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.

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.

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.

• Malls are called shopping centers
• Parking lots are called car parks
• Three hour-long classes with 10 minute “comfort” breaks that only meet once a week
• Most people don’t have classes on Monday or Friday and most people go home on for the weekend. Some people even have full-on jobs back homes that they go to on the weekend.
• Going out days Sunday/ Monday and Wednesday nights since most people are either returning back to campus (Sunday/Monday night) or leaving campus to go home on Thursday night (which is why Wednesday night is going out night)
• Makeup and the wearing of makeup. Some of the girls from Magee and around Northern Ireland wear what I would call a full face of makeup. Full coverage foundation, highlight, contour, smoky eye, and lipstick. Some are dressed up and sometimes others are wearing a sweatshirt and leggings. I honestly want to know their secret to how they keep their face set with all this rain and mist here.
• People definitely dress nicer/ are more fashionable here. Again it’s like the makeup, it’s not everyone, but enough to where I’ve noticed.
• It would also be nothing to see someone walking around with a skirt or a dress and maybe some tights or not even though it’s totally cold outside.
• Heels on cobblestones =a very impressive sight to see.
• Smoking! Whether it’s cigarettes or vapers, people seem to smoke a lot more here. It would be nothing to see a group of students standing outside for a smoke between classes, or seeing people crowding around the outside of a pub for a smoke, or seeing someone riding a bike and also having a smoke.
• Sinks in the dorm rooms. There is a sink next to my wardrobe which is very useful! You don’t need to go to the bathroom, every time you need to wash your hands, or do your face routine, or brush your teeth. It’s just very convenient and I wish we had that in the States.
• Single rooms/ no roommates. My entire dorm building here is made up of nothing but singles.
• Dialects and range of accents. People from L’Derry tend to speak faster than some other parts of Northern Ireland. I meet a man you grew up in a different region in Northern Ireland and we got to talking about the range of accents here. He’s from a county that talks noticeably slower than those who grew up in L’Derry whereas Belfast has their own distinct dialect.
• Paying for bags at stores. If you do not bring your own reusable bag or a bookbag to put your stuff in, getting a bag from the store costs some money. It’s nothing outrageous, it just makes bringing your own bag an initiative for most people which I appreciate thinking about it from a sustainable standpoint.
• Alcohol and pub culture. I ‘ve never had a professor or advisor give a recommendation for a pub or bar before, but it seems to be a thing here. Whiskey and little cups of Guinness was also offered at a Culture Shock event that was put on for international students. There was also a Refresher’s Quiz put on my either the student union or Reslife that was BYOB (bring your own bottle). Not necessarily bad, it’s just different.
• The obvious driving on the opposite side of the road and the use of roundabouts. I’ve almost been hit at least 10-15 times since being here just because I keep looking the wrong way. I dream for the day that I don’t have to look at both ends of the road 4 times before crossing.
• Young men wearing Adidas tracksuits seems to be a popular thing
• “What’s the craic”? “Where the craic”? Now, in Northern Ireland and the Republic “craic” means the news/gossip, entertainment, fun, how’s it going, etc. The first time someone said that to me I just stood there like a deer in headlights and said “Good”. What I was saying good to or why I was saying good, I don’t know but it was a natural response.
• “Cheers”! I am not completely sure of the use, it just seems to be an exclamation after an action. For example, a cashier saying cheers after I’ve signed my signature on the receipt after a transaction. I’ve seen a man buying a bus ticket and saying cheers after getting their ticket, and he said it again as he was getting off the bus.
• “Wee” is a word used pretty frequently here. “Can I have a wee signature”? “It’s just a wee walk”. “Do you need a wee bag”? “We’re gonna take a wee break”.
• You pay for meals at the till (cash register) at restaurants rather than a waiter/waitress bringing out the check and you handing them the money. Sometimes you tell the person what you had and other times they seem to already know.
• Brexit is a hot and relevant topic here given the history of L’Derry and its proximity to the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
• Stay in a pub long enough and you’re bound to be approached by an older Irish man and regaled with a story or two along with a firm handshake.
• There is literally a street with nothing but pubs.
• There are switches that turn on the outlets. In order to use the outlet, you have to turn on the outlet.

