and she figured out what was going on she yelled at him in French, I laughed. We continued walking and reached the steps leading up to Sacré-Cœur Basilica and were approached by some guys trying to sell us some string bracelets for some reason or another, they spoke English very well and kept talking about Obama, once again Armelle spoke French and that was that. Sacré-Cœur Basilica is gorgeous inside and out, you can see almost all fo Paris on a clear day (ours was foggy) and the inside is awe inspiring. There is a mass every hour so the church is always open, it's hard to even begin to explain the church, we weren't allowed to take pictures. It was absolutely breathtakingly gorgeous and the most beautiful church I have ever seen. After Sacré-Cœur Basilica, we went to LaFayette, a huge 7 story shopping mall so Armelle could go Christmas shopping; incidentally the mall next to this one is where they found the dynamite a few days later.
Day Three, Armelle's aunt, Daniele came and picked us up to take us shopping in some small town. On the way we passed a gorgeous French church, apparently anytime you are watching a French movie about French royalty this church is always used. I wish I could have taken some photos. Once we arrived at the town, we wandered the Christmas market, and I was convinced to try foie gras, tasted kind of like funeral meat, and rewarded myself with a soft pretzel. We wandered around a bit, through a few shops and then went for a coffee. While we were at the coffee shop, there was what we assumed to be a television crew interviewing a native American who had accepted the French lifestyle, translated through Daniele and Armelle. Heather and I couldn't stop laughing.
Day Four was rather uneventful, we just hung around the town all day. I went with Armelle to get baguettes and the such and was hit on by some guy, all I understood was "water" and "important," (I was holding a pack of bottle water) and I just nodded and said "yeah." It was so awkward. That night we ate at an authentic French restaurant. We shared some weird type of fondue, a huge wedge of cheese on a heater that once it melted you scraped it off and ate with various types of pork, it was good. The restaurant owner came and talked to us, she was incredibly nice and thought we were so interesting.
Day Five was the day of traveling. We had to clean and pack and be on the train by 4:30. Then from the train take the metro, I felt like I was in a cattle car. Following the metro, catch the bus to the airport, 3 hours later, arrive at the airport for our flight. By the end of it all, I was so tired I made a fool out of myself at passport control. The man was asking me the basic questions and asked how long I'd been there etc. I responded 3 months and so on and so forth, he mentioned that I didn't have a stamp. Then I realized I was in the Republic not North, I got the death stare...oops.
My great French adventure...I liked Munich better :D

Sorry Grandma

So I have been informed that I need to update this thing, haha sorry Grandma.

Not much has gone on in the past week or so. I finished my school experience which was eye opening. I was thrown into the class by myself on more than one occasion, I made a very poorly prepared substitute. I think the hardest thing was when Patrick's mom died. She had died the night before and of course Patrick was gone from class, but the principal came in to inform the class so when he said a prayer for Patrick the kids wouldn't be taken by surprise. Well this happened to be the day that I was alone in the classroom and trying to have control while at the same time watching these 9 and 10 year olds deal with death in the form of a mother was heartbreaking.
The kids showed me so much though too. I blew their minds when I told them that we did indeed have McDonald's in America and I watched their shocked and surprised reaction when I told them that kids attended school until they were at least 16 but often staying until they were 18. It saddened me to know that some of the kids in that school won't get that education, I know they are bright kids with a lot on their shoulders, it's just hard to see them struggle so.

I went to Dundalk on Saturday to mail off my Christmas packages, saved over £200 and spent 2 hours wandering this small town down in the Republic. On Sunday we got bored and took the train to Derry, to see the scenery we missed when we took the bus the first time. We wer in Derry long enough to get some Burger King, it tastes different here, and then headed back on the train to go to Lisburn. We got to Lisburn expecting a big Christmas display and market; however, everyone we asked about the market to was completely perplexed.

Other than that not a lot going on, I leave in exactly two weeks and turned in my last paper yesterday. Only one test left! Just planning on seeing as much as I can in the coming days; heading with Paulina to Cave Hill, Belfast Zoo, Belfast Castle, and possibly Queen's University tomorrow and then leaving for Paris on Friday morning to spend 6 days there. And tonight I have the Maths Christmas dinner which should being interesting, class but interesting.

