Southern Hipsters

Fair warning, this post has nothing to do with Ireland…

While in Berlin, my friend Jess made the comment that all of her "cool" friends from Yale had moved South (some through TFA, some just because). We had a little bit of a chat about the evolution of southern culture: something that was once insular and shunned by the rest of the nation, into something now with a hip almost cult like status. 

In the last post I spent a good bit of a ramble talking about my connection to place, my sense of place and my definition of a sense of place. All really vague ways of saying that I like a certain type of culture. No surprise that how I define my sense of place fits pretty perfectly into a southern Americana context (surprisingly an Irish one in a lot of ways as well, oh should I change the first line?). Anyway, these next few random bits are in this similar thread of place. It probably seems like after two posts about my sense of place that I'm feeling homesick or that I am just spending all my time in my room thinking about MS and not experiencing Ireland. Trust me on this one, I'm doing alright. I’m actually feeling really good this semester. I’m just having to create my own space to talk about these things since I no longer live in a place where these discussions happen just about everywhere (Barnard classrooms, Square Books porch, or Larry's patio with a beer in hand). 

To create my own form of southern hipster, here are a few things that I've been lovin' on lately and thought you might enjoy them too! 

For the ears…

Ryan Adams with Emmylou Harris-Oh My Sweet Carolina

I like to think of this as the musical version of Willie Morris' North Towards Home

 For the eyes and mind...

G&G Me With a Buccellati Silver Spoon by Marc Smirnoff

The editor of OA gives some critique to the competition, Garden&Gun, but in the critique you hear the real conflict about modern southern culture. Great stuff! 

From and for my soul (but I will share)…

missing my camera these days. it should be back in my hands very soon! 

Caveny Barn, Kings Mountain, NC

missing summertime these days too! Luckily the weather is showing signs of promise here. It is staying lighter longer and we are seeing sunshine! 

Last bit, Charter Schools in MS made the Huffington Post, the state is close to raising our HOPS and Water Valley gets a big shout out in the New York Times! All this positive press adds to my theory about recent southern "coolness."

Cheers Yall!

 Chelsea 

Berlin: The Favorite City?

Don’t let the title fool you, I have mixed feelings about Berlin. Since last summer, I’ve  heard over and over that Berlin is loved by all my friends who have ramblin’ ways. This praise comes from a wide range of friends with an even wider range of tastes. I thought, “wow if all of these people love Berlin, how could I not love Berlin?”

Sorry to disappoint, but the love wasn’t there. Maybe I set my expectations too high and there is no city in the world that could compete with what I was expecting? This could be a possibility but I think more likely it was that my expectations were misplaced.

So with the little bit of traveling that I’ve been doing, along with an awesome class that I am taking about how we define communities, I’ve been doing some thinking about what I value in place.  Because as most of you know, and you might be able to tell from that blog post about how I vacation in the MS Delta, I am a person of place. Sense of place is important to me.

It is easy to confuse my constant talk of MS with just an abnormal amount of state pride. But I’ve come to realize more recently my attachment to place, and place based culture and history are things that I like find myself attracted to, even when dropped around the World, say in a place like Ireland.  You can never really answer questions like this, but I think my natural inclination to place isn't as much Mississippi as I once thought. Say if I had grown up in West Virginia instead of Mississippi, I like to think I would still have an abnormal amount of pride in my Appalatchian roots. Mississippi just happened to be a place that fostered and brought out this connection to place within me (honestly, West Virginia probably wasn't the best example because I think in this respect it is really similar to MS). 

My reference to this idea of "sense of place" can often seem really vague.  Here are some of the particulars that I keep returning to: 

-more rural than urban

-a distinct foodways, music scene or accent 

- resident’s close connection to the land 

-the local history is acknowledged/promoted/taught

So the argument could be made that all cities, no matter the size, have their own food, accent, music and history. Or the opposite that no place really has these features anymore because of globalization. Both have a bit of truth. But the last bit to my thoughts on place, is harder to quantify but can't be ignored.  There is a sometimes indescrible spirit to a place. Tough stuff to put into words, but I don’t want to discount it. (These last few paragraphs are filled with problems, wholes and generalities when ti comes to this debate on place. I'm just going to leave all that to be fleshed out in the halls of Barnard Observatory).

