Semester in Review

Semester in Review

So in just a few days I will be flying home for a month! That month will be spent telling my family how much I love them, celebrating some close friends’ marriages, and catching some live music with my posse. As excited as I am to get home for a little while (and as much as I should be packing right now) I thought it only appropriate to spend a little time reflecting on these past three months in Ireland.

I’m feeling pretty lucky at this point that I get to come back to Ireland in the spring. Sure I get homesick and sure there are times when the wind/rain makes me wish I was anywhere but here. But those moments are few and far between and I think what has helped me get through this semester are these things…

-my course/classmates/professors

-the rad Mitchell crew

-Irish accents and hospitality

I did an ok job this semester of getting outside of my comfort zone but I can always do better. So here are my goals for next semester…

I never want to turn down an invite-to anything (within the bounds of legality of course). I want to follow up with everyone I meet. I want to spend more time with community organizations. I want to spend more time outside of the city center of Dublin. Finally, I want to get more into the Dublin music scene (got a few concerst in the works-The Civil Wars for sure!). These are all a little scattered but I think the general theme is that I’ve spent the first few months getting comfortable and situated. Now in my next few months I want to get out of tourist mode.  

So to wrap up I’m backing away from the blog for a while. I’m back in the states on December 14th then I’m back to Ireland on Jan. 19th. As soon as I’m back to Ireland I’m turning around to hop another flight off to Morocco for a week on a trip with the university surf club (this is the type of thing that for the rest of my life I will reference in an attempt to sound cool). My spring will be filled with thesis writing (when I figure out exactly what that looks like I’ll let you know), travels with friends (London, Paris, Berlin?, Switzerland?, somewhere sunny with beaches) and hopefully doing all the things I said above.

I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to read the blog or just occasionally look at the pictures. It is a pretty selfish thing to write only about your life and expect people to stay interested. I feel really blessed to have this experience and it means a lot that I’m able to share it with everyone.

So I hope everyone has a great holiday wherever you are in the world! If you find yourself in Mississippi, hopefully I’ll see you!

See you in 2012!

Cheers Yall,

 Chelsea

A Lil Love for the Season

So I've found lots of new ways to waste time here in Ireland. The main ways include reading a lot of style blogs and drooling over pinterest. These new procrastination techniques made me realize that my own blog is a little...serious. Irish history and social commentary, how could that be serious? I can hear the giggles now.

To get in the Christmas spirit, I thought I could throw out a few gift ideas. Anyone reading who wants to buy me these things, I won't complain. But really I thought this might be a fun way for me to pass along things that can keep on giving!

First, let me set the mood with some Christmas tunes by one of my favorites, THE Grace Potter. This gives Christmas music some sass.

For the style guru-Nisolo shoes

For all the Ole Miss readers out there you have probably already heard about Nisolo but I can't help but be in awe of the pretty shoes made by a cool company. I don't think there is a better way to explain Patrick Woodyard and his brainchild company than cool. Nisolo works to connect high quality leather shoes to American shoppers and in return puts the profit back in the hands of the artisans who made the the shoes in a small Peruvian village. It is an example of globalisation at its best.

http://www.nisoloshoes.com/

For the music lover-Oxford American Missip' Music Edition.

First off, if you have never had the pleasure of reading Oxford American I hope this sparks you to start. How can anything with the name Oxford be bad, right? Well their annual music edition is especially good. What's really great is it comes with a full cd of most of the tunes mentioned in the mag and it has a special Mississippi focus this year. I haven't yet gotten a copy of this year's edition because they are surprisingly hard to find in Ireland but looking at the bit that's online it doesn't look to disappoint. The best part about this is you are supporting a pretty local publication that really highlights people who rarely get "highlighted." Let's help keep the music culture of Mississippi flourishing. 

http://www.oxfordamerican.org/articles/issues/latest_issue/

Maybe a lil stocking stuffer to go with this-The new Black Keys CD. Since I was on the topic of music, I had to add this quick plug in. Just a lil music love. 

For anyone who knows me personally-Donation to the SCFP.

This should be no surprise. Who thought I would really go an entire three months without begging for money for the SCFP? Well I got close.

You've all heard this spill before but the SCFP is doing amazing work in the rural Mississippi Delta. They make a big impact with a small amount of money. I can guarantee you that whatever donation you send, it will be greatly appreciated. This organization changed my life and lots of others. I hope somebody might get inspired to help them, in whatever way, keep their doors open this year!

http://www.sunflowerfreedom.org/

They are putting on a theater production at the BB King Museum in Indianola, MS on December 17th for anyone who is interested! I'll see yall there! 

The last gift idea for anyone who might be reading-a plane ticket to Ireland! I love visitors! 

This was fun for me. Thanks for reading!

Merry Christmas! 

