Day TWELVE: Game of Thrones!

Hi all! Day twelve post today. Today we all went back to individual work placements for the day. Dr. Tim took to the Down Recorder newspaper to meet some people to work there, and to possibly set me up to write an article for them. We met with the Editor-in-Chief and he said that he would like for me to write something about my experience here and the things that I've done. Yay! So this week I'll be working on that a lot.

Next, Michael and I had to chance to go around for the day with a man called Finnbar, who is a professor and archeologist. He's the expert on all of the old buildings and has done many excavations of a lot of them. We went to Struell Wells, where I had been once before with Jim but this time Finnbar told us a lot of things about the history of the wells. Next, we went to the Church of Saul, the first Christian church in Ireland, which I had been to as well but it was nice to go again. Then we went to Audley's Field. It was a big field with a tall castle in the middle of it. It also happened to be the place where Robb Stark had his camp during Season Two of Game of Thrones, which Michael and I were both big fans of. We even got to go inside the castle, which not many people get to do. We climbed the stairs to the top and saw an amazing view.

After that, we walked to a place called Castle Ward. Castle Ward was also where Winterfell was in Game of Thrones. It was definitely a highlight of my whole trip to see this place. They do CGI in a lot of the buildings, so there's not as many in real life. But you can definitely tell where you are. They've turned the spot into a tourist attraction, with tours, archery lessons, and a gift shop. The area around the castle was beautiful as well.

Then we were invited to Finnbar's house to meet his wife and dog and to have a cup of tea. His house is in Killough, which is a quaint little town by the sea. We had tea and sandwiches and met his dog Harvey who was very cute. After tea, we got dropped off at our house. I went to the Saint Patrick Center to catch up on my blogs and start my article. Andres came with me and we ended up going to Costa Coffee for a long time because it's the only thing in town that's open past five!
I will post pictures soon!

Day ELEVEN: Dublin!

Hey all! This is my day eleven update! Today, we headed two hours south to the city of Dublin! Dr. Tim rented a big van to take all of us down. When we got there, it was about 10:45. We stopped for a quick cup of coffee and then walked down to our private tour of the Leinster House. The Leinster House is home to the parliament of Ireland. It's a huge building, that was originally built as a house for one guy in the 1700's. We had a tour guide to show us all the rooms where bills are passed or vetoed, and he gave us a history of the building and the government as well.

After that, we headed up to Grafton Street, one of the most famous streets in Ireland. It was crowded with people, shops, bars, and restaurants everywhere. It was an amazing place to shop and just to look around. We were all hungry and wanted something quick, so we stopped into McDonald's to get something fast. After that, we had time to shop before our next tour. I got a Claddaugh ring, which is an Irish ring that has two hands holding a heart. I also got some souvenirs for people at home! At about 2pm, we headed over to the Department of Foreign Affairs, located in the Iveagh House. We also got our own tour of the house, which was beautiful. We saw all the different rooms and a ballroom. The house has barely been changed since the 1800s when it was owned by the Guinness family.  We also had a chance to talk to people who work there and ask them any questions we wanted.

After seeing the department, we headed back out to go to one of the Ambassadors, Michaels's, Aunt and Uncles house which is located right in Dublin. They invited us to come for dinner, and they made us an amazing meal with beef, potatoes, stuffing, carrots, and gravy. We also have apple pie, ice cream, custard and cheese and crackers for dessert. We ate a lot, it was such a delicious meal and his family was so nice. After dinner, we headed back to the house, and sang a lot of songs on the way!

Day TEN: Fighting with Vikings

Hello! Day ten update today. This morning, we drove back up Belfast to do a bit of shopping and looking around. It's only a half an hour drive so it wasn't bad at all. Dr. Tim had a meeting in Belfast, so we wandered around an outdoor market that had a ton of little shops and food in it. We bought smoothies and I bought gifts and little souvenirs. I even found a super cool Game of Thrones necklace, which had the Stark symbol on it!

After shopping, we headed back to County Down to meet with the Vikings. Dr. Tim had set up a day to learn how to fight like a Viking, with the Magnus Vikings. They're a group of people who train with Viking weapons and fight in tournaments against other Vikings. When we got there, we grabbed shields and spears (not sharp ones) and started to learn how to use them. We learned basic spear fighting, and how to make a shield wall against arrows. We even got to spar against each other and some of the Vikings. They also showed us how to throw axes at a target. And, we got to watch them fight against each other, and they really go hard. After the fighting, we had tea and some snacks. We finished our visit by dressing up with swords and helmets and showing what we learned from the day.

