Roadtrips Part 1

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Roadtrips Part 1

June 25, 2010 by Adam

It really has been a hectic month, & here I thought June would be a relaxing month of doing thesis work (neither of which have happened). After getting back from the boys’ weekend in Limerick/Clare, I first had a class night-out on Tuesday to say goodbye to Iona. Iona is the only other non-Irish student in my class. She is from Kenya but has many relatives in the states & loves the US of A! So obviously, we connected over our pro-American views and being the outsiders here. Even though she loves Obama, she even once defended President Bush to our classmates, including all the work he did for Africa. It caused quite a rile with the class, but I relished seeing the confused looks on everyone’s faces. Anyway, we all had a good night on the town dancing away…Iona’s fav. The first person leaving was just another reminder of my time running out here. That Friday, I presented my social farming research to all the key stakeholders in Northern Ireland. They were all very excited by my report and credited me with bringing everyone together to really jumpstart the movement. Several even told me they wished I was staying to continue the work, & I would respond, “Please don’t tempt me anymore than I already am to stay!”

Later that Friday night, my good friend and fellow Truman Scholar, Ingrid Price from Utah, came over for a visit. Ingrid has been working on a Masters in International Relations at Cambridge this year. She hopped over for the weekend in between finishing her thesis and getting ready to go home to attend Stanford Law! Friday was also the kick-off of the World Cup, which I have become obsessed with. We decided to throw a party to welcome Ingrid & all the soccer craziness. In the theme of Mexico playing the first game, we had a fiesta complete with fajitas & Corona. It was a good night of watching the footy (Irish slang for football aka soccer) & catching up. Saturday, we got up to hit the St. George’s Market before taking Ingrid on a bus tour of the city. We found our way onto a special tour that came with live music entertainment that alternated between Van Morrison & trad…very interesting. That night, we went to the US Consulate’s watch party for the big game: USA vs. England. The Consulate knows how to throw a proper party. Hosted at Tony Roma’s, we walked in the door to be greeted with a Coor’s Light & were treated to a meal of baby-back ribs, chicken wings & fingers, all kinds of salad, cole slaw, & fries. It was AMAZING! And to top it off, we were able to draw with England thanks to the slippery fingers of their goalie, Green. I got so excited when we scored that I jumped up, hit a lamp, and spilled a drink. That much excitement is just another sign of my growing into a soccer fan…that & the USA jersey I was wearing (and have worn for every USA game since).

Sunday morning, the four Trumans (myself, Ingrid, Bre & Christina) headed off on a mini-adventure. We rented a car & Christina drove us up the Causeway Coast. Our first stop was the small harbor town of Ballintoy where we were signed up to go Coasteering. I was signed up to go not knowing what I was getting myself into. The website simply said it involved walking, scrambling, jumping, swimming and sometimes crawling over cliffs in a wetsuit! I was a bit nervous about jumping off cliffs…and putting on a wetsuit. I am glad to report that coasteering was an unbelievable experience. Thanks to Christina for sort of forcing me into it. Such a rush to swim out to rocky islands & jump off them. Plus, wearing a wetsuit was neat & I was quite impressed at how warm it kept me. I will say coasteering is not for people overly concerned about safety as it is unregulated which means there is no real qualifications for a guide & we never had to sign any waivers! After getting our adrenaline fill, we headed up to the Causeway & Bushmills…two of my fav places in Northern Ireland considering I have been there so many times. It was a beautiful, sunny day, so I relished the chance to get some more good photographs of the scenery.

From there, we drove northward to County Londerderry making a stop at the Mussenden Temple, which sits on a cliff. Very gorgeous sight with the round temple, a castle with a Antebellum home facade, and a flowing field that reminded me of the scenes in the film, Gladiator. From there, we crossed the border into County Donegal & after some confusion found our hostel in Letterkenny. Monday, we got up & headed to Slieve League, Europe’s highest sea cliffs. Note: the roads in rural Donegal are TERRIBLE! First time, I have gotten car sick in quite a while & I was soooo close to losing in on the drive but made a recovery with a break & some AC. Finally making it to the cliffs was worth it though. They are really stunning. So high that even on a great day, they were still partially covered by clouds. We had a picnic on the edge & hiked around taking in all their daring & majestic height. From there, we headed back to Belfast to send Ingrid back to England. It was a great trip though & I’m glad she got to visit us. Photos below…credit to Ingrid for some I borrowed off her blog.