Polar Opposites?

When I told the people of Northern Ireland that I was an atheist, a woman in the audience stood up and said, 'Yes, but is it the God of the Catholics or the God of the Protestants in whom you don't believe?

- Quentin Crisp

Our Morning Correspondent is Sarah Murray:

This morning we opened our sleepy eyes to two coffee-deprived teachers. First, we discussed our incredibly confusing novel with Ms. Duarte. We brainstormed possible concepts for our "found" poems, which are poems we will write using lines taken directly from the book. Then Mr. Bizga spoke to us for a while about conflict transformation and different types of leaders during a crisis. Our assignment is centered around Mark Gerzon's Leading Through Conflict. We are to find two examples from the situation in Northern Ireland of each type of leader: a demagogue (one who takes absolute control), a mediator (one who sees both sides of the conflict), and a manager (one who advances the needs of his own party).

After class Raymond came over and told us to hurriedly get dressed into relatively nice clothing. But he wouldn't tell us where we were going. He said we were going to "meet someone," but gave us no further specifics. The girls sprinted up and down the hallways getting dressed into something presentable while the young men patiently waited.

The boys then got into taxis while the girls piled into Raymond's car, and we headed off for our secret destination. When we arrived at the Lower Falls Library, we saw people everywhere and saw signs saying "Féile an Phobail," meaning "Festival of the People." We noticed that the Féile did not start for another two weeks, adding to our confusion. We followed our trusted contact Jim Gibney into a small room with a podium set up in it and sat down on the floor. Then, we saw him. The man himself, in the flesh, was standing before us. Gerry Adams, leader of the Sinn Féin who played a central role in getting the IRA to agree to peace talks and disarmament. He walked through the throngs of people, shook our hands, and posed for a quick picture. After our hearts returned to their normal pace, we sat and listened to some speeches introducing the festival. One of the officials even singled us out as "students from North America" because we are pretty much a big deal (or at least like to think so). Following the conclusion of the speeches, we went outside and posed for several more pictures with Mr. Adams. He totally put his arm around me and Sonja and it was very exciting. We also met the former Lord Mayor of Belfast, Tom Hartley, who was very funny and charismatic. We were told that we will meet Mr. Hartley again…

Feeling just a little bit more special, we piled into taxis/Raymond's car and drove to our next destination.

Much love!! -Sarah :D

Our afternoon correspondent is Sonja Schnell:

After our surprise encounter with Gerry Adams, which was absolutely amazing, we reversed our mindsets and headed to our service site in a loyalist community. Mr. Bizga reminded us to be sensitive to the community to which we are entering. He advised us that telling the community at our loyalist work site that we had just had a photo taken with Gerry Adams would not be wise or prudent; especially during our first encounter. Trying to emphasize the difference in community perceptions, he said it would be similar to telling 9/11 survivors that we just sat down for tea with Osama Bin Laden. Please do not misunderstand, he rejects this perception and believes that Gerry Adams is one of the great peacemakers in Irish Peace Process. But the strong example highlighted the radical differences between communities. This reminder helped put our situation into perspective and allowed us to prepare for a completely new environment. As we passed into an area embellished with the British flags and pictures of the Queen, I think that everyone took a deep breath in preparation for this new experience.

Our apprehension turned quickly to laughter as the kids we would be working with ran up and down the street, one of them riding a pink Big Wheel, my personal favorite. Besides all of the boys, one of whom the girls gained a particular fancy for, there were also the kind faces of Gareth, Michelle and Sam, the leaders of the community group we had met in our kitchen at Queens. The friendly atmosphere of the area allowed us all to feel at ease, and we were excited to begin working with everyone.

An impromptu and comical meeting allowed introductions and jobs to be distributed. The boys would head to the bonfire site while the girls would be painting signs for the upcoming festival. The girls that I met began our time together timidly, hardly speaking loudly enough to give us their names. After discussing common girl matters such as hair, make up, and our atrocious school uniforms, they opened up and truly began our experience. We made small teams to create signs for the festival, including those for an information table, an arts and crafts table, and one forbidding alcohol. We laughed with the kids and heard stories about their families. One girl protested when others poked fun at her father’s former paramilitary group, a situation we have never been involved in during our own pasts. The topics of conversation among these young people is far different from that of kids in the States, whose most common conversations are about television or music. Kids are forced to grow up quickly, for better or worse, in this conflicted society.

After finishing our work, we received a quick tour of the bonfire site before heading back to Queens for dinner. We told everyone we hoped to come back sooner than Saturday, as the experience was amazing.

The group’s dinner excursion turned into a mad rush to the Duke’s hotel in Queens after receiving word that Gabby’s family had arrived safely! Gabrielle and I half walked half ran all the way there, so excited to see “our” family! (I have recently been adopted.) We jumped, screamed, and hugged them upon our arrival and could not wait for dinner to tell all of our stories! “The Belli group” parted ways with everyone else and headed to dinner where Gabby and I told them all about our amazing time. I think their heads were spinning when we left for Queens Elms. Tomorrow they will be joining us on our journey to Giant’s Causeway, and we are all ecstatic to have their company.

Along with his two friends Benedict and Niall, Raymond escorted the students to a night out! It only involved a night at the bowling alley, but all the same we escaped the jail cells. I mean we finally got to leave the dorms…. After squealing for about ten minutes in excitement due to our choice of activity (I am on the bowling team, after all) we arrived at the alley for some good craic!

The girls destroyed the boys in our match, a small feat for the day. After the alley closed, we traveled to Little Italy, a small pizza shop, and satisfied our post “work out” munchies. Then it was back to Queens in order to finish homework and get some rest! Our days are jam packed in Ireland, but we continue to see that this is the experience of a lifetime, and one we will never forget.

Much love from Belfast! –Sonja

Quote of the Day

“It’s hard to remain so humble when you’re perfect in so many ways.” – Raymond.