After the Vikings, we had the evening to ourselves. We all kind of relaxed around, and I finally had service on my phone (just for the night), so I was very happy! Tomorrow we head to Dublin!

Day NINE: Exploring Belfast

Hi everyone! Day nine update today. Today we were able to sleep in a bit, which was much needed. At 11:30 we were picked up by Dr. Tim to go to the Saint Patrick Center for the garden party! We had to help set everything up as well as attend. We started with a little gardening and placing plants where they needed to go, and just general tidying up the back garden.

The party was a way for us to meet a lot of people in the community, as well as to raise money for the charity MyMy, which is an organization that supports mental health and holds counseling sessions for those in need. We were able to meet so many people, including members of the church and local politicians. We were also able to place the rocks that we had brought from our home states into the peace garden. Members of the church said some kind words to us about our time in Northern Ireland and the work we were doing as well.

After the garden party, we headed back to the house to quickly change and get ready to go to Belfast with Dr. Tim. At about 6pm we headed off in the van. We did a little driving tour, with Dr. Tim showing and telling us about important monuments within the city. We saw the capital, city hall, the clock tower, statues, ships and more. We even got to see the Titanic museum! And we got to peek inside the Titanic hotel, which was very fancy.

After the tour, Dr. Tim dropped us off and we were able to explore a little on our own. We tried to get a table at a nice restaurant but unfortunately, it was too busy, so we ended up going to a Mexican food place which was really good. Next, we headed over to The Crown bar. This bar was built back in the Victorian era. It is very fancy-every wall is covered in detailed gold designs and pictures. We even got to sit in a “snug”, which is something bars in the past would have. It’s basically a private room with one table and a booth where you can sit inside the bar. We had to catch the bus home so we left the bar at about 10:45 and hopped on the double-decker bus which took us back to Downpatrick!

Day EIGHT: Last day of Work!

Hey guys! Day eight blog today. This morning was Callan and I's last day with Jim! We were picked up at 9:30am to go work at the office. We just work done for about an hour, before we headed out for Ardglass Golf Club, the oldest golf club in the world, for a public relations event. Ardglass is the fishing town in County Down, and on the way, we got to stop at the harbor. Jim's sons both are fishermen, so he was trying to get us free fish! Unfortunately, neither of their boats were in yet, but we did get to see a family of seals in the harbor!

When we arrived at the golf club, Jim had to take a lot of pictures for the people running the event, and Callan and I were able to wander around. The golf course was absolutely gorgeous. It was to green, with flowers and rocky shores to one side, overlooking the beach. We took a lot of pictures ourselves, and also got to go inside the clubhouse. It was beautiful and very old. We went into the restaurant to have some coffee and went to the gift shop to look around.

After that, we got some lunch and headed back to the office. On the way, we stopped at Struell Wells. The Wells are four "holy wells" that dated to before Saint Patricks time. People today use them for healing purposes. After that, we went to the office to work for a bit longer. My article was posted to the Down News website (I also shared on Facebook). After work, we went to the bar with Jim as an end to a great week! He's headed off to Poland next week so we will get new work placements.

After the bar, Callan and I went back to the house. We hung around for a while and we all went out to the local that night. A great end to a great week!

Day SEVEN: Gaelic Fun

Hey all! This is day seven. Today Callan and I were picked up at 9am by Jim to go to the office. We got some work done and then had an event to go to at 10:30. Jim was taking photos for a PR event for The Open, which is a huge golf tournament that is happening in July. It was really cool to see a big PR event like this in preparation for an event happening a month away. There was a lot of photographers and journalists there, as well as many people involved in local politics.

The event was in Newcastle, which is a small town that is nestled between the sea and the mountains. It was so beautiful! The views were amazing. We got to see a lot of the town and stopped for breakfast in a small café right by the ocean. After that Jim took us to one of the best ice cream places in Ireland, called Brennan’s. They only have vanilla ice cream but you can put any toppings you want on it. It was definitely one of the best ice creams I’ve ever had! I got vanilla with chocolate syrup and a Cadbury 99, which is like a chocolate stick.