That turned into a bit of a ramble but I think it helps explain why Berlin wasn’t my city. Berlin has some really cool things going for it. Incredible museums being the top of the list! It is clean and has great public transit. And from what I can tell, loved by most people.

For me, the buildings just felt too big.  It all just felt big. And while there is this acknowledgement of the dramatic history of the city, mainly through the wide range of museums, that history felt really removed from the actual people of Berlin. The museums are for tourists and they are curated by people from around the World.

To be fair, I didn’t spend time with local residents. I didn’t eat at their favorite restaurant, or hear about a community oral history project or even see the up and coming band of Berlin. I’m sure all of these things exist. I'm sure if a Berlin resident read this post and my made-up list of place definition they would have a serious bone to pick with me. 

Last point so I don't seem so harsh, this is the first point where I have really critiqued a city. My other travel posts usually just include a run through of the events (which is soon to come) but I think my thinking about place means that I should be more honest about what I like and don’t like while traveling. (I almost feel bad critiquing things in a city, like the city itself has feelings and I'm going to hurt them. Maybe this idea of place has gone too far....)

Despite what above sounds like me being a Debbie Downer, the weekend was fun. Jess and I (the photog that you hear so much about) successfully navigated our way through a weekend filled public transit riding and days spent with heads cocked to the side looking at museum exhibits.

"Mr. Gorbachev, Mr. Gorbachev tear down this wall!" at the Brandenburg Gate

And no, I do not know the guy posing at the bottom of the picture

Checkpoint Charlie

One of the highlights was getting to visit the Berlin Jewish Museum on a private tour with the lead curator. This is one of those times when having cool friends really pays off (despite the fact that everyday you get to have a cool friend). Really random part about our tour. Our tour guide’s father was born in Berlin, immigrated to Cuba and then somehow ended up in Vicksburg, MS. Small World. (if I can get in a bit about MS everywhere I go this semester I think I might have a new skill to add to my resume. Chelsea Caveny: Spotter of All Things MS Around the World)

The Pergamon Museum. The most visited museum in Berlin and one of the cooler things I've seen within a museum. They have huge rooms that house antiquities. This is part of a gate of Babylon pieced back together. My snap and shoot camera doesn't really do justice to the size and detail of the gate...

Reichstag: home of the German parliament. HUGE! Just plain ol BIG

pieces from the Berlin wall that have been moved to the site of the Berlin Wall Memorial

For all the Berlin lovers, sorry to disappoint. I learned a lot and had a good weekend! But I’m not giving it high marks as my favorite city.

Next up, a week without travel to work on class assignments and reading. Really living on the edge.

I’m listening to this while writing this post. Maybe this explains my need to get very southern studies and explain my feelings on place?

Cheers Yall,

 Chelsea

The Ghosts of Belfast: Part 2

So you got the background, here goes a run through of a really busy weekend!

I headed up to Belfast on Wednesday afternoon from Dublin with three other Mitchells. We caught a bus and in just two and a half hours we were in a new country! While there are no passport checks at a border (the ease of violence in the north has helped this happen), you do have to use Northern Irish pounds instead of the Irish Euro. So that can be a pain.

We started off the weekend with dinner at Made in Belfast on Wednesday night. Basically we ate in an Anthropologie store, which is just cool. With an early morning we started out Thursday with breakfast in our hotel (swanky and cool, the Fitzwilliam) with Eammon Mallie and Martina Purdy, both local journalists. They gave us some good background and general insight into the conflict and how it is being handled in 2012. At breakfast we heard a tone and themes that we would continue to return to throughout the weekend, truth and reconciliation and complexity.

Then we moved on to tour Stormont. The piece of property where the Northern Irish Assembly meet as well as where the executive is housed. After a brief  tour of the parliament buildings we made our way to Stormont Castle to meet the First Minister of Northern Ireland Peter Robinson leader of the DUP party and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness leader of Sinn Fein (both of these links give some insight into the critiques of both politicians). After brief introductions our group got to ask a few questions. In true power sharing style, each question got a response of some sort from both men. One of the interesting pieces brought up was support by both men to turn the former Maze prison (where most paramilitary served their time) into a reconciliation center. And just out today, a little more on that.
We ended by stepping outside for a quick photo (which I will eventually find somewhere and post).