School Based Work

I'm spending this week at St. Luke's Primary School and needless to say, these past few days have shattered my stereotypes about school uniforms and religious schools. These kids aren't rich or privileged; if anything they would fit right in back at Mitchell. There are parents in jail, new daddy's this year, and we even have one boy who's mom is on her deathbed (his aunt actually came and got him today as they think it was time). These kids are loud, foulmouthed, horrible behavior, don't listen, don't care, but at the same time they can be the sweetest things ever. I feel really bad for them, they are 9 and 10 year olds who read at the level of 2nd to 3rd grader, who know more about alcoholic behavior than any child has the right to know, they know how to defend themselves against life. I must admit when I taught today I was a little harsh and I have been after them to keep their hands to themselves and to watch their language and I know that they laugh about my accent, but I just wish I could give them better, what they deserve, a true education, not one that's struggling against economy, family, and a crap school building (the teachers joke that it sounds like we are all at the dentist as the drilling never stops). But I guess that's life and I fear for what life will be for some of them; however, if they pull through they will become amazing adults that the world should take notice of.

School Based Experience

I just got back from visiting the school I will be at for the next week, St. Luke's Primary. It's located in Twinbrooks which is unchartered territory for me, but it just looks a lot like the suburbs of Belfast. I will be in a P6 class, 9 and 10 year olds who have heard I am coming all week. I met with the principal and teacher who's class I'm in. My teacher seems rather keen on the idea of me teaching sometime in the coming week, which should be rather interesting as I have no idea what to teach on, nor anything about their standards or what they are learning in this moment in time. Oh well, it is a learning experience that starts bright an early at 9 am on Monday morning and ends at 3pm Friday afternoon. I've been looking forward to this since I left and I can't wait to be back in a classroom.

Thanksgiving

My amazing Thanksgiving dinner, I know you're jealous. Yes, people in Subway looked at me weird for taking this photo.

My Thanksgiving was rather uneventful, caught up on classes, educated my Maths class on Thanksgiving and the Macy's Parade, cleaned the kitchen. It was great to talk to everyone, probably some of the best money spent here. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and I'm one holiday closer to being home :D

Day 3 Paddywagon Tour

After a fun night of people coming in at 6 in the morning, we all got ready to go on a horse and carriage ride through Kilarney National Park. We had the perfect morning, clear skies and it wasn't horribly cold. Our horse was a new walker named Bill and he was gorgeous. We saw the mountains and the lake and it was honestly beyond words.
After the horse ride we returned to the hostel and split between the 3-day tours (me) and 6-day tours and the 3-day tours continued to Blarney Castle.
Now I must admit I slept most of the way to Blarney, there's only so much green that I can look at before the back of my eyelids look good, and yes I know I'm going to miss it all once I go back home and see all the brown.
Once we got to Blarney Castle we all kind of split up and did our own thing. I decided to wander and slowly make my way to the Blarney stone. The castle itself in amazingly broken and gorgeous, I was extremely amused at the lack of floors leading to fireplaces in the middle of walls and the wide open room that housed both the "young ladies room" and "priest room"; however, they used to be seperated.
I finally got up to the stone and was rather nervous, you must lay on your back and lean backwards to kiss the stone, essentially upside down. I thought my butt was going to fall off the edge.
So after that bit of excitement, I continued to wander the castle and found that the pictures they take of you to sell are definitely not the most flattering thing in the world. I found the dungeon, a dank, dark place where to even get to the room in which you can stand you have to walk hunched over for about 5 minutes.
We soon left Blarney castle and proceeded to Dublin to conclude the tour, once again I slept most of the way and watched "Father Ted." We arrived in Dublin with 15 minutes for me to catch the bus to Belfast and concidentally, one of the guys from my group (Australian) was also going to Belfast to catch a flight the following morning, so I had someone to keep me company. However, my favorite part was playing peek-a-boo with a little German boy who sat behind me and thought it was hilarious.

I am definitely coming back to Ireland, I don't know when or how but I want to come back here. It is gorgeous and so peaceful, there is so much history both good and bad hidden in the ruins and greens of the countryside. I just hope my students loans don't take too long to pay off.

