Culmination

We are officially at home in Highland Park/Highwood. I think it is fair if I take this opportunity to speak for everyone and say a few things. 

This has been an absolutely unforgettable experience. The point of the program was to allow students to understand conflict and conflict resolution, and how to apply it to our lives at home. The ten days we spent in Northern Ireland have given us all insight into peaceful processes to resolve violent issues, and the application of those processes into different communities and people with different backgrounds. Without a doubt the six of us will be able to take what we've learned and apply it to our lives and school to try to better our community. 

But in addition to all of us learning about these serious issues, part of what made the trip so great was the familial atmosphere in our whole group. Between the rotarians, our host students and parents, ourselves, and our wonderful teacher, I truly feel that we have all made or strengthened relationships that we will hold onto forever. Because of our closeness we were all able to enjoy the trip all the time, whether we were in a meeting or just sitting on the bus. Many people mentioned tearful goodbyes because we're all going to miss each other, but I know that no matter what we will be able to stay in contact.

On that note I would like to say thank you to all the members of the Highland Park/Highwood and Belfast rotary clubs. I think it goes without being said that without you the trip would never be a reality. You made everything that we did possible, from setting everything up to making sure we were all happy and having a good time. We know that you are constantly working to improve the trip for the people in years to come, and this time around you did an amazing job. We all loved everything that we did, and we cannot thank you enough. 

I would also like to say thank you to all the host families. It is so kind of you to open your homes to us for ten days. You all made the six of us feel so welcome and comfortable. Without you our trip would not have been the same. To the McDowell's, my family, I don't think I can ever repay you. My entire experience would have been completely different if I had been with another family. I have never felt more welcomed into a home before, and I don't think I ever will. Thank you so much for everything. 

The message I would like everyone to take away from this is that regardless of the fact that this trip was meant to engage us in conflict resolution, it engaged us in so much more. Whether we were ice skating of meeting with the US Consulate, we had a great time. The six of us have learned things that we will carry with us for life, and our love and appreciation of Northern Ireland will always be with us. 

Rachel

From the Belfast Rotary Club

TOGETHER A Better Understanding!............

Welcome home!    On behalf of President Brian Clements, David Boyd and the rest of the TABU team, together with all the members of the Rotary Club of Belfast, can we simply express our appreciation of the time you have spent with us.  What a group!    You have all been impeccable ambassadors for your school, Highland Park and the Rotary Club.   You have impressed wherever you went and have joined in with an enthusiasm and a sense of fun in all the activities.  We note from your excellent blogs that you have taken away a set of experiences and we hope these will stay with you for a long time, together with a soft spot for this small corner of the world.  You have certainly earned a place in our hearts and we return you to your homes with a great sense of sadness at your leaving us, but also with a very large measure of optimism for the future which you will be forging for yourselves and your community.  

Thank you for your impact on us and all the memories you have left with us - they make all the preparation on both sides well worthwhile and encapsulate the unique aspects if the TABU programme.   

We wish you well in all your future endeavours and simply leave you with the words of a famous Irish blessing:

“May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields. And until we meet again, May your God hold you in the hollow of his hand”.

 

David

(tried to post this on your blog but could only manage to post a comment!)

last day

Well it's currently 6:41am while I an writing my last post on this blog. This trip has been a serious once in a lifetime opportunity and I think I can speak for the whole group when I say that we definitely will not forget the past 10 days. It seem like only yesterday that I was standing in front of Victoria Square, astonished by the fact that I was in Northern Ireland. Well time comes and goes and eventually it is time to say goodbye which is what I feel is the hardest thing. However, the progress that 6 kids and 5 host students made was unbelieveable. 10 days ago I just met these people and it's astonishing how we have come as one and have been united. Yes, it will be a difficult and tearful goodbye at Belfast International today. But the situation the students shared with the hosts really mirrors what needs to be done back at a place that I personally use to call home, Highland Park. This is unity. We need to use what we've learned and unite our community as a whole.
Ending my philosophical speech there, I would like to take this time to thank the Rotary Club for giving me this opportunity. A big warm thank you also goes out to Carolyn Watson, my host mother. Also a huge thanks to Tori Watson, my host sister. The previous two people have let me in their house for the past ten days and have made it an experience worth remembering.
As I type this post, it is saddening that I am leaving Northern Ireland. If it were up to me, I wouldn't leave. But I remember, home is where the heart is, which means I never really am going to leave the Watson residence or Northern Ireland.

