Crossing the Border and the Politician Puzzle

Greetings!

I’ve had a couple of great experiences over the last couple of days. Saturday was definitely a highlight of the trip. Along with eight other students and Nigel, I got to cross the border to Donegal. Donegal is strange because it is still a part of the Republic and yet it is much closer to Northern Ireland. However, you make no mistake of where you are because all the road signs immediately change from English to predominantly Gaelic. Our first experience over the border was stopping at the ATM to get Euro. We visited Glenveagh National Park which is a beautiful stretch of preserved land. This is not the high season to visit the park so there weren’t too many other visitors there which created a nice atmosphere. Within the national park is the Glenveagh Castle which was donated from the last owner who happened to be an Irish-American in the early 1980’s. The castle is a beautiful place; however, it was only built in the 1800’s so it is not that old. I would say the exterior is breathtaking but the interior is nothing to brag about. We had quite the experience with the tour guide who was very thorough and seemed to take her job very seriously! I liked it when she would comment on a room and say “this is where the dressing closet would have been” and there still was a dressing closet there. Actually the last guest only used it about 20 years ago! She was very entertaining! The best part of the castle was the great gardens scattered through out the lot. Walking around looking at the beautiful view of the glen with the sun shining down was spectacular and I really felt like I was in Ireland. (I found my Irish man in the Gardens to the right.)

After the castle we drove on through Donegal stopping in an obscure little town right on the water for a bite to eat. I am ashamed to say I have not been brave enough to purchase my first fish and chips. That is my next goal, and I hope to report back next week whether the experience was worth all the hype!

Our van weaved in and out of narrow roads, steep hills, and lots of green. I can now say I have driven through the hometown of the famous and talented Enya. No sight of her, yet we played a little of her music just to make the mood appropriate.

The most memorable moment was standing at a remote west coast beach were I gave a big shout back to Boston. Did you hear me Louis?

Quite a feeling standing at the edge of the island!

Yesterday morning started with a visit to the United States Consulate in Belfast. It is confusing because the consulate is not an embassy because that is located in London, however, I don’t know what they do any differently. Regardless of what they do I felt reassured that the Triumvirate Three were strategically placed on the wall of the greeting area. Even Cheney’s picture makes him look like he’s up to no good! We were briefly met by the public relations officer (a native of the island) and then a deputy officer (native of California.) The best thing about the afternoon was the impressive powerpoint presentation created by a former student intern. I cannot say I was impressed with the responses of the deputy officer. Maybe he was having a bad day, however, George Bush isn’t the only one given the U.S. a bad name. Now, that will be all my liberal ranting and raving for this blog post. Promise!

Then it was on to the home of the best and brightest (take it for sarcasm if you like) at Stormont. The drive up the ‘capital building’ of Northern Ireland is exactly one mile. The building is interesting and yet I greatly prefer what’s in Washington D.C. We attended a brief assembly session. While waiting in the lobby some group members said hello to Gerry Adams, I was utterly disappointed, however I did get to see 82 year old Ian Paisley and Martin McGuiness on the floor of the assembly. Although I need to do more research on the voting process in Northern Ireland, what we saw and heard was bunch of “aye’s” and “no’s.” Its all a bit foreign to me! After our viewing period we met with a representative from all eight elected parties included. Some were Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA’s) (mainly those from the parties that have around 20 to 30 members) and some were advisors (mainly form the parties that only have 1 member!) Here is something to chew on, out of the 108 MLA’s only 18 are female. However, my favorite politician happened to be the only woman we met with. She was a former nurse and never thought she would be in politics. I thought she was the only one who answered the questions and was truly interested in who we were and what we were doing here. Although it can be confusing and frustrating working with so many different parties, the N.I. Assembly represents a strong democracy. I’m still deciding what I think of the politicians here and whether or not they are ‘leading by example’ and serving their people well into a brighter future.

After a long day like that the Derry crew sat down to a delicious meal of Mac and Cheese – the REAL kind. No Kraft exists here!

I am off to bed. I get to head back to Donegal tomorrow to shadow a meeting with a co-worker of mine. Happy early St. Patrick’s Day! Not sure of my plans yet but I don’t think they will include any green beer like back in the states!

Sending a little bit of Irish luck across the pond,

Sara

(I couldn't get a full picture in the van but this was a FULL rainbow!)