I'm leaving... on a 2pm bus to Dublin...
1 Comments Published by Ellen Zemlin on 15 December 2008 at 7:18 AM.
Look, another post that's a month after the first one! (With yet another reference to something in the subject. Midnight Train to Georgia anyone?)
Anyways, it's just after 7am, I'm eating Christmas chocolate as to avoid having to pack it (or at least that's my excuse), and my bus to Dublin leaves in about seven hours. I'm taking the bus to Dublin and flying from there to Germany, where I'll be picked up by Jana's parents (for those of you who don't know, Jana is the exchange student my family hosted last year. I'm spending Christmas with her family before heading up to Bargteheide, where I lived for a year, to see old friends and that kind of thing. After that, I'm going on a January session trip through Germany, Austria, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, as well as driving through Slovakia.
Um... since my last update... I turned 19, I went to Scotland (it was pretty! I have pictures but haven't been bothered to edit them), have knit almost a pair of socks (Christmas knitting and schoolwork intervened), ripped out an almost-finished sweater when I realized I wasn't going to wear it, wrote 6200 words on the sociology and psychology of genocide (if you want to read it, I can send it to you), got sick of Irish history, and applied for staff at General Assembly (for the non-UUs among you, that's the annual gathering of UUs from across the US).
I don't know how often I'll be able to update my blog (although I imagine you won't notice much of a difference in frequency... is there even anyone still out there?), so this might be goodbye. Or might not. We'll see.
Anyways, it's just after 7am, I'm eating Christmas chocolate as to avoid having to pack it (or at least that's my excuse), and my bus to Dublin leaves in about seven hours. I'm taking the bus to Dublin and flying from there to Germany, where I'll be picked up by Jana's parents (for those of you who don't know, Jana is the exchange student my family hosted last year. I'm spending Christmas with her family before heading up to Bargteheide, where I lived for a year, to see old friends and that kind of thing. After that, I'm going on a January session trip through Germany, Austria, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, as well as driving through Slovakia.
Um... since my last update... I turned 19, I went to Scotland (it was pretty! I have pictures but haven't been bothered to edit them), have knit almost a pair of socks (Christmas knitting and schoolwork intervened), ripped out an almost-finished sweater when I realized I wasn't going to wear it, wrote 6200 words on the sociology and psychology of genocide (if you want to read it, I can send it to you), got sick of Irish history, and applied for staff at General Assembly (for the non-UUs among you, that's the annual gathering of UUs from across the US).
I don't know how often I'll be able to update my blog (although I imagine you won't notice much of a difference in frequency... is there even anyone still out there?), so this might be goodbye. Or might not. We'll see.
On a clear day, you can see forever...
1 Comments Published by Ellen Zemlin on 08 November 2008 at 3:41 PM.
...or at least to Scotland.
(by the way, New Exciting Feature -- if you click on pictures, they get bigger! A few of the pictures were cropped in the versions posted here but not in the bigger ones. If you want cropped versions of them for some reason, just send me an e-mail [ellen.zemlin-at-gmail-dot-com] and I can crop something up and send it to you.)
Just over a week ago, on 31 Oct, the Derry students were joined by the Galway students for various adventures, including a trip to the Giant's Causeway and Belfast. The Giant's Causeway (as well as the drive along the coast to get there) was beautiful and impressive, and I also had the unique experience of seeing three countries at once. From where I was standing to take the above picture of Scotland (you can make out the rocky blob rising above the ocean, right?), I also took this picture, in which you can see Northern Ireland and the Republic:
We also stopped to see Dunluce Castle on the way there.
And then we got to the Giant's Causeway, which was created (most geologists agree) by the solidifying of lava from a volcano. It's cool.
After that, we went to Belfast and saw sectarian murals and the Peace Walls. Some parts of the city have gates that are closed at certain times of night. I also saw (although didn't take a picture of) the pub where the Shankill Butchers did a lot of their planning. I'll leave you to guess which murals are for which side. It probably won't be too hard.
You'll notice that the Unionist murals are really graffitied up, while the Republican murals are still spotless. Although there are definitely still political tensions in the area, the murals and intense politicization are becoming less important to the Unionists over time. Some politicians are lobbying for the Peace Walls to be taken down, but a lot of people have sincere concerns about the safety of the area were that to occur. You may also notice a swastika and the letters NF on one of the Unionist murals. Throughout Northern Ireland, especially on the Unionist side of things, neo-fascism is becoming more and more popular. As hating people based on religion and sectarian tension are reducing, they feel as though they need somewhere new to direct their hatred -- so it's being directed towards immigrants, Travellers, and homosexuals, especially. Through a combination of Catholicism, intensely patriarchal norms, and needing something new to hate, Northern Ireland (and perhaps the South too; I'm not sure) is very homophobic. Ireland is also extremely socially conservative -- even many of the most radical political parties are anti-choice.
