My bags are packed and tests are over with. It’s time for Easter Break!

A 2 hour train ride to Belfast, a 45 minute plane ride, and I am in Cardiff, Wales. We came in late so we didn’t do much besides find our hostel and crashing in our room. The true adventure comes tomorrow.

April 19, 2019

A lot happened today. Alaina and I ate the free breakfast at the hostel and went off exploring Cardiff. The city is filled with these beautiful Victorian arcades that are filled with a variety of shops and restaurants.

Cardiff Castle and its grounds are also located right in the heart of the city. There is the old keep, the tunnels that were used as bomb shelters in World War II, and the House. It was such a great day the weather was nice and almost on the hot side. This has been some of the best weather since I came to the U.K.

And in honor of such good weather Alaina and I had lunch outside. In the rush to find our hostel last night we passed a delicious smelling restaurant that now in the light of day we went in search of. Giovanni’s Restaurant was all we could have asked for at that moment. Yummy Italian food, outdoor seating, a meal deal that included a started, and friendly people. The whole crew was full of personality and amazing.

For the rest of our trip, we are staying at Airbnb’s and our host in Cardiff was nice enough to pick us up from the city center. The room was great with our own shower and private entrance, plus she had dogs which made everything better. Our host was nice enough to tell us about a village called Whitchurch that was not too far away from the house that would be worth checking out. The village was a lot more than we were expecting when she said village. It was like a mini city center situated in the middle of a residential neighborhood. We explored a little bit and got dinner at Fino Lounge. All in all it was a super successful day.

April 20, 2019

The day started off with a bus ride back into the city center and to Barker’s Tea Room for some breakfast. A little window and not so window shopping in the arcades in which I bought more stationery that I did not need. A mid-morning snack of freshly baked Welsh cakes from Fabulous Welshcakes and we were off to St. Fagan’s National History Museum.

St. Fagan’s is an open-air museum and showcases the historical architecture, lifestyle, and culture of Wales. The museum is insanely huge with around 40 buildings which were rebuilt on the museum grounds from their original locations. It took the whole day to truly explore the grounds because of the size of the place. We started at the St. Fagan’s Castle and then made our way through the mills, blacksmith shops, old barns, and 15th-century farmhouses. That was not including the exhibitions in the main museum. Dead tired, we dragged ourselves to a Chinese takeout place and crashed at our Airbnb.

April 21, 2019

It’s time to leave Cardiff and I’m pretty sad to be leaving. It has been fun being here and there is still so much more to explore. But alas, it is time for Bath. We arrived in Bath after a train ride and bus substitute dragging our bags through town to our Airbnb. It wasn’t the closet place. however, we had this studio all to ourselves. We did a quick walk around town and got dinner at the Real Pizza Co. I can’t wait to explore more of Bath tomorrow.

I got the pleasure of taking my phone to the phone repair shop and getting it fixed for a lovely 130 GBP. On the bright-side, the gas station near Coppin House is finally finished. In fact, it seems to be more than just a regular gas station. It is part Centra and part Moran’s which means that they do sell gas (petrol), but they also sell produce, snacks, hot food, and ice cream. That night some friends from Coppin and I went try out their ice cream. Not bad and after having to get my phone fixed it made the day much better.

April 10, 2019

The weather was super nice today! No rain, not as cold, and *gasps* the sun decided to grace us with its appearance. This type of weather is too good to not be in it and I ended up going with Antonia and Josie on a walk.

After not having any assignments or tests this entire semester, final assignments and tests are rolling around all due around the same time. I have to say that even with deadlines coming up this semester has been the most relaxing semester of my entire academic career.

April 11, 2019

Presented on my topic for Irish Folklore today and it went well (it’s also over which is even better). I had chosen to research Irish wakes and funerary customs and I truly did enjoy researching that topic. It was a perfect mix of anthropology and history.

In typical Thursday class fashion, a group of us went to Boojum for lunch this time in celebration f being finished with presentations.

