Building bridges

One of the major things about a studying abroad is building bridges. Making connections that will be around for a life time, and also making connections within the communities that other students from UNK can come in and go to for help, projects, and etc. It was one of our class projects was to do something in the community of Spiddal so future students from UNK could continue being a part of the community. As simple as this sounds, it was not so easy as Spiddal is a pretty small town and is only really active in the summer months. With that being said the thing that Jessica and I ended up doing was meeting with the Community Development Leader. Aiden, of Spiddal  three difference times looking for other opportunities to be involved not realizing that we were already building a bridge just by talking with so much. One thing that he thought we would be able to do was a Ireland contest called Tidy Towns, which gives the cleanest town in Ireland a reward. Unfortunately, because of insurance concerns we were not able to be involved in that.
 We also discussed trying to do things with inthe GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association), but it wouldn't possible for us to work with kids because we have not gone through the necessary background checks. So anything with kids was out the door.
The one thing that we did through all of this searching of some type of community service we could do was build a bridge. Aiden did not know about the UNK study abroad group in Spiddal before we had talked to him. By meeting with Aiden he got to know Jessica and I. We talked about politics, elections, community of Spiddal, UNK, and future study abroad programs of UNK. While we did not get to complete what most people would consider a "service project", we built bridges and lay down the foundation for UNK students that will come after us.Which was the primary purpose of our service project in Spiddal. Aiden now knows that UNK students would like to get involved in community, and he will work to make sure that happens in that future.

Belfast

Two weeks and I'll be jumping back over that big pond called the Atlantic. My time in Ireland is coming to an end quickly. Sometimes it's hard to comprehend that I have only known these people for a few short months, and that soon I will not be spending everyday with them. I know after the program is over that we will all keep in touch, but it still won't be the same as the time we have spent together here in Ireland. I know that sometimes they drive me completely insane and I want to be alone for awhile. But I can honestly say that I will miss them and I'm sad that it's almost over.
Now I'm done with the sappy stuff. This past weekend we went on a field trip to Northern Ireland. This was my favorite field trip by far. Everything that we have learned about in history we actually got to see where it took place. Belfast is the only part of Northern Ireland that I'm going to spend talking about in this blog post. Belfast is the capital of Northern Ireland. And In Belfast there is murals all over the city that depict things that have happened through the history of Northern Ireland. And 30 years ago it was in the middle of a civil war. And to this day you can drive through the city and see the divide between Protestants (unionists-want to be apart of the United Kingdom) and Catholics (nationalists-who want a reunited Ireland), and I took a Black Taxi Tour, which specializes in showing people about what is now called "The Troubles." The Troubles were mainly between a group called the UVF Ulster Volunteer Force and the IRA Irish Republican Army.

Bobby Sands 

We drove thru Protestant neighborhoods that flew the British flags flying everywhere, and as we drove thru Catholic neighborhoods we saw the Ireland flag flying. It was so bad that the city has to have walls between each neighborhood and that they lock the gates into the neighborhoods and that there is only one way in and out after 9 at night. And houses that are near the wall have anti-grenades cages over the houses, because in the 70's-80's people would throw grenades over the wall and it would kill people. This was such an eye opening experience to me. Even though there hasn't been any major violence since 1994 they still keep the wall and gates in place, because all it would take is one bomb or one attack and it could all break out again.

While on the tour we saw a lot of murals. A lot of them were political themed, some were memorials to people who have killed, and some to the people who did the killing of those people. One of the major murals that stood out to me was one of Bobby Sands. Bobby Sands was an activist who was in prison and went on a hunger strike, eventually got elected to the United Kingdom parliament while in prison, and finally passed away while on hunger strike. There is more to it that even I don't know. But it was had a very strong message. One mural that we saw on our tour was of Stevie "TopGun" McKeag. On his mural he has 17 red poppies because he was given a task of killing 17 Catholics that were employed by the government. He is idolized by Protestants and they celebrate him every year on the day that he died, even though he killed all those people in cold blood.It honestly made my stomach turn that people would see him as a hero. Belfast has a complex history and I enjoyed it, but it is a very sad city.

