January 22, 2019
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
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.