• If something says it costs 5 GBP then it costs exactly 5 GBP
• Raincoats are a must because the wind can and will destroy your umbrella.
• Speaking of the wind here, it is a force to be reckoned with. I’ve almost taken flight a couple of times.
• There are restaurants that sell literally everything. A food shop could sell burgers, kebabs, pasta, pizza, wings, Indian food, traditional Irish breakfast, and everything else under the sun. You could literally eat several different kinds of foods at one place.

That’s all I could think of for now. Until next time!

January 26, 2019

Today, I got to walk where the giants walked. Today, was the Game of Thrones.

It started with me waking up at 6:45 in the morning to get ready and be on the 8:38 am train to Coleraine. Others from Magee were also going and we met up to begin our trek to the train station across the bridge to the other side of L’Derry. Thankfully, there was a veteran international student that let us in on a little secret.

There is a free bus service that goes from the bus center on our side of the River Foyle directly to the train station across the bridge. He essentially saved us from a 34-minute walk. We meet up with the Coleraine students and I meet up with Alaina.

The tour was amazing! I’ll admit–I am not a Game of Thrones Fan and I have never actually watched even one episode of the show. Nonetheless, the places that we saw were unbelievable.

We started off at Dunluce Castle and traveled to the Giant’s Causeway, Ballintoy Harbour, Carrick-a-Rede Bridge, and the Dark Hedges. Of course it was raining for most of the time, but the sun did make an appear at one point.

It was an exhausting jam packed day, but so worth it.

January 27, 2019

To be honest, I didn’t really do much today and I think that was much needed. It has been a whirlwind of activity for the last few days, and after having walked a little over 10 miles yesterday, a rest day was needed. The last thing on the agenda for orientation was dinner with the Chaplaincy.

It was a nice dinner and the people were very warm and welcoming. It felt nice to get a home cooked meal.

January 28, 2019

Not having classes on Mondays are gonna be super weird.

The Refresher’s Fair was today and I went with another international student, Jenny, to look around. What better way to meet new people than to sign up for clubs? I ended up signing up for a international student club and boxing classes. I have never done boxing before and thought why not.

Jenny and I meet up with some of the French international students to go to the Foyleside Mall. It was nice to get to know some of the international students better and talking about some of the differences in our countries.

Jenny and I tried out Cowbog, a vegetarian and vegan place in town. Although I am neither vegetarian or vegan, I don’t mind eating it most of the time and the burger was good

Later on that evening the Student Union put on a Culture Shock event and I got to try a crisp sandwich which they assured was legit. It’s made up of butter bread with chips (called crisps) for the filling. I’m not gonna lie…I was not a fan but I tried it.

January 29, 2019

The first day of classes and several things happened.

So there are around 6 other Americans in the Irish Studies program and we have all the same classes, including this first class, Introduction to Speaking Irish. Now, the timetable they gave us was like a chart but it was hard to understand what time the classes started and ended. That was how we all ended up showing up to class a whole HOUR AND A HALF EARLY. I think after say…20 minutes we knew we had messed up.

But, it gets even better. Today it was snowing which from what I’ve gathered from the locals is pretty unusual. So perhaps our professor was snowed in, either way, class time rolled around and no professor. Instead, the head of the Irish Studies department came and gave us a crash course in the history of Irish Gaelic.

January 30, 2019

3 hour long classes are going to truly be a test of my endurance, and we did not even go the whole 3 hours today. Thankfully, I am very interested in all of my classes. Today was Northern Ireland: Civil Rights to Brexit. I am excited to learn about the subject because it is something I have little knowledge of. It is also very fitting of our time in Northern Ireland where there is a debate around Brexit and a hard or soft border between the Republic of Ireland and the North.

January 31, 2019

My last class of the week is Irish Folklore and it’s also the only class this week where the professor lectured to entire 3 hours. The entire 3 hours.

Now, the subject matter is very interesting and I cannot wait to develop into the anthropology and history of Irish mythology but we go pretty quickly in class. One moment we were on the syllabus and the next we were covering a few centuries of history. The class is also broken up into a lecture (2 hours) with a three hour gap and then seminar (1 hour). It’s very different from the structure of classes at Agnes, but that’s a post for another day.