Cheers Yall,

 Chelsea

Struggle

I’ve had a real struggle this semester, and I'm not talking about the rainy weather or occasional homesickness. A few weeks ago I got approached by a professor about not speaking up in class. He said he had noticed that I was very talkative at the start of the semester but I had stopped contributing as much in class. His concern was sincere and appreciated and I quickly realized that he was completely right.

His concern made me really think some about what was going on and it didn’t take me long to realize  that I have found myself in a peculiar place when it comes to my identity.

For my entire life I have defined myself by my place. I am a Mississippian. I think for most people there is some sort of connection between place and personal identity but I think I'm quick to take it to an extreme. My favorite authors, musicians, chefs, designers, are all Mississippians. I vacation in the Mississippi Delta. This list is never ending.

Sure I’ve spent time outside of Mississippi but the purpose of those travels was often to bring back some lesson to the state and there was always a set date on when I would return. So for the first time ever I’ve left for an extended period and there is no promise that I will come back (what happens next is a blog post for a different time).

So with my identity so closely wrapped into my longtime place, the move to a new place has sent me on a bit of a roller coaster. I started out the year using the word "Mississippi" in every other sentence. Then I pulled a 180 degree turn. I kept telling myself that I was here to experience something new and if I didn't make the conscious effort to get out of my comfort zone then my experience would be wasted. 

In my scholarship application to come to Ireland I made the case that my strength lies in my ability to meet people wherever they are coming from and thus, I could only learn about Ireland by living here. My 180 degree turn took me from one extreme to another and I took my application too far.  I got so swept up in the idea that I needed to really become a part of “Ireland” that I would get really discouraged when people would make small comments about my accent or when I had to ask for clarification on a piece of Irish history. In making my decision to "give up" Mississippi, I immediately jumped to having to define myself solely by my new place, Ireland. 

This is when the silence in class set in. I didn’t want to only talk about Mississippi but I didn't feel enough of a “local” to talk about Ireland (no surprise there right? I've only been here a few months). I was stuck in the middle and feeling really unsure of how to relate myself and my experiences to anything around me. 

So with all this over-thinking self-analysis on my mind, I went to see my thesis advisor a week ago. I’ve been planning on writing my thesis about a community organization here in Ireland that I’ve mentioned on the blog but I haven't made any progress. Preparing for my advisor to be disappointed in my lack of movement, I was surprised when she calmly suggested that maybe I should rethink the topic of my thesis. She suggested that there has to be a way for me to incorporate my experience in Mississippi with what I am experiencing here in Ireland.

Lightbulb moment. There has to be a balance between defining myself so stringently by place, and being able to carry with me my places. There also has to be a balance between honestly trying to meet people where they are coming from while also realizing that at times, I will be an outsider.

The difficult part is figuring that balance out….

I still can’t say I have a good answer to what the balance will look like but I think a good first step is realizing this little dilemma of mine. And most importantly remembering that I will always have Mississippi but a heart is never too full to love somewhere new.

Another good first step: I talked in class this week (probably too much) about the difficulty on teachers in both the rural Mississippi Delta AND working class Dublin. 

Thanks for reading!

Cheers Yall,

 Chelsea

PS. Another good first step for my new focus on balance is adding a little Mississippi to my all Irish sign-off…

Another One Off the List: Amsterdam

Hey friends! I just got back from a weekend in Amsterdam, Holland. My out of Ireland travels have been sort of limited this semester but I'm feeling proud/lucky to mark two new countries off my travel list in the past three months (not including Ireland).

There is not much doubt about my Dutch heritage so Amsterdam meant something a little extra than other places on my travel list. My maternal grandmother, Jacoba Regina Smits Caveny, was born in The Hague, Holland and moved to the US in her early teens. Granny, as known by all of her grandchildren, was an incredible woman who I miss and look up to everyday.

I hope to one day get back to Holland and spend some time out in the country side. I'm finding that I enjoy cities for a brief visit but I end up really liking a place when I get to see a little bit of life outside of the city. (like Ireland through car travel and a short day in the Scottish Highlands).

Amsterdam is this crazy mix of regal history and modern hipster cool. Its modern reputation is a city with lots of young people doing things illegal in other countries. But I think Amsterdam deserves a lot more credit than that. It has museums galore, great sidewalk cafes, and a funny quirky vibe.

(my good camera is in the process of being fixed from my orange juice spill in Edinburgh. I can't wait to get it back to get better pictures of all my travels!)

So here is what we did this weekend...

-visited the Anne Frank House. The house where Anne Frank, her family, and the van Pels hid for two years has been turned into a museum. The annex has been restored to almost exactly the same condition. It was well worth the wait to get through the doors. After the weight of what you see, I just can't say that you leave very happy. 

-visited the Heineken Experience (lookin' like a tourist above) Heineken is no longer brewed in the city (it's now brewed out at a big warehouse that isn't very aesthetically appealing for tourists) but they have turned the old brewery into an interactive museum. Throughout the tour you learn the history of the brewery, how to drink a Heineken properly and what sort of yeast sets Heineken apart. That description gives the tour no justice for how interactive it is. 