Day 2 Paddywagon Tour

After waiting for the still drunk people, we took off for the Cliff of Mohr. Definitely a place to see before you die. First, we drove around a lot and took turns introducing ourselves to the bus, a lot of the people referred to the Republic as part of the UK, it was amusing to watch the bus drivers face, I got a laugh when I was very politically correct with where I was from "studying in Northern Ireland" and going to see the "Republic of Ireland." After everyone said their piece, Micheal informed everyone that they were in a different country from the UK, a lot said that that was what they meant.
We stopped at one of the tower houses, built during the King's rule, money was given to the loyal to build these castles that could double as fortresses.
Soon we stopped at a wishing well, you had to throw a coin with your left hand over your right shoulder and it had to only hit water in order for your wish to come true by way of the fairies. I got my wish :D
After we stopped again at these rather rocky landscapes, the Irish name escapes me. They were amazing, it reminded me a bit of the Causeway. There were some cows that looked as though they were posing for us, we found out later they were watching the other cows that we standing in the middle of the road, ahh I miss that from driving through the random dirt roads.
We soon arrived at the Cliffs and decided to climb the stairs before the hill. And of course because it is the EU there was scaffolding, so after getting gorgeous pictures of one side, we decided to go down and then up the other side. So I was hopping down the stairs, then after decided hopping wasn't safe, I walked. I got three stairs done before I fell, my ankle popped twice. I only cussed once, I was proud of myself, I found I could put my weight on it so I decided to continue up the hill. We walked/I gimped all the way up the hill; when passed the "Don't Pass" sign and got some amazing pictures. It is truly a breathtaking place, my pictures don't do it justice.
So after we came down the hill, I decided I should get my ankle wrapped. So I was the injured girl for the rest of the trip.
After the Cliffs, we arrived at our hostel, ate some fish and chips (I tried their baked beans, I like American better), and then went to a pub/nightclub where there was supposed to be Irish music, there was bad 80s cover music. I decided to go back and nurse my ankle, yes I'm a party pooper :D

Day 1 Paddywagon Tour

Once again 4 am is WAY too early to get out of bed. This time I caved and called a taxi rather than haul my butt and luggage down to the bus station. I got on the Belfast to Dublin bus, I remember the first stop and arriving in Dublin out of the almost 3 hour trip. I was tired
Our tour started almost an hour late due to traffic, but we got to see a bit of Dublin; the "Stiffy on the Liffey" aka the Dublin Spire as well as many bridges and random buildings.
First stop was the Dublin park where the Pope had preached and we saw the wild deer in the trees. I had a laugh when one of the Australians asked if they were reindeer.
Clonmacnoise was the second stop, where a saint began his ministery. It was a gorgeous and sacred place. I must admit I had a mantra of "I'm sorry" going through my head as I wandered through the cemetary to the different buildings, I hope I didn't step on anyone. There again we saw one of the places the Pope had preached. This monastry was were the original large celtic crosses where found, so it was humbling to see those. So after seeing some ruins, we had lunch with a begging dog. He was such a sweet mutt, his body was almost as long as his tail while his legs where about half that length. He definitely knew about tourists and got the food and petting he was looking for.
After Clonmacnoise, we were taught some Irish drinking/traditional songs, can't remember a word but do plan on downloading them later, while we travel until we reached Galway and Cladagh. Gorgeous town, a lot smaller than I'm used to living in Belfast. After a bit of wandering around with Storm, a girl from Brisbane (over half of the group was from Australia but there was never more than a group of 2 or 3 traveling together), we ate at a pub and had amazing Irish stew made with Guiness. I don't think I've been so full in my life. While we ate, a couple girls packed away 4 bottles of wine and we had a bit of a laugh at their drunkeness. After the pub we found a place that had Irish music, it was amazing, I'm downloading some later. Then it was bed time.

Please say a prayer

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7739218.stm

I opened my St. Mary's email and recieved a message about Kirsten, one of the German ERASMUS students. Basically, she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. They think the football game got the guys rowdy or something. Either way she is on her way back to Germany for surgery for her broken jaw. I don't know how it will affect the dynamics of the group back in Ireland, but apparently this is the first time anything like this has happened in the 20 some odd years that they have been hosting students.

