March 2006 Reflection

Posted on March 1, 2006 by bschick06

At some point in February, I cannot recall exactly when, I woke up and felt like Dublin was home. I knew that although it was bright and sunny at 8am, it would be cloudy by noon. I knew that there was no need to get to class at exactly 9 am because the professor and half the class would not be there until 9:15 am. And I knew that I had better eat my usual breakfast of peanut butter on toast before heading out to class or I would be teased in the elevator by at least one person for being “so American.”

It took longer than I had expected to really feel at home in Ireland. But now that the feeling has come I am quite happy to put aside my international explorations for a few months to experience more of the Emerald Isle outside its capital city. For being a relatively small country, Ireland has an extraordinary amount of interesting sites to see. While recently visiting a fellow Scholar in Cork, I took a daytrip to the port town of Cobh where I found an abundance of maritime history. Not only was Cobh the last port of call for the Titanic and the last sight of Ireland for over 3 million immigrants headed toward Ellis Island, it was also the town that sent dozens of local seamen out to rescue passengers from the Lusitania when it was attacked 26 miles from Cobh’s shores. Another favorite trip I took in Ireland was to hike its tallest mountain, Carrantouhil, in Killarney National Park. It was an invigorating hike with magnificent postcard views of Ireland’s rugged mountains and expansive bogs. The summit proved to be one of the windiest places I have ever been, but the best part was winding up a steep boulder field that also served as a part-time waterfall, referred to as the Devil’s Ladder.

Despite my love for the West of Ireland, classes keep me coming back to Dublin. Fortunately, I was in town for the Dublin riots and was able to watch the garda try to keep the crowd under control while stalking around in full riot gear. It was a great lesson on how group-think takes over and entices people to behave in a manner that would otherwise seem irrational. I was glad to have the up-close experience with a relatively mild riot because it provided perspective on what it is like to be part of the chaos.

Aside from the riots, Dublin has provided many nights of hit-or-miss entertainment. I have found that going out in Dublin is an incredibly unpredictable thing. One night the whole city may decide to close down early and the next night everyone will have come out in search of some good craic and a few pints. Either way, having settled into Irish life, I have found myself part of a ‘crew’ again, this time with its members being many of the Irish girls from my dorm. I am enjoying picking up sayings like ‘good man,’ ‘lads’ and ‘lost the plot.’ It’s good craic anyway =)

Actually, having so much free time this year came as a shock to me because it was something I did not have a lot of in college. When I got to DCU I was concerned that not being busy with course work and classes meant I wasn’t learning much. Instead I have found that it meant I could learn things differently as I took more time to reflect on what I was reading or discussing in class and come to a fuller understanding of it. And after all, isn’t that what getting a master’s degree is – understanding basic concepts at a deeper level that allow you to piece together multiple revelations into the big picture? Additionally, I have found that approaching international security issues and conflicts from a European perspective has added breadth to my way of seeing the world and its news worthy issues. Contrasting European and American perspectives has provided me with plenty to mull over!

But in the end, I must say my loyalties still lie with the U.S. military. So it really came as no shock that I found my niche with the great men and women who work at the U.S. Embassy here in Dublin. Although I cannot spend as much time as I would like in the military attche’s office due to security clearance restrictions, I am enjoying shadowing a variety of Embassy staff and learning about their job responsibilities. At some point in my U.S. Air Force career, I would like to serve abroad as an Embassy military attache, so this has been a great opportunity to gain experience – who knows, maybe I’ll even get to be an Ambassador someday! My sincere thanks to Jon Benton and Michael McClellan for facilitating this opportunity for me!

Although this concludes my ‘reflections’ for my Mitchell year, the year itself is by no means over. I still have two more Mitchell events to attend and plenty of traveling to do, including a bike excursion around the Ring of Kerry and Beara Peninsula, several more self-guided ‘explore Ireland’ trips, a three week trip to SE Asia, a tour of Scotland, a trip out to Kuwait to visit friends stationed there over Easter break, and (assuming I can secure a visa) a trip to Russia – if that doesn’t work there is always the option of getting a rail pass to explore Eastern Europe. Oh yes, and I have to write my dissertation…But no worries there. The recent election of Hamas has given me a great, albeit controversial, comparative conflict research topic on Hamas and the IRA/Sinn Fein (both having militant and political wings and having been considered terrorist groups at some level). This fits nicely with my current classes on: Terrorism, the Arab/Israeli Conflict, Political Islam, and the Northern Ireland Conflict. Using the IRA/Sinn Fein as a historic model, I intend to garner lessons on how Hamas can progress toward becoming a legitimate political actor and keep its militant wing in check.

Many thanks again to Trina and the U.S.-Ireland Alliance for a great year abroad! And now, for the extent of my Irish language education: Pionta Guinness, le do thoil.

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March 2006 Reflections

Posted on March 1, 2006 by mboteach06

I sat down today and took a good look at my calendar with the intention of putting together a thesis timetable. I began to count the number of days I have available to work on my research, which days I would be free to set up interviews and ultimately, how many days I have left on the island. A feeling of anxiety swelled inside of me, not because of the limited amount of time I have to write a thesis (although I’m sure that there will be plenty of time to stress about that later :), but because I suddenly remembered that very soon, I will be leaving Ireland.