April 13, 2019

Somehow Alaina and I got it into our heads that we needed to visit Glenveagh National Park. It is the second largest national park in Ireland and is just a not so quick trip across the border. Of course, the only bus time that would get us there was at 8:30 am which lead to us getting up at 7 am. However, we almost didn’t get to Glenveagh.

We were not able to exchange our GBP for Euros and the bus did not take card payments. Fortunately, the bus driver was an amazingly sweet woman who set a positive tone for our entire trip. She allowed us to ride to the Letterkenny bus station and just use the ATM there to get the money to her. She even pointed us in the right direction to catch our other bus towards the actual park. She was so helpful and nice that it made our day. The thing we didn’t account for is that there is only one bus that goes to and from the national park and it drops you off at 10:15 am and does not come back until 5 pm. That is the only bus. That meant we were at that park for almost six hours. Six. Hours.

When life tries to give you lemons, make lemonade. The park was huge and we were able to explore basically all the park had to offer. From the gift shop and restaurant to the Glenveagh castle and the beautiful gardens. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures inside of the Castle but it was truly beautiful.

April 14, 2019

Today was just spent studying for my upcoming finals and working on my research paper for my From Civil Rights to Brexit class. I decided to explore hunger striking and its use in Irish resistance. It is going pretty well and I am learning things that I had wanted to explore when I decided I wanted to come here.

After a 2-hour train ride, we made it to Belfast. It was sort of impromptu trip with a few friends. We had talked about going but had not made anything concrete until a few days ago. Long journeys are relaxing to me for some reason especially when I am not the one navigating to the destination. Some people hate spending time traveling but sometimes the journey is more enjoyable than the destination.

It felt good to be back in Belfast though. The Airbnb was a little farther from the train station than we anticipated but it was a manageable walk to do in the day. The house itself was super cute, plus having an entire home yourself is always great. After living in university accommodation we were more excited at the possibility of sleeping on a comfy mattress and showering with no shower shoes. The most notable aspect of the Airbnb was its location.

The street art, the waving British flags, and churches around the neighborhood were indicative of Loyalist Protestants. In fact, on one of the building Loyalist Tiger on the front and some had pro-Brexit signs. The environment proved to be an interesting shift in the attitudes I’ve been exposed to in L’Derry.

After settling in and crying over how wonderful the Airbnb was, we set about finding some food. We were all ravenous and sushi was on the menu for the night. If anyone is in Belfast I would recommend trying out Sakura Japanese Ramen and Sushi.

I haven’t had sushi in awhile and I found that I kinda missed it. I ended up ordering tempura California rolls with Japanese garlic rice. It was my first time having tempura sushi and it was just as good, sadly, I was too focused on eating to take a picture of it. However, I managed to get one of the Japanese garlic rice.

Jenny had been to Belfast and recommended that we try out the Duke of York. It was charming with a traditional Irish pub aesthetic and live music. The pub was also nestled inside this street that was lined with string lights.

I had an interesting interaction with one of the bouncers. Don’t worry I wasn’t making trouble just friendly banter. For some reason, I referred to Derry as Londonderry when he asked where we were coming in from probably thinking about the location of the Airbnb and what I was seeing there. However, his reaction was interesting. He repeated Londonderry with a confused look stating that London is over the water and de-legitimatized Londonderry while legitimizing Derry as the only true name of the city. Most people in L’Derry refer to it as Derry but on train stations and bus, announcements its referred to as “Derry-Londonderry”, an acknowledgment of both terms.

The interaction really highlights the importance of naming and the role of power relations and historical conflict in the name of places. Who has the power to define and why? What does a name mean beyond the surface?

These are some of the questions I have had since coming to Northern Ireland.

April 6, 2019

The weather this weekend has been the best we have gotten here in a while. We started the day with a visit to the Victoria Square Mall.