Dachau

Today was the perfect/horrible day to go to Dachau; rainy, cold, windy. I was on my own this time which made it all the more potent and unnerving. We walked the route of those before us, were told that the original intent was to break not kill people; only things got out of hand. It was sad and calming at the same time, to know that these people lost their lives but they are in no way forgotten. We walked through the maintence building where they registered countless prisoners, to the rebuilt bunk houses, each room showing each progression as overcrowding became normal at the camp. We then went to the crematorium and the gas chamber, the gas chamber was rarely used but was eery all the same, the crematorium was so sad, there was only a rose in one of the 6 ovens, I wanted to put roses in the rest. It gives you chills to stand in the place where the bodies of men where stacked with disregard to dignity or humanity. We watched the documentary on Dachau, it was so sad to see these shadows of men. Work will set you free, horrible, but the faster the men worked their bodies down the faster they were free from the devil himself.

Afterwards, I met up with one of my roommates from Paris and we went to dinner together, it was a very interesting place and devoid of tourists which was fun. We kind of annoyed the waitress because we knew very little German and she very little English. However, it was all in good fun and great food.

There is so much here that I didn't get to see, that I can't wait to come back, but at the same time I'm happy to be going back home.

Random Day in Münich

So I decided to skip my hop on/hop off tour of Münich and just take a walking tour that the hostel provided. I did learn a lot; however, the guy doing the tour was rather pushy and rude, apparently he's world famous as he's the only black tour guide in Münich, whatever, I should have gone on the other tour, but you live and learn. The highlight: seeing the Glockenspiel and the Devil's footprint.
After the tour, I met up with Noelle, Justine, Cass and Flava for lunch at Hofbräuhaus; your stereotypical German beer hall, and had a blast. Nothing like having a pint in the middle of the afternoon with some good friends. I even tried pig's knuckle.
After lunch, I said goodbye to the Aussies and was told that they expect me in the next 5 years and that I have a fish dinner waiting as well as tours of the west coast. I then headed to the Jewish museum, it was interesting but more of an exhibit than a museum.
I then met up with Flava for coffee and went sovenior shopping, after which we said goodbye and I was told I must come visit.
The rest of the night I spent in the WomBar, attmepting to play pool and laughing at the drunks. I love being the only sober one in the bar :)

Walt Disney's Castle (Neuschwanstein)

Today was the first of the guided tours and it was amazing. The scenery and castle itself were gorgeous, and the history was so interesting; plus I managed not only to find a pretzel charm but also a charm of the castle itself for my bracelet. But the most amazing part of the whole day was meeting 4 amazing girls-Justine, Noelle, and Cass from Australia and Flava from Brazil. We kind of stuck together the whole tour and even took a horse carriage up to the castle. Then afterwards Noelle, Justine, Cass and I went out to eat with the person who's housing Noelle and Cass through couchsurfing.com and met some amazing people. Noelle and Cass gave me a boomerang from Australia so I wouldn't forget them and we're actually all hanging out tomorrow and going to the Jewish museum together, which should be interesting. It has been a truly amazing day and I can't wait for what tomorrow brings....

Day one Münich

4 a.m. is way too early to get up. I slept through most of the plane ride and a german girl, who was actually just coming back from Belfast from visiting a friend at Queen's took pity on me trying to figure out how to buy a train ticket through the machines and then sat next to me and chatted until her stop. the hostel itself was fairly easy to find. I feel like I'm at summer camp, to be honest, I'm in a 6 bed all girl dorm so we sleep in bunk beds and we have our own bath which is nice. After checking in, i decided to go spend the rest of my day wandering and I only got lost three times; first i was distracted by signs for the zoo so I tried to find that, I failed, then by leaving the train station through a different exit than I was used to, which lead me to find the polar bear thingy, which allowed me to get lost even further. I found the hostel again and then just spent the rest of the night chilling and talking to one of the girls in my room. I can't spell let alone pronounce her name for the life of me, but she's here doing a week study through her school in Paris, but she's actually originally from Moracco. We're going to exchange emails and then when Armelle, Heather, and I go to Paris, she'll give us a tour of the campus. All in all a fairly uneventful day.
Tomorrow - Castle Day!!

Guinness World Record Attempt

So on Thursday, St. Mary's attempted to be put in the record books for largest group of people in stilletos...we only needed 160 people, we only had 75. So instead we tried for the fastest group in stilletos, and after one false start we failed by 4 seconds...here are the pictures of the glorious day...

Those would be boy feet smashed into 4 sizes too small shoes Notice how his foot hangs off the back

Two of the guys getting interviewed by the news.