-riques

Last Day

So....I'm crying. Maybe because I'm really tired but also because this is the end of one of the best weeks of my life.  Sure, we did the usual TABU stuff today.  We met with community organizers, the PSNI, and the US Consul.  Actually, that was really interesting.  I asked economics questions. It seemed normal until I realized, I was leaving tomorrow. We went to President Brian's house and spent some quality time together singing Irish songs near a piano.  No one can dance.  We gave speeches.  More crying. Bye. Ari....

Evelina

Hello all. Sorry about this being my first post, but Evelina and I haven't had access to the internet all week. Today was absolutely incredible. We met with two community outreach organizations in the neighborhood of short strand, which is an interface community where the sectarian divisions are very evident. However although the two community centers represented two "different communities" they were dealing with the same exact issues. This meeting truly brought a great sense of culmination to our trip because it discussed actual methods that are used to simply start the conversation about the issues within a community.
We are extremely sad to leave and we will miss all of those whom we've met along our journey here. I would just like to thank Eileen and Paul McGivern for being such great host parents and the Rotary Club for giving us this incredible opportunity and experience that none of us will ever forget.

Ari

It's really hard to believe it's our last night here. I was just saying a few hours ago how crazy it was that we were actually in Northern Ireland, but I think that fact really just hit us once we realized we were leaving. Bad timing. As Ari said earlier today was awesome and really wrapped things up. I'm definitely ready to go home but at the same time I don't want to leave and I think we all feel similarly. The experience has been second to none, and hopefully we will be able to bring what we have learned back to Highland Park and Highwood to tackle social issues there.
What's really been the most impactful thing for me is the people. Yes, we did come here to learn about conflict resolution and take advantage of the educational opportunities. But I've learned that behind every conflict and every peace process, there are people. In order to address a problem, you have to address the people it affects. So while a problem may seem insurmountabe or even incomprehensible, people are not and by working with others you can accomplish almost anything. The people of Northern Ireland have been truly remarkable, just so warm and welcoming and because of their kindness this trip has been amazing. The Chambers have been like a second family while I've been here, it really is just crazy. In the end, this last blog is a reflection on the entirety of the trip. It moved way too fast to take everything in while it was happening, but now I really feel that I can appreciate it all. As Ferris Bueller once said, "Life moves fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you might miss it".

Jacob

Wednesday- Cari

DUBLIN!!! We were up bright and early (not that early) in order to be in Dublin. We took a coach bus to Dublin and started the day off at a truck stop for some food and coffee. It was actually quite nice and the bathroom even had showers! How crazy! Our first real stop of the day was a British Cemetery, our tour guide had just gotten off a plane from the states but his stories were still amazing. He told us one about a man who was working on the job one day when two men came into and started causing some trouble, all the other men jumped and them and started kicking them to death before they could die the man whose tomb stone we saw jumped in and saved the two men, one turned out to be Adolph Hitler. It was a draw-dropping story and really made me think about how this man could have saved so many millions of people, he obviously didn't know which really shows we never know what is going to become of someone.