-took a boat ride through the canals of the city. Amsterdam was once the leading port city in the World. Now its canals just make great locations for lots of quirky houseboats. 

-tried some great local beer. They were mostly Dutch names so I'm returning back to Ireland with the same knowledge of Dutch beers that I had before going to Amsterdam: Heineken and Amstel. If only I knew Dutch...

-ate an Oliebollen. Oliebollens are like the Dutch equivalent of beignets. They are sold mostly from street vendors only around Christmas time and they were delicious! Cafe Du Monde's got a little competition!  

Oh and on Sunday I used almost every form of public transit created.
-a tram from the hotel
-a boat ride on the canals
-a train ride to the airport
-a flight back to Dublin
-a bus back to Maynooth
Days like these are fun, every once in a while. If they were everyday I would really begin to miss my old Jeep!

The next travel spot: MISSISSIPPI. After that, MOROCCO. My goals for the spring are to get to London, Paris, and some sort of warm destination, maybe twice.

Cheers,
 Chelsea

Irish Travels

This is a little late, but better late than never.

Last week I was so lucky to have my mom and aunt visit for 7 days! Instead of celebrating American Thanksgiving we were traveling around Ireland staying in castles and eating potatoes!

We rented a car and headed out from Dublin. I have become a big fan of Irish Rail but to really see the island you need to rent a car. In classic Griswold Vacation style our rental car was about as big as a bike. My mom and I like to shop and both saved up (mentally and financially) for this week. Not that the car had any extra room to begin with, but we crammed stuff in every spare corner possible. By the final day I was buried in the backseat under bags, literally. Packing the car from destination to destination was like one big puzzle and served as a great form entertainment the entire week.

(not sure this picture really does the size of the car justice)

We started out in Waterford, which is in the south of the island.  For all of you lovers of fancy things, Waterford Crystal is a product of the small but powerful island of Ireland. The plant itself has had some trouble over the past few years (according to one man “you Americans aren’t buying this stuff like you used to”…I guess in recessions beautiful crystal is the first thing to go) but they still hold a small outfit in the company’s namesake, Waterford, Ireland.

We stayed in a converted castle on an island in the middle of the river that runs through the city. Cool stuff.

(Waterford Castle)

(They knew us well enough to put us in the Burg room. Hattiesburg represent!)

From Waterford we drove across the middle of the island cutting through Limerick and made a stop at Bunratty Castle. (starting to notice a theme here?) Bunratty is definitely a tourist stop, but that’s what we were and it was really neat. They created an entire village around a castle to show life in Ireland through the generations. I get the feeling it was the Irish version of Jamestown but that feeling doesn't have much weight because I've never been to Jamestown. 

(Mom and Aunt Deanna at Bunratty Castle)

After our pitstop we made it to the windy west of Ireland and Galway. We had a spot on Galway Bay so the wind was extra sharp. We spent a day in Galway on a tour that took us south of the city into County Clare and finished at the tour’s most famous stop, the Cliffs of Moher. The Cliffs of Moher are one of the iconic images of Ireland. They are an incredible display of land abruptly meeting sea. Unfortunately for us the weather was pretty terrible (foggy and raining-which is pretty typical for this time of year at the cliffs) but towards the end of our time at the Cliffs the fog opened up just a little and we got to see their magnitude.

(scary fact: on average about 15 people die every year at the Cliffs of Moher because of the powerful winds and people getting too close to the edge. This year there are been 12 deaths so far)

(With my Mama at the Cliffs of Moher)

(Other highlights of the tour included Celtic crosses...)

(AND a leprechaun! Like I said, we were tourists)

In Galway we spent a night at a local pub with all of three regulars but had a great time. We headed from Galway back to Dublin to finish up the week doing some more shopping and seeing St. Patrick’s and Kilmainham Jail (it was so good the first time, I had to go back).

(St. Patrick's Cathedral. The largest Anglican Cathedral in Ireland)

I was THANKFUL to have my aunt and mom with me for a week. I was happy to get to share some of Ireland with them as well as getting to see new parts of the island that I haven’t explored yet. I think my aunt and mom both had a great time and really like Ireland. My mom is planning on coming back in the spring and bringing my dad.

When they left, I got a little homesick. They reminded me how much I miss all the people that I love so much at home. But I’ll be home for a month in just two weeks and whenever I get homesick, I just remind myself that this experience far overpowers any brief moments I have of missing Mississippi and all its good people.

I’m off this weekend to Amsterdam! My maternal grandmother (who I’m eternally grateful for for teaching me acceptance and strength) was born in Holland and immigrated to the US following World War II.  So besides all the great things I’ve heard about Amsterdam being a really cool city, it has an extra special meaning for me. 

cheers,

 chelsea

#5 What I Read this Week and a lil listen

Sorry for being away from the blog for so long...you will hear why in the next few posts. But I'll just say that I've been traveling:)

As for my reading, this will be more of a multi-media post.