The mall is a multi-level semi-open air space with a viewing point at the top that is free. Now, I am afraid of heights and would not go towards the edge. Besides the general fear of heights, the views were very nice and I still enjoyed it. After a quick lunch, it was time for the Titanic Museum. Fun fact: Titanic was built in Belfast.

The walk there was nice and were able to see the Lagan River and the Salmon of Knowledge. The Titanic Museum has to be one of the most interactive museums I have been in so far while in Northern Ireland. I felt like I learned a lot about the a side of the Titanic that I have never learned about before such as the stories of the men who built it and how the ship would have looked and functioned. There was an amazing 180 degree video that took you through the different levels of the ship from the boilers and engines of the ship to the top decks of the ship. The museum also had replicas of what the rooms would have looked like for 1st class and 2nd class passengers.

The sister ship to Titanic, the RMS Olympic, also sits in front of the museum and is a part of the ticket if I remember correctly. Within the museum, there was even a ride kind of like what you would expect at a fair or carnival. Essentially, it is designed to take you through the different parts of the ship as though you were really moving through the actual ship during its construction. They really tried to capture the experience with changes in elevation, sounds, and when we were in the boiler room there were heaters that gave off heat to give an idea as to what the workers would have felt. All of this was done while narratives were being told from the workers themselves. I have to say that the curators really did a great job at trying to make the history tangible and real.

Dinner was a huge margarita pizza from Pizza Express and another interesting interaction about L’Derry with our taxi driver. Unlike the bouncer from last night, the taxi driver made a point of saying Londonderry and warning of the bias that can occur in Derry, essentially stating that there were more sides of the story. His attitude proved to be in complete opposite as the bouncer from yesterday and fit more with the Loyalist side of the debate. It is always interesting to see the nationalist versus loyalist aspect of Northern Ireland on a micro-level. It is one thing to read about the conflict and study in class, but another to see it unfold with you being a participant in the social climate.

April 7, 2019

Belfast has been great and extremely informative, but now it’s time to head home. I got back around 5 pm and did nothing for the rest of the evening really except manage to break the screen of my phone. But, that is a problem for tomorrow at this point.

I guess I’m becoming a Cinematic Arts major with the amount of movies I’m seeing this semester. Antonia, who is actually majoring in Cinematic Arts, and I saw Instant Family in theaters this afternoon. It was great because during the day on Tuesday the ticket is discounted so I only paid around 3 GBP for the movie.

March 29, 2019

I was interviewed by Dmitry, another international student from the U.S. He has this project that he does back at home that is similar to the Humans of New York franchise except with people around his home university. It is called Humans of Hampshire College. The whole concept behind the project is tremendously interesting and I would recommend looking at other stories. You are telling the stories of the people around you and in this international setting, there is another dimension being added to the story– a sort of reflective element. It was fun to do and it made me want to do something similar at Agnes.

March 31, 2019

There is nothing like hiking around a Mesolithic site and someone’s backyard.

Alaina and I went to visit a Mountsandel aka the Middle Stone Age. To put the age of this site into perspective for non-history people. The Mountsandel was built before farming even began on the island of Ireland and before Stonehenge was built. So yea, it’s pretty old. It remains one of the earliest known settlements in Ireland. It has been excavated and the site was also used in later periods of Irish history. Sadly, none of the pictures could capture just how deep the impression is and how diffult it was to climb along the side of it to get a picture.

Google, of course, made walking to the location a little difficult. Sometimes Google does interesting things when you’re trying to walk somewhere which is why it led us through this opening in a fence inside a neighborhood that led to a field. To give Google some credit, Mountsandel was across the field, however, it was an interesting path. But, it was worth it. Mountsandel was beautiful and I was excited to be walking around such an ancient site.

It wouldn’t be an outing with Alaina if we did not end up ending outside in an impromptu picnic. Sitting on a rock wall in a Lidl parking lot enjoying our snacks from said store gained us the most interesting looks, but a sunny day cannot be wasted.

