Final Blog - Service Project

I was fortunate enough to have made many different connections with a lot of different people.  One of these connections was with JP, who works at Park Lodge.  I began to learn more about who JP was and what he liked to do through helping him with various tasks around the Hotel.  We would take about traveling, like which places were good and which places to never go to at all.  We had many laughs with JP, while helping him.  JP would ask his fair bit of questions, like what did we think of our last trip or where we were planning on spending our spring break and what we like about Ireland compared to the United States.  Through our various responses, we laughed and joked about why one was better than the other and then went about with another round of questions.  It was really nice getting to know JP and what he thinks about the world of politics, schooling, and generally who he is as a family man.  This trip would not have been the same, for me, if it wasn't seeing JP walking around working on something, and stopping and having a quick chat or him making a witty joke about what someone was doing or had said.  I feel that it was with this connection that a better understanding of traveling and what makes Ireland unique, that I was able to achieve.  Sorry about not having pictures for this blog as I was usually to busy working or just forgot to snap a couple of pictures ahead of time.  Since this is my last blog I will being arriving home this weekend so if you have any questions or are interested in hearing about my adventures please get a hold of me.

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Kyle Halsted

Week Eleven - Northern Ireland Trip

Pottery From Belleek

This week we took a trip to the Northern part of Ireland.  The Northern part of Ireland is part of the England and is somewhat separated from the Ireland as a whole.  The reason that I saw it is somewhat separated from the Ireland is because there is no border control or check points to cross, there is just an invisible line.  Our first stop was to Belleek Pottery.  This is an interesting Pottery manufacture in the sense that there are twelve different artisans that work on each piece of pottery.  Seeing how each piece of pottery has been made was very interesting.  I am not an artsy person so I was more interested in the history of the factory rather than the pottery itself.  Our next stop was to Ulster American Park.  This park gave a glimpse of how the Irish people lived before the time of the potato famine.  I really enjoyed the my time here learning about the history of early Irish Immigrants.  This was only the one half of the park the other half was about the Irish immigrants when they landed in America.  We got to see the transition they faced when getting off the ship at port.  The transition would have been very usual and different from the lives that they had previously been living.  For instance getting off the ship they would be surrounded by stores that would be selling all sorts of different things.  Our last stop was in the city of Belfast.  This city was one of the larger cities that we have been too, due to the fact that it is a large shipping port.  Many people have warned me about going into the northern part of Ireland and to be careful who I talk too and who approaches me.  But I have had the privilege to go to the north during a time when peace negotiations have been happening for many years now.  However I will note that the time that I spent in Belfast I felt a lot of tension.  This tension that I felt while in Belfast is due to how divided the city is because of religion.  The city has been separated into Protestant and Catholic pieces that are fit together like a jigsaw puzzle.  Fortunately for my fellow classmates and myself we were able to travel around Belfast and back to our home away from home with no trouble at all.

Queens University

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Kyle Halsted

                  

Mural in the Titanic Quarter

Titanic Museum

Week Ten - Trip to WestPort and Croagh Patrick

Kylemore Abby

On our journey to West Port in Ireland we made a few brief stops along the way.  One of the stops that we made was to Kylemore Abby.  This is a beautiful estate in Connemara.  The monastery was build on the grounds of the home previously owned by Mitchell Henry.  The private home was transformed into the monastery in the 1900's by  Benedictine Nuns.