We finished off the cemetery and then it was time for lunch! We ate at a place called Kennelys (I could have totally made that name up, so....?) It was hard to find a table for six of us but we did manage. I had a really good sandwich with ham, cheese, and tomato (they say tomato differently from us) with some chips (fries). Then the TABU students walked around and shopped. All the girls bought green rugby jerseys, I also got some bracelets and a pin to add to my name tag. We walked through Trinity campus at the end, and that was absolutely beautiful (future college?). The bus ride back was uneventful, I spent most of it sleeping =)

Tonight we spent with our host families, my family and I went to Gaze, a chinese restaurant (http://www.nifoodreview.com/gaze-review.htm here is a website I found for it if anyone is interested?) It was super yummy and no matter how hard I tried to pay they wouldn't let me! This whole trip Kathy and I have been fighting to pay for each other =). We went home but stopped on our way to see a beautiful view of Belfast at night. We got out of the car on top of the whole and you could see everything, I'm in love. We headed home and Kathy and I played Mario Kart, I am terrible, she is amazing to put it simply. I'm going to go to bed now, with my nice and toasty bed thanks to a hot water bottle. Blog tomorrow! (I hope)

-Cari

dublindublindublindublindublindublin

So today we went to Dublin in the Republic. We all had to wake up early because the bus ride there takes about two hours I want to say(I slept through the bus rides for the most part). It was really fun. It rained a wee bit before I woke up but while we were at Dublin it was relatively sunny and warm!

We started our trip at Dublin with a visit to a British paramilitary cemetery. It was amazing to see all the history that could be stored in one small location!

Afterwards, we got some lunch at a cafe in downtown Dublin. We were right in front of Trinity College, Beautiful campus! A lot of people were relaxing on the campus since it was such a nice day. Us TABU kids and the adults then got separated and we all did our shopping in downtown Dublin. There's a street called Grafton Street which is basically the main shopping region in Dublin. We went to some stores and we got souvenirs for our families and a couple of Irish rugby jerseys for ourselves :)

Now I'm at home, waiting for dinner to be served. Tomorrow is our last full day in Northern Ireland. Have to make the most out of it!

-riques

Tuesday - Jacob

It's been a crazy past couple of days so forgive the time between posts but there really just isn't time to do much of anything else besides what is scheduled. We started today with a restorative justice information session with two judges from the courts of Northern Ireland, one being a youth judge specializing in restorative justice. They talked a lot about the process and the ins and outs of the law, which helped us understand the next session where we met with two restorative justice counselors for juvenile criminals (seeing a pattern here?). They drew parallels between the system for it in Northern Ireland and the one in the US, and highlighted the personal aspect of it all. It made us see that locking people up for some lesser crimes isn't always progressive and sometimes reconciliation between the perpetrator and the victim can be better for all involved than jail time. We then finished up our restorative-justice-filled morning with a meeting with two organizations for community restorative justice, one Unionist and one Nationalist. Obviously they focused more on the practicality of the system in Northern Ireland post-conflict and how to implement in communities, and this helped round out the topic.
We then went to Our Lady at St. Pat's Grammar School and sat in on a politics and Irish language class. Irish is a really tough language, but we all had fun trying. Afterwards some students from their senior class met with us to talk about all sorts of stuff ranging from sports to culture to future plans in life. They were really, really similar to us, reminding us yet again that even though we might be an ocean away none of us are all that different. Finally we went home for some dinner and then all met at the Dundonald Ice Bowl where we played some arcade games and skated for a wee bit. McDonalds was a quick stop for some dessert, and then off to bed because tomorrow we go to Dublin! I wish I could post a lot of pictures on this but I don't think I can. Maybe sometime soon I'll figure out how because there have been some amazing sights. Anyways its time for bed now, good night!
-Jacob

Tuesday- Cari

Today was a bit of a rough start for me... oops! I was super late to the first meeting of the day, the traffic was terrible and we went to the wrong place first, but no worries we got there eventually, sadly I did miss the first meeting. The rest of the group heard Judge George Connors speak about youth justice, I'm sure it was amazing! (like the rest of this trip). We then headed off to the Youth Conference Service. We heard from Martin McAnallan and Yvonne Adair. They spoke to us about restorative justice. It's an extremely interesting idea that I think all countries should attempt. Instead of immediately sending a child to prison, the mediators attempt to work with victims and perpetrators towards a better end. Apology notes, community service, etc... Mr. Hubbard was very interested in it and how he could apply it to our school!