Also, apologies for the bad picture of this one, but it was too great to not get a picture of.
Hope everyone out there is doing well! I'm off to Scotland in ten days and am excited for that.
But for tonight, I'm going to settle in with movies posted on YouTube and Ben & Jerry's Half Baked. mmmmmmm.
(by the way, New Exciting Feature -- if you click on pictures, they get bigger! A few of the pictures were cropped in the versions posted here but not in the bigger ones. If you want cropped versions of them for some reason, just send me an e-mail [ellen.zemlin-at-gmail-dot-com] and I can crop something up and send it to you.)
Just over a week ago, on 31 Oct, the Derry students were joined by the Galway students for various adventures, including a trip to the Giant's Causeway and Belfast. The Giant's Causeway (as well as the drive along the coast to get there) was beautiful and impressive, and I also had the unique experience of seeing three countries at once. From where I was standing to take the above picture of Scotland (you can make out the rocky blob rising above the ocean, right?), I also took this picture, in which you can see Northern Ireland and the Republic:
We also stopped to see Dunluce Castle on the way there.
And then we got to the Giant's Causeway, which was created (most geologists agree) by the solidifying of lava from a volcano. It's cool.
After that, we went to Belfast and saw sectarian murals and the Peace Walls. Some parts of the city have gates that are closed at certain times of night. I also saw (although didn't take a picture of) the pub where the Shankill Butchers did a lot of their planning. I'll leave you to guess which murals are for which side. It probably won't be too hard.
You'll notice that the Unionist murals are really graffitied up, while the Republican murals are still spotless. Although there are definitely still political tensions in the area, the murals and intense politicization are becoming less important to the Unionists over time. Some politicians are lobbying for the Peace Walls to be taken down, but a lot of people have sincere concerns about the safety of the area were that to occur. You may also notice a swastika and the letters NF on one of the Unionist murals. Throughout Northern Ireland, especially on the Unionist side of things, neo-fascism is becoming more and more popular. As hating people based on religion and sectarian tension are reducing, they feel as though they need somewhere new to direct their hatred -- so it's being directed towards immigrants, Travellers, and homosexuals, especially. Through a combination of Catholicism, intensely patriarchal norms, and needing something new to hate, Northern Ireland (and perhaps the South too; I'm not sure) is very homophobic. Ireland is also extremely socially conservative -- even many of the most radical political parties are anti-choice.
Also, apologies for the bad picture of this one, but it was too great to not get a picture of.
Hope everyone out there is doing well! I'm off to Scotland in ten days and am excited for that.
But for tonight, I'm going to settle in with movies posted on YouTube and Ben & Jerry's Half Baked. mmmmmmm.
Hey folx,
About a week ago, I took a walk around the City Walls and took pictures from what I saw most of the way around. The walls are really special because they're the oldest intact walls in Ireland, I think. The walls are a 20min-30min walk from where I live, and a lot of things are in and/or around it.
One of the really neat things in Derry are the Bogside Murals. The Bogside is a traditionally working-class Catholic neighborhood that was the site of a lot of the worst and bloodiest conflicts of The Troubles, including Bloody Sunday. Here are pictures of some of the murals... you can read more about them at the first link in this paragraph.
Also, so you can have a more general overview of the placement of these murals, here are some pictures of the Bogside from the walls. If they look at all familiar, it's because it's a lot of the same stuff that's in the picture in the blog layout. The hills in the second picture, by the way, are the Republic.
As you can see, the Bogside still has very strong nationalist/republican leanings...
Just a few steps away, though, I took this picture.
This, my friends, is Fountain Estates. Fountain Estates is, effectively, a Protestant ghetto on the Foyleside. There are only about 1,000 Protestants in Derry now, and apparently about half of them live here. As you can see in the picture, there are walls and fences... mostly to keep the petrol bombs out, although things aren't as bad as they used to be by any stretch of the imagination. It has only been about 15 months, though, since the last British troops were removed from the City Walls. At the height of the Troubles, there were over 20,000 troops in Derry alone.
And now a few more pictures of pretty places in Derry, also taken from the walls.
If you have any more questions about stuff you see in the pictures, feel free to ask me. Comments would make me happy! :-D
Also, in about 9 hours, I'm off to the Republic for the weekend- we're going to Galway and Ballyvaughan. And, yes, I'm going to take pictures.
About a week ago, I took a walk around the City Walls and took pictures from what I saw most of the way around. The walls are really special because they're the oldest intact walls in Ireland, I think. The walls are a 20min-30min walk from where I live, and a lot of things are in and/or around it.