I just finished reading Eamonn McCann's book War and An Irish Town. It is all about Derry, Ireland and "The Troubles" told from McCann's perspective as an activist in Derry from the late 60s on. I feel like I'm been giving lots of history lately on the blog so to give you all a break on reading, I'll just say that the book was great!

To bring it all back to Mississippi (which I probably do way too often) reading War and An Irish Town would be like reading Local People, Radical Equations, or I've Got the Light of Freedom, or any of the major works that give a good understanding of the American Civil Rights Movement and are often told from the perspective of someone closely associated to the movement (Bob Moses more so than most).

In addition to the book, a professor turned me onto this online archive of info surrounding "The Troubles" and it is great! For anyone who is interested in learning more, give this site a browse...

http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/index.html

Since that is a relatively short post about what I've read I want to add in this little music bit.

Last night I saw a show in Dublin at the Academy. The Academy is one of the top music venues in Dublin and they have this great set up where they can have multiple shows going on at the same time. The show I saw was in the basement in what is their smallest venue. The room is surrounded by booths, christmas lights are hung everywhere and most corners are covered with curtains to give the entire place a really relaxed and mellow vibe. Has anyone ever seen Nickel Creek live when they play barefoot on rugs? Well this was like a Nickel Creek stage set but expanded to an entire room.

The main act, The Staves, are a sister trio whose harmonies bring to mind the scene from O' Brother Where Art Thou when the sirens are singing and washing the men in the river (I guess the trio thing plays a part in the look of the sirens but then their voices have a softness like Alison Krauss). They are good and very "up and coming" (I think this is probably how every band who plays in the basement at the Academy is described).

But my favorite portion of the night was a quick set from one of three opening bands, I Draw Slow. They have a terrible band name but give them the benefit of the doubt and give this a listen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kr1EJar5zGY

I sat thinking to myself that I could just as easily be listening to them play on a late Thursday afternoon at Thacker Mountain Radio as I could in a music venue in Dublin. They are the best modern representation I've heard of the strong connection between Appalachia folk/bluegrass and its roots in Ireland (from an Irish band that is).

Hope you enjoy! Lots more blog posts to come!

cheers,
 chelsea

Edinburgh-You Win

I went to Edinburgh,Scotland! Woop Woop!

One word to describe Edinburgh-"cool." Go visit if you ever have the chance because it will be well worth it. 

The entire city has a similar style of architecture and is based around a square at the town center so it makes for a really pretty place to visit and is easy to navigate. Edinburgh has a really cool, young sort of feel. People shop at nice stores and go to swanky restaurants yet it didn’t feel too pretentious. All in all, a great vibe.

We spent one of our days in the Highlands of Scotland looking at lots of lochs (lakes) and mountains. It was beautiful! AND, I rode a boat on Lochness but unfortunately, I did not see Nessy the Lochness monster.

The clan culture of Scotland is really neat to learn about. As a part of your clan, or family, your name and reputation hold a lot of weight. We heard stories about things that clans did hundreds of years ago and still in 2011 there are negative connotations for certain names because of that history. I can only imagine if we all had enough foresight to think in those terms how much calmer the Square would be on a football game weekend...

Clans also have neat plaids and often have castles. Overall, Scotland-I was presently surprised and I would go back!

Sad news from the trip-I spilled orange juice all over my camera and it stopped working. So I have no pictures from the trip. BUT, I have a friend who will rule the world one day and she was nice enough to be my photographer and send these along! Thanks Jess! 

And she has a really great camera and some solid photog skills so I really got lucky when it comes to spilling orange juice.

glamour shots by Jess

Scottish sheep

My mom and aunt are coming to visit Ireland next week and will be here through Thanksgiving! Then I'm off to Amsterdam for a weekend. Oh and somewhere in all of  that fun, I need to finish up my academic work for the semester. 

Cheers,

 Chelsea 

Derry v. Londonderry

Let me start with this story…and I hope it doesn’t get me in trouble if I go back to Northern Ireland.

My Dad, being the good Catholic man that he is, once gave me a tshirt that said “Catholics for a Free Northern Ireland.” At the time I had NO idea the extent of what that t-shirt stood for and it was only my time in Derry that put the real extent of that shirt in context. 

So to understand Derry I am going to attempt to highlight major points of Derry history in three paragraphs (there will be lots of links to learn more).

So to start out Derry is a place where history is present and still defines everyday life. This all starts with Derry being a “walled” city (the walls still exist and now while they are open and serve as an almost elevated sidewalk, they still remind the people of the place’s history everyday). In the 16th century the wall was used to keep the city's Protestants who were supporting William of Orange in his battle against the Catholic King James II safe. The Siege of Derry is the defining moment for the city and its walls in the 16th century. That sort of class and religious tension between Catholics and Protestants stays around (clearly I'm skipping a big piece of history) in all sorts of forms until it all explodes in the late 60s and from that explosion “The Troubles” really develop and shine an international light on Ireland. 

