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