We then headed off (wow I use that alot) to see the Community Restorative Justice, they are two groups, 1 Catholic, and 1 Protestant who similar to the Youth Conference spoke about restoring justice. Instead of working through the courts and police they are community members who are trusted to attempt to mediate problems. It was extremely interesting and informative (I have 2 pages of notes!)


Next we went to school!!!!!!!!! I never thought I would be happy to say that over spring break =). Probably one of my favorite parts of this trip is going to visit schools, its just so interesting. We started in a political studies class where they were learning the difference between the Good Friday Agreement and the St. Andrews agreement, or if there was any difference at all. A little background The Good Friday agreement was established the Northern Ireland Assembly with devolved legislative powers and marked a deescalation of violence in The Troubles. It was signed in Belfast on 10 April 1998 (Good Friday) by the British and Irish governments and endorsed by most Northern Ireland political parties. On 23 May 1998 the Agreement was endorsed by the voters of Northern Ireland in a referendum (thanks wikipedia for so nicely summing that up!) and the St. Andrews Agreement which was an agreement between the British and Irish Governments and the political parties in relation to the devolution of power to Northern Ireland. The agreement resulted from multi-party talks held in St Andrews in Fife, Scotland from 11 October to 13 October 2006, between the two governments and all the major parties in Northern Ireland, including the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Féin. It resulted in the restoration of the Northern Ireland Assembly, the formation (on 8 May 2007) of a new Northern Ireland Executive and a decision by Sinn Féin to support the Police Service of Northern Ireland, courts and rule of law (once again thanks Wiki!) We then went to an Irish class, we learned how to say my name is... and where we were from, sadly i can't remember how to say those anymore. Language isn't my talent but Evelina was amazing! Then at the end of the day we just got to sit down and talk to some seniors about their lives! Then.... I TOOK THE BUS HOME!!!! The school we went to was Kathy's so we took a double decker school bus home, as they say here, it was good craic!


For dinner I had some good ole fish and chips! They were so yummy and I was excited to eat this Irish staple. Ice skating followed dinner with all the TABU students and the host teens, it was so fun and so funny to see people attempt to ice skate, including me. We just talked for awhile after, always one of my favorite things to do! So I'm going to bed now... but wait! In Ireland they have these things called hot water bottles (My host family offered me one the first night and I was like no thank you... why would i want hot water?) Turns out its a big rubber jug/bag about the size of a pillow that you fill with hot water and put in your bed and it makes your bed toasty warm. I'm coming home with at least 100 they are so the best things ever!!! Now I'm going to get into my toasty bed =) and get ready to see Dublin tomorrow!!!!

Sunday/Monday- Cari

Wow!!!!!! This has been the most amazing time of my life. So starting on Sunday which if you have read the other posts will already know it's a free day with the family! We had a wee bit of a sleep in and then headed of to St George's Market. If you have read Rique's post it's a place with food and and little shops. We walked around for about an hour and had lunch in the market. It was a good deal of craic (fun) We then went to the Irish Folk Museum! By far the most fun i've had. It's a little old time town with people working in the houses and telling you about things. Its pretty big and all outside and an amazing experience. Kathy and I went through the houses making up stories about people who could have lived their. That night we had a bbq at Paul's, everyone brought some food and we had so much to eat! (Tori made fantastic potatoes and didn't let anyone get away with out taking a plateful)

So Monday!!!!!!!!!!! Today was another fantastic day, we started with the reception at the Lord Mayor's Office in city hall. It was such an honor to meet him and he was such an interesting man to talk to. He was wearing this 14 pound solid 18 karat gold necklace, absolutely breathtaking. About halfway through the meeting Rachel and I suddenly felt faint, we think it was from being in the corner, everyone was so nice and got us water. Before you know it we were back on our feet! After the meeting we had a tour of city hall. My favorite part was in the center of the 2nd floor was a giant hole that showed you the first floor, another beautiful piece of architecture.

