The Beginning...

We arrived in Northern Ireland after a ridiculous flight. We had a medical emergency while we were flying over the Atlantic, so we had to backtrack 300 miles and find an airport in Canada. As we were descending you could see about 20 lights sporadically spread out on the ground. We ended up in Gander, Newfoundland. There isn’t exactly too many people in Gander or the surrounding area. Feel free to Google it and see where we were for a few hours. After that little detour the flight was good. Although we ended up being on the plane for about 12 hours compared to about 6. We piled into a van and drove to the grocery store. Let me tell you going grocery shopping isn’t the first thing you’d like to do after being on a plane for half a day. We were all a bit confused and couldn’t find things. After shopping we found out where we would be staying for 3 weeks. We are staying in Portrush, on the Northern Coast, in flats (also known as apartments). I have 4 other roommates. We share a kitchen, living room, and 2 bathrooms or toilets as they call them here. The first thing we noticed about our flat was the epic view. The rest of the day and Sunday we just hung out and got to know each other. We went to a pub Sunday night to watch the Superbowl. At this pub we also met Garth Brooks. Not really but there was a man singing karoke and at one point he disappeared and showed up again in a silk shirt and cowboy hat. Let’s just say people here really enjoy country music. A few of us finished watching the Superbowl in another pub where we talked to a few locals. It was our first experience talking with locals except for Nigel.

            On Monday morning we went to the University to get our student IDs. We then all piled into the van and drove to the Knocklayd Retreat Center. Nigel, our program director, drives us around in a 16 passenger bus/van. We named our beast of a van Carl. We spent 3 days at Knocklayd getting to know each other, learning more about our semester here, selecting our internship placements, relaxing a little, and touring some sights on the North Antrim Coast.

            On Tuesday afternoon we picked our internships sites. It was a democratic process; we each gave our top preferences and worked together to make everyone happy. I found out I will be doing my internship at The Junction. The Junction is a Community Relations Resource and Peace Building Center. It is located in Derry/Londonderry. Half of us will be in Derry and the other half in Belfast, with one person being in Ballycastle, which is out in the country. I’m happy with my placement just as I would have been with half of the internships.

Internship selection didn’t take too long, so Nigel took us to what he says is one of the most beautiful places in Northern Ireland. I’d say he was right about the beauty, and it was a very peaceful place. I could have stayed there for hours except it was quite chilly. It kind of funny because on Saturday when we arrived in Northern Ireland we all thought it was warm, but now that we are right near the ocean, it’s a bit more chilly. I’m not sure of what the place was called, but it was over looking Murlough Bay. That evening we visited Corrymeela Retreat Center, where one of the guys in our group will be doing his internship. It is a retreat center that is for groups and individuals looking for education and rest. Corrymeela has been around since the before the Troubles.

Wednesday was our “fun” day. We started with Giant’s Causeway. It was pretty cool. It is made of basalt rocks shaped like hexagons. The story is that the giant from Scotland was going to come over and attack the king/ kingdom, so the king hid in a large a cradle and pretended to be a sleeping baby. When the giant came to see the king, the queen said that he must be quiet as to not wake the baby. The giant saw how large the baby was and decided if that was the size of the king’s child he didn’t want to see how big the king was. So the giant went back across the Causeway and destroyed it so the king could not use it to visit to Scotland.

After the Causeway we went to the town of Bushmills, where we ate lunch. We were then off to the Bushmills Distillery. We toured the place, learned how they made whiskey, and got a free sample. Bushmills is the oldest legal distillery in Ireland, if not the world. They received their license in 1608 and have been making whiskey ever since.

The Dunluce Castle was our last stop for the day. It was my first time being at a castle. This castle was donated to the state in 1921 and has been preserved and minimally restored since then. Our tour of Dunluce was the first time it had really rained on us since arriving in Northern Ireland.

I’m really excited to be here in Northern Ireland doing the HECUA program. I know it is going to be an amazing experience with awesome people. Every time I see something new here, which is quite often, I have to stop and think “whoa, holy crap, I’m really in Northern Ireland!” For example every time I see the ocean. I’m jealous of people who get to see it every day. It’s kind of mind boggling that I’ll be here for three months, but I know it’s going to fly so I’m just trying to absorb every minute of it.

If you need my address here in Northern Ireland it is…

UNESCO Centre

University of Ulster

Coleraine, County Londonderry

BT52 1SA, Northern Ireland