He only has two toes in

On your marks, get set, GO!!

The girls dragged the guys along

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Hobbling together

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It was a lot of fun regardless of whether we got the record or not, plus we raised a bunch of money for charity

Irish NIght

The opening dance...the girl in the jeans and flowered shirt is Maria and she is actually someone I hang out with a fair bit of time.

One of the Irish tutors singing Irish songs

Paulina and Huub attempting to learn how to dance

Paul Anthony playing a country song

The Erasmus students

Briege and one of the Irish tutors

The harpist

Irish tutor

Ryanne playing one of her original songs

Irma singing a Dutch song
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The night was a lot of fun and spoken entirely in Irish and I learned a lot of Irish dance steps which I stole the pictures of from Marta....and there are too many humilating shots to put up here :D

Omagh

So after we walked the wall of Derry we stopped at a pub for lunch and Marta (who's pictures I stole, had some fun) Totally oblivious and enjoying my amazing tea...

Yes Eveline and I rock at life

After a short bus ride, I slept, we arrived at Omagh and began the delicate task of asking about the bombing...lucky for us the memorial garden was easy to find, the actual sight not so much

31, for the 31 killed, including unborn twin girls. People from three different countries and as young as 8 years old

The reflecting pond

I wish we had gone turning the early day, as these reflect the light giving the whole garden a glow

Omagh was a gorgeous little town

The street where it happened

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The memorial exactly where the car bomb was, we walked right past it and missed the plaque saying what is was for.

The glass heart....

The plaque explaining what happened

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We had WAY too much sugar and sweets here while we waited for the bus... Eveline, myself, and Marta

The Walled City of Derry

Eveline, Marta, and I...keep in mind that this was at 8:30 in the morning, we don't even have classes until 9

Marta and I, we were on the top of a double decker bus, it was quite frightening at times.

This would be graffiti done by a Protestant; Protestants call the city by it's "proper" name Londonderry or just London, whereas Catholics call it Derry. We were told to call it Derry.

There were many signs with just the opposite as well, London being scratched out and Derry being the only name showing.

Coming into Derry, this was a building that was petrol bombed, we believe.

The beginning of the wall...

The middle of the city has a wall around it, this used to be the only part of the place that was above water. Presently, the rest of the city outside of the walls is known as the Bogside and is the living quarters of the Catholics.

Pretty :D

The war memorial directly in the middle of the city

The Bogside

Those little white dots are grave markers and that cemetary holds graves that date back to the famine.

Internment is being held without trial, fairly self explanatory in relation to the "Troubles"

My favorite mural, it is a dove and represents peace among all colors, cultures, and creeds.

A mural of the young people who started the uprising against the British.

The wall from the base of the Bogside. I assume the Derry 4 are 4 people who are being held on something they were wrongly accused of.

The most famous wall in all of Derry.

Memorial for the first man to paint the slogan " YOU ARE NOW ENTERING FREE DERRY"

This mural is taken from a video made of the events on Bloody Sunday and is the most famous image from that video and the event itself. They are carrying the body of a young man who was shot and later died while the priest is waving a white hankerchief as to not get shot.

A memorial to those who were from Derry and lost their lives during the "Troubles"

More explaination of the memorial.

The Hunger Strikers memorial........

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The crosses for the Bloody Sunday dead at the Bloody Sunday museum. It is interesting to note that the audio from that day; the marching, the gun shots, the people panicking; plays on a loop in the museum and the man who works there lost his brother, the youngest victim at 17, to the violence that day.

Items of the dead...that notch in the belt is where the deadly bullet entered.

This is the camera that captured the famous footage of Bloody Sunday, the man who was taping it ran out of film and was shot and died 20 minutes later.

This is the saddest part of the whole museum, a list of the dead and their last actions, some of them where killed simply trying to help the wounded.

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The street where most of the carnage occured...

The memorial for those killed on Bloody Sunday

We tried to relight that red candle but it was full of water and the wick was too wet.

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The newest mural in Derry, the faces of those killed in Bloody Sunday

This is Catholic land, Irish flag flown high and proud.

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A memorial...I believe for a well respected man of the community

These gates are so HUGE

The Protestant side of Derry

What it looks like to shoot a cannon over the wall

The full restored cannons

The gorgeous church....and then my camera died