March 22, 2019

I decided to suck it up and re-do my hair. I love the hairstyle, but having to re-do it yourself takes something out of you. The take-down, the hair washing, the stretching and drying, the parting, etc. However, I managed to finished before 3 pm which was my goal for the day.

Later on Antonia and I went to see Jordan Peele’s US. There will be no spoilers of any sort in this post. I just wanted to say it was a good piece of cinematography. The distorted version of I Got 5 on It and especially the string version of the song set the tone for the film. In fact, I liked the music used in the film. The actors were on point and especially Lupita Nyong’o. She snapped in that film. I would recommend the movie to anyone who hasn’t seen it. But enough of my amateur film reviewing.

March 24, 2019

Nail painting party at Coppin House! Some of my friends and I got together and had like an impromptu nail painting and crepe eating party. One of the girl’s had a sister that was visiting and we got to meet her. It’s crazy to think back to the first week of being here and worrying about making friends and being alone in a new environment.

Who doesn’t love donuts and shopping?

I went with some friends to the Foyleside Mall because who doesn’t love a little retail therapy more like window shopping. The best thing about the mall is that there is a Starbucks there. It’s been hard to find a nice iced caramel macchiato in town and Starbucks is old faithful.

March 15, 2019

Guess who got their nose pierced?

I just want to make it clear that this was not an entirely impulsive decision. Alaina was coming to L’Derry so we could travel to Donegal together for St. Patrick’s Day. We researched and found a perfectly non-sketchy and sterile tattoo and piercing shop, Holdfast Tattoo and Piercing. No appointment needed, just walk-in. I meet Alaina at the train station and we walked and got our noses pierced right off the bat. It hurt and I almost chickened out multiple times, but I did it!

For lunch, I got the pleasure of introducing Alaina to Patricia’s Coffee Shop which will be even better to go to when it gets warmer because it’s located on the riverfront. Basically we ended up walking along the riverfront, eating pastries for dinner, and clutching our throbbing noses.

I finally got to check out the Omniplex Movie Theater in town. We saw What Men Want (super funny and I would recommend) and the seating there is AMAZING. Enough leg room for people to pass without them being in your lap, seating that is cushioned, and the seats RECLINED. I know I’m being dramatic but I’ve have never experienced such luxurious in a movie theater. Now, the popcorn we need to work on. Apparently, it is not a thing here to put butter on popcorn. Even the at the movie theater the option is only salty, not salty and buttery. However, there is the option of getting SWEET popcorn. It’s not caramel corn but it’s like they put sugar instead of salt over the popcorn-a whole new cultural experience.

March 16, 2019

Most of our day was spent traveling by bus from L’Derry to Donegal. Honesly, it was a very nice ride and the views were amazing. I am always amazed by how most of Ireland seems to be agricultural. I was also able to experience the border situation between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland which is to say I was able to experience why a hard border would be an issue.

Currently, traveling from Northern Ireland to the Republic is like crossing state lines in the United States. It happened so quickly I didn’t realize that we were in the Republic until a while later. From the stories my professor tells us about his childhood growing up with the border and seeing how many lives depends on the freedom of movement between the two countries, I am beginning to truly understand how much an impact Brexit can make on an individual level.

We made it to Donegal and with check-in at 3pm we decided to look into all the cool little shops and checked out the places that the town had to offer. But of course it was raining so it was mostly finding places to take cover. However there was a bit of sunshine as we were touring Donegal Castle.

I got to try a traditional Irish lamb stew, one of the specials at Blueberry Tearoom and Cafe, for dinner. It was truly good and what I needed after the cold and rainy day. The waitresses were super nice and seemed to know every local that came in. Don’t even get me started on the dessert! One of the waitresses recommended it to us and to be completely honest I didn’t hear anything beyond chocolate.

Donegal Town is small and it seems that everyone seems to know everyone. Our taxi driver knew our Airbnb host and was able to navigate with much direction. Christina and Eamonn were our Airbnb hosts and they were the nicest people. The was nice and we had our own full bathroom!