View from Croagh Patrick

The second stop that we made was at Croagh Patrick.  This is one of the mountains that Ireland has to offer.  The main purpose for Croagh Patrick is strongly tied to religion.  Many people climb to the top of Croagh Patrick each year to attend church.  At certain times each year there is an influx of people that visit this religious mountain to attempt the climb.  I was given the opportunity to climb it myself.  The climb itself was a very long and slow going process.  At the beginning of the climb when you first see the mountain it does not seem like it will be much of a problem.  The challenge begins when you have made it past this first quarter of the climb.  This is when the gradient of the climb begins to steepen and the further you go the steeper it seems to get,  but do not fret because there as some nice flat spots along the way to caught your breathe.  After you reach the halfway mark on the mountain yet another challenge presents itself.  This challenge is tackling the smaller loose rocks along the steepest part of the mountain.  The steepest part of the Croagh Patrick is last 100 yard to the top, which seem to be at a near vertical climb.  After you finish this portion of the mountain you are rewarded with a beautiful view of the Irish countryside.  Then you begin the final challenge of the mountain, which is to traverse back down the mountain.  The time that I was able to complete my ascent and descent of Croagh Patrick, took around 3 hours.  As everyone wander back into the bus after their climb we all sat with sore and tired legs to our final destination of West Port City.  

Bridge along the Greenway

During the second day in West Port, Zayne  and myself rented some bikes and rode them to the next town of New Port.  We took the Great Western Greenway, which is a path that is only open to people walking or riding bikes through the countryside.  The views that we say on this journey, were mostly of green pastures and lots of sheep grazing.  The greenway trail that we took to New Port was roughly 14 miles round trip.  As we finished our bike ride to New Port our day was pretty much over and we had to return back to our home away from home back in Spiddal.

 

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Kyle Halsted

Monument at Croagh Patrick

View form Croagh Patrick

Mountain along our route

Stream along our route

Week Nine - Social Connections

First Bus Ride as a group

Many different connections are being made while I am on my adventure here in Ireland.  The first connection that I made was with the people in my cabin.  Since we all came here together not really knowing each other very well, with the exception that a few people came here with a friend.  We all needed to connect and begin to mesh well together for this three month adventure.  After the first couple of days and lots of struggling to remember every ones name, I feel like we have all connected with one another.  The next form of connection that was being made, was with our teachers that are instructing us in the different classes regarding Ireland.  Each of these teachers were really easy to get to know and get a very accepting and welcoming feeling from each and every one of them.  After meeting our teachers, came meeting people out in the communities of Ireland.  Most of the time this is done while having some food in a pub and talking with a waiter or a local Irish man/woman.  They are very inquisitive about where you are from or the religion that you practice.  These are all done with a warming, inviting atmosphere and if the questions begin to get to personal they will refrain from forcing answers out of you.  This is good to get to know about them and where they are from, while also making some new friends while here.  Since I have been here and in other countries traveling, I have had the pleasure of chatting and getting to know a variety of people from all around the country.  These conversations and connections that I have made while, they may seem brief, shall be some of the best connections that I have made in such a short amount of time.

Going Lip Lining Outside of Galway

Week Seven - Language Issues

Dia Dhuit.  Conas atá tú? Tá mé go maith.  Do not worry I will not be writing this blog in complete Irish.  This is one of the more difficult things that I would say that I have learned, since being here in Ireland.  Just that simply greeting, question and response took me quite a few tries to say and even now I still cannot say that I pronounce it correct.  The first part, the greeting, Dia Dhuit and is pronounced like GeeHa whicht which is a typical greeting in Ireland meaning "Hello, good day".  The second part, the question, Conas atá tú and is pronounced like Koonas atah twoo which is a question for asking "how you are doing".  The third and final part, the response, Tá mé go maith and is pronounced like Tah May Go Mah meaning "I am good".  While I try to learn this language I resort to trying to sound the words out, like we were taught in elementary school.  For the most part this does not work.  As you can see the words do not have much of a pattern to try to sound out and have two consonants together.  The only thing that can make understanding this language is when a really thick accent is placed on top of the words.  This makes listening to people in the pubs or around town really difficult to understand.  If you think this could not get much worse you are wrong.  The thing that can make this language even more difficult is the unique pronunciations that each region in Ireland.  Some places have totally different ways to say hello or they change where the emphasis is at in the word.  Maybe you are thinking "hey,  that is pretty bad, no way this can get any worse", well I am here to tell you it can and it does.  The part that makes this language even harder to understand is when a few pints of Guinness are in an Irish man wanting to have a conversation.  I have found it easier to not ask him to repeat himself, because it can and possibly will get worse.  While the language is difficult to foreigners to speak and understand not many of the locals choose to speak much of the language.  Since I have been here I have not found a single person who solely speaks Irish, many people are bilingual.  And fret not all of the signs for direction and caution are in both Irish and English, so you do not have to speak the language to get around and have a good time in Ireland.  Go raibh maith agat le haghaidh léamh/Thanks for reading.

