We left Pittsburgh on Monday night and arrived in Dublin at around 6:30 in the morning on Tuesday! We then took a bus up to Belfast in Northern Ireland, where we spent our first two days! On Tuesday we started off at Belfast Castle where we got to enjoy the beautiful sights and take in some of the landscape. After Belfast Castle, we went to the youth center in a part of Belfast, the youth center serves the community by helping young people and kids stay out of trouble- they provide lunch and dinner every day, and they provide a safe environment for kids and young people to be themselves. We then learned about the Troubles and much of the conflict from the perspective of people who have either lived through it, know someone who lived through it, or had been directly affected by the Troubles. It was really interesting to see how there is still so much political turmoil, and how there are many paramilitary groups that are still causing many problems. We briefly got to meet some of the kids and young people in the youth center, and it was really interesting seeing some of the small differences in culture between our upbringing and theirs, and how environment does play a role in who we become.
On Wednesday, we went to visit the Peace Walls and look at some of the artwork that adorns the walls. On one side of the wall is a tourist attraction, and just another barrier, on the other side the wall means protection. When traveling from one side to another, it was interesting to see how the same thing is viewed so differently, and how on one side of the wall, there are houses not 20 yards away from the wall, with cages to protect the houses and backyard from dangerous objects from being thrown over with malicious intent. We saw the messages on one side of the wall, many with words of peace and love, and many with hatred and promotion of violence. We also got to visit the Parliament Building and sit in the rooms where many important decisions have been made on a political level. We learned how the building was used in World War Two as an intelligence area, and how the community came together to hide the building that was sitting on a hill and originally bright white- and we learned that the solution to this problem was to paint the building, with a mix of cow manure and tar, which is still being cleaned off to this day. Additionally, we also got to go to a museum here in Belfast. In the museum, we had the opportunity to look at art from individuals from all over, but specifically from Europe and Ireland. There was also an entire exhibit dedicated solely to the Troubles- the most interesting piece was a chalkboard with the differences between Catholics and Protestant written on it. I think the biggest takeaway thus far revolves around the fact that while there are many changes and there is progress being made, there is still much more to do, specifically in Belfast.