After the tour we spoke with a Jewish member of the Rotary Club, it was interesting, but a bit sad for me because of how little the Jewish population is in NI, only about 50 people. We then had lunch with the wonderful Rotary Club! The food and company were exceptional. We also each had to give a small speech, I was so nervous and soo lucky that I got to go first! (sarcasm on the last part) The speech ended up being fine, I talked about the SOS bus and why I had applied for TABU, each person talked about a different part of the trip.

Then we headed to hear a talk from Sean O'Baoill. He talked about mediating the problems. We had a very interesting start to the talk where he tried to guess if we were Protestant or Catholic, he then guessed. His point was you can't always know, but his problem was most of us were Jewish =)! His speech continued to talk about his work in the conflict

Tonight we went bowling with the Roteracts (I hope I spelled that right), they are Rotary University students, also along came the host teens. It was a night full of fun, similar to every night. I obviously beat everyone in bowling... yah right. Jacob Humerick won my lane, he is kind of an amazing bowler. Then we had some pizza and played arcade games! It was another great day in Ireland =)

-Cari Kraus

sun/sat

time to blog again about our irish adventures.

Yesterday we went to stroke city(look at the previous post if you dont understand). It was super sweet to get to see all the murals on the walls, especially the famous "you are now entering a free derry" mural. It's one thing to look at the murals from pictures and other things like that, but it's even better to see them in person. You can kind of feel the history of the place by looking at all the murals. After we took the bus ride to the giants causeway which I can sit here for hours and try explaining the beauty of the place, but in reality, pictures are better than words here, so take a look for yourself. Although I will say the hike up and the 162 steps was quite a killer...

Afterwards I went home to have some dinner. I had some guinness stew, mashed potatoes with some onion(its called cham I believe?) and some vegetables. Such a great dinner.

We headed to the SOS bus and relaxed there for a bit until the organizer of the program arrived and explained to use the significance of the program and what it stands for.

We were all a wee bit knackered after the day so we all called it quits early and went home to sleep

This morning was our free day to roam around and do basically whatever we wanted. I live near a park so my host family and I went for a walk. Sunny day once again. Afterwards, Tori and I went to St George's market which is in the downtown part of the city. There were many vintage vendors and a wide array of food available. We then went shopping near Victoria's Square. Got some souveniers for my family and a Celtic jersey for myself.

There was a barbecue at Paul Chambers house which turned out to be quite fun and relaxing. The food was great, although it was quite chilly after a while. We were all shattered after the night so it was time to leave and go to bed. The lord mayor and the Belfast Rotary Club tomorrow. Can't believe we've been here for 5 days already...

-riques

Saturday and Sunday

We've all been lagging a wee bit in our posts...

Saturday was our 4th day here. We started out with a pretty long bus ride to Derry (stroke) Londonderry, which we have opt'd to call stroke city or Legenderry. When we got there we met a lovely man who served as our tour guide along the walls of the city. there is so much history in that city, starting way back in mid-evil ages. So, walking along the walls was really interesting, especially when we encountered a man and woman dressed in outfits that might have been popular in American colonial ages. We got pictures with them and found out they were actually in a play that took place at that time...they couldn't have been nicer.

Something that was very interesting about standing on top of the walls that surround stroke city was that looking over the wall on one side we would see the union jack flying, with murals dedicated to the UVF, and looking over onto the other side the Republic of Ireland flag was waving, and there was spray paint on the roofs of buildings that said RIRA (real IRA). The closeness (spacially) of the two communtities, and how different they are culturally was incredible to see.

After we toured the city via city walls we took the bus up to GIANTS CAUSEWAY!!!! In case you couldn't tell it was amazing, look up pictures if you've never been. basically, giants causeway is a natural rock formation on the coast of Northern Ireland. It's a major tourist attraction, so lots of people were there, but compared to normal it was pretty empty. We were able to run around on the rocks and attempt to jump from one big boulder to another. The weather was great too, and of course to view was beautiful. Overall our trip there was extremely successful, and we were very lucky to have the weather and views that we had.

