Missing, among others, some of this.
Public napping.
Missing, among others, some of this.
1 day left here. I won’t explain all the ways it’s strange. We’ve come back to the place we started—Corrymeela in Ballycastle, N. Ireland. Probably won’t set it until I suddenly I realize I left three weeks ago. Onward, I guess? Tentative plans include (but have not been confirmed/booked/planned—this is where you should stop reading if last-minute, or poor planning make you anxious) May 12th Bus to Galway, Republic of Ireland from Belfast, N. Ireland. Bus north to the farm I will be working & staying at for the better part of the month. May 27th Bus to Shannon or Cork. Stay here for a bit with a couple who has allowed me to work/stay for a few days. May 30th for flight to London Stansted to meet my weeee roomie Mari. IF I don’t get locked out of the UK because I didn’t leave officially and get visa stamped…. May 31st Flight to Turku, Finland. June 1st-June 2nd Turku Soundcheck reggae festival June 3rd-June 9th travel around Finland June 10th Flight to Budapest, Hungary June 14th Train to Bologna, Italy to say hi to cousins and drop off my bag June 15th Train to Geneva, Switzerland June 17th-July 22nd Via Francigena with Dave, Laura, & crew July 23rd Train Rome to Bologna, babysitting and hanging out with the cousins, sister, and mom August 13th Flight from Venice to Seattle August 20th? Flight to Minneapolis to begin senior year……what?
And this is what we will call seat-of-my-pantsing-it
At Corrymeela for “final” reflections. Not really “final”, we suppose, because we will be looking back and thinking about this place, these experiences again. Probably again and again.
As they say: “Corrymeela begins when you leave this place.” It’s kinda like that.
Theme of today/semester—How deep is your love?
Also a Bee Gees song. Check the hair.
"You develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something about it. From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, “Look at that, you son of a bitch."
- Edgar Mitchell (Apollo 14 astronaut)
Guinness Storehouse
Public napping.
Easter Rising Memorial outside Kilmainham Gaol.
Kilmainham Gaol, Dublin.
NEWGRANGE
(photo credit: Ari Luann Williams, Sarah Conover, & Emily Mitchell)
Located in the Boyne Valley, New Grange is a 5,000 year old Passage Tomb built by a neolithic farming community. The monument is part of a complex of monuments (35 smaller ones total throughout the region) called together “Brú na Bóinne” along the Boyne River. It was rediscovered in the 16th century and then “restored” and excavated in the 1960s (dates may be off…they are from memory).
It was a gorgeous day and we walked over a little bridge along the river to take the bus to the monument. Our tour guide gave us a brief overview of the history of the monument (noting clearly at the beginning that Newgrange is older than both Stonehenge and the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt), pointing out the swirling stone artwork in front of the entrance and hidden in other places. We then walked the narrow, low ceilinged, 19 metre stone passageway uphill into the centre of the monument. Cremated remains are thought to have been kept inside during its time of use. The place is of astrological, spiritual, religious and ceremonial importance, “much as present day cathedrals are places of prestige and worship where dignitaries may be laid to rest.” During the couple of days around the winter solstice, the sun (which normally cannot pass through the winding passageway to reach the center) levels with a square notch (at face-ish height outside at the bottom of the hill but at floor level inside at the top of the hill) in the monument creating a singular beam of sunlight for about 17 minutes that can fill the entire chamber with light. Our tour guide simulated this for us inside the cool inner chamber. Turning off all the electric lights installed for tours, she slowly lit up a light on a dimmer that points through the notch at the outside, and sure enough a narrow beam slid across the floor between our groups feet. It did not have the warmth, luminosity, or waver of real sunlight but it was awesome all the same. The invite about 100 people by lottery system to the solstice inside the chamber each year. Etty and I entered under the conditions that if one of us won we would invite the other :) Be back for the holidays, then?
Finished the day at Fagan’s pub in Dublin near All Hallows with a Beamish - an Irish stout (much lighter than Guinness, it was quite nice). Dinner was a banana and chocolate milk thanks to wells fargo’s account freezing shenanigans.
In Dublin for the week visiting the touristy spots as well as getting a sense of the government & institutions of the Republic. Staying in All Hallows College, the gorgeous, tranquil (in every sense of the word), all-Catholic University pictured above (photo credit Sarah Conover because my camera was dead today). In the conference accommodations we are staying in, we have a gorgeous there are heated towel racks and a tiny cupboard hidden in the desk with a weeeee tea set :)
Day 1: Travel, visit the Borderlands near Newry, lunch in Dundalk in the Republic (checkcard frozen, despite advising Wells Fargo in January where I would be…), and Newgrange
Day 2: Kilmainham Gaol, Guinness Storehuse, Trinity College Dublin (where my lovely mother Dr. Carolyn Watts is presenting a paper at conference in April!)
Day 3: Fine Gael-meeting with Minister Brian Hayes, Labour-meeting with Alex White TD, tour of Leinster House, Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin meeting with Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin T.D., afternoon to explore the city
Day 4: Visit to Glencree Peace and Reconciliation Centre in Enniskeryy, Co. Wicklow, visiting other sites of interest in Co. Wicklow (e.g. Glendalough)
Day 5: Travel back to Derry/Belfast, visit to Crossfire Trust, drive along south Armagh border
(Source: haleighhansen, via the-graceful-bear)
Beautiful, beautiful day in Derry.
Rachel and I took a 2 hour walk around St. Columb’s Park, the Waterside, through the city centre today. Gorgeous, sunny, and everyone and their families were out - (I might even have a sunburn). We found an awesome couple of “International Food” stores, whose owners and most of their customers were I think Polish guessing from the sound language being spoken, a string of pubs, a lonely SPAR (not spotted since Portrush), and a beautiful view of Derry from across the car bridge toward the south end of town. On the way back through the city centre, we went down Waterloo street which is almost entirely pubs. Apparently a Celtics and Rangers game was on, and every pub down the cobbled street was packed with people (men) in green and white, singing, chatting, and drinking. If Rachel and I weren’t semi-sweaty and in stretchy pants and tanktops we would have joined in for the last half hour of the game. Instead, we picked up sweet raisin buns, rolls, salami, good cheese, and feta/olive salad from the Sainsbury’s down the hill, changed clothes, and camped out on the lawn outside the flat. One of the better Sunday afternoons. Especially after I discovered I still had YAZOO! chocolate milk.
Exploring
Click on the pictures to see the captions
Beer thaw
