Day 3

So I give up on Internet here. It keeps locking my computer out and no one is around except between 9 and 4. So, by the time you see this it may be long past Day 3, but bear with me. I'll get there.

So it would appear we have a group that seems fairly normal. There's Anna, Meghan, Leigh and myself. Anna is from New Hope, PA, Meghan is from Tennessee, and Leigh is from Boston College. Today we sat in class and I fell asleep (still adjusting to the time change... ahem). But today's class was all about Irish history and Northern Ireland's history. I have to give Prof. Gray credit, 400 years of turmoil in under an hour and a half... very impressive.

Roisin spoke to us about Northern Ireland and the important dates there. I never realized that if you said 1916 in the Republic or to a Nationalist they would automatically think of the Easter Rising where as if you say 1916 to a Unionist or an Ulsterman they will automatically think you mean the Battle of the Somme (where over 2000 men from the 32nd Ulster division were lost in WWII). Those are 2 very important events in the history of the Troubles. That's not even mentioning Bloody Sunday in Derry (13 lost) or Bloody Friday (IRA set off 22 bombs around Belfast and set up fake bombs as a diversion). We learned about internment and the H-Block hunger strike, all caused by the Special Powers Act that allowed the police to arrest and jail people without trial. The first day they arrested 132 Catholics hence the rioting in Belfast and Derry. Sounds a bit like Guantanamo wouldn't you say? (And I realize that may piss some of you off but the fact is the politics between the USA and Iraq is strikingly similar to that of Britain towards Northern Ireland... trust me).

Dominic also defined the different political parties within Northern Ireland so that we can understand that Loyalists only vote for their people and Nationalists only vote for their people. But each group has 2 or 3 parties to choose from.We got out early and headed downtown to see city hall and the shopping area (I bought a hair dryer.. yay!) Anna and I decided to pick up some brochures for different tours. I want to see Carrickfergus and the Bushmills Distillery and she wants to see the rope bridge by the Causeway. As we were walking around I saw what could possibly the most well maintained mullet in the history of mankind. I am truly sorry I didn't get a picture. It was gelled and sort of... fluffed on top with some serious shoulder length hair in the back. I suppose it isn't that odd, Belfast fashion appears to be stuck in the late 80s. Skinny jeans, big belts, spiky hair and most of its pink to! But let me back up for a moment and tell you about some of the people in our program.

Most of the program comes from California through a college. To protect that college (and save my ass) I'm not going to mention it by name. The kids (and I reserve the right to call them kids as they're not old enough to drink in the states... by a long shot) don't know much of anything. And I mean basic stuff... one of them didn't even know who Tony Blair was! And for those of you who are now Googling him, shame. He was the British Prime Minister who worked with the Taosaich Bertie Ahern on the Northern Ireland power sharing agreement that was just signed. There is also another older woman from rural Wisconsin (that should be your first clue). I think her clothes are made out of hemp, she drinks from a mug that is made entirely from corn, and sits in lectures with her shoes AND socks off. She seems to be enjoying the program but does creep some of us out a bit.

Dominic was expounding today on Americanism while he was trying to explain why the Unionists don't want to give up their British connection even though Briton really would like it if N. Ireland went away. (Though its safe to say the Republic doesn't really want them either, it would fuck with the economy but that's another story). Anyway, he starts talking about American's need to carry arms all the time. He couldn't understand why we still arm people and all these other Americans are shooting each other in the name of patriotism or defense.... Our response... guns don't kill people Dominic, people kill people.