An Emergency Sign

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Kyle Halsted

Ireland Study Abraod

Just an informational Sign

Week Six - Daily Habits

Ocean view

Since I have been here I have made some changes when it comes to my daily routines.  One of the biggest changes is being more disconnected.  When I say this it is being disconnected from all of my electronics that I would normally be using normally when I am home.  Since I have been here it seems like all of the batteries that are in my electronics seem to have a longer life span between charges.  I have also been walking more and spent more of my time outdoors exploring and site seeing.  This is different for me because I am constantly stuck indoors working on homework and projects for school.  Another thing that has been quite refreshing is that nobody really seems to be in a rush for anything.  This is a nice change of pace from being home where it constantly seems like every one I see is rushing to finish their tasks by a certain deadline.  This allows more time for reflection and some introspection my future goals and where I want to be in the near future.

Homemade Spaghetti

Even though it seems like I have a lot of free time, I still have homework assignments that are required to be completed.  This helps me feel less homesick because it is something that I enjoy doing and reminds me of home.  Another thing that is nice and reminds me of home is all of the cooking that we do within our cabin.  The home cooked meals allow a sense of home to still be here, even though I do not get to enjoy meals prepared by my family at home.  Another thing that our cabin does to ward off the feelings of homesickness are to play lots of card games.  We play games like rummy, pitch, and even cribbage.  While playing card games help ward off some homesickness it does not fend off it all.  It is nice that everyone here is so open and willing to talk.  Since everyone here seems to have became friends in such a short time,  it feels like the connections that have been made here have lasted much longer than the few short weeks since we have all got here.

Chicken Potatoes and Rice

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Kyle Halsted

Ireland Study Abroad

Kitchen

Living room

Dining room

River by Spiddal

Week Five - Culture Insights

During my stay here in Ireland I have been able to pick up on a few differences between our two cultures.  Some of the differences that I have noticed include the views on religion and drinking habits.

To start most of the local Irish that I have talked to make the claim that to be Irish you are also Catholic.  I think that the main reason that all Irish people make this claim comes from when there was so much turmoil during religious prosecution in European countries.  During the civil war in Ireland the two sides were split based on religious views.  This kind of separation between the religions in Ireland have caused  some parts of the country to be like a puzzle.  This sense that even parts of a city have boundaries seem really confusing at first, but when I step back and look it seems fairly similar to segregation we had before the civil rights movement.  The real difference is that there segregation is still affecting the country today, while we seem to have moved passed ours for the most part.

Meal Quality from a pub

Another huge difference that I have noticed is when I spend some time in the local pubs.  Many of the locals will only have 1-2 pints before they are done at the pub.  This also includes locals around the same age as myself.  This is unique because all you ever hear about in the United States is underage drinking and binge drinking at parties.  The idea of a lower drinking age and being more involved in teaching youth how to drink responsibly is a great idea.  While talking with locals about the two drinking cultures I feel that the safer and more understood is that of the Irish Culture.

Breakfast is Served All Day

 The reason I feel this way is because more youth here understand the dangers of drinking.  This allows for more people to drink socially and to have a great time.  While pubs are like bars, bars are not like pubs.  The reason that I say this is because when in a pub, you can get restaurant quality food.  This is the main difference that distinguishes the two from each other.




This is how I have seen the two different culture.  While both are strangely similar, they each have their own unique aspects that show the greatness in each culture.

Small Church on Aran Islands

Church around Trim Castle

 













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Kyle Halsted
Ireland Study Abroad