Derry

The town of Derry, pronounced Dairy, has nothing to do with the milk and cheese making industry. The trip up to Derry, in Northern Ireland, was probably the cheapest and the shortest, but by far the most fun. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that it happened right during the busiest week so far for classes, last week before finals, and was a nice break from the weight of work.

I have never felt so surreal and I have never meet a nicer bunch of people. What made it so surreal is that everyone was so nice to me and my boyfriend, but their was obviously still so much tension between the people themselves.

We got to Derry at 8 at night got some delicious cheap food and cooked it up (Ben and Jerrys ice cream is less in Derry, how is that possible!) We hung out at the most amazing hostel, Derry City Independent Hostel and then made our way to the pub across the street, despite how tired and full we were.

We immediately got into a conversation with a man named Peter, who was sitting next to us at the bar. We got into a conversation about the troubles, something everyone will warn you not to do, and he proceeded to by us round after round. We tried to by him a round and we were told, flippantly to "shut up."

Peter took us on a tour of told. He told us where the events of Bloody Sunday occurred, took us past the spot where a little girl was shot coming out of a bath house. Then he took us to the center of town and expressed his belief that the founders of Derry are the ancestors of the founders of America. He showed us where he had grown up and where his now 91 year old mother had just had her birthday. He said, "Things are so much better, but these cannons are still pointing out."

I cannot believe how sweet Peter was, he just seemed so glad to be walking around with us showing us what he had lived through. We got back to the hostel at 4 in the morning and I have never learned so much from any history class as I learned in that 1 night.

We realized we were there for a strange occasion, the burning of an effigy of the traitor Lundy. It was beautiful and strange, all the apprentice boys on parade and the police presence and the shrapnel proof walls, put up on the sidewalks.

You could almost chew the tension in the air, but nothing happened, thank God