Croagh Patrick

The final few weeks of our program are here. And we had the opportunity to do a field trip to a place called Westport. On our way we stopped a few places just to take in the beauty of Ireland. One place that we got to see is a place called Kylemore Abbey. It's a huge estate that a man built for his wife, but it is now run by some nuns. We didn't get the chance to see the inside or the wall gardens, but I'm glad we were even able to see it at all. 

Croagh Patrick

After Kylemore Abbey we drove to a place called Croagh Patrick. It's the mountain that Saint Patrick supposedly banished all snakes from Ireland. And now it's a pilgrimage for Catholics to climb to the top of the mountain. They usually climb in on Reek Sunday, which is the last Sunday in July. Because of this it got the nick name the Reek. Well on  Friday April 1st I climbed to the top of Croagh Patrick. I assumed it would be like more national parks in the states that have nice made trails and aren't that steep. Well my assumption was very wrong. There was not a nice made out trail, it was very steep, lose rock, and slick. I had to stop a few times to catch my breath. And when I thought I finally made it to the top I found out that I was only half way. So as I stood there thinking about just turning around and going back down, I realized that I may never get the chance to climb a mountain again in Ireland and if I don't take the chance while I can, I may never get the chance again. So even though my legs wanted to me to head back down to the bottom I started climbing again, because I had to finish the climb that I had started. The last little part was worst part of the climb all the rock was loose and if you stepped on the wrong rock it would give and you would fall down. But after a few falls and a few words my mother wouldn't like to hear out of my mouth I finally made it to the top. 

Daily Life

   My daily life in Ireland is quite different from the daily life back home in the states. For one I do not have to work here in Ireland, which is the probably the biggest change for me. Back home during the school year I work between 27-30 hours a week. So going from that to not working any is a huge relief. Here in Ireland I also have class Monday thru Wednesday from 10-2. Being in class for four hours straight seems really long sometimes especially if I'm not really interested in the topic of the day. Also, not having a car just to drive wherever I want is another big change that I have had to get used to.

Cabin mates 

Shane cooking a lovely meal

Now as far as my daily routine, I get up anywhere from 8:30 to 9:45. (usually closer to the latter) I go to class, then after class a group of us usually runs into to Spiddal to either eat, get groceries, or just to get away from the cabins for a bit. Another option we have is going into Galway, it's further than Spiddal and you have pay for a taxi to get there. But once we get there we have a lot more options for things to do and places to eat, In order to make it economically feasible to go to Galway though you need at least four people otherwise it'll cost each one of us at least 20 euro round trip, but after four people it's around 15 round trip. Once I'm done in Spiddal or Galway I come home and do homework, or just hangout with my cabin mates.

    Then we usually make dinner as cabin if we are all around, otherwise some people run into Spiddal, or every once in awhile I just eat Ramen. (Yes, they do have Ramen here)  As for late night I either watch a movie or Nelix before going to bed.

Social Life

The wife and I

  Before this trip I was extremely worried about how people would treat Jessica and I. Would they include the married couple or just think we were boring? Would people invite us to go out and do things? I wanted to make some good friends while on this trip and be included. The result was better than I ever imagined and being on this trip I have so many memories that I will cherish forever. Our group is a total of 17 people. You live with these people, go to class with them, drink with them, you literally do everything with these same people. So it would be hard not to grow quite close with them. I mean even going to get a bite to eat includes a half hour walk to Spiddle, so you have some time to really get to know everyone.
 

The group!

Since we are around 30 minutes from town when we do go to town we spend a few hours there. While in town we get to know some of the locals pretty well. One in particular that we have go to know is a guy around our age named Seamus. Seamus is a bartender in Spiddle so he has got to know us from stopping by the restaurant and a few late nights. Spiddle being the small town it is there isn't a ton to do, but we make do with what we can.
    Honestly, this trip is one wouldn't be half as fun without the people I have met along the way. We really have bonded in way that is only possible, because of this. Whether it was being lost in Rome trying to find our hostel, nights of playing cards, or even a surprise 21st birthday party.