March 17, 2019

It’s Lá Fhéile Pádraig !!!! (St. Patrick’s Day)

If you don’t know, St. Patrick was the one to bring Christianity to Ireland in the year 432 AD which is why he is so important to Irish history and culture.

Christina recommended the Bank Walk to us after breakfast which we had never heard about. It is this pathway along the River Eske that flows into Donegal Bay. It also the cutest fairy doors and houses all along the path in the trees. And it was actually sunny today! Our Airbnb was not particularly close to town, but Eamonn offered to drive us since he had to go into town which was super sweet.

Hot chocolate and a nutella, strawberry, banana crepe constituted a late lunch. By 3pm the parade was starting. It was fun seeing the parade especially since it started with a bunch of children jumping up and down chanting, “Exercise!” Lots of cute children, families, and the random tourists like us. I think that’s why I think we made the right decision going to Donegal, it was mostly local people and not as crowded or touristy as Dublin from what I’ve heard from some people that went there. My favorite of the evening was a float from the Bohemian Rhapsody movie.

We spent some time trying to find a spot to eat because you can imagine that every place was packed. Thankfully a table at The Harbour was open. I have to say that I am becoming a fan of fish and chips. Earlier when Eamonn dropped us off he had recommended McCafferty’s Pub and from how crowded it was it was probably well worth the recommendation. Unfortunately, even the locals couldn’t get into the bar because it was so packed. We went to the Castle Bar instead and it was just as good. We were able to get a seat in the corner and enjoy our drinks in honor of St. Patrick.

Donegal has been great and I almost hate to leave, but I classes to show up.

Until next time, Happy St. Patrick’s Day from Ireland!

March 5, 2019

Guess who’s getting better at boxing?

The sessions are getting better and I am able to push myself more than I did the first day. I definitely would not say easier because that’s just not true. I also learned what I already knew, I have poor coordination. But that is also getting better as I learn the maneuvers and the difference between a jab and a backhand. I’m not saying I’m Rocky or the next Creed, but I like to pretend.

March 7, 2019

It’s test day!

We have a test in Irish Folklore and honestly it’s always a little difficult to know what this professor wants. He has a great poker face and you can never truly get a read on him. Was the test bad? No. Was it good? Also no. But, it is done and over with.

You better believe that I went and treated myself to a lovely lunch at Pyke n Pomme.

I can finally cross this place of my study abroad bucket list.

After five tries, I was finally able to go to the Blackbird. Some of the other international students and I google famous pubs/ bars in L’Derry, and the Blackbird was high on the list. It also had live music which was a bonus!

The last few times we tried to go it was packed to the point that people were standing on top of each other, however tonight was our night. We only came earlier to beat the rush. The aesthetic was nice, a mix of traditional with contemporary features. The music was not terrible and they made fancy drinks. All in all I would call that a success.

March 10, 2019

I don’t know what Mother Nature was doing today because the weather has been all over the place. In the span of 30 minutes it went from being a little sunny to cloudy to rainy to a mini blizzard of sleet. The weather went through that cycle at least two more times.

There is a saying here about how after St. Patrick’s Day the weather is supposed to get better. I really how that saying is true.

First off it was actually pretty warm today.

Irish is becoming more complicated the more we learn but isn’t it like that for everything you learn. Irish is like no other language that I have studied or even been exposed to because it has no roots in Latin or Greek. It is entirely, for the most part, based in Celtic origins. And then there are different ways to say yes and no to questions and it all depends on the verb used in the sentence. That along with the spelling is a lot to wrap my head around but practice makes perfect, right?

This is probably the least exciting, but finding iced coffee has had a trial and error phase on campus. But, I am happy to announce that I have been delivered! There’s a place called Jitters that sells an amazing iced caramel latte and croissants.

March 2, 2019

You know when I said it was warmer a few days ago. That didn’t last long at all. The wind today was INSANE to the point that I actually had to take over or risk being swept away.

