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Category Archives: Northern Ireland
Marathon in Belfast
I’ve just made a serious mistake. It’s one that I’ll regret, increasingly, over the next four and a half weeks, before regretting it at maximum intensity for several hours on the 4th of May. Quite possibly, I will regret it for … Continue reading
Learning to Speak Like a Local, Norn Ireland Edition
Moving to Belfast, I reckoned, would involve some culture shock. More potatoes, more rain, more swearing. But it couldn’t be that different. After all, in Northern Ireland, they still spoke English. It wasn’t like I would have to master an … Continue reading
A Three-Minute Talk…How Hard Could it Be?
Heart racing. Palms sweating. Nervous Pacing. I can’t sit in this chair any longer. Get up from my seat. Go to the bathroom. Splash water on my face. Look in the mirror. I’m staring in the face of a nervous … Continue reading
Settling into the Routines of a New Life
When packing to head off to Belfast for a year, I was wracked by many of the same anxieties that beset me when I went off to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill years before. What if I … Continue reading
The 2nd Civil Rights Movement
One of the most interesting things I have learned on this Mitchell year is that the African American civil rights movement helped fuel civil rights movements in Northern Ireland. That is one fact that was either left out of my … Continue reading
Mind Your Ankle
“You alright down there?” I looked up the towering cliff face to the small face peering down at me. With one toe jammed onto a small purchase in the granite and another slipping a bit from its wedged hold on … Continue reading
A Family Across the Ocean
When I was planning the trip to Ireland I expected to be thrown into a completely different world where I would be surrounded by people who talked differently, listened to different music, and watched different television shows. Although differences are … Continue reading
The Power of Pink Bikes
Belfast is a city often divided by colors. Flags and painted curbstones mark the neighborhoods that are loyalist or nationalist, and colors can show your loyalties, whether it’s orange or green. However, this past weekend, the city came together under … Continue reading
North
Three weeks ago we made our way up to Belfast for the spring Mitchell weekend and a chance to learn a bit about Northern Ireland. I was looking forward to seeing part of the island I hadn’t gotten to yet, … Continue reading