Several things happen in Derry in the late 1960s. In 1968 there is a Civil Rights March that becomes the first tide of change. The push for Civil Rights in the late 1960s in Derry largely stems from “jim-crow” esq voting restrictions that gave property holders a vote (and sometimes several votes depending on how much property). Historically, Catholics in Derry had not owned property and were treated like second class citizens. From an initial march in 68’ tensions begin to swell then in early 69’ protesters are brutally beaten on a bridge as they march to Belfast. So by spring of 69’ when it comes to marching season (parade time mostly used by protestant groups) tensions explode. The Bogside, which is the Catholic side of Derry decides they have had enough and for three days become what is know as Free Derry. They blockade the police from coming in and take claim to their area and it becomes known as the Battle of the Bogside.

Bogside, Derry

This was painted in 69' not long after the Battle of the Bogside

This stays true for several years as the Bogside becomes known as a no-go area for protestant loyalist police and military. Derry history continues to make international attention when Bloody Sunday happens in 72' when a over a dozen civil rights protesters are killed by British soldiers in the Bogside. Through the 70's and 80's Derry was a really dangerous place because of IRA and paramilitary activity of the two sides fighting for control of northern Ireland.

So that is a really rough and vague coverage of Derry history. A few interesting things to note... 

First, when trying to understand “The Troubles” from an American perspective there is often the question of how much is really centered around religion? Or is it really a republican vs. loyalists conflict? In 68’ when the first Civil Rights March happens nobody at that point is even talking about loyalists v. republicans. At that point the Catholics simply want to feel like full citizens of the UK. It really isn’t until 72' that the fight becomes one attached to nationalism.

Second, 1968 is an incredible year around the world.  In the USA, MLK and Bobby Kennedy are assassinated and the Tet Offensive is happening in Vietnam. It is a critical year of international unrest.

Third, the connection between what happens in the American Civil Rights Movement in 62’-65’ and the impact it has around the world in Derry, Ireland is something that I just can’t get over. One Man One Vote was used in Derry just like it was in Mississippi.

Sooooo all this leads to my time in Derry. Here are a couple things that I saw and heard that put into context just how much this divisive history still defines everyday life in Derry.

Most neighborhoods have the curbs painted with colors that show the neigborhood’s allegiance. In loyalist (pro-UK) neighborhoods the curbs are painted red, white and blue while in republican (pro-Ireland) neighborhoods the curbs are painted green, orange and white. The city is also filled with murals that depict the two sides of "The Troubles". Some of the murals have been created after the violence has ended but others actually served as neighborhood markers during the peak of violence (like the Free Derry sign above). 

Notice the curb at the bottom and the mural in the very loyalist neighborhood

                                            

George Washington even made a mural in Derry 

Not a great picture but MLK, Mother Theresa and Nelson Mandela-all in the Bogside! 

I was told by several people before I went to Derry not to openly talk about my faith or politics. So Dad, I'm glad I didn't bring my tshirt! Depending on who you talk to some would say that the violence with “The Troubles” is over but others like a man we talk to who lives in a Protestant neighborhood surrounded by Catholic neighborhoods (and who has an extensive collection of UK military paraphernalia) told us about rocks breaking his neighbors window just a few nights before.

Funny story. So Derick, being the good Wisconsin boy that he is, wanted a picture with the Miller bottle that you can barely see through the case. Then after taking the picture we both realized that the bottle is a petrol bomb that had been thrown in this Protestant loyalist neighborhood (the same neighborhood, and museum, where we saw the large stash of UK military paraphernalia). Suddenly the picture didn't seem as light hearted as the original...

I think there is probably some truth in both perspectives that you hear. By no means is Derry faced with the violence that it once was since the cease fire peace treaty in 1994 but this history is also still relatively new and it takes a long time for communities to heal. I think about Sumner, MS and the work of the Winter Institute in situations like these. 

Derry is the exact sort of clash of the past and present that makes me really attracted to places. Mississippi can be described in that way (though in someways I think Mississippi has progressed more than I always think) and South Africa has a similar story of relatively recent history.

Needless to say, I’m enthralled and next on my reading list is a book about Derry.

Also this is a great documentary that you can watch all the sections on youtube! 

self-timer again

OH and how could I forget, we stayed in a sweet little cottage on a farm and overall it was a fun weekend with sweet friends! 

cheers,

 Chelsea 

#4 What I Read this Week

After my week of reading Harper Lee I’ve dived into Ireland reading and haven’t looked back. I just finished Fintan O’Toole’s Ship of Fools.

