This Weekend

This weekend we took a trip into Donegal Town in the Republic of Ireland. It was interesting to see the difference between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. In the Republic, they measure things completely different ie.speed in Northern Ireland is miles per an hour while in the Republic is kilometres per an hour. Also, in the Republic we had to get currency since they use euros instead of pounds but we got more in euros, which was nice. In Donegal Town, we went to the Donegal Castle which was built in 1474. The inside of the castle was amazing! The only thing was the doorways were very small(short wise) and the stairwells were narrow, but overall a beautiful castle! We also went on a beautiful scenic walk around the Donegal Bay. It was a beautiful area, and an actual trail walk. After this, we walked to our hostel we would be staying at for the night. My first hostel I ever stayed in. It was totally different then what I thought. It was very nice, clean, and homey. The lady who ran it was extremely nice, she made us hot chocolate and gave us cookies by the fireplace before we headed out for drinks for the night.

The next day we headed back in the afternoon, on our way back we stopped in Derry/Londonderry. The Republic calls it Derry and Northern Ireland calls it Londonderry. In Derry yesterday (30/1/11) was the last walk for the 'Troubles'. Derry was the place in Northern Ireland that experienced Bloody Sunday. To see and be part of this walk was amazing and something I will be able to tell my grandchildren I saw in person. The amount of people that attend was beyond my thoughts. There were people from all over the world ie.America & Arabs that came to support the walk. We were fortunate to get a spot next to a elderly gentlemen who knew all about the walk and the people that were affected by the 'troubles'. He showed and told us of the different people while walking by who they were and how they were affected. It was very educational and eye opening. To become more educated about the 'troubles' I picked up a book so I can read and understand them since it is a huge part of what makes Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland what they are. In the picture above is the sign that says "Vindicated (Bloody Sunday Justice Campaign)" Also, in the picture your able to see the thousands of people who filled the streets for this march.

Update

It's been a while since I posted so here is an update. The last two days I've had looonnggg days of classes! Instead of having a class twice or three times a week most of your classes are one day for 3 hours, but no worries they give you a 15-30mins coffee break. But class isn't the exciting part here just the most confusing part since two of my professors are Irish and they speak with a heavy accent and for some reason they put the letter u in random words ie. colour(color) making there lectures a little hard to follow.

Other then the class stuff, the landscape your surrounded with here has just been breath taking to me. The people here are so nice and laid back. The locals are nice as can be and are always willing to help you out. The party life is continuous! I haven't had a night yet where we haven't enjoyed drinks and going out! Here you either walk everywhere or take public transportation, which a lot you end up walking cause the public transportation adds up quickly.
Also, I've learned a ton of words here that are different:
Chips=french fries, jam=jelly, jelly=jello, grand=awesome(they don't use awesome), craic=fun, crisps=chips(which all there chip favors include meat somehow like smokey bacon, rib, others are cheese and onion..they have no similar favors here except pringles is here and they have original and sour cream and onion), lead=leash, litter=trash, toilets=bathrooms(which everywhere you go they aren't heated-its crazy), jumper=sweatshirt, trousers=pants, pants=underwear, wee=a little bit...the list could go on forever, but none the less I am having the time of my life and will be traveling this weekend to Donegal a county here to see more amazing nature and a incredibly old castle. I feel truly blessed to be able to have this experience and to see/appreciate the world. It felt amazing today to take a run to the beach and just be blown away by the scenery I'm surrounded with, I also for the first time today put my hand in the ocean here and touched the grass, which doesn't seem that amazing but the grass feels completely different and I think it just comes down to appreciating nature.

First Adventure

This morning, Rachel and I went out on a walk to a couple of stores to find a few things that we are in need of. We went to the stores but didn't end up finding what we needed. The walked ended up being 3.5 hrs but very well worth it. In Coleraine your surrounded by the ocean, which is beautiful, so this morning on our walk we ventured down to take a look. On our way back we got lost but a very nice elderly couple put us back on the right path and we made it back to our apartment.

Day one

Today, I arrived in Northern Ireland this morning. It was a little hectic getting place to place once I got here, the trains and buses just didn't come on time so we ended up doing a lot of waiting around. Getting used to everything being so different has been a sensory overload. It's beautiful over here and the people are extremely nice (well most of them.) One of the hardest obstacles has been the accent they have, and the different words they use for similar things. Today, I mainly got to Coleraine, which is an hour out of Belfast and settled in. Rachel and I did some exploring of the supermarket and such but mainly relaxed and met people in our village. We ran into some interesting problems like blowing a fuse by trying to plug in our adapter and not being able to lock the door to the apartment, so it was a rough but a good first day. Can't believe I'm actually here, feels like a vacation. Tomorrow will be a much more adventurous day with site seeing and then my roommates are throwing a party to end the night off. Stay tuned for pictures as I will post some most likely tomorrow.