
Hello and Happy Easter! (A bit late, but I was thinking of you on the day just the same.)
It's time for my latest novel so I hope you're all ready. Grab yourself a cuppa and a bickie and let's get going!
This week has really been lived in the shadow of Easter. All the schools are out for two weeks, most businesses were closed on Monday and Tuesday, and some have been closed all week. They take their time off here whenever they can it seems. Not a bad outlook if you ask me... but I'll start back a bit further than this.
The first topic of interest is that last Tuesday I went to see Evita at the Belfast Grand Opera House, and I LOVED it. I had never really seen the musical before other than snippets from the Madonna version, which just does not compare. The singing was phenomenal, particularly on the part of the woman who played Eva Peron, and the dancing was spectacular as well. The whole production was very well put together and I am so glad that I didn't miss it. Really, if you have never seen Evita, do when you get a chance. It was excellent. The building itself was gorgeous as well. The opera house was opened in 1895 in a distinctly Indian style with carvings of elephants adorning columns and ceiling. The building served as a cinema at one time, for which it was very ill-suited. It was also at risk of being demolished or being turned into a bowling alley before it was saved and refurbished for live theatre once more. It is a three-tiered auditorium, a little on the small side, but with not really a bad seat in the house. I was able to rush tickets with another girl from our flat.
Wednesday brought work on the streets of East Belfast once again. Ben, one of my flatmates, came by the East office in the late afternoon to talk to Andy a little bit about policing for his individual project. Andy led Ben and I around a tour of East Belfast before Ben went out on the streets with us. And look what we found...
This mural was painted over an older militaristic and violent paramilitary mural as an effort to better the community. C.S. Lewis was born and raised in East Belfast, a fact that I didn't know before. I was so excited to see my favorite author and my favorite book painted on a gable wall in Belfast!
Thursday was a day of training for me. I was able to receive the formal Restorative Justice training that every member of staff at Alternatives receives shortly after beginning employment. I learned a lot that I didn't already know and reinforced many of the things that I had already learned about restorative justice. It also helped me to begin shaping how I think things should look for the website that I am working on.
We didn't have to work on Good Friday and it was a good thing because the weather was beautiful. We were able to spend some time outside. We walked to the store along the river to do some grocery shopping. However, we were surprised when we tried to leave the college to find that we were locked in. The big front gates were closed and locked and we had to hop over them in order to get out. They remained this way all through Easter, up until Tuesday. Stranmillis isn't the most convenient of places to live. They have strange hours and strange rules. That night Jordan, Iain, and I went down the road to Fisherwick Presbyterian Church for their Good Friday service. I think that was when the homesickness really started to kick in. We all missed our churches and our services at home...and we especially missed the people with which we attend those services.
Saturday brought a day to sleep in for all of us. We woke up to beautiful sunshine and warm weather. Jordan and I made a trip into town to do some shopping and just to get out in the sunshine. We weren't very successful, but it was still a good time. When we got back we dyed Easter eggs! They don't dye eggs here. In fact, if you mention it to most people they will have no idea what you're talking about. I mentioned it at work today and they looked at me like I was crazy when I said that we boil eggs, dye them colors, and then hide them. When you sit down to think about it, it's probably not the most brilliant idea. But, like I said, they don't dye eggs here. Instead, they buy big bags of foil-wrapped chocolate eggs. These are the eggs the Easter Bunny hides on Easter morning. We're talking Cadbury Creme eggs or Cadbury Flake or Caramel. Or a Toblerone or KitKat GIANT egg. They take chocolate seriously. BUT, because we were missing home and because we wanted some semblance of a normal Easter and because who doesn't like to feel like they are five years old again?, we dyed eggs. There were only a couple of problems with our plan. One, we had to search long and hard to find dye (finally found it at a party supply store...it's probably only there for Americans like ourselves) and two, the eggs here are all brown, a fact we didn't think of until after we had purchased the dye. Thus, the eggs were really only dyed two colors - pink and kind of blue. They were probably one of the ugliest batches of Easter eggs you will ever see, but we had a great time making them.
Sunday morning we all kind of split up to head to different churches for Easter. Jordan and I were looking for something traditional and lively. We decided to try St. Patrick's for 10:00 mass. It was a very traditional mass and none too lively. It really made me miss home. The church was beautiful, but the enthusiasm was greatly lacking. However, they did pass out candy at the end. It was actually a very weird feeling on both our walks into and out of town. We didn't see many people and those that we did see were not exactly in the Easter spirit. We saw very few Easter dresses and it felt like something was missing. I expected the city to be alive in celebration, but we found it rather deserted and almost dismal. Still, it was a beautiful day and I was rejoicing! Jordan and I stopped at the store on the way back to the flat to pick up some pan au chocolat to go with our Easter eggs. The afternoon was pretty laid back. We all rested and relaxed and I cooked the ham...
In trying to keep with more Easter traditions, we decided to have an Easter dinner on Sunday and pull from everyone's Easter meals. Thus, we decided to have ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, and rolls. I had never made ham before, but we decided to do a honey-glazed ham. It actually turned out quite tasty and our dinner was a success! After dinner there were strawberry shortcakes with delicious fresh berries. These are the simple things that I have missed so much while we've been here. We finished off the day with a movie altogether. It was a good day and it was fun to share it with good friends, but we were all left with pretty strong feelings of homesickness and I don't think it's really left yet, and likely it won't.
Today was the first day that I worked this week. It's been a good week to relax. We've been shopping, enjoying the weather while it was here, and just hanging out. I went for a run along the river the other day and it was beautiful. We went to a movie on Tuesday night that was about an IRA informant from Belfast. I'm not sure where it will be released in the states, but it should be coming sometime in mid-May. It's called 50 Dead Men Walking and stars Jim Sturgess and Ben Kingsley. It's quite graphic and would definitely not be recommended for anyone under the age of 17, but it shows a little bit about what life was like and still is to some degree in Northern Ireland. It's a little bit controversial because it really only gives one side and it has been changed from the original story, but I still think it is worth seeing. I also went to get my haircut and had a mini girls' day with Karen yesterday.
In one exciting piece of news, Jordan and I found an Orange Order parade on Tuesday. This will mean nothing probably to just about anyone who's reading this, but it was a significant experience for me. I will try to explain as best I can. The Orange Order is the oldest and largest Protestant organization in Northern Ireland. The name is in tribute to William of Orange - an important figurehead in Irish Protestant history. To learn more visit the wikipedia site: h
ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_Institution. Anyway, they hold marches at various points throughout the year that are made up of local drum and flute bands. Sometimes these marches incite discontent and anger among members of the Catholic republican community and riots and conflicts can break out. This is especially the case around the 12th of July - which is a major Protestant holiday. We were told that we might be able to find some parades on Easter and I was sad when we didn't. So, imagine our surprise when Jordan and I were wandering around looking for somewhere to eat dinner when we heard drums and flutes. We followed the sound and found the tail end of the parade. We ended up following it a ways so that we could get to the front. We followed it all the way up the Shankill Road - the heart of Protestant territory. The streets were lined with people of all ages watching the mostly men and children march up the street with their instruments, flags, and uniforms. The picture at the top of this post is taken from the parade.
Today was a day at the office, but we were closed to the public so that we could organize and clean. We got so much done that I have the day off again tomorrow. The weather will largely determine how I will spend my time off.
Well, it's getting late and I should probably get to my homework, so that's all for now. Wishing you all well at home!