Northern Irish Assembly 

Stormont Castle-Home to the NI Executive

After our time at Stormont we headed to the famous Crown Pub for lunch where we met with two scholars from Queens University who both work with former paramilitary members. After lunch we headed to the Prostestant neighborhood of Sandy Row to talk with former members of the UDA. This was the most moving part of the day. While we all sat listening, the weight of the past weighed heavy on the men as they told us their stories. It was an important reminder how time and place define us all.

Unfortunately our chat with the former paramilitary members was one sided. While the men we talked to were very fair and talked openly about how both sides were at fault, it would have been neat to hear from former IRA members. Talking with former IRA paramilitary is currently a tricky situation. There is a major issue of trust at the moment due to a case with Boston College.

We ended our jam packed day with a reception at the home of the US Consul in Northern Ireland. The reception was great and not like what would be expected from a state department reception. It was laid back and casual and almost felt like a night in college at a professor's home.

Friday was filled with more history as we took a tour of the murals of Belfast and listened to a lecture from Pete Shirlow on post-Troubles Belfast. Two interesting things happened in relation to Mississippi. First, we met Catherine Clinton at lunch. She is a historian who focuses on the American South and I read a few of her books in undergrad. With her focus on the American South it is a natural fit that she has friends at Ole Miss. Then we spent the night at a literature reading hosted by Queen's University. We heard from three different poets and Stuart Neville, a crime writer. After the readings our group posed the question about places of conflict and their role in defining identity. In the course of that conversation Stuart Neville mentioned Tom Franklin and Crooked Letter Crooked Letter. (they share the same agent) I also owe Neville a thanks, because his novel is where I stole the title for these blog posts. The Ghosts of Belfast is an easy read that combines suspense along with some historical fiction. If you don't mind some violence, I recommend picking it up.

These Mississippi connections were surprising but there were some deeper similarities with Mississippi and Belfast that I suspected I might find when I visited. Belfast is a city where place means a lot. It can determine your safety, but on a larger scale every piece of your identity. I often feel a similar way about Mississippi. It can be all encompassing over personal identity. They are also both places where the past is in a delicate balance. Both places have made lots of progress from their past, but at times it seems to be in question (just out today on this issue in Belfast). I'm still fleshing out all my ideas on how they are related, so I'll get back to you on this more eloquently at some point (also when I don't have lots of reading for class).

To finish off the weekend we spent Saturday driving to Giant's Causeway on the coast and finally over to Derry for a Saturday night showing of Carthaginians. Carthaginians follows a group that live in a graveyard awaiting the rising of the dead and all haunted by personal tragedies along with the tragedy surrounding Bloody Sunday. Sunday was spent in Derry with a quick tour then back to all of our respective homes across the island.

Giant's Causeway

It was a busy busy weekend but I learned so much interesting stuff! Next up, I'm off to Berlin! More updates to come soon! 

The Ghosts of Belfast: Part 1

This weekend I got to head up to the north of Ireland for the third installment of “official” Mitchell bonding. Our long weekend focused on teaching us about a more modern history of Ireland, one that defines Northern Irish politics and culture…"The Troubles." I think "The Troubles" is the perfect name for what happened in Northern Ireland. It denotes that something bad went down but it has an air of mystery to it and as you will see and as I'm learning the complexity of the violence does leave you with the question sometimes that is at the core of most murder-mysteries, "who done it?" I’m going to break this post up into two parts because I learned a lot but mainly because I've taken the liberty of turning this blog into my own personal classroom (and now the drop in site hits makes so much sense...). This first one will be more context and history and the next one will be a run through of the weekend. In general, thanks for reading!

Here is the history of Northern Ireland (Northern Ireland means the 6 counties in the north part of the island, which have been one of the four countries of the UK since 1921) in the past 50 years condensed into a few paragraphs. I can only imagine the horror if some of the scholars I met this weekend happened to read this. Luckily, I think my three fans are in Mississippi. 

Here is a breakdown of terms. You should be scared, there will be a quiz later.

