Day Eleven (12/4-12/8)

Friday (12/4)- It was so weird waking up and not going to school. The plan was to take the DART to Connelly station to meet Erica, Heather, and Grace (N.Carolina student teachers). I must have thought I had more time than what I did to get to the DART station. I soon realized on my way that if I didn't run I would probably miss my train. Although I should just say, the reason I wanted to make this train was because I wanted to get to the station earlier than what we had said. Anyways, I was running to the station when this mother with two kids in the back seat asked if I would like a lift the rest of the way to the station. It was so nice and thoughtful of her. So when I say the Irish people are nice and helpful, I really mean it and this a prime example. I made it to the station and met up with the other girls. Then all of us took a real train (not a subway train like the DART) to Belfast. It took about 2hr. 15 min. to get there. Once we got off the train we searched for our youth hostel. It was pretty easy to find and we met our new roommates. We had four other girls from Colorado and studying education who stayed with us. Erica, Heather, Grace, and I wanted to do the Black Taxi tour before it got dark out. The Black Taxi tour is a recommended tour for people traveling to Belfast. They drive you through the city and give the religious and political background. You visit both the Protestant and Catholic sides of the city. Some of the things we saw on the tour were large murals on the side of buildings. As part of the peace process, large murals on both religious sides have been painted to mark something significant that has happened to them. We also saw the peace wall, and I find it funny that it is called a peace wall because it is a wall that separates the Protestants and Catholics from one another. It was drizzling and cloudy on our tour and it seemed to fit to mood of the town. This tour was a little depressing to me, but very informative and mind opening. I learned a lot and now can see why Northern Ireland is a completely different country than Ireland. After our taxi tour we walked around a little and then found a grocery store to buy food for dinner. Now I am telling you this is the fanciest grocery store I have ever been in! It looked like a ballroom or museum, but not a grocery store! We bought food for a pasta dinner and went back to the hostel to eat. When dinner was finished we freshened up and then went out to some pubs. We ended up at a The Sitting Room which is a really funny name for this place because their was lots of dancing. They played a variety of hits from oldies to new stuff. It was a really fun night!

Belfast City Hall

In front of our Black Taxi Cab

The peace wall that separates the Catholics and Protestants

No matter what angle you are at, the gun man is always looking at you with his gun. It is really creepy!

Saturday (12/5)- The Paddywagon Tour bus came to our hostel and picked us up at 8:45am. We set out for an hour drive to the rope bridge. The rope bridge was originally built for salmon fisherman because salmon use to get caught in the cliffs somehow and they were able to easily catch the fish. Apparently there is a salmon shortage and the fisherman stopped using the bridge in 2002. The bridge was really fun to walk across and I am grateful that it was a nice day. Actually I think I found everything so beautiful because the sun was finally shining! After the rope bridge we went to Giants Causeway. Giants Causeway has the coolest rock formations. It looks like stepping stones and that each stone was specifically placed. Our tour guide told us the funny Irish folktale legend that explains how the rocks came to be (when I come back you can ask me about it!). Science tells us that 60 million years ago their were volcanic eruptions and it was a part of a cooling and heating process. The other girls got cold and went into the the tea shop, but I stayed outside to walk around the cliffs. When we all got back on the bus we started to head back down to Derry. On the way down to Derry, we had a photo stop in front of Dun Luce Castle. The castle started collapsing in the 1600s. The remains are on a cliff over looking the sea. Derry is a northern city that has stone walls completely surrounding it (there are not many towns in Europe that can still say they live in a walled in city). I didn't see much of Derry and its walls because we went in a cafe to grab a late lunch. After Derry it was time to head back down to Dublin. It felt like we would never get home, but of course eventually we did. I got back around 10:30 to my house. I made myself dinner and watched an episode of Alias which I had brought with from the states. After that it was bed time :)

Walking across the rope bridge!

Heather, me, Erica, and Grace

Giants Causeway!