One of the really neat things in Derry are the Bogside Murals. The Bogside is a traditionally working-class Catholic neighborhood that was the site of a lot of the worst and bloodiest conflicts of The Troubles, including Bloody Sunday. Here are pictures of some of the murals... you can read more about them at the first link in this paragraph.
Also, so you can have a more general overview of the placement of these murals, here are some pictures of the Bogside from the walls. If they look at all familiar, it's because it's a lot of the same stuff that's in the picture in the blog layout. The hills in the second picture, by the way, are the Republic.
As you can see, the Bogside still has very strong nationalist/republican leanings...
Just a few steps away, though, I took this picture.
This, my friends, is Fountain Estates. Fountain Estates is, effectively, a Protestant ghetto on the Foyleside. There are only about 1,000 Protestants in Derry now, and apparently about half of them live here. As you can see in the picture, there are walls and fences... mostly to keep the petrol bombs out, although things aren't as bad as they used to be by any stretch of the imagination. It has only been about 15 months, though, since the last British troops were removed from the City Walls. At the height of the Troubles, there were over 20,000 troops in Derry alone.
And now a few more pictures of pretty places in Derry, also taken from the walls.
If you have any more questions about stuff you see in the pictures, feel free to ask me. Comments would make me happy! :-D
Also, in about 9 hours, I'm off to the Republic for the weekend- we're going to Galway and Ballyvaughan. And, yes, I'm going to take pictures.
Hello friends, family, adoring fans...
I'm alive and have been in Derry for just over a week... I got in Friday 12 September, and here it is Saturday the 20th already! I'm doing quite well... I've walked into the city centre pretty much every day since getting here, and enjoy doing that. I hope to keep on walking once classes start, which is Tuesday. I'm taking four-kind-of-five classes... I've registered for four, and I may or may not unofficially audit a fifth. This is abnormal, because the standard (and pretty much only) courseload for an Irish student is three classes, which are called modules here. I also only have class Tuesday-Friday, and for a maximum of four hours/day. Classes meet once/week.
I'm taking one Political Science class, two Sociology classes, and one History class. The Political Science class is about genocide and international politics... obviously, that is linked to my interest in the Holocaust, and I imagine that my International Law class that I took last semester will help with some of the stuff we cover. The Sociology classes are Self, Identity, and Conflict (again, kind of Holocaust-y in nature, potentially) and Cross-cultural Perspectives on Society, and my history class is about the Irish Revolution (1913-1925.)
Um... yeah. I don't have any pictures yet, because my camera battery was dead the last time I had it downtown, and I was trying to wait for a rare sunny day, but I'm going to take them tomorrow.
Oh, right, a quick explanation of my blog name. Two neighborhoods of Derry (Bogside and Creggan) were declared an autonomous state from 1969 'til 1972. This state was called Free Derry, and was marked by a sign that said "You are now entering Free Derry." While trying to come up with a vaguely clever name, that popped into my head.
Okay, well, it's getting late, so I should probably head to bed or something. Talk to you all later!
I'm alive and have been in Derry for just over a week... I got in Friday 12 September, and here it is Saturday the 20th already! I'm doing quite well... I've walked into the city centre pretty much every day since getting here, and enjoy doing that. I hope to keep on walking once classes start, which is Tuesday. I'm taking four-kind-of-five classes... I've registered for four, and I may or may not unofficially audit a fifth. This is abnormal, because the standard (and pretty much only) courseload for an Irish student is three classes, which are called modules here. I also only have class Tuesday-Friday, and for a maximum of four hours/day. Classes meet once/week.
I'm taking one Political Science class, two Sociology classes, and one History class. The Political Science class is about genocide and international politics... obviously, that is linked to my interest in the Holocaust, and I imagine that my International Law class that I took last semester will help with some of the stuff we cover. The Sociology classes are Self, Identity, and Conflict (again, kind of Holocaust-y in nature, potentially) and Cross-cultural Perspectives on Society, and my history class is about the Irish Revolution (1913-1925.)
Um... yeah. I don't have any pictures yet, because my camera battery was dead the last time I had it downtown, and I was trying to wait for a rare sunny day, but I'm going to take them tomorrow.
Oh, right, a quick explanation of my blog name. Two neighborhoods of Derry (Bogside and Creggan) were declared an autonomous state from 1969 'til 1972. This state was called Free Derry, and was marked by a sign that said "You are now entering Free Derry." While trying to come up with a vaguely clever name, that popped into my head.
Okay, well, it's getting late, so I should probably head to bed or something. Talk to you all later!
test test test
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