O’Toole is a journalist who writes for the Irish Times and as a friend described him to me he is an “extreme moderate.” He is pretty liberal in the context of Irish “liberal” (which is probably worth an entire different blog post to explain) but he is still relatively mainstream. He writes for one of the most widely read papers and he doesn’t advocate complete redistribution of wealth-he really wants the wealthy to pay taxes.

This was a great read but I was glad to have read When the Luck of the Irish Ran Out first. Lynch’s book gave more background of who individuals were and how Irish systems operate. Toole’s book definetly gets into more of the nitty gritty so I was glad to already have a basic level of understanding. So if you don’t know a single thing about Ireland, don’t start with this book. You should read it but maybe after you have read a few other things.

Ship of Fools documents the widespread greed and corruption that took place during the Celtic Tiger years. It is great to really understand why the boom happened in the extreme way that it did and why nothing was done, on any level, to ensure a healthy economy after the bubble burst. According to Toole Irish politicians and bankers lived in a state of hazy ignorance in thinking that the economic boom would only continue to grow bigger, indefinetly.

The main lesson from Ship of Fools…

Toole promotes the theory that what brought the Celtic Tiger crashing down was exactly what people believed the Celtic Tiger was getting rid of, a 19th century Ireland.

He lists five main points to support this…

1.     “a primitive pre-modern land hunger created the new  feudalism in which an elite puffed up the price of land and inflated a fatal property boom”

2.     “the political system, most thoroughly rooted in Fianna Fail, remained rooted in the Tammany Hall politics of the nineteenth-century Irish-American Democratic Party machines.”

3.     “In business, and especially in banking, there remained an anarchic attitude to law and morality, rooted in both a colonial habit of playing games with authority and in a religious culture that saw sex , rather than money, as the currency of sin.”

4.     “The bourgesuie continued with its nineteenth-century attitude of valuing the professions above all, and certainly above science, maths and technology.”

5.     “And the heroic powers of denial, the ability to know and not know at the same time, that had been formed by peculiar circumstances of Irish history , remained remarkedly intact.”

     Really a great read! I feel well prepared for pub chats on the economy now. Hope all is well from wherever you are reading!

cheers,
 Chelsea 

Lord, I was born a ramblin' man

Just to give everyone a quick run down of upcoming travel plans…

My fall break is this coming week so I have a week off from classes and I’m going to spend it doing a bit of traveling.

I’m starting off the week in the Northern Ireland (so I officially have to cross a border, get new money, and enter the UK). A group of us are heading to Derry/Londonderry. It is typically called Derry by people who support the Republic and Londonderry by people loyal to the UK.  Derry supposedly has one of the biggest Halloween celebrations in Ireland. We have rented a cottage for a few days and are looking forward to all the festivities.

(Halloween in Derry ends with a huge firework show over the river in the center of town. This is from Derry last year)

After a few days in Derry I’m planning on heading over to Belfast for a day or two to see the sights of the city and drink a few pints with friends.

(Northern Ireland. Londonderry and Belfast-here I come!)

I’ll head back south to immediately turn around and fly to Edinburgh Scotland for the final part of the week.

So I’m not flying anywhere too far away but I’m excited to see a few new sights.

I also put the deposit down today for a surf trip to Morocco the final week in January. My middle school dreams are finally coming true! This is one of those trips that I don't will ever really seem real. Surfing in Morocco? Haha really? Yes really. 

I’ll be away from the blog for a while, but I’ll be sure to come home with lots of good updates!

PS. I’m living out another dream of mine on Halloween by being Penny Lane from Almost Famous. I have a friend with an equal love for Almost Famous so he is going to be William.  Life is good.

 (William and Penny. But I will not/nor will I ever wear a half top)

 cheers,

 Chelsea 

Longford Women's Link

I got to travel out from Maynooth last week with some of my classmates. We headed to Longford, Co. Longford to the Longford Women’s Link.  To say the least, it was inspiring.

The Longford Women’s Link is a non-profit situated in a rural town. One of the statistics that stuck with all of us is that the town of Longford has 7,000 residents, 5,000 of which are unemployed. The LWL founders realized the heavy impact such financial circumstances were having on the women of Longford and decided to create the program to provide a variety of resources to the local community. 

A part of the work at LWL that I really appreciated because of the rural work of the SCFP is that the LWL provides transport for the women who are participating in programs. Not only transport but they also provide childcare!  I'll say it again-childcare! And affordable (or sometimes free) childcare. I think the price and availability of childcare is a thing so often underestimated for single moms. (thanks to my mom for all the money spent over the years on that)

Once the women are at LWL’s facility they can participate in a variety of classes. The program is effectively functioning as a junior college in ways by providing technical training programs as well as personal development classes like sewing and entrepreneurship. 

Their childcare and educational programs would be impressive alone, but that is not all they do. They also serve as a resource center for women experiencing domestic violence and they have organized a women’s political group that makes sure the women of Longford are considered in the political decision making process.

All of that programming is impressive in its own right, but I walked away equally as impressed with their professional approach.

