Luck of the Irish

I'm not sure I will ever experience a St. Patrick's day that could top Sunday.  First off...St. Patrick's Day in Ireland is a big deal.  Even on a Sunday when the city is pretty much shut down for the majority of the day, the place was hoppin'.
I started my day off with church, which is fitting because it is the Feast day of St. Patrick.  I even got to sing what has become one of my favorite hymns...St. Patrick's Breastplate, or I bind unto myself today.  I learned a little about the real St. Patrick and then decided to head back to the flat to meet up with everyone else.
After changing into my green attire we all headed out to watch the parade.  The parade was lovely with lots of Irish dancing, what I'm assuming is the Irish version of bagpipes (which are Scottish by the way), and tons and tons of people.  After the parade we ventured toward the City Center to hear the open-air concert during which I decided that I could live in that moment and never leave.  The moment quickly passed though and we headed to the pub to toast to the day!
Overall it was a great day to spend with the wonderful people that I've met since I've been here.  We had great craic and I realized how luck I am to have such a great group of friends!
Now its time to get ahead on some work this week so that I don't have to worry about anything over Easter break.  Cheers

She is the Belle of Belfast City

This weekend in Belfast, Northern Ireland was both eye-opening and comforting.  We were lucky enough to spend time with two families that were extremely welcoming.
Maria and her mom, Michelle, hosted us at her house and made sure that we were well taken care of.  Michelle  cooked us our first fry on Saturday morning taking into consideration the fact that we were American and not used to such a heavy meal.  When we came back to the house that night she had dinner for us as well.  We really ate like kings...roast beef, roasted potatoes, creamed potatoes, steamed veggies, Yorkshire pudding, and gravy.  I was so full afterwards, but I couldn't help but eat as much as I could because it was so good!
We also got to spend time with JP's family.  Friday night they welcomed us into their house and talked with us well into the night.  My eyes were opened to how real and ongoing the discrimination against Catholics in Northern Ireland is.  We learned a bit about history, shared a little bit about ourselves, and even got to hear some embarrassing stories.  We were also invited back for Sunday dinner because that is a big deal here.  JPs mom made us chicken, ham, sweet chili potatoes, mashed potatoes, steamed veggies, cabbage, and gravy with chocolate cake for dessert.  Luckily we literally climbed up and down a mountain before dinner, so we could handle it.
On top of getting some well-needed family time we also got to see lots of Belfast which is still a vivid picture of segregation.  We toured the entirety of the city on a bus, but the windows weren't conducive to picture taking.  We saw murals, peace walls, and many flags.  We toured Crumlin Road Goal (Jail) and saw St. Anne's Cathedral with the largest Celtic cross in Northern Ireland.  Our adventure side took hold when we climbed up Cave Hill and down through the Devil's Whirlpool to Belfast Castle.
There was so much fun to be had.  I am very grateful to have wonderful friends (Maria and JP) that welcomed us into their homes and planned and made sure we were taken care of all weekend.  I am so very blessed!

"By seeing London, I have seen as much of life as the world can show" -Samuel Johnson

Last weekend I went on my first big outing...off the Island.  They say traveling in Europe is easy once you're here...and compared to traveling from the States that may be true, but traveling to London from Londonderry was not the easiest thing that I've done.
After several buses, taxis, and a plane, we made it to our hostel in Victoria, London at about 2:00 in the afternoon.  After a brief nap we decided to venture out into the city.  We decided, after a treat, to walk first to Buckingham Palace.  The palace is enormous and beautiful!  I saw the famous guards out front, though you can't get as close to them as I once thought that you could.  We took pictures outside the gate and around the statue and fountain in front of the gate, and noticed that the flag was flying which meant that Queen Elizabeth was home.  Then we walked, through the darkness of early evening to Big Ben and the London Eye which were both beautiful in the falling snow at night.  Feeling accomplished enough with our day we headed to dinner and then to bed to rest up for Saturday.
Saturday was packed full of adventure and overwhelming...it is hard for me to even remember what all we got to do on Saturday.  We went to platform 9 3/4 and lived out our Harry Potter dreams and walked all over the rest of the city.  By the time we made it back to the hostel at the end of the day we calculated that we walked over 6 miles.  Needless to say we slept soundly before our adventure on Sunday.
With so many things to see and do it is hard to put them all into a post that isn't too long to read.  For the most part I can say that everything we saw was amazing and I would gladly go back to London!  Now that I'm actually back from a weekend in Belfast I will try to post about that soon so that I can also post about St. Patrick's Day which is this weekend.  I'm excited to share all of my adventures, I just hope I can keep better track of my posts than I have for the past few weeks.  Remember to check Facebook for pictures!