Language Barriers

        For those of you that do not know, the official language of Ireland is Irish. Which is nothing even close to the English language. Lucky for me the second national language is English. And everyone I have talked to has spoken English. But where we are staying in Spiddle is one of the few parts of Ireland that speak Gaelic on a day to day basis. It is the language of choice for the schools and the children have to speak Gaelic in class. While, in places like Dublin most people prefer just to speak English instead of Gaelic. Most people consider Gaelic a dying language, because most people in Ireland would prefer to just speak English. A person could make it in Ireland by just speaking English, but not by just speaking Gaelic.
        There is three parts that make staying in Ireland hard for me. One is people with thick accents, two is the fact that I'm hard of hearing, and three a mixture of one and two. John Paul the owner of the Park Lodge Hotel where we are staying has a very thick accent and I honestly don't know what he is saying about 90% of the time. I have to turn and ask someone with me "what and the hell did jp just say?" While most of time I get by just fine there are the select few times that it is hard.

Colosseum

         One place that I have visited where I really felt the language barrier was in Rome. Trying to figure out how to get from place to place and asking people for help was honestly one of the hardest things for me to do. In the subway I asked an attendant if he spoke english and he didn't, but thru a

Jessica and I at the Roman forum 

mixture of few english words, a map, and hand signals we got to the platform we needed. I never felt so out of place as I did in Rome trying to navigate when I got lost. But enough with the bad about Rome I'll tell you I really did love the colosseum and the Roman forum. And the it was the best day I have had in Europe so it worked out perfect. That was by far one of my favorite things that I have ever got to see. Also, the pasta in Rome was to die for!

Academic Life-Kings Head

    Now, I know most of you just think that I'm just taking a three month vacation from being an adult, but seriously I am actually taking classes. I am even doing homework right now! Writing this blog is one of the main requirements for my special topics class. So in this post I'm going to discuss a little about each class I'm taking and some of the things we get to do for each of them.

Making scones

    First off is Irish culture and Gaelic. In this class we get the opportunity to learn the native language which we call Gaelic, but in Ireland the people just call it Irish. The first phrase that we learned is how to greet people and it is Dia dhuit the direct translation being may be god be with you. For the Irish culture part of this class we do a few different things. One that I was able to be involved with this week was cooking a traditional Irish meal.
I, Michael Daake, was involved in the making of a traditional Irish lamb stew and scones. Geraldine the lady who taught the class in charge of all the meals for the hotel and any events that they have.
The next class we have is our Irish Lit class. We have to do a lot of reading of poems and short stories from Irish authors. I'm personally not of fan of all the reading, but I am a big fan of when we read Irish plays and he assigns us all a role. One of the plays we read was called The Importance of being Ernest by Ocsar Wilde and I enjoyed it immensely. Our professor who is a male did the voice of an elderly lady and it was one of the funniest things I have ever heard.
    Our third class we have to take is Irish history. In the first part of this class we usually talk about something in American history and have small debate amongst each other. Then talk about something in Irish history and our professor Dr. Marley brings the two together and we may again have a debate. Depending on the subject it may get a little heated. One of the more interesting things was we got split into two group each side had a point to debate, and we did this debate in a pub called the Kings Head. The reason we debated in the Kings Head is because back in the day the man who owned the building was the one who decapitated King Charles I. The building itself is also a historic landmark.

Fireplace in Kings Head.

    The last class we take is the special topics class, which is mainly our weekly blogs that we do. Otherwise we meet once a week usually Wednesday nights and discuss our blogs

What happens when I go to write my blog....

and any filed trips we have coming up. And about every other week we do a pot luck meal and watch a movie that has something to do with Ireland.