Alaina came today and we went in search of Taboo Donuts…again. Now last time we found a stand in the Foyleside Mall that sold Taboo Donuts, but there is an actual brick and mortar shop in town. After getting directions from a really nice woman, we finally found it. Turns out that we have passed the shop before at least five other times in our original search for the shop. Because we could not just pick one, we decided to pick to each and share them. Oh, and did I meant that this was our breakfast.

We walked around Derry looking our the mall. There is a store in Foyleside Mall called M & S (Mark & Spencer) that sells clothes, has a cafe, and a small grocery store. A true one stop shop. We stopped for lunch at Grannie Annie’s which I heard was pretty good and they did not disappoint. The restaurant is also aesthetically appealing in my opinion. It looks like a quirky vintage shop. I would have taken a picture of my food but I was too busy stuffing my face eating it.

Jenny and I checked out Gweedore and The Guildhall Taphouse. Both were super nice places that were a mixture of traditional and contemporary elements. I absolutely love the traditional Irish aesthetic with more contemporary influences. Now to the mini rant that I want to get off my chest.

While I was waiting for an open stall in the restroom, a white woman grabbed my hair.

Wrapping her hands around my twists without a care in the world she exclaimed, ” It’s so long !“.

Now since being here, many people have complimented my hair, but none have touched it. One can give a compliment without touching someone. After a flurry of emotions and honestly being thrown off, I just gave her a nasty look and booked it into the nearest open stall before I said or did something. I figured it would happen, being in a place where the population is 9% non-white and around 1-2% Black. I have had enough people looking at my hair with great interest to know that someone would try it. That, however, does not make it any less annoying. I do not understand the process behind touching someone you do not know, specifically since hair is so personal. I know a lot of other Black women while traveling and in the United States has experienced this. And for the non-Black people who do not understand, it really is not a hard concept to grasp.

It goes hand in hand with consent.

She did not ask my consent to touch me or my hair. She just touched. And I can not help wondering what she would have done if I had just grabbed at her hair in the same manner. The action is filled with the implications of historical power relations and a common racial microaggression. It says that you have a sense of entitlement to my body and my hair. It is not a compliment and there a hundred billion ways to compliment without touching.

Until next time…

Neither Alaina or I had classes on Monday, so naturally, we decided to explore Northern Ireland! We decided to check out Cushendun, a village protected by the National Trust. The village is located along the Antrim coast and you can actually see Scotland from the coast.

And when I say a village, I mean a legit village. It was a bit of a shock to see a town so small, and in reality, Alaina and I walked around almost the entire village in a day. It was a beautiful place, but unfortunately, the places we wanted to visit were closed because it was off tourist season. Although we couldn’t visit the tearoom we wanted, we ended up having an impromptu lunch on the beach. Sitting a bench on the beach we saw a small dog, a gorgeous, tiny dog just running laps around the entire village. He was not interested in us at all, and he continued to run his little marathon at least six more times.

It was nice getting out and exploring more of Northern Ireland, plus, the bus ride to Cushendun was beautiful. I am not going to lie, I enjoyed the journey more than the destination.

February 19, 2019

Today was another one of firsts. Or more accurately, the first real Irish language class.

Learning Irish was pretty fun and the approach that the professor took was honestly so helpful. Seeing Irish as it is spelled, as an English speaker, is mind-boggling. For example, to say “hello” in Irish is written “dia dhuit“. Now, you would think that those D’s would sound like “dee”. But no, “dia dhuit” sounds actually sounds like “GEE A GWITCH” according to the Donegal dialect. There are fewer letters and certain groups of letters can make a different sound than what it looks like. “Deas” sounds like “JASS” and raibh sounds like “ROY”. It’s wild and confusing, but very cool.

February 21, 2019

Two of the girls from France and I went to the Ice Wharf. It’s always interesting to hear other people talk about their own countries and to hear a different and insider opinion on the world. I got to learn about Brittany, the region where they are going to university. and some of the history of the region.