After the causeway we got on the bus and took the long trip back into Belfast. Once there we split up to go home to our host families. The kids living in the "country side" stayed in town and shopped, the rest of us went home, had tea, and got ready for the SOS bus.

The SOS bus is a bus that sits outside The Odyssey at night for the purpose of helping people who are drunk, and usually disorderly, to sober up, get medical assistance (there tend to be fights), or have a place to sit if they need a break from the 3 night clubs there. Just before we got on the SOS bus to learn about it and see the functions, we walked around the bottom floor of the Odyssey for a little while. There are 3 night clubs, the most popular was "The Box". The line (or Q as they say here) was out the door and around 3 corners. Basically, people tend to get pretty badly drunk before going to the night clubs, and sometimes before people even get inside the club fights will break out. There are security guards to help stop that, and often times what they'll do is break up the fight and bring the people to the SOS bus to calm down or get a bandage or whatever. While we were on the bus though it was pretty early in the night, so we didn't see any problems like that. The general conclusion of the group - I believe - was that the philosophy and ideals of the bus were spot on, and it seems to be very successful, so more power to them.

Last thing we did on Saturday night was go to Kathy's house. We just hung out for a while, then we all went home and got a good night's sleep for Sunday.


Sunday: family day. We all did different things during the day, and at night most of the group met up for a barbecue at Paul's. I went up to Portrush with my host family, the McDowells. It's my "younger sister" Debbie's birthday today, so we were celebrating at her favorite restaurant for dinner. We also went to Carrick-A-Rede rope bridge. It's only a little past Giant's Causeway, and it is what it sounds like -- a rope bridge. It was pretty scary going across the first time, but the second was much better. And, the views were spectacular. I wish I could upload my camera to this computer like Cari did, because I think everyone should be able to see what I saw. Anways, after dinner we came back home, had some tea and now were going to bed. I know I made Sunday's description much shorter than Saturday's, but it's only because I know that if I don't go to bed soon I won't wake up in time for tomorrow when we go to see the Lord Mayor, so 'till then.

-Rachel

day 3?

supppp. it was a chill morning today. Got to catch some extra much needed z's this morning since we didn't have to meet till 10. We went to the courts at Langaside today and go to see a very interesting case about a man who grew 15 plants of cannabis. Although I might add that the representative for the defendant completely lost the attention of the jury. He went on about how you can't possible prove "intent to supply" over and over again for half an hour. Kind of a weak argument if you ask me.

After Langaside we went to the high courts which dealt with more civil cases such as damage, etc. Those were interesting as well.

Best part of the day was when we visited the Hydebank Wood facility. It basically is a prison for young men and women. Compared to the American prison system, I felt like Hydebank was a lot more leniant in their policy. Many of the inmates had a lot of freedoms that prisoners in America wouldn't be able to have. Interesting to note the various differences that took place.

After Hydebank Wood, all the tabu kids and the hosts got together at Victoria Square for some dinner and shopping. We had a good time. Spent the rest of the night chilling at home with Tori. LONDONDERRY TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!! SUPER EXCITED!

-riques

pictures from day 2!- Cari

Day 2- Cari Kraus

Today was another amazing day in Ireland! The weather was absolutely beautiful, no rain! We started the day off at the Belfast Royal Academy, we had a mini presentation about Northern Ireland. Before that we talked with some middle sixth students (equivalent to our seniors in High School, most school call this upper sixth but its a tradition to call it middle sixth at BRA). We had tea and biscuits and then had a quick tour of the school. It was beautiful, I wish HPHS could look even close to that. They said it close to 200 hundred years old! Then we were lucky enough to have a chance to sit in on some classes, I sat in on a third year (eight grade) chem class and then math class. Both were super interesting and it was cool to see them learning subjects we learned in America, Enrique even knew some of the math things (we ended up going to an middle sixth math class, as well as a third year) 