The real dilemma at the core of most small non-profits (Longford functions on 1.2 million a year, which for the breadth of their services is impressive) is that non-profits and the people who usually run them are built on an emotional appeal. Yet, it takes a very different ethos (or at least a lot of people feel it’s a very different ethos) to constantly market and fundraise for a non-profit. Self-promotion is a necessity of survival in the non-profit world, yet we are programmed to think that self-promotion takes away from the “do-good” nature of the work.

What I really liked about Longford Women’s Link was that they were honest and clear in every part of their message. The group of women who presented to us didn’t waste the whole time talking about the problems of Longford (which is such an easy hole to fall into-I actually found myself doing it in a class presentation about TALENT in Tallahatchie County the other day). They quickly said the problem, then clearly told us how they were working to fix it and the results they have seen so far. They knew their mission and could easily tell any group about it, which resulted in my class being able to walk away and repeat exactly what we heard. 

I got the impression that the staff at LWL had the perfect balance between this common problem of good work v. self promotion in non-profits. But towards the end of the session the executive director talked about their recent push to start fundraising (their multi-year grant is coming to an end) and how it has been a difficult mind-set to adjust to. She talked about how she just wasn't good at asking. I kind of smiled to myself and thought that this problem really does affect even what seem to be the best non-profits. Sure you get through them, and I have faith that LWL will, but they always exist to some extent. 

Lonford Women's Link

(and if you feel like giving a little, I know it would be greatly appreciated) 

Getting exposed to different non-profits really gets my mind turning about what I want to do when I get back to Mississippi...

cheers,

 Chelsea 

Listen and Watch

To add to what I read this past week, I’ve listened and watched a few “Irish” things that I wanted to share.

First, I stumbled upon an Irish band named Tupelo (and with a name like that how could I not want to listen more). Some of their songs remind me of Old Crow Medicine Show and have a modern bluegrass feel. It would be easy to listen to most of their songs and maybe think they were from Tupelo, Mississippi but then Irishman comes on and it becomes clear that they are from Dublin. At the end of Irishman they list the names of the 14 men executed by the British for playing a role in the Easter Uprising in 1916. While the uprising itself wasn’t widely popular at the time, the way the men were executed served as a national rallying cry to bring the nation together to fight for independence. Some of their other songs have hints of Irish identity if you listen closely (like slang words and themes about land ownership) but it's easy to miss those subtle clues so sometimes I listen and picture Oxford. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CAVwwO8toU

Second, I went to a documentary showing last night on campus for The Pipe. In the west of Ireland Shell oil and gas company has been trying to build a pipeline from drilling off the coast to a refinery on land for over a decade now. It is really rare now for companies to refine gas on land, its usually done at sea where the drilling happens. The pipeline that would run to the refinery would run directly across people's land and homes. The pipe would contain a really high pressured gas that would be without the add-in chemicals that make gas smell (so you can know when there is a leak). Overall, it seems to me like a really high risk sort of operation that could put a lot of people in danger. The people of Co. Mayo and particularly Westport (the small town where the pipe is being built) have been fighting tooth and nail to stop the pipe from being built. Currently, the drilling and the pipe up to the land are complete as well as the refinery, so now the final stage is completing the pipe that will cross through the town. 

Westport is on the west of Ireland, almost directly across the country from Dublin but a little to the north

The documentary shows the struggle of the movement and the town over how to unite and fight the big oil company. After the documentary finished the audience heard from the spokesperson for Dublin Shell to Sea, which has become the national movement to support the work in Westport in getting Shell to relocate the pipeline. During the discussion after the documentary, it became clear that their is a much larger national debate around who owns the rights to Ireland's oil and gas reserves and where the profit really goes. There has also been a lot of controversy around the Shell to Sea movement, and I think a lot of it comes from organizational leadership. 

But controversy aside, I think the real thing to think about is would anyone want an oil pipeline in their backyard? Especially without even being asked about it. Many of the local people's demands of Shell are not radical. Several people interviewed in the documentary say they still want Shell to make their profit, they are just asking that the pipeline be moved to an uninhabited patch of land (which on the west coast of Ireland that is easy to come by). 

As we think about the human and environmental impact of BP's Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill, I get chills to think about what sort of impact would happen when the drilling is being done closer to land and the oil is being pumped across people's backyards. 

It's a scary battle that is taking place in one small town in Ireland and unfortunately, it's not getting enough national or international attention.

Thank yall for reading! Hope all is well!
 cheers,
 Chelsea 

#3 What I Read This Week

For a few weeks now I’ve been saying I was going to post about Roddy Doyle and now that I actually am, I can also say I will be posting about him on this blog more throughout the year.

I love Roddy Doyle.

That might be extreme. I have only read one of his books, but I enjoyed every page and am anxious to read more of his work.

The Commitments is one of Doyle’s more popular pieces (the film adaption might play a big part of that). The Commitments is one of Doyle's Barrytown Trilogy, a set that follows a group of characters in north Dublin's working class neighborhood of Barrytown. 