It occurred to me that sometime in the past few months, without my realizing it, Ireland became a second home to me. Perhaps it was showing around the friends who have visited me and proudly taking them to my favorite cafes and “spots” in and around the city. Perhaps it was my internship at Banulacht and working on the long-term project of the International Women’s Day conference that gave me a routine. Perhaps it was my friendships with my fellow students in Equality Studies, the student societies and of course the other Mitchell Scholars that gave me a real sense of community. Whatever the reason, Ireland has ceased to be just a “place I am studying for the year” and become a place I will forever feel connected to.

Every day I am more and more grateful to the students and professors at the Equality Studies Centre for challenging me intellectually and supporting me through that process with their friendship. I find myself now constantly looking at the world through an equality lens; reading the newspaper, watching TV, and especially traveling have all become different experiences for me as I am finding new ways to apply the theories and ideas that I learn in class. One example, in particular, was my trip this semester to the United Arab Emirates.

February 2-11 several other Truman Scholars and I went on a 10-day study tour of the United Arab Emirates including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Fujairah, Al Ain and even an afternoon in Oman. We had submitted a proposal to visit the country after a visit to the UAE embassy last summer and late last year our proposal was approved. We were invited as guests of the UAE government to explore their economy, political process, ports, civil society, land and culture. We were hosted the entire week by students from Abu Dhabi University, men and women from the Emirates and all over the Arab world. As a Jew with Israeli heritage, it was particularly interesting to interact with students and discuss such issues as the Mohammed cartoons, the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and other issues that create or highlight divides between the Arab and Western worlds. I was forced to challenge a lot of presumptions I had made, including those regarding the status of women in Islam. I also engaged in what Equality Studies would term “critical interculturalism,” which is respecting and engaging with other cultures without being morally relativist and ignoring injustices. In our meetings and conversations with UAE students, government officials, women’s groups, corporations, etc… questions emerged about censorship, anti-gay policies, the boycott of Israel and treatment of migrant workers. I learned and saw so much in those 10 days it would be impossible to describe it all here, but needless to say I walked away with many new insights and a realization of how much my experience in Ireland has provided me with new insights and tools that I will bring with me wherever I go. The Trumans are currently working on a publication of our experiences on the study tour if any one is interested.

Upon returning to Ireland I delved back into my coursework, submitting and getting approval for a thesis focused on women in post-conflict societies. I will be comparing the case studies of South Africa post-apartheid and Northern Ireland post-Good Friday accords in order to examine the dynamic between women in the community sector and women in the formal political process in bringing about egalitarian change. Whew. Say that 10 times fast!

I am excited about my research and even went up to Derry to the fantastic civil rights conference, planned by fellow Mitchell, Ben, to learn more about the history of the conflict and the status of egalitarian change in Northern Ireland today. One of the highlights of the day was definitely meeting John Hume. I am also planning a trip around Southern Africa this summer with a stay in Johannesburg to hopefully conduct some interviews with women’s organizations there for my thesis.

Another conference I took part in was the International Women’s Day conference on Wednesday March 8th, which I planned as part of my internship at Banulacht. I was very proud of the way things turned out as we had a huge turn out, inspirational speakers and very relevant workshops around the theme of diverse women’s voices. I will finish up at Banulacht in the next few weeks, but my experience there has definitely been an important part of my time here in Ireland and allowed me to apply on a practical level many of the ideas from my master’s programs.

I would once again like to thank the US-Ireland Alliance and all of its sponsors for giving me this opportunity as well as all of the people in Ireland who have made it feel like home.

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March 2006 Reflection

Posted on March 1, 2006 by rwaters06

As most of the others are thinking as well… Wow, this year is almost over! It’s only mid-March, but my classes will end in a week, final exams will be in May, and then things will be gradually coming to a close. I’m now very much involved with my research project, which will continue through the summer, so the continuity of the experience still exists through July or August. But needless to say, I’m trying to take advantage of every opportunity to live the true Irish experience.

And that true Irish experience seems to lie in the countryside. The first real encounter with this was on a Saturday morning… I go cycling with a local Irish group. We ride out of Cork on a busy highway between the double yellow line which flanks the sides of the road and the grass. The street is nicely paved; we pass big stores, the construction of buildings and apartments, and giant trucks and many cars pass us. A turn later, and we’re on a smaller road, a little bumpy, not too many automobiles. A few cows, a bit greener. One more turn and we’re further into the countryside. We go through Inishannon in about 2 minutes and then take road that runs by the river to Kinsale. There was a tiny (i.e. 6-7 buildings perhaps?) outpost along the river at one point, and each of the few houses was a bright, distinct color – reds, yellows, greens, lavender. Would it not be fantastic if neighborhoods in the States were filled with reds and yellows and blues and greens? The other riders were much faster cyclists, and eventually I told them to go on while I would stop for a snack at an isolated shop. A elderly woman with a typical grandmother-personality was the apparent owner. I bought some homemade cake (delicious, especially when glucose-depleted!), some bananas, and a fruit drink. She didn’t use a cash register but a ledger book. Just a notebook, where she recorded the purchase with a pen, then gave me my change from her notes and coins in the apron pocket. Several people passed in and out of the shop, first curiously glancing at the guy in muddy cycling tights shoveling cake in his mouth, then talked with the owner/baker as good friends. This was the real Ireland. Finally found it. Not to say that Cork, Dublin and the like aren’t Irish. But they are less culturally distinct from what I’m used to, compared with the rural shop that seems to serve most residents on this stretch of the Ballymahane River. After a nice chat with some of the lads in the shop, I got some cake to go, and cycled home.