Catholic, Nationalists, Republicans: want to see a united Ireland where they feel that the Roman Catholic Irish identity will be respected

Paramilitaries: IRA (Irish Republican Army: The Official and Provisional, by the mid-70s the provos as they are often known is the group we are most likely talking about)

Political Parties: Sinn Fein (political wing of IRA), SDLP (Social Democratic and Labor Party)

Sinn Fein's current office in West Belfast on Falls Road with the mural of Bobby Sands on the side of the building. Sands was a member of the IRA and died in jail while on Hunger Strike. In 1981 IRA members in prison took on a hunger strike campaign to demand rights as a political prisoner instead of classification as a regular prisoner. Political prisoner status leaves certain freedoms like being able to wear your own clothes, but the strikes stood for much more than just getting to wear a jumper (what we would call a sweatshirt or hoodie). 

Protestant, Unionists, Loyalists: want to stay a part of the union of the UK, feel that identity as an Ulster Scot Protestant is central to this part of the island, and in later times that the UK is a better home than Ireland

Paramilitaries: UDA (Ulster Defense Association) and UFF (Ulster Freedom Fighters were the name used by UDA under violent attacks) and  UVF (Ulster Volunteer Force)

Political Parties: DUP (Democratic Unionist Party), Ulster Unionist Party, and smaller Progressive Unionist Party (linked to UVF) and Ulster Political Research Group (linked to UDA)

Belfast is a city geographically divided by religion and allegiance. All of the neighborhoods take up markings to denote what sort of area you are entering and often to promote community pride. While many of the murals have changed drastically over the years and there is a push to have them all promote peace, some still remain. Like this one on Sandy Row, a well known Loyalist area. 

The third party of conlfict in this is the state itself. The British Troops and police (RUC-Royal Ulster Constabularty) are often cited as instigators of violence or perpertrators themselves. They also get equal criticism from both sides. Just because one group is classified as loyalists and unionists does not mean they are uniformally pro-British. 

I'll say this once, but I feel like I should be saying it after I write any line for this post. Every bit of this conflict is complicated. Within the Catholic v. Protestant conflict there are really high levels of in-fighting and feuds kill just as many as actual fighting between paramilitaries. There is also a class element present. Most of the actual violence and deaths take place in very working class neighborhoods. Then probably the most complicated part to put into words, identity. From the outside you wonder, why are neighbors killing neighbors? But I think at the core of this conflict and most others, there is a sense of deep rooted identity with certain sides. People define themselves based around the conflict and that sort of identification can often be the biggest barrier to peace. Last bit on this line of complexity, language is really important and tricky when talking about Northern Ireland. For decades people were causious of how they choose words because it could get them killed. And now in talking about the conflict, it also can show your side of bias. A great example, some might call the men of the IRA freedom fighters while calling the men of the UFF terrorists. And vice versa. 

So here goes a paragraph to explain a complicated history...
The Civil Rights Movement led by Catholics (former post on Derry helps to explain this some) began to demand civil rights for full and equal citizenship within Northern Irish society. This is highly debateable, but many would agree that when they didn’t get those basic rights from the government, they were pushed into the hands of more radical and violent forces. The IRA emerge (not for the first time, but that’s another piece of Irish history) to bring what they see as an end to an unjust occupying government (the British) and to use, sometimes violent and deadly means to bring about a united island of Ireland. The response to this was that the UVF (also not a new organization) along with the UDA originate to protect mainly Protestant neighborhoods and then form more militant paramilitary wings. The bottom line is that through the 1970s, 80s and 90s Northern Ireland is a violent place with what I would call an incredibly complicated civil war taking place in working class neighborhoods. This time of violence is referred to as "The Troubles." And while the count varies, at the end of the violence over 3,000 people were dead. An incredibly important piece of this period of history is that the self-government of Northern Ireland is abolished in 1973 by the British Government (their reasoning being the excessive violence) and Northern Ireland becomes a place of direct rule (this also helps reason why the British troops had such a part in the conflict). 

Flash forward 20 years and the tides slowly begin to change. In 1994 Sinn Fein calls a ceasefire and for the first time talks begin to move towards a peace agreement. The US seriously invested in the idea of Northern Irish peace and Senator George Mitchell (cough, cough) becomes part of the negotiating team. By 1998 the peace agreement is signed. The agreement signed on Good Friday and officially titled the Belfast Agreement is more often known by the day it was signed. The agreement includes a lot of pieces, so I'm going to do the easy route and direct you to wikipedia. The important part to note is that a power sharing government was established and Sinn Fein officially entered into the Northern Irish Assembly. 