Sunday (12/6)- I slept in till 10am (the longest I have slept in) and it was amazing! I had breakfast and cleaned my room. Then I went to the DART station to catch a train to Howth to play a nine holes. Howth is on the North limits of Dublin's suburbs and is on a peninsula. I was going to be golfing at Deerpark which is located on a very high hill overlooking the sea. I almost had to laugh at the clubs I had rented because they were probably from the 1970s! On the first tee box I whiffed the ball twice before I actually hit it and ended up with a 10 on that hole. After that I told myself, "Okay, today Brittney we are not going to keep score and are just going to enjoy ourselves!" I really did enjoy myself too! I had a fantastic view of the sea and got to play right along side Howth's castle! Plus, I was golfing in Ireland in December! How sweet is that? By the end of the round my hair was a mess and I was completely covered in mud!! My black pumas are now sporting the dirt brown color. After golf, I had planned on walking the cliffs of Howth which supposedly have some great views. The lady in the clubhouse told me I would run out of daylight by the time I finished and she said it would be best to do it a different day. At that moment I was kicking myself for sleeping in and not getting an earlier start! So instead of walking the cliffs I went down to the pier and saw all of the sail boats. There was also a farmers market that I strolled along. That night I had dinner with my family and watched part of a movie with Anna. I also worked on some of my homework that was due at Saint Mary's.

My view from the first tee box

Howth Castle

Monday (12/7)- This Monday morning was a rush because I forgot to set my alarm. Last night I put it to the right time, but never pushed set. Fortunately I was able to hurry out the door and make it to the DART station in time to catch the train. The kids seemed to be really calm for a Monday and the whole day ran smoothly. During the day Saddie asked if I would like her to take me to the Sally Gap in the Wicklow Mountains (part of Wicklow National Park). It looked like a nice enough day and I was really excited about going. At the end of the day, I went with Saddie to drop the all of the students in the school off at the swimming pool (everyone has swim lessons on Mondays). And wouldn't you know it, as soon as we dropped the kids off at swimming it started to rain! While we were driving I wasn't able to see much because of the rain and fog. The higher we got on the hills, the more slushy the roads became. So we turned around and on the way back down the fog started to clear. It truly was beautiful seeing the land and hills. The actual lake in the middle of the gap is spectacular! I probably saw it at its worse because of the weather. So I can only imagine how pretty it all is on a nice day or in the summer time. Also on our way back we stopped at Gleencree Visitor Center. It originally was built for the Irish military and then in WWII housed German orphans. Now it is used as a peace and negotiating center. Different community leaders come here to work on their differences. Saddie brought me into the gift shop and bought us both a cup of coffee. It was great to be able to sit down and talk. Then we drove back down through Einniskerry and the whole town was lit up with Christmas lights! It had a huge Christmas tree lit up in the center of town too!

For my Winona readers- this is Sugar Loaf Hill!!

Part of the Sally's Gap

This is the Guinness Family's Summer Home

The Sally Gap

Tuesday (12/8)- This morning while I was waiting for the DART, the sky was a beautiful shade of purple and pink. My picture below can't even come close to capturing it. I was thinking to myself, "Wow, it is going to turn out to be a really nice day today!" Unfortunately, it rained all day, but I did get a beautiful morning. Today in school I helped students work on the letter j, math patterns, religion, and music. I also got to observe the 1st -3rd graders in P.E. and they were playing floor hockey. Before they started the teacher asked if anyone could tell her what they were playing with (a puck). There were only about 5 kids that raised their hands! I just giggled to myself because if it were Minnesota students almost everyone would have their hand raised! I was going to go to Dun Laughery and walk the pier and do some shopping, but the weather is not very nice for that today. So I have got lots of emailing (and facebooking!) done. Tonight I am going to Brady's Pub in Shankill to meet up with some of the other student teachers. Below are pictures of some of the kids in my class (it was play time)

Killiney Bay at the DART station