I’ve enjoyed the relaxed environment in Cork. It has a countryside feel, despite being much bigger of a city than I had originally thought. I buy my bread, eggs, chicken, fruit and a few other things from the local market. Fishermen are always around the River Lee, upstream of the city, and are always up for a chat. Time runs slower in general – though the university operates on much faster pace! The learning is intense at UCC, as is the research, and that’s a good thing. Working in the lab has been great for the research itself, but probably more for the fact that it’s been a great way to get to know Irish and international postgrads very well. Getting to know them all has been the best part of this year’s experience.

I can’t leave a reflection without putting in a plug for a charity for which I’m working to raise money. Go to www.justgiving.com/richardwaters and please donate if you can afford to do so! I’m running the London Marathon on 23 April for the charity Concern (which now has branches in Ireland, the UK, and the US, but got its start in Dublin in 1968!). Read more on the webpage. Great things are happening with this organization.

from Cork, cheers!
-Richard

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January 2006 Reflection

Posted on January 1, 2006 by cwindham06

As our tour bus rounded the corner toward the statue of Daniel O’Connell, three months of Irish history classes began to rear their head.

“Do you see that?” I asked as I pointed out the window.

My boyfriend, just arrived for a visit from North Carolina, looked out the window.

“The big statue?”

“That,” I said, lips pursed for effect, “is Daniel O’Connell. Commonly called “The Great Emancipator.’ In the mid 1800s…. I continued for a few minutes as Jon feigned interest and nodded his head patiently.

By the time we reached Kilmainham Jail, his patience began wearing thin.

As we stood outside the cell of Countess Markiewicz and our tour guide began to speak, I tapped him on the shoulder.

“You see that cell?” I asked. “Do you know who stayed there?”

“You’re going to tell me, anyway, right?”

I ignored him. “That,”I whispered with gusto, “was the cell of the only female officer on the day of the Easter Rising… .” A few minutes later our guide began to talk about the 1848 rebellion. I dug my fingers into Jon’s ribs.

“Ow!” he yelped. Irritated, he turned around.

“Rebellion,” I mouthed as I did quotation marks with my hands. I began to launch into an explanation but he, no longer tolerating my free “commentary”, had already moved ahead, pretending to introduce himself to the ladies at the front of the line.

Though my “knowledge” was hardly appreciated by my company that weekend in December, returning to the site of the Mitchell orientation helped me realize just how far my studies had come in three months. Before arriving in Ireland in September, I had a foggy outline of the whole of Irish history. My interest, previously, had been in the era of “The Troubles.” As the other Scholars and I wandered Kilmainham Jail and Glendalough in September, therefore, it was hard not to get intimidated by the sheer depth of chronology that I was missing.

Now, as my first semester in Irish History and Politics comes to a close, I am beginning to realize how much my courses have moved beyond simply filling in the dates on a timeline and have provided an overview of the complex religious, social, and political history that continues to manifest itself in modern events. Through this process, I’ve realized even more just how superficial my knowledge of Ireland and Northern Ireland must have been six months ago.

How, I wonder after studying nearly five centuries of the development of the Irish identity, could I have pretended to understand loyalists or nationalists with just a cursory knowledge of the 1600s? How could I have talked about “segregation” or “peace lines” without understanding two decades of migration politics in Belfast? Fortunately, through my lectures and classroom debates, the picture is creeping closer to reality. Though I initially hoped to study the civil rights movement, I find myself uncovering new areas of interest with each passing week. As I buckle down to do research for my thesis this semester, I imagine narrowing the list will be one of my hardest tasks.

Outside the classroom, however, I am still loving every minute of life in Northern Ireland. In the past few months, thanks to the university’s strict “no lecture can exceed 45 minutes without a tea break” policy, I’ve learned much more about my Irish classmates who never hesitate to laugh at the words that I use (I’m sorry, but those scones DO look like biscuits) or my horror at local news. In mid-November, local police exploded a van parked outside the station because it appeared suspicious. (Later, the news revealed, it was nothing to be concerned about.) I could hardly contain myself when I came to class. Wide-eyed and breathless, I ran into the room sputtering details about the explosion. “Saw on BBC….van exploded…might have bomb….” I stammered. They hardly blinked. “Are you serious?” they asked. I forget, sometimes, how different our perspectives must be.

When I haven’t been in class or defending my “Americanisms” against my classmates, I’ve been splitting my time between Belfast to work for Habitat for Humanity and the usual schedule of pub quiz nights, hill walks, and football matches in Derry. Though my Habitat work has been slow coming, I’ve had the chance to interview a number of staff members who helped launch the “North Belfast” project. My biggest fear, as I started, was that there wouldn’t be any compelling stories to tell. Tragically, however, I’ve recorded stories of kidnapped and murdered homeowners, local politics reversing cross-community efforts, and worksite vandalism. As the story begins to unfold, it is intriguing how much the history of the organization mirrors the history of the region. Major Habitat milestones, it seems, parallel major events in the peace process. Major controversies often threatened their own efforts. Besides being interesting for research purposes, however, my work with Habitat — especially during my work days on the actual sites — has made me feel closer to the community in Belfast. It’s hard, sometimes, to find Irish friends at the university. So many of the students live out of town or drive from the Republic. On the Habitat worksite, however, I’m starting to feel like part of an Irish community and it’s added a new dynamic to my experience.

