I'm just sitting in our classroom waiting for everyone to get back from lunch. I make my own lunch everyday because I prefer to be economical and save my money for travel and other such things, but almost everyone else buys their lunch everyday. That will get very expensive very fast. Actually pretty much anything here will get very expensive very fast. We had a long day of class yesterday and we have another one today. We don't get done until about 6 tonight, but it's not too bad. The material is always interesting. Tomorrow morning we will head to Derry for the day. We'll see some of the murals and wall art there. That is something that is very big throughout Northern Ireland. Many of the paramilitary and other groups used murals to convey messages of solidarity or defiance throughout the Troubles and even into today. We had a lecture all about it yesterday and I was very surprised to see just how much American history is put up on the walls to help illustrate both sides of the conflict. The confederate flag is pictured on some murals to illustrate the plight of the nationalists who want their right to home rule and the ability to separate from Britain just as the Confederacy desired the right to separate from the Union. Those pictures incited some interesting discussion in the room. Some people were quite heated on the subject. Another interesting little tidbit is about some of our former presidents. 17 of them have Scotch-Irish heritage. This is painted on the murals to entice Americans to back Unionist desire for continued unity with Britain. It seems a kind of backward argument to me, but apparently it works. I suppose I'll see more of how that can come together as time goes on.
Another topic we have focused on in the last couple of days is that of identity, which is obviously a big deal in Irish society. We have discussed where our identity comes from and how identities in the United States are determined perhaps somewhat differently than they are here in Northern Ireland. It is very interesting that Americans tend not to identify as being an American. That is neither our heritage nor our nationality, at least according to us. We are Norwegian, Irish, Welsh, Scottish, or Swedish, but very rarely do we describe ourselves as being American. The rest of the world sees us that way however. We have also been talking about the way that our early lives and the circumstances into which we were born affect the course of the rest of our lives. We have more mobility of circumstance and change in opinion in the United States. Here however you are likely to support the causes and vote the opinions of your father, grandfather, your great grandfather, and so the divides persist. This is part of the problem here. There is very little change and everything continues the way it always has and likely will.
So enough of the ramblings of my mind - I'm kind of treating this like a journal in addition to being my blog and sometimes things strike me in class that I have to make a note of in my blog, if only to expand on it later in some academic form.
The last few nights have been pretty relaxed. With class all day we all find ourselves very exhausted at the end of it. Last night the girls in my flat made a stir fry and worked on our group homework assignment. We had to draw pictures. It was real tough. Some girls from the other flat came over and a group of us sat and talked for about 3 hours. We haven't done a whole lot of that up to this point because we've always been so busy. It was kind of nice to take some time out and really get to know who we are spending so much time with. We've decided to make it a kind of tradition among the girls who were there.
Everybody seems to be getting sick around here so I am trying to avoid the plague. So far I think I am one of about two girls who have successfully avoided it. We will be starting class soon and I believe we're watching some videos for the afternoon session. I should probably get something to keep me awake. The day does get long.
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