The Commitments are the hardest working band in the World, the saviors of Soul, Dublin’s very own soul group covering songs from Otis Redding, James Brown and Sam Cooke to name a few.  Jimmy Rabbitte is their manager who along with Jimmy “The Lips” Fagan, a washed up trumpet player, lead the band into small town fame before their break up after a few shows.

The whole thing is witty and entertaining. It also helps if you have an appreciation for soul music. There is an especially great scene when Jimmy “The Lips” Fagan is concerned about the sax player in the band because he has started listening to jazz.

Jimmy rants on “Soul is the people’s music. Ordinary people making music for ordinary people….Soul is democratic. Jazz is intellectual music. It’s anti-people music. It’s abstract.”

The wit of the piece really emerges during different scenes of the band trying to apply “soul” to Dublin. The best example is their biggest hit: a version of Night Train that they adapt to include stops on the Irish Rail. 

If you like soul music or working class Ireland comedy this is a must read. And even if you don’t like either of those things, you could always watch the movie.

cheers,
 Chelsea

Weekend Update

Let me just start with this, I’ve been loving my life lately. Really really loving it.

I enjoy my course and am learning a lot but I don’t find it academically overwhelming so I’m left with lots of free time to learn about other topics on my own, spend time with friends and travel. I just don’t think my life could get much better. (the one thing that could happen is I could transplant all my good friends and loving family from home over to Ireland) I guess I just wanted to put a formal statement out into the world wide web to let everyone know how much fun I’m having and how grateful I am to be here.

Now on to my weekend update. Last weekend I got to spend the second weekend in a row with all the other Mitchell scholars. I feel confident that if you put all 12 of us in a room for an extended period with no other distractions we would have a blast. But we’ve never been put in that situation because the Alliance has kept us busy with fun activities the past two weekends.

I think this weekend took the cake. On Friday we had another great day of meals while we talked with several different people about Irish politics and culture. After our day of discussion we got ready for our formal welcome to Ireland (I like to think of it as my Irish debutante) at the US Ambassador’s home in Dublin.

The Ambassador (Dan Rooney-owner of the Steelers) was not in town but he lent his home in Phoenix Park.  Phoenix Park is a huge piece of property in the middle of Dublin that is kind of likeCentral Park except the park is surrounded by walls and there is a heard of deer roaming around.  The only homes in Phoenix Park are the President of Ireland’s and the US Ambassador’s (say much about our relationship?).  

And to add in a nice Catholic fact, Phoenix Park is home to a huge cross. The cross was put up when Pope John Paul II came to Ireland to conduct mass in 1979. It is estimated that over 1 million people attended the open air mass in the park.  To put it into perspective the Republic of Ireland is only about 4 million people…

At the party we were introduced as a class to several dozen supporters of the US-Ireland Alliance from all over the country and from all walks of life. I spent the majority of the party talking with a woman from Cork who loved white wine and my southern accent.  And I equally loved her love for white wine and her accent.

After the Ambassador’s home we all got pizza at a place near the hotel. For those who could manage to wake up, we boarded a bus early the next morning and traveled to Glendalough in Co. Wicklow for a hike above Glendalough Valley.

I was terrified of the hike. I had a traumatic experience one summer on a Lott Institute trip in South Korea. Our Korean tour guide made it seem like we were going for a leisurely nature walk, and after several hours we had ascended a mountain and were all on the verge of death (a lot of the near death feeling had to do with some underage American, legal Korean drinking done the night before).  I just kept having awful flash backs to the hike in Korea and thought this might turn out the same. While the Glendalough hike was not as simple as a nature walk, I think I was better prepared physically than for the one in Korea and I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed spending the day outside hiking on trails and climbing over rocks. After about a 4 hour hike, we made it back to the bus and headed for a quick lunch.

the start of the trail. most of the trail is made from old piece of railroad and you start out with 600 steps

view from the top. it felt a little higher than it looks

cheesy tourist shot in the valley

 When we got back to Dublin we changed for a concert on Saturday night at the Olympia Theater with James Vincent McMorrow. McMorrow sounded a lot like Brett Dennen for any reader out there who might be a Dennen listener. I was surprised at how much McMorrow came alive as the night progressed. It was obvious that on his first song he was nervous but as the show went on and his glass of red wine emptied, he began to connect with the audience and most of the us walked away as a fans. He was also endearing as he repeatedly told the audience how much it meant to him to be playing back to back sold out shows in his favorite hometown music venue. Check him out. I like him better live than his recordings, so if you ever get a chance to see him, do so.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-NyBoG5jbA&feature=related

We ended the weekend with our now traditional few hour-long breakfast. After that I was back to Maynooth to finish up some homework and get ready for another week of reading, discussion, learning, and travel.  

More blog posts coming tomorrow

cheers,

 Chelsea