Thanks to our generous travel stipend, I’ve also had adventures outside the north in the last few months. For Thanksgiving, the entire Mitchell gang gathered in Dublin for a feast and an American football match, where, despite my team’s theatrics and cheating, we all tied. In December, I flew to Munich for a month of living off the rails and bunking in hostels across Germany, France, Amsterdam, Italy, and Switzerland. Some of my best memories involved sledding down the Alps at breakneck speed on Christmas Eve, ringing in the New Year at a massive concert in Rome, navigating the ruins at Pompeii, tracking down the Berlin Wall, and scaling (so to speak) a castle turret in Munich with Brittany, Markus and Lily, three other Mitchell Scholars. When I arrived back in Derry in January, it was hard to believe that I actually had the opportunity to visit so many of the places that I’ve imagined for so long. It has truly been an unforgettable four months — of which I am incredibly grateful to the US-Ireland Alliance and Dell and Trina for providing.

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January 2006 Reflection

Posted on January 1, 2006 by rwaters06

It’s only been a little over two months since the first reflection on my time in Ireland, and a lot has changed! I no longer feel like a foreigner in a different country. The initial process of cultural adaptation and adjustment has faded. In terms of the day-to-day lifestyle, I’m settled in, with Cork as a home-base, which is nice. But that just means I have to look a little closer for the adventure, which certainly exists here and beyond!

On the academic side of things, all is going well. I found a lab to join in which to do my research project for the biotechnology program in which I’m studying. It’s in Dr. Paul O’Toole’s microbiology lab. The lab has a Jekyl-and-Hyde nature to it. Half of its members are working on probiotics — the ‘good’ bacteria, the kind that you find in yogurt. The other half, myself included, are studying the genetics of stomach pathogen (called Helicobacter pylori). It’s all been very interesting and is great hands-on experience. The lab team is a brilliant, diverse group of people, with representatives from Holland, China, (Ireland of course), and soon France will be included in that list.

Thanks to some inspiration from one of the runners in the lab, I’ve decided to do the London marathon in late April. Many of the runners gain spots to the marathon by running for a charity, and that’s how I got my spot. I’ll be running for Concern, a charity in Ireland and the UK that fights poverty in some of the poorest areas of the world. Email me (rcwaters@gmail.com) if you’d like to donate or want more info! 100% goes to Concern, specifically for an education project in Mozambique.

I spent the winter break in Romania and Moldova. A good experience – very cold, much snow, amazing orthodox churches, the majestic Carpathian mountains, and a lot of travel by train. I met many interesting travelers from a variety of places — Latvia, Russia, Hong Kong, Ukraine — along the way and so was never really on my own for all that long. The spontaneity of it all was indeed the best, as it usually is with travel. I spent Christmas with a group of youths I met at a church that morning, and had the treat of having some traditional Romanian food with one of their families. New Year’s was spent in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, and was quite a blast! Not Time’s Square, but still good.

The more adventurous stories are easy to write about and probably more interesting to read. But the Cork life here, though no Carpathian mountains or Romanian/Moldovan food, makes this year worthwhile. There’s a small market in Cork where you can get just about anything — and indeed anything organically grown! — which is fantastic. There are pseudo-jogging trails by the river. They are muddy, sometimes under water, and go through cow pastures. There are the narrow inner-city alleyways through which one can just wander aimlessly. And then there are the hills around Cork. A run or a cycle up the hills gives a great view of the city and the fields on the other side…when it’s not raining. Until next time!

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January 2006 Reflections

Posted on January 1, 2006 by mboteach06

So much has happened since I last wrote that it’s hard to condense it all in a short journal entry. My internship at Banulacht and participation with the Suas student society have been very interesting and rewarding. Banulacht has allowed me the opportunity to attend various workshops and conferences on development, sit in on Dail (Irish Parliament) debates about the WTO meetings in Hong Kong, and meet people in the NGO community who are working on similar issues. Suas gave me the opportunity to speak in a campus debate on trade and development, funded my participation for a workshop on poverty that I attended out in County Clare and provided me with a ticket to hear Mary Robinson speak on the Irish government’s new initiative on combating gender-based violence. This last event had a lasting impact on me. I was so disturbed by the extent and brutality of violence against women that I decided to further research this as a possible thesis topic, which I am in the process of doing right now. In fact, I have been in touch with Development Corporation Ireland (a government agency under the Department of Foreign Affairs) which has invited me to a conference luncheon on the topic tomorrow and sent me some very useful resources on the subject. I will have more to report in my next entry.