Jim had to take a trip to Belfast in the afternoon, so he dropped me and Callan off at the museum. The museum closes early and we hadn’t gotten out of work in time this past week to see it, so we were excited. The building is the same building where the old jailhouse was, and you get to go inside the old cells and see what it was like. There were even gallows which was creepy. Other than the jail, there were a lot of old clothes and religious artifacts from all different times. It was cool to see so much history because County Down has been around for so long.

After the museum, we went shopping for a little bit. We stopped in a few places but didn’t get much. We were starving so we did get subs at an awesome sandwich place. Next, we went to the Saint Patrick Center to get coffee and WiFi. Callan and I heard the radio segment we did yesterday, which was cool (posted on my Facebook). Then we went to the local department store to get a new laptop for Callan. Then we went back to the house to get some food before we went out to see a Gaelic Football match. The game was a mix of soccer, American football, and rugby. It was really rough and fast-paced, so it was awesome to watch. People in the crowds got really into it! Tomorrow is our last day at Down News with Jim!

Day SIX: Showtime!

Hey all! Here's my day six blog. Today was at the newspaper again. I've finished my draft for my article that will be published at Down News this week, and Jim is going over it. Callan and I were at the office today for a while working on various things. After a while of working, we went to get some lunch and coffee and make a few stops. After gettings some sandwiches, we went to the "chemist" (pharmacy) to pick up a few things.

Next, Jim wanted to take us to a small town pub in the village of Loughinisland. Back in 1994, when Northern Ireland was going through the "troubles", the country was split in half of the people who wanted to stay in the UK and those who wanted to join the Republic of Ireland. During the troubles, people on both sides were getting killed almost daily, and mainly in the big city of Belfast. However, in 1994 the chaos found itself in Loughinisland. On June 18th two gunmen walked into the small pub where about 20 people were watching the World Cup match and killed six people. Being in that pub today was very eerie. It's a very small space and town. Although the murderer has been identified for years, he is still not in jail and is living in the next town. It's all very political, with many coverups happening from high up in government.

After seeing the pub, it was time to head over to the radio station. Jim was doing a short segment on Tuesday nights council meeting, and Callan and I had been invited on air to talk about the Saint Patrick Centre and the program. Colm was the radio host, and he was very nice. We talked off the air a little bit about America and our interests and stuff. On air, we talked for about 15 minutes, which flew by. It was very informal, where he asked what sort of myths I could debunk about Ireland (fairies), we talked about seeing places where they shot "Game of Thrones", and the show "Love Island". Overall it was an amazing and fun experience.

After Callan and I got back to the house, Dr. Tim arrived to drive us around a little bit. We went to the Church of Saul, where the first church that Saint Patrick built. It obviously has been renovated and fixed, but it's the same site. The church was very small on top of a hill, but it was breathtaking and very peaceful. We also went to see Inch Abbey, which is the ruins of a monastery built in the 13th century, which was amazing. There was so much still intact. After we got back to the house we all relaxed, and some of us went to the local to get WiFi and have a drink!

Day FIVE: Newspaper Business

Hey everyone! This is my day five blog. Today was my second day of work at Down News. I was on my own today, as Callan was assigned to work in a local school today. This morning all the Ambassadors woke up to go have breakfast and coffee at the Saint Patrick Center and to connect to the WiFi. At about 10am I was picked up by Jim to go to a local event where he was taking pictures for an article.

After that, we went back to the office to get some writing done. He usually writes about four articles a day to upload to the paper. I worked on my article that will be published by the end of the week. It's about who I am, my trip, what I've learned so far and a little history about Saint Patrick and the church. We spent a while there and then went back to the Saint Patrick Center to get a snack and coffee. In my article will be a little about the history I've learned about Downpatrick, so we took a walk to the Downpatrick Library to get some articles for reference about Saint Patrick's grave. We found articles dating back to 1900 when his gravestone was put in.

After the library, we went separate ways and I went back to the Saint Patrick Center to connect to WiFi, get some work done and try to catch up on everything I've missed. Unfortunately, almost everything in Downpatrick closes at 5pm so I couldn't stay too long, but I did get my internet fix! After that, I headed back to the house. We all went to get some groceries and dinner. "Love Island" was on TV again, and I all got them hooked on it. Tomorrow, Callan and I will get to be on a local college radio station to talk about the Ambassador program!

