Two Weeks in Ireland: Day 8 Belfast

Our bus was to have arrived by 8 this morning. Students have been on time and early, so I was a little anxious when I didn't see our bus along Nassau Street. I'd been given the driver's cell number, but when I called, it just rang and rang. A quick call to our tour company rep was a reminder of just how different the Irish are when it comes to time.

Thankfully, the bus arrived at around 8:15. With a different driver. And the one whose number I'd been given called me back as we were heading out. They had switched but hadn't let anyone know.

After a nearly-three hour drive to Belfast (with a "quick" stop for gas, with one toilet and students who didn't realize that Northern Ireland doesn't use the Euro -- fortunately, I had a pocket full of shillings!), we picked up our guide, Peter Collins. Peter is a professor at Queens University in Belfast, having grown up in the city. As he filled us in on the climate (there had been riots about a week or so ago) as well as some of his personal history.

We drove around Belfast for only about 1.5 hours, but stopped at one place that has murals and passed through both Protestant and Catholic neighborhoods divided by 30-foot walls.

The murals depict various social and political events -- past and present as well as Irish and other countries where solidarity is felt. It's amazing how long people hold onto old hurts and how much violence and trauma people have experienced.

Peter wasn't alone in his comments that people LIKE the walls. They give them a sense of security and safety. We in the US just can't fathom the depth of the conflict that people in Belfast feel.

And neighborhoods are clearly marked, clearly delineated. A Catholic would be forced out of a neighborhood of Protestants and vice versa.

We ate lunch at the Crown Bar, the oldest in Belfast, built in 1826. Lunch was filling: I chose fish & chips (hadn't had it yet) and a brownie with ice cream for dessert. Yum!

After lunch, we visited the headquarters of the Integrated Schools organization, formed by very brave people who have a vision of unity and peace. Children in Northern Ireland attend very segregated secular schools, often not meeting -- and therefore getting to know -- children of other belief systems (again, Catholic vs Protestant). These people have worked for 3 decades toward an integrated school system and have made some headway, but only 7% of schools are integrated! It shed some light on our own "integrated" school systems and some of the assumptions I/we make...

It's late and I have another early morning tomorrow. It's our one free day and I'm going to the Giant's Causeway on a Paddy Wagon day tour (http://www.paddywagontours.com/tourView.php?id=55).

Enjoying my time here,
Suzan