So there you go. Conflict in Northern Ireland in a blog post. For the few of your that made it through all of that and are actually reading this last line, I commend you! And remember this is all "according to Chelsea" so if you are really interested this stuff check out some other sources. Here are a few to get general ideas...
BBC
CAIN
Northern Ireland After the Troubles-(which one of my professors edited)


Cheers Yall!
Chelsea

Galway Girl

I spent my weekend on the west coast of Ireland in the great city of Galway!

When telling people I was moving to Ireland (especially my gaggle of girlfriends), there was one comment/question that emerged above all the others. Everyone always made reference to the movie PS I Love You. I had never seen the movie, so on a lonely night in the fall (I guess I hadn't made friends yet) I watched it. Umm, it's alright? I wasn't really enamored with it.

The one part of the movie I like...the use of Steve Earle and Sharon Shannon's song, Galway Girl.

Since the movie, every American girl coming to study for a semester blares Galway Girl on her ipod the entire way over dreaming about the cute Irish boy she is going to meet. This doesn't give the  song the best reputation with the Irish. Let's just say it's not a song I would request down at Brady's Pub on a Saturday night. However, I am still sort of a tourist and sometimes, just sometimes, my sorority girl ways get the best of me. So I love it! Cheesiness aside, Steve Earle is a great American songwriter and I support most things where his name is attached.

I say all that about this song and movie because it can set the mood for you of my weekend.

Galway is a hip city. Dublin sits on the east of Ireland with its couple million people and its never ending expanse of suburbs. Galway is the antithesis. A college town of about 75,000, Galway is the only major city on the very rural west coast. It has a really lively art and music scene (all helped by the fact it is a college town) and in a way, Galway still knows itself.

The critique many have of Dublin is that it is any city. The stereotypical expectations of Ireland aren't within Dublin. Sure there are pubs and the Guinness Storehouse but for the most part it is a big city (and has all the problems that come with that). Galway has retained some of those easily definable traits of Ireland (most things are locally owned, colorful pubs, outside of town is an expanse of rolling green).

We were lucky enough to get to stay with a fellow Mitchell scholar who was nice enough to let us take over her perfectly located apartment for the weekend (she shares the apartment with another Mitchell scholar but he happened to be away at a wedding). On Friday night my traveling buddies and myself wandered around downtown Galway and enjoyed a few pints. Then we headed off to see our hostess with the most-ess in a play (which was great!). We finished off the night with a really late delicious dinner at a french restaurant.

On Saturday we woke up for a day trip out to the Cliffs of Moher. You might remember if you read the blog carefully that I went to the Cliffs already with my mom and aunt. But we had absolutely terrible weather on our first trip. I guess my luck turned around this time because we had the best weather that western Ireland has seen all year!

(good news: my camera will be back in my hands in Ireland very soon. Bad news: it might mean less of these incredible pictures from my stand-in photog Jess Moldovan)

(Galway Travelers: Dave and Jess

lil side tid bit, you can just step over a small wall and walk right up to the edge of the cliffs. And they wonder how a dozen or so people die there a year?)

We also took a different tour than the one we took back in November. This tour was nice because we got the chance to stop off at a local farm and have a brief hike up a mountain in their backyard. For not being very high up, it had some incredible views.

(coolest part, I got to carry a hiking stick)

After our long day of exploring, we headed back to Galway for a yummy tapas dinner and a few pints. I've long had a complaint about Irish drinking culture that it is dangerous (well in a couple different ways) because of the dependence on glass.  I will often wake up in the morning to walk to class and the walk ways between the dorms is littered with broken glass. Pints and bottles are the norm here. Long story short, it just makes for a big ol' nasty mess. One of the many things I loved about Galway is they addressed this problem by putting plastic cups at every bar exit. You can bring your drink outside (this isn't MS, drinks outside are pretty normal everywhere) but you have to put it in a plastic cup first. Simple stuff, but makes for a world of difference. Made it feel a little bit like New Orleans...