After the tour we all hopped in cars and ate lunch, sandwiches and drove off to Storemount Castle, so many beautiful building in NI. Their we were fortunate enough to meet the First Minister and the Deputy Minister, Peter Robinson and Martin McGuiness. Rachel Sacks's Uncle had set this up for us. We took some picture and asked a few questions and then we headed to The Parliament Building. We had a speaker from the Education board who told us how government works, their are 108 MLA's which stands for Member of Legislation Assembly. We were able to see where they sit and discuess things. Such a funny thing, when voting on bills they do an oral vote (ays and no's) and then if their isn't a obvious majority the person in charge calls for a division on the house and then he sounds a bell that goes through the whole building, the others in the building have three minutes to get down and they split on the sides of the room to vote, and then someone goes around and counts. Very cool! and actually very similar to debate, one of our school activities. I gave the thank you after this, I know it's weird but I was nervous but it ended up being totally fine, even a bit fun!

We then went to the CIYSM a sports/ rugby club where we heard from Reverend Harold Good. He gave a speech called stepping stones and building blocks. It was super interesting and he played an amazing part in the conflict resolution. He was one of the two people in charge to note if the IRA had surrender (this word was not used because in the IRA army it is punishable by death to surrender your weapons) their weapons.

After the interesting speech we had some social time. We met the last three Ireland Teens who we hadn't meant, all of their names are Kathy (who I am staying with =]), Leancha (who Ari and Evelina are staying with), Paul (who Jacob is staying with), and Tori (who Enrique is staying with). Rachel is staying with someone who did not travel to Chicago but we all can't wait to meet her! After dinner we went back to our host families. Kathy and I just talked for a long time, I showed her some things about my life in Highland Park and vice versa, it's so interesting to hear about her life!!!

Can't Wait for Tomorrow,

Cari Kraus

Day 2

Today was such an amazing day. Started out with a nice run in the morning. It was rather chilly outside, but I warmed up as I kept running. Went home and had a great breakfast (may I add that Tori and her mom are excellent cooks and make great food!). David picked me up and we drove to the Belfast Royal Academy. I still haven't gotten use to the fact that they drive on the left side of the road and it's been freaking me out. I think we are gonna crash all the time, although I do trust Tori and her driving...

Anyways, we arrived at the BRA and met up with the rest of the squad. We went into a library and soon enough the headmaster, Mr. Dickson, arrived. We mingled with some students from the school and from the sound of it, the school system here in Northern Ireland is a lot different from the American system. They are a lot more formal than we are. Their uniforms are...quite interesting as well...We were shown a presentation on Northern Ireland and we actually learned about some things that we didn't know about(such as the giants causeway which I'm actually looking so forward to going to later on in the trip). We split up from the adults and the BRA students and the tabu kids went on a tour of the BRA campus and got the chance to go into various classrooms around the school. Cari and I went into a first year chemistry classroom where they were learning about basic atomic structure. Then we went to a geometry class, and an A level calculus which is the equivalent to the AP calculus class at Highland Park. I absolutely enjoyed the school, considering ditching senior year at HPHS to study at BRA...jk mum would never allow that to happen.

Best and most interesting part of the day was when we went up to Stormont and actually got to meet the first minister and head of the DUP, Peter Robinson and the deputy first minister, Martin McGuinness(whose a member of Sinn Fein). It was actually so sick because they are such high figures in the political scene of Northern Ireland. Once in a lifetime opportunity! It was rather short though so we didn't have much time to ask questions :(

We headed up to the the main building at Stormont and took a couple of pictures. Since Stormont lies on top of a hill, there is a FANTASTIC view of all of Belfast and it is just incredible. We got a presentation on the Northern Irish political scene and eventually a tour of the building as well.

Next we went to the CIYMS building and we heard a presentation by a Presbyterian reverend named Harold Good. It was quite interesting to hear the role that he played in the decommissioning of the IRA weapons.