My academic coursework with Equality Studies continues to complement my interests outside the classroom and challenge me intellectually. In December I was consumed with take-home final exams, which although difficult, ultimately clarified my thoughts on a lot of questions I had been struggling with. The Equality Studies Centre excels at providing a real interdisciplinary approach to a large and seemingly unconquerable problem: inequality and injustice. By breaking down the problem into smaller components and showing how the smaller pieces are interconnected, the Centre succeeds in showing students that they should not be discouraged by the seemingly insurmountable nature of the problem. Although I do not agree with every theory put forth in my classes (I find myself a bit more conservative than most of my classmates), those instances of disagreement have sparked lively debate and forced me to think about and justify why I believe differently. I think that has been one of the most important ways I have grown this year; not just learning new things, but understanding the theoretical underpinnings that allow me to better articulate WHY I hold the opinions I do, not only to those on the right, but also to those on the left.

These past two months have also given me the opportunity to do some traveling. At the end of my last journal entry I mentioned that Britt and I were off to Spain for fall break in early November. We spent our time in Andalucia exploring Sevilla, Cordoba, Granada, Malaga and Ronda. We explored amazing Islamic architecture, the old Jewish quarter in Cordoba, gothic cathedrals, beautiful landscape and of course….flamenco, bull rings and tapas. In the middle of finals in December, I visited Ben and Carie in Derry for a day before heading to Belfast for the meeting with Senator Mitchell. We attended a traditional Irish “quiz night” (where I was utterly useless besides knowing who sang “Fame,” not something I’m proud of…) and the next day I received a private historical walking tour of Derry from none other than our very own Carie Windham, Irish History and Politics scholar extraordinaire. When we arrived in Belfast later that afternoon we met up with the rest of the Mitchells and proceeded to Queen’s University where Senator Mitchell spoke with us for an hour about everything from Northen Ireland to his position at Walt Disney. It was a true honor to meet him and I wondered several times throughout the day how I had gotten so lucky.

After finishing my finals, my boyfriend Adam came to visit for 3 weeks during winter break and we traveled to Vienna, Prague, Salzburg and London together. Vienna was particularly special as we found the houses where Adam’s grandparents lived before they were forced to flee from the Nazis and talked to the people who lived there now about the history of the area. In Salzburg we did the “Sound of Music” tour where we and a busload of tourists sang the entire soundtrack while touring the sites of the film in the city of Salzburg and the breathtakingly beautiful surrounding Lake District. I am not ashamed to admit that I danced in front of the gazebo where Liesl and Rolf sang “I am 16 going on 17”. When Adam left my friend Rebekah came to visit and we visited Edinburgh for a few days, which was one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever seen.

Now I’m back here in Dublin and ready to start next semester on Monday. If last semester was any indication, I can’t wait.

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January 2006 Reflections

Posted on January 1, 2006 by eanderson06

Multiple choice quiz:

Living on bread and water, freezing cold temperatures and no heat, hiking long distances through a meter of snow, showering by pouring a pot of icy water over your head, visiting remote monasteries and attending 5am services, and standing through several hours of prayer a day….

This describes:
A. Clearly some bizarre, medieval penitential Advent program.
B. Liza’s idea of a great vacation.
C. How Liza spent her Christmas break.
D. All of the above. We all knew Liza was a little strange.
E. Only B and C. It’s not penance when you enjoy it!

Clearly, the above description of my adventures does not describe time spent in Ireland. After my classes finished in early December, I went to visit churches and monasteries in Bulgaria, Macedonia and Albania with two friends (one of whom is Muslim and the other Jewish). It was challenging, beautiful, slightly insane, and absolutely amazing. We explored remote churches up in the mountains, visited the only self-governing Roma settlement, listened to everyone who wanted to talk to us about religion (including priests, grandmothers and shopkeepers), and probably picked up all kinds of parasites drinking from various miraculous springs of water.

It was especially amazing to see the revival of the church in Albania. Even the matins and vespers services that I attended were filled with people, most of whom seemed to be under the age of 30, and in every town that we visited, new churches were being built and old ones restored. Thus, the churches we visited contained everything from detailed medieval frescoes of purgatory to modern stained glass windows of Mother Theresa and Pope John Paul II.

Again and again, I find myself falling so completely in love with the church. And fascinated by it — how different it is, in Ireland and Albania, Egypt and Denmark, Michigan and Philadelphia — and yet the fact that there is something universal there, underneath all that diversity, although I can’t quite grasp it. Too easy to say that the common element is Christ, when even he appears completely differently in each of them. I don’t know; but my lifelong love affair with the church in its many forms shows no signs of abating, and even if it would probably be wiser and vastly more spiritually stable to base my faith on God rather than on the church, at the end of the day it is still the church that I love more than anything else in the entire world, and I wouldn’t know how to change that if I wanted to.

Although it may be surprising to some people, my interest in the Orthodox Church is actually very much connected to my life and studies here in Ireland as well. The religious demographics of Ireland are changing rapidly due to immigration, and in places such as Dublin the Orthodox Church has established a significant presence even over the last five years. My own parish here in Ireland has a very close relationship with the Romanian Orthodox Church, and so I have been to get to know some of their members and have been able to see the vibrancy of that congregation. They have been wonderful about welcoming the members of my church to their services, or having a joint service of Christmas carols together. Like the Orthodox Church in Albania, many of their members are young people — and without all of the antics that Western churches often resort to when they are trying to keep their young adults “entertained”.