Day FOUR: Getting to Work

Hello! This is my day four blog about Northern Ireland. Today, all the ambassadors started our individual work assignments with our respective interests. Two of the girls are working with local politicians, one is working at the local museum, one is working with the church, and myself and another girl are spending the day learning about the Down News. As a Communications major and writer for the school paper, it was great! Jim, the Editor-in-Chief, happily explained the lengthy process of his job and what he does to run the online paper. He explained the amount of politics and deals that go on behind the scenes which can make it difficult for small papers like the Down News.

I will be working with Jim throughout the week, and working on writing my own article for the online paper. My article will be about my experience traveling here, about the Saint Patrick Center, and my thoughts on Northern Ireland. Callan (the other ambassador working here) and I might even get the chance to go on a local radio station to talk about our experience as Young Ambassadors. Today we worked with Jim all day and started working on our articles for the week. He was nice enough to take us to get fish and chips and to get some much-needed coffee at Casta Coffee, which is like the European Starbucks. After that, we took a little detour to see the grave of Saint Patrick at Saint Patrick's Cathedral which was an amazing sight. We then headed back to the Down News office to work some more.

After our workday was done,  Jim took Callan and me back to the house where we met up with the others and Dr. Tim. We made dinner and all watch the new season of the British reality show "Love Island", which was a big hit. It was a long but great first day working with the newspaper and I'm excited to go back!

Day THREE: Sunday Funday!

Hey all! This is my day three blog. Today it was an early rise for 9am mass at the historic Saint Patrick Cathedral in Downpatrick. It was a really cool mass, with a ton of locals who attended. We spent the day with board members Eamon and Maureen who showed us around, who were so cool! After mass, we spent the day volunteering at a Sunday Funday event for a local charity called the Glebe House, where we spent the day having fun in the sun and meeting a ton of local kids and families. I ran a dart game, which was a big hit. Although I did get a bit sunburned, it was still a really fun day. There were donkey rides, food, candy, a bouncy house, games, and prizes!

After that, we were taken on a mini driving tour of the beautiful countryside. It was breathtaking, the pictures can't do it justice! We rode along the Irish sea and saw the beaches and fishing town, and got to climb on rocks by the sea. We also saw the Ballynoe Stone Circle, which is a circle of 4,000-year-old boulders. No one to this day knows why or how it was done. It was such an empty and mysterious place to see. Some people believe that fairies live around the area, and many gifts like dolls or paper rocks or even money are given as gifts to them to grant wishes. We saw so many amazing sites today and got to experience a great day with so many local people! Tomorrow we start our individual assignments. I will be working with the local newspaper, the Down News!

Day TWO: Feis!

Hey everyone! Day two in Northern Ireland was all about the culture. In the morning, the four ambassadors who were at the house already were picked up by the Director of the Board for the Friend's of Saint Patrick, Emma. Adorned in our matching "Saint Patrick Ambassador" polo's, we drove about two hours (queue the motion sickness) south, to the old village of Armagh, where we would be seeing her daughter dance in a Feis, which is a Gaelic cultural festival. In other words, it was a dance competition. It was very "Toddlers and Tiara's" like, with big blond wigs, fake tan and glittery dresses for the dancers. We stayed for a while and got to see so many dancers compete in Irish dancing. To see it in Ireland is seriously awesome!

After we left the Feis, we drove to Saint Patrick's Cathredal in Armagh, which is huge and beautiful. We got the walk around for a long time and take everything in. We even ventured to the old graveyard beside the church and saw graves that dated back to 1800. After Armagh, we drove through Emma's small town of Loughinisland, which is next to Downpatrick. We traveled down very narrow, windy roads (which is most of Northern Ireland, every road is a rollercoaster) to see a very, very old cemetery nestled in between hills. This is the talking point of Emma's town. It was very hauntingly beautiful and had church ruins that date back to the 13th century. It was amazing to see. After that, Emma took us back to our house in Downpatrick where we met up with the last two ambassadors from Wisconsin. After everyone said hi, we went out to the local (pub) called "Denvirs", for dinner and drinks! I got gammon steak and, of course, mashed potatoes. After dinner, we went back to the house to catch up some more and played a few card games. Everyone was pretty tired, so after that, we all went to bed. Although we have no WiFi, Callan and I lucked out with our own rooms!