All the hosts came to the presentation and it was great to finally have all the TABU students and the hosts at one place. All the hosts are so cool and so chill and I can't wait till we hang out all together again.

The weather here has been absolutely incredible, we picked a great time to be here. Hope the weather stays great. That's it for now, time to go to bed...perhaps...

-riques(enrique)

Day 1?

I titled this post "day 1?" because it's a bit unclear to us exactly what day it is and how long we've been here... The plane ride to Newark was great (except the landing was a bit "aggressive" according to Evelina). From Newark to Northern Ireland the flight was long. 7 hours. But, to be honest, it wasn't that bad. Jacob and I had to take a bio test that I certainly failed, and Jacob probably aced. After that we had dinner, which consisted of rubber chicken with rice, and then almost everyone slept. The exceptions were me and Ari because we were uncomfortable, so I slept for about 45 min., maybe an hour.

We landed, went through customs as a group (which is a story in itself), and then we were on our merry way. We didn't take time to meet our host families or sort our bags, we just started the day off at 8am Belfast time with a tour of the city. Even though we were all tired, the tour was very cool. We saw some sights, like the Peace Wall, that we had really wanted to see After that, we went to Queens College and met with the Presbyterian, Church of Ireland, Roman Catholic, and Methodist Chaplains. We talked to them about their roles on campus for a long, long time. Given that at this point none of us have had a sufficient night's sleep in at least 24 hours, we were all passing out at various points during the discussion.

The rotarians bailed us out, saying we needed "fresh air". So we walked around the corner and through the Botanical Gardens on Queens campus. They were gorgeous. One of the Belfast rotarians had gone to Queens in the '60s, so he had some information for us and was a great tour guide. We went into three green houses, all with a different type of environment to grow different plants. It was very pretty.

Our long day(s) ended with getting our bags and parting for the night as we finally met our host families. I can personally say that my host family has been nothing but warm and welcoming toward me, and has made me feel very comfortable.

It's 9:50pm now, and like I said I haven't slept in however long it's been, and I'm exhausted. So this is it for tonight... xo

Rachel

First Day Here Jacob Evelina Ari

Today has been pretty crazy, we landed at Belfast International Airport about 9:00 Northern Ireland time and met up with the Rotarians from Belfast. From there we went to a double decker bus tour of Belfast and learned a lot about the city's history, especially about the Titanic. I'll let Ari and Evelina tell the rest about our day until we all split up for our host families. About 4:00 Paul Chambers, my host "brother" picked the three of us up in his 1972 Land Rover and drove Ari and Evelina to their house and we continued on to Paul's. I set myself up in the extra bedroom, and had a great dinner with the family. The house is out in the country, surrounded by so much open land, and is really just amazing. In the end today was an awesome day and I'm really looking forward to tomorrow.  Paul is the man.
-Jacob

To pick up where Jacob left off, following the bus tour around Belfast we went to lunch with the four chaplains of Queens University. We learned about how religious leadership deals with the political conflict and differences within communities.  Religion has become an interesting representation of the conflict because during years of volatility, spirituality lost importance to political affiliation.  Now, the Chaplains explained, the youth are coming to search for meaning in religion.  This speaks to the new Northern Ireland, one that encompasses a hopeful future for cooperation and understanding especially in the controversial realm of God.

Just to mention again, Paul's Land Rover is awesome and he gave us a great tour of the countryside filled with colorful commentary.  Our host Leancha was extremely warm and hospitable.  Just an FYI, if there is a doubt that you might enjoy Irish stew...just ask Leancha to make some.  It is unbelievable.   Now I'm at Paul's, watching a documentary about the Troubles, and struggling not to fall asleep.  Day 1, almost complete.  Can't wait for the rest.

-Evelina & Ari

night before!

Tonight is the night before i leave, i'm so excited and i know this will be the most amazing opportunity! I'm hoping this blog works!