Guess who finally did laundry? I have been spoiled by Agnes where we do not have to pay for laundry. As such, I already did not like the idea of having to pay for laundry but it couldn’t be helped. The laundry process is so complicated here and I will save you the long story. The short of it is that you have to have a laundry card in which you go to a website to put money on it (5 pounds per load), activate that card at the kiosk on the 1st floor, and use card to operate washer and dryer.

Did all the steps including putting more money on my card to dry my clothes, and they still were wet after the second dry. So, I ended up hanging them on every available surface in my room.

The night wasn’t a total bust. I went to the Ice Wharf with a couple of international students which was fun, and I got to eat at a new place called Romeo’s.

February 2, 2019

My roommate is here! She’s visiting from Coleraine for the weekend. Last night we went with two other international students to the Ice Wharf and I introduced her to Romeo’s.

Today was another day of walking over 10 miles. We went on a hunt for a place called Taboo Donuts for breakfast which took 30 minutes and several loops around Diamond Square. But the donuts were worth it in my opinion.

We walked part of the city walls and the view was beautiful. I also found St. Columb’s cathedral which I want to revisit during my time here. After a while we had to get off because the pathway a slip-n-slide of ice.

We decided to revisit the Tower Museum since the last time was so rushed. I have to say that I like the setup of the museum in general. I like how they tell the story of Derry and it’s like your going through a maze in time. However, the mannequins in some of the exhibitions almost gave me a heart attack. This time around we even got to see the exhibition on the Spanish Armada.

We did a good bit that day like trying out the Cafe Gate in the Craft Village and of course doing a bit of shopping. I think this is the most we’ve shopped together in the 3 years of living with each other.

And that’s a wrap until next week.

It was the 2nd day of orientation and my 1st full day in L’Derry. We had breakfast in the Student Union Bunker which was an ordeal to find, to say the least. If you can imagine three international students going from one building to another and then doubling back in confusion then you can picture what it was like. We sat down to a full Irish/ Ulster Fry breakfast of baked beans, sausage, bacon, pouched egg, fried bread, and a fried potato patty. It was a lot for 9 in the morning I am not going to lie.

The rest of the morning and afternoon consisted of regular orientation information such as info. on the campus, the community, a brief history of L’Derry, the social makeup, the Irish Studies program, etc.

Lunch was in the Student Union and I got to know some of the other international students better. At the end of the day our international advisor lead us to Tescos. I got to pick up some critical essentials like towels and washcloths because ya know those are important. Two other international students and I went to Domino’s for dinner (there is also a KFC and a McDonalds here ).

It also snowed at one point here which is something I was not prepared for. Apparently, the Ireland doesn’t get as much snow. Maybe the Americans from New England brought the snow with them.

January 23, 2019

Day 3 of orientation in full effect. We got a tour of the library from the lovely librarians and an introduction. Another American student also joined us today! The international group seems to be comprised of mostly French and American students, and I’ve noticed that there are more female international students than there are male. Interesting to look into later.

I got to explore L’Derry more. I just started walking and somehow ended up near the wall. The views were very nice. L’Derry is bigger than I thought and is more of a city than I had anticipated, but very walkable.

A group of us went to a place called Guapo’s for dinner. I would describe it as essentially like a Chipotle but cheaper. Then we went in search of a pub because when in Ireland you have to go to a pub right? At least that’s the vibe we got from orientation.

In L’Derry there is literally a street of pubs. We ended up at The Diplomat which is like a modern take on the traditional Irish pub it seems. I also got to try my 1st Guinness!! To be completely honest it’s not a favorite. It was a lot heavier than I thought and more bitter, but at least I can cross that off my list.

January 24, 2019

Day 4 of orientation and I didn’t have to be anywhere until 1:30 pm. I just walked around L’Derry and along the Foyle River. I got to walk across the Peace Bridge and onto the other side of the river. If I remember correctly the university and my dorm are on the predominately Catholic side of the river and I crossed the bridge of the predominately Protestant side of the city. Of course, the division is not as strict as it would’ve been 20 years ago, but the demographics are still telling of the history here in L’Derry. The weather was not the best between the clouds and the mist, but it was a pleasant enough walk.

I finally got to enroll in classes today and almost had a heartattack when I thought I was late for registration. Cue me booking it uphill towards campus in the rain with no raincoat or umbrella. But I made it, with more time to spare than I thought I had. I am in the Irish Studies course which includes an Irish Gaelic course, one about the Fighting Irish since the 16th century, and Irish folklore. It all sounds interesting and we only have classes 3 days out the week.