I think I can easily say that my church here in Dublin, Saint Bartholomew’s, is one of the best things that has happened to me during my time here. I haven’t found the same Anglo-Catholic tradition that I had been used to here in Ireland, which has been difficult at times. But the people at St. Bart’s have been extremely welcoming of me, and my involvement there has given me a wonderful opportunity to build relationships with Irish people outside of my academic program. As a student, I have to say that there’s something really wonderful about being invited to dinner at a “real house” (as opposed to a dorm), with people who aren’t all between the ages of 20 and 25!

One of the more random but (to me) delightful things is that I seem to have a tendency to run into Irish nuns whenever I go out to do my shopping. (This probably has a lot to do with the fact that I shop at the discount stores.) I always really want to bounce up and say “Hi! You’re a nun! Guess what? I want to be a nun too” but usually opt for the (only slightly subtler) method of simply grinning at them until they come over and ask if by any chance I’m interested in the religious life.

Unlike many of the other Mitchells, my classes started up again on January 3rd, and so as I write this the semester is already well underway. I’m taking a somewhat easier schedule this term since there are now essays to write and a thesis to start thinking about. There is a very good, intensive class on Islam and Muslim-Christian Relations that is taught by two professors from the University of Birmingham, and a class on ecumenical ecclesiology, which I am probably the most excited about. In addition, I have a classes on theological ethics, the politics of development, contemporary Islamic politics, and Buddhist-Christian dialogue. It’s hard to believe how quickly the year has been going. My classes will end for the year in early March, and after that I will only need to focus on my research, so the end of the structured part of the program is actually not far away.

But there are many more adventures to come — churches to visit, countries to explore, nuns to talk to…oh yes, and research to do. Many thanks to all of the people who have made this possible; it’s been a wonderful year.

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January 2006 Reflection

Posted on January 1, 2006 by arabinowitz06

I’ve just returned to Galway after three weeks at home in the US for the holidays. The distance from my adopted home in Ireland and being forced to answer the multitude of questions from friends and family about life in Galway provided me with a valuable perspective on my experiences thus far.

My social immersion in Galway has been the most formative part of my experience thus far. Whether reflecting on the hospitality of my new Irish friends or contrasting the bonhomous atmosphere of an Irish pub with the noisy and raucous scene at my local haunts in Baltimore, I’ve really come to appreciate my new home here. I’ve been invited to numerous strangers’ homes for dinner, drinks, and conversation. Perhaps a favorite memory was being asked ‘beer, wine, or whiskey’ upon sitting for dinner and then delving into conversation on topics ranging from politics to sports.

Additionally, my brief forays into other parts of Europe have been enlightening in a way that no classroom instruction ever could be. Although I’m surprised by how much economic theory I learned this past semester, the opportunities for travel and cultural excursions make me wonder whether I’m striking the appropriate balance between my formal economic studies and the cultural education that surrounds me. Since one can study economics in a classroom anywhere, I suspect that discussing intelligent design and creationism with a French couple and a New Zealander in a rural Irish pub may be the more memorable experience. Whether inside the classroom or out, I’m learning much more than I’d anticipated.

I’m excited to continue traveling and look forward to taking electives in health economics over the coming months. Having departed Galway temporarily for the holidays, I can already imagine how difficult it will be to leave once the year has come to a close.

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January 2006 Reflection

Posted on January 1, 2006 by bschick06

As I sit here in Dublin’s first Starbucks, I realize that some things have changed very little for me in the past few months. I can still sit, surrounded by familiar Starbucks earth-tone furniture, and drink tea while typing on my laptop. And I still get frustrated by a general lack of free wireless internet access — we’ve become such a spoiled generation! But on the other hand, many things have changed. Like the fact that at 10 pm Starbucks is my only coffee shop option because the local establishments I’d prefer to be in closed hours ago. And more important, the different frame of reference and perspective that people bring to any discussion here. Now that I’m several months into my MA program, I’ve discovered that whereas I used to be able to have full blown arguments with those who had different political views in America, I must be far more reserved and tactful here. It’s no longer an argument between Republicans and Democrats, but rather between two different countries’ values, resources, priorities, and foreign policies. I’ve learned how much of my childhood education, society, and experiences have molded my world-view. While discussing the causes of WWII in class, I realized, after listening to my classmates talk only about the European front for more than an hour, that while I’ve been primarily taught about the U.S. relationship with Japan leading up to Pearl Harbor, they’ve been focusing on how economic conditions in Europe and relationships between kings and dukes sparked the war. Without realizing it, school age children everywhere have experiences unique to their country and society that make them familiar with certain topics and specific terminology. When I recently wrote a critique of the 2002 U.S. National Security Strategy, I saw how terminology meant to inspire Americans could also be taken as inflammatory or demeaning by those who aren’t citizens of “the greatest nation on earth.”

Trying to see things from another perspective has helped me gain sensitivity to many topics that I thought I’d always see in black and white. I am also more convinced than ever that there is indeed a distinct American culture! There is not just one American culture — it can come in many forms depending on the part of the country one lives in, ethnicity, religion, and socio-economic class. But there is a distinct American culture with many forms just as surely as there is a distinct Chinese language but with many dialects. Americans say “that’ll be great,” not “that’ll be brilliant”; they eat pizza with pepperoni or sausage, not with tuna or squid; they play baseball and football, not cricket and snooker; and they celebrate Thanksgiving, not Saint Stephen’s Day. Don’t get me wrong, I love other cultures, but I’m proud of my American culture and frankly am proud to be an American! Being abroad has allowed me to identify what I love about my country and what I think could be better. I think getting free refills in America is a great thing — it sure beats paying 2 euro for a cup of coffee that’ll be gone before your chat gets going. And I think shops being open past 5 pm is very useful. On the other hand, I wouldn’t mind America having more public transportation options or a real low-fare airline. But I guess that’s the beauty of traveling, you get to experience the best, and often worst, of each country.

