Settling Down

Week #4 here, and never a dull moment. Well except maybe when I'm working... Last weekend I made the trip to Portadown for church. I catch the bus to Belfast early in the morning and then the noon train from Belfast to Portadown. The whole trip takes about 3 and a half hours, so I won't get to do that often, but I had fun visiting with the McFarlands and meeting all the church people. From now on I might get to ride with a family from Belfast, which would be cool and eliminate the £4.50 train fare.

It hit me this week just how expensive things are here. Looking at the price sticker at the grocery store, you don't notice a big difference until you realize that for every £1 you spend, you're spending about $1.90. A safe estimate is to double everything. Talk about a good reason to be thrifty! I finally found a bottle of contact solution yesterday, but it cost me £9! Walmart, how I miss thee!

I'm settling into my third week of work, and it's okay. I really like the people in the office. The work is a bit monotonous, but that's to be expected. I'm just a lowly intern, after all. I've finished a few research briefs, so at least I have some sense of accomplishment.

On Friday, Ioana cooked a "French dinner" for Mary Ann, Samiyah, and all our Italian friends in return for the Italian dinner we had a few weeks ago. I believe we've started a tradition. This week Samiyah's making us all Pakistani food. Yum! Soon we'll have to have American night, though it might be kinda boring compared to the others. They sell mini-grills at the store, so maybe we'll cook burgers or something. Suggestions? What do you think of when you think of 'typical American food'?

Saturday, we rented two cars and the ten of us road tripped to Malin Head, Donegal. Our maps weren't the best, and we got a bit turned around. After hitting a dead end at the gate of a sheep pasture, we gave up trying to find Kinnagoe Bay. Thanks to our expert drivers we finally made it to Malin Head. It's the most northerly point in
Ireland. They say on a clear day you can see Scotland. Typical Irish weather kept us from seeing very far, but we got to explore the cliffs on the coast anyway. As you'll see from the pictures, we had to do a good bit of climbing. Here I have to add that I never want to hear any Pentecostal girl say that she can't do something because she's wearing a skirt. If I can climb up the side of a cliff in a jean skirt, so can you. Just be prepared for some skinned knees and scratches! Oh, and sore muscles...

I got to drive down the street a bit, on the wrong side of the road, and with a stick-shift. Thanks, Dad! Somehow I remembered how to NOT either kill the car, make bad noises, or give everyone whiplash. Sitting on the right side and driving on the left was the easy part.

I'd better get back to work, but here are some more pictures. I added comments to the other ones since I realized that knowing what the picture is of would probably be helpful.

Pictures 34-46 (opens in a new window)

Third Day, Belfast, Castlerock, & First day of work!

I missed my first bus to Belfast but luckily they run about every half hour, so I made it in time. Then I got off the Metro too early and walked about two miles before the McFarlands picked me up and dropped me off at the church. All this walking! If I'm not in serious shape when I get back I will be really disappointed! Public transportation really is a nightmare. I miss my car a whole lot! Third Day was awesome! I've always wanted to see them in the States... apparently had to go all the way to Belfast to do it.

The next day Mary Ann and Samiyah met me in Belfast and we saw the sights, such as they were. We took the bus tour, popped in and out of the Protestant and Catholic areas, and that was basically all that was needed to see everything there was to see. You'd think for such a famous city there'd be more going on...

Saturday we were completely worthless except for getting some cleaning done around the flat, but Sunday was bar-none the best day of siteseeing so far. Castlerock isn't a big tourist site. We can't even find it on a map! But it was a gorgeous day and we hiked around the cliffs and castle for hours. We decided that the scenery looked like
something straight out of a Robin Hood movie. You can judge for yourself by the pictures.

Monday was my first day of work, and like most of my jobs recently, I was given the tour, shown my desk, and put straight to work. I'm having to master the technique of taking few instructions and churning out something impressive. I can't even imagine what it's like for those of you who are doing this in a different language! People here ARE speaking English, but that doesn't mean I can understand a word of it. All I have to do is open my mouth and they ask where in the States I'm from, but they seem to understand me just fine. Why can't I understand them?! Everything here is "grand" (they use it as we would use the word 'cool') or "wee" (as in 'go thru that wee door there, aye'). Or instead of saying "What's up?" They say "What's the craic?" (pronounced 'crack') And if things are good, your reply should be "Craich's ninety".

Ok, back to the point, for my placement I'm doing international marketing research. NORIBIC is running a programme that helps businesses in NI either form strategic alliances with similar businesses in other countries or find customers in other countries and expand their business internationally. My job is to help those companies do the research they need to make decisions about their future development. It's going to be great experience.

Pictures 13-33 (opens in a new window)

A short note + pictures

This has to be real short because I have to run to lunch with my internship boss in a few minutes, but wanted to drop a note before I left since I wont' be back for several days. Mary Ann and I are going to Belfast tonite and meeting the McFarlands (some friends of mine) for the Third Day concert. Yay!

We went to Giant's Causeway and Dunluce Castle yesterday. Both were really cool. Take a look at the pictures and I'll update more later.

Pictures 1-13 (opens in a new window)

Greetings from the Green Isle

This can't be long cause there's a line to use the computer, but just wanted to let it be known that I'm in one piece. Everything is really nice here, our apartment and the neighborhood... 'cept there's no hot water, yet.

Our internships are all lined up. I'll be working with a company called NORBIC doing information communication tech stuff. The 9-5 work starts next Monday. This week we're going to finish getting settled in and do some city siteseeing. We're going to get registered with the library so we'll have regular internet access soon, hopefully.