February 23, 2019

As someone afraid of heights and bridges, I don’t really know why I signed up to go for this trip. The ResLife office, for the lovely price of 10 GBP, arranged for a trip to those that signed up to the Gobbins. The Gobbins is in Islandmagee and is an almost 3-mile walk on the side of a cliff along the Antrim coast that has existed since 1902. In case you missed, that I’ll say it again….a walk on the side of a cliff.

I’m not going to lie. I was shaking and had to focus on the path in order to not pee my pants. However, I got over the initial shock and on the whole, it was not that bad. The path and bridges were not too high up and looked to be very, very sturdy. Our guide was a very kind Scots-Irish man who regaled us with witty stories about the history of the Gobbins and some of the wildlife there. From smugglers hiding contraband in its caves to deaths of some WWII soldiers along its cliff-edge, the Gobbins has seen it all.

But, instead of me rambling on about how amazing it was and all of that, here are some pictures from the walk.

We also had to go through a cave where they had this system (still not sure how that worked) that kept the cave from filling up with water.

If you suffered from claustrophobia, this wasn’t for you.

February 24, 2019

Another day, another day trip. After the Gobbins I just stayed in Coleraine with Alaina for the night. Today we decided to visit Ballycastle, a coastal town we passed on the way to Cushendun.

It was nice and also very, very cold. We walked around town and little at the stores and shops. We had lunch at the famous Morton’s which has the best fish and chips I have ever tasted. 10/10 would recommend, it uses local fish and it’s super fresh. I had the battered cod and chips, and trust me, I don’t even like fish all that much and it was still good to me.

We went and found the Bonamargy Friary. Bonamargy was a Franciscan friary built in the late 15th century and was used as a church at one point. As creepy as this sounds, it was pretty cool to see the different gravestones and just how much they varied in age. Some graves were from the 1500s and then there was one of a man that died in the 1970s. The oddest thing is that right next to this historical and protected site is a golfing course. As Alaina and I explored Bonamargy, we were also making eye contact with people golfing a few feet away.

And of course, what is a cold day without some ice cream. Morelli’s Ice Cream Shop is pretty well known and we just had to try it. A nice scoop of lemon-lime ripple while sitting by the beach in February in Northern Irish weather is not the most ideal, but it was a nice view.

If we didn’t do that then we would have never seen the guy leading his pet pony on a leash for a walk on the beach. I have to say that, that was the highlight of the entire trip.

Until next time…

I think the typical image of someone studying abroad is one where the student is jetting off every weekend to a new place and doing something every day. And for the most part, I’ve felt like that too. I felt like every day I was not actively exploring or traveling was a waste of time. But, I realized that it’s not that simple.

It’s like going away to college, not every day of your life in college will be exciting or be filled with a new experience. Not everything will be a big, grand adventure and sometimes the adventures are smaller. Sometimes the triumphs or the highlights of the day is becoming more attuned to the culture and society you are living in and enjoying the subtle differences and similarities.

It’s about noticing the grandmother helping her granddaughter pick out outfits in Primark, a young man helping an older man cross the road, the way everyone seems to know everyone despite L’Derry being a city, and the quick-fire way of speaking and the dialect used by locals. The slow acclimation to the accent and the moment of confusion when you don’t understand something.

Sometimes it’s not just about the new sights and new places. Sometimes it’s about the looking and the seeing and the hearing. Sometimes it’s about slowing down and learning about their point of view of their country, of your country, and of their culture.

And really the majority of my week went like that. Doing mundane tasks like grocery shopping and mailing off postcards because I’m oldfashioned. Finally, getting more confident in using the oven and eating more than just PB&J sandwiches or takeout. I sat in Patricia’s Coffee Shop and enjoyed my coffee and scone while writing in my journal.

On February 14th, I went out with Jenny, Ombline, and Victrine to the Ice Wharf for a pseudo-Galentine’s Day. I went walking about the River Foyle and tried new shops and food places, and I am able to get around the city without using Google Maps. I think I am finally settling into my new home.