And in the spirit of New Orleans, I woke up Sunday morning to catch Mass at the Galway Cathedral. One of my goals for this semester is to get to mass more often. The Galway Cathedral is beautiful and one of the biggest, so I thought it was a good start. Ireland is no longer the monolithic catholic country that is once was, but surprisingly on Sunday there was not a seat open in the Cathedral (and there were several masses throughout the day). However, upon closer look it made a little more sense. I was one of the few people in the entire place not over 55 or under 5. The loosening of Catholic Ireland is easiest to witness generationally. All that being said, I really glad I went. There is something really comforting about walking into a church around the world and it all feeling familiar. Feels a little bit like home...

(I stole this picture of the inside of Galway Cathedral off of google, but I promise it is real and really this beautiful)

Up this week I'm meeting with an Irish senator, traveling to rural county Mayo for a protest, and reading a great fictional book (that I might get to meet the author of) about the conflict in northern Ireland. Updates will soon follow!

cheers yall,
 chelsea

Catching Up

So this is going to be a jumble of an update on life.

This semester is already much busier than I expected. A few exciting things are going on that are helping keep me extra busy.

I am sitting in on some really neat classes. Please excuse the teacher's pet tone of this entire paragraph.  My MA course only meets on Monday and Tuesday (all day) so I am left with a sort-of lop sided schedule. I attempted to do this last semester but there weren’t many courses offered on Wednesday and Thursday (side note-irish scheduling is bizarre. Instead of having a class on M/W/F at the same time your class meets at say 2pm on Wednesday and 11am on Thursday). This semester there happen to be two Irish public policy courses on Wednesday and Thursday that I’ve started sitting in on. Just after a week in these classes I already feel so much more comfortable talking about Irish history and modern policy.

As for my MA classes, they have really cranked up this semester. I don’t know if it is that the courses that are offered are more of my interests (or maybe more of the professors interests) or if I’m just more settled, whatever it is I really like my classes so far this semester. Last semester I almost craved more homework (I’ve become that kid…I know). In a lot of my classes they would have these huge suggested reading lists but none of it was required and the lists were so long they ended up being overwhelming and I just didn’t read any of it. This semester all of the classes still have the suggested readings but we also have manageable weekly reading assignments. I don’t have much of a philosophy background but the irish love it! My program really trys to ground its practice in theory. So for the first time I’m being challenged to not just BS my way through but to dive deep into the arguments of people like Pablo Freire and Antonio Gramsci. Often in class discussions with this stuff I find myself in way over my head, but I’m learning.

To fill up the time I’m not spending reading I’m helping a friend run for student body president (to all my Ole Miss friends this should be no surprise) and I’m doing a lot of travel. This weekend I’m off to the west of Ireland to stay with a Mitchell friend in Galway. Next weekend I’m riding a bus out to the rural area of County Mayo to be a part of a weekend celebration that is trying to highlight the fight by local people to keep their land from the takeover by a Shell Oil Company pipeline (this is a cause I’ve become really connected to and I will give more details after the weekend). The weekend after that I’m traveling with my Mitchell class up to Belfast for a weekend packed with activities. Then the next weeks are filled with a trip to Berlin, Brussels (for a special visit at the European Union), St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin and trips to London and Paris. There are always more travel possibilities in the works and oh did I forget to mention, I’m writing a thesis?

Life is busy. But I like it that way. I work best when my schedule is full. The fall was tricky for me because I didn’t find enough stuff to fill my time and all that down time led to more homesickness than I ever want. So I’m feeling really good, happy, blessed and lucky to be back and having all this fun stuff going on.

Last aside, all this business leaves me with less downtime for the blog. Last semester I had big goals of posting multiple times a week and I kept pretty close to it. This semester the goal is simple: one post a week with an update on what is going on. That update might include what I’ve read lately or some funny irish lesson or it might just be a travel update. We’ll see where it goes.

The good part is, less blogging means I’m doing more fun things. Talk to yall next week! 

Enjoy Valentine's Day with your honey:) 

Cheers Yall,

 chelsea 

I'm Back...from Morocco!

Hey yall! It has been a lil while…missed yall!  Hope you all had wonderful holidays!

Well, I’m officially back on the isle of green! And I have really exciting stories to share.

Before I dive into my most recent travels, I need to put the gravity of the latest trip