There were more international students that arrived today. Five students from the same university in Wisconsin and a graduate student from Nigeria. I can officially say that I am no longer the only black student in the international program. Despite, the population being over 90% white I still see a few people of color around L’Derry and I haven’t had a bad experience here which was one of my worries with traveling abroad. But, everyone has been pretty nice here.

I went grocery shopping for the first time since coming here. It was great timing because going out to eat every night is not the move for me. Plus, I needed something other than air and coffee to eat for breakfast tomorrow.

January 25, 2019

Last day of orientation! It’s been a wild ride of information and making it to places on time. Today we met up with the Coleraine students for a tour of L’Derry and I got to see my roommate! But of course, Alaina and I were sorted into different groups.

But it was still fun and we got to crash course tours of the Tower Museum, the Museum of Free Derry, and the Guildhall. The Museum of Free Derry was particularly interesting because focused on the Troubles and the Free Derry nationalist movement in the 1970s. Our guide was actually at Bloody Sunday and he had a brother, 17 years old, that was killed during the attack. He told us of the inquiry into the deaths and how each death was traced back to a soldier only known by a letter, the alphabet soldiers. The soldier that killed his brother was called soldier F. They are still campaigning for the soldiers to be brought to trial it seems. There are also other people that work in the museum that have had family members killed on Bloody Sunday and during the Troubles period. I definitely need to go back and spend more time in each museum.

We all had lunch at the River Inn after a day of touring and I got to meet some of the other international students at Coleraine. We had the rest of the afternoon to ourselves so Alaina and I did the most sensible thing.

We went shopping.

We went to Primark which I would describe as a better version of Forever21. They had my sizes in all the clothing and it wasn’t like a small plus size collection in the corner of the store.

No shopping would be complete with a trip to the bookstore. I picked up a nice mystery novel from the Irish fiction section which was thankfully in English and not in Gaelic. In all we walked around a lot today and spent a good amount of money, but it was fun exploring L’Derry with a friend from home.

Tomorrow is the Game of Thrones tour put on by the Coleraine campus and for 5 pounds you can’t beat that deal . To bad we have to catch the 8:38am train just to make it to Coleraine on time.

I finally made it to L’Derry (easier than writing Derry-Londonderry)!

The day Alaina and I left our hostel (hauling all of our stuff BACK down 4 flights of stairs) it was, of course, cloudy with a chance of rain. Thankfully, the train station wasn’t too far from our hostel which was in a great location because dragging two suitcases and a backpack across Belfast was not on my to-do list.

For only 12.50 pounds I was able to take a train from Belfast to L’Derry and it was only a two hour train ride. Alaina’s stop was two ahead of mine, roughly 50 minutes before my stop, but the stretch between Coleraine and L’Derry were the most scenic views.

The train travels along the coast and seeing the beautiful beach and the rock formations jutting from the clear blue water was a great sight. Sadly, I was too busy experiencing the sight rather than taking a video but there will be other chances. I made my way to the Residential Services Office from the train station, collected my ID card, and was escorted by a student from ResLife. It has been interesting to see and hear the reactions to the bomb that went off Saturday on Bishop Street.

She mostly laughed it off, casually saying “Oh yea there was a car bomb and like 4 threats, but it’s all good”. She was telling me that people had a different way of reacting here because of The Troubles which lasted from the 1960s into the 1990s, so not too long ago. It’s crazy to think about how the girl showing me around, someone close to my age, has memories of The Troubles as a child.

Back to my riveting arrival store, I was shown around the dorm and left to unpack and crash. It was nice to unpack my stuff after living out of my suitcase for two days. I also have a sink in my room which is different, but very useful. I managed to find my way to a store called B&M which has been a literal Godsent. I got some packs for organzing, some snacks (essential), two fleece blankets for the price of one, and a hamper. Nothing too exciting.

At 6:30pm I went down to find my way to the welcome dinner for international students. I ran into another international student from Chile and we both walked over to campus trying to find our way around the place. Eventually, we did find, thankfully not too late. It was nice meeting other people in the program. There are people from France, Italy, Vietnam, Finland, and some like two other people from the U.S.

That was pretty much my first day in L’Derry.