Speaking of which, I have been bit by the travel bug. And when I say bit, I mean I’ve been infected! Since arriving in Europe, I’ve lost no time in filling up my passport. The trip to Spain that I mentioned at the close of my last ‘reflection’ was fabulous! The mix of Moorish art and Mediterranean scenery was unbelievable! I loved exploring old fortresses and places of worship that were used by Muslims, Protestants, and Catholics alike. My next trip, to the German Christmas markets, was fabulously festive! Trudging through fresh snow, inspecting traditional ornaments and toys, and sipping a mug of mulled wine was unbeatable. Another Mitchell trip, this time to meet Senator Mitchell in Belfast, was an excellent opportunity to find political murals in the most unlikely places and visit Stormont for a quick lesson in Northern Ireland governance. I was also fortunate enough to have my family visit me in Ireland over the holidays. I had fun playing tour guide for my Mom and four younger siblings in Dublin and shocked myself with how much I’ve learned about the city. We explored the beautiful West Coast, including Galway city, the Connemara region, the Burren, the Cliffs of Moher, and a few castles before winding through Waterford and Wexford on our way to take a ferry to Wales. On Christmas morning we found ourselves in the Cotswolds north of London where we had our fill of thatched roofs and country pubs before heading into the city. New Year’s Eve in London was one for the record — certainly a crowded flurry of excitement! What’s next on my travel itinerary? Italy for 10 days! But don’t worry Mom, I’m still studying and getting good grades =).

Well, apparently even Starbucks closes, so back out into the cold I go to catch the bus back to DCU. As the weather warms up and the days get longer, I’m looking forward to further exploration of this lovely, green island! With Scholars from Cork to Belfast and a full supply of long weekends, I think the spring months will have many more experiences in store for me!

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January 2006 Reflection

Posted on January 1, 2006 by bcote06

Happy New Year to you! I am just returning from spending the holidays at home, and preparing for my first semester finals this coming week at Magee.

There has been plenty of good craic since November–shortly after my first journal entry my Peace and Conflict Studies class took a field trip to Dublin for briefings with representatives of the Taioseach’s office, the Foreign Ministry and US Embassy. One highlight was U.S. Ambassador James Kenny, who spent over an hour meeting with us and answering our questions. That discussion made me appreciate just how much work America has done and continues to do for peace in the North. The Ambassador’s generosity was repeated in inviting all the Mitchells down to his residence Dublin in earlyDecember.

One advantage to living in Ireland is that the books of one of my new favorite authors, Bernard Cornwell, is much more well known and available. My girlfriend and I read Sharpe’s Tiger together when she visited in November, and we have continued the Sharpe series, a story about a rogue British Infantryman during the Napoleonic Wars.

Some of the best craic of the fall has surely been Tony’s Table Quiz. Every Wednesday night is quiz night at the Linen Hall pub in Derry City. My flatmates and some other UU students and I have gone every week without fail, to compete against other pub goers at anagrams, music, football, and soap operas.

My Scottish roommate happens to be a fan of all of these–but the last was his specialty. One magical night, we won a case of Budweiser, of all beers, the night before thanksgiving, of all days. In addition to our Scot’s expert knowledge of “Coronation Street” I was lucky to receive such Maine-related questions such as, “Who wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin?”, “What U.S. state is known as the Pine Tree State?”; and, “What animal was the movie Andre about?” We’ll look to continue the weekly tradition this spring.

While it was my first Thanksgiving away from the States, we had no problem celebrating it. Carie brought a can of pumpkin pie filling from home (they don’t seem to have pumpkin pie in Ireland!?, and I braved the blizzard-like elements to procure the rest of the ingredients. It was an excellent dinner with excellent people–some of them having their first Thanksgiving. It was followed up the next day by another wonderful dinner at Melissa’s apartment at University College Dublin. The relationships I am developing with the Irish and the other Mitchells are what I have been most thankful for.

The best day of the last two months was the opportunity to meet Senator Mitchell in Belfast. We were able to see the human side to a man so accomplished–one who, like the Irish I’ve met, was a good storyteller and quick witted. The most important advice that I took from him was to be professionally flexible in the coming years–he had originally wanted to be a teacher, but he joined the army, then became a judge. I am at a position where I know I want to do non-profitwork and public service–but am unsure exactly where I want to work and what future degrees I want to attain. While it can be challenging to be among other scholars who are already enrolled in PhD and Law programs, remaining open right now is in another sense liberating for me at this point in my life. I am glad the Senator affirmed that.

I return to Ireland in a year that is going by quickly, resolved to take even more advantage of my time there. I am bringing a special companion that I left behind last semestr–my tenor sax–to hopefully start playing with some other student musicians. I also anticipate attending the approaching Bloody Sunday anniversary, which is a must. Lastly, this February I am looking forward to making use of my USIT travel stipend to travel to Krakow and see Auschwitz and various John Paul II sites.

I want to add a special congratulations to Sarah Wappett from Georgetown, a new Mitchell who will be studying in Dublin next year. Hoya Saxa, Sarah!

Cheers!

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January 2006 Reflection

Posted on January 1, 2006 by msolomon06

Analyzing Schoenberg’s first string quartet, Alban Berg wrote “a great deal is achieved if it is demonstrated in the details, on a single example,” going on to then analyze the first ten bars as a microcosm for the work at large. In this reflection, I’d like to do the same with my stay in Ireland, focusing on two short days in the hamlet of Coleraine. This stay had nothing to do with my University-sanctioned education but hopefully everything to do with my Mitchell-sanctioned education. Here is what I learned, in no particular order of significance:

–Ireland is very spread out. Unlike that slightly bigger island to the right, Ireland’s population is heavily concentrated in a few cities. This means that it is fairly normal for non-city slickers to live next door to a family of sheep, own a horse, and drive over a minute from road to house. A photo book once told me that parts of America were like this, and I may have seen one in a flight from New York to California once, but suffice it to say that this was a culture shock.

–Dinner matters. There is a centrifugal pull toward it, with the kitchen being occupied during the day by various family members contributing their culinary expertise. It has no particular beginning or end, but is more like a state of mind. Being acclimated to a grab-and-go lifestyle, this was disconcerting at first, but I eventually realized that the Tracey family’s dinner was the pace at which life was supposed to exist. Somewhere along the line, I pressed fast forward and forgot to hit play.

–The police get a bad rep in Northern Ireland. It is a typical trope of police psychology that they feel underappreciated and underpaid (which is true), but in Northern Ireland there is the extra burden of necessarily participating in the conflict. This is particularly problematic for a Protestant family in the police force, which is generally associated with some of the police violence during the 1970s and 1980s. Despite the fact that the policeman and policewoman’s house at which I was staying was liberal and progressive, there was no way that they could escape this association.

–“Feck off” is not an invective, just a polite way of saying “Could I have 5 minutes to myself?”

–In economic terms, the Irish have a huge comparative advantage in humor. So much so that they should stop all industrial production and just export everyone as writers and comedians. The highlight reel from a night at Coleraine’s Kelly’s club is funnier than SNL. Right now, there is only one Northern Irish sitcom and a mediocre stand-up scene at best. This is probably due to the relatively small population centers that cannot support a humor industry. But, in our increasingly globalized world, there is no reason this geographic factor should stop them from capitalizing on their immense natural resource.

Family is like our modern conceptualization of what an atom looks like. There is assuredly a nucleus, but after that, it is more useful to think of the rest as a series of probability states rather than a fixed entity. Furthermore, families are covalent, changing via marriages, alliances, and fights over sheep. Aunt means good friend, cousin means friend, and friend means someone I may have met.

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January 2006

Posted on January 1, 2006 by gswenson06

My life has been quite hectic over the last month as I’ve completed the transition to being a real student again as well as hosted a number of guests. I just finished up exams and papers yesterday. I continue to really enjoy my program and am looking forward to my courses next semester in “TheTheory and Politics of Globalization” and “National and Ethnic Conflict Management.”

Belfast continues to fascinate me. While I feel more and more at home here, it is obvious that I still have much more to learn about Northern Ireland. Everything here is significantly more complicated than I initially imagined. I won’t bore you with trying to sort it all out here, but needless to say the old cliche about learning something new everyday is a pretty apt description of my time in Belfast. I’ve been travelling quite a bit with the help of the USIT stipend; so far I’ve been to London, Oxford, Paris, and Berlin. I am headed off for 10 days of travel through the Netherlands, Belgium, and Western Germany next week and am most likely headed to Barcelona in February.

The last three months have contained so many wonderful experiences. One of the other highlights of my trip was a Halloween pilgrimage to Derry with the other northern Mitchells, the self-proclaimed Halloween capital of the world. Unlike many Halloween parties in America, absolutely everyone was in costume. Carie Windham was frightening as Stephen King’s Carrie, but Ben Cote’s Michael Jackson costume truly struck fear into young and old alike. I did my part to improve transatlantic relations by going as “ranch style George W. Bush.” I even received some sage advice from a local dressed as Jesus. “It’s like that movie Maid in Manhattan,” he explained. “It had Jennifer Lopez in it but it didn’t have Jesus.” I’m still not really sure what that meant, but I’m pretty confident that it was profound. At the beginning of the night, it just had the feeling of a really raucous street party and all the bars were packed. By the end of the night, it was nothing short of pure chaos. An experience I will never forget, to say the least.

Another major highlight involved the other Mitchell’s as well. We all met up in Dublin for a belated Thanksgiving meal that rivalled even my grandmother’s traditional feast. We also played in the second annual Mitchell Scholar gridiron classic, by which I mean a game of American football. It was an intense game filled with grit, gusto, plenty of procedural irregularities, and a bit of tragedy (ask Ryan Hanley about his nose). It ultimately and fittingly ended in a draw.

I’ll write more in-depth stories and observations next time, but living and studying in Northern Ireland continues to be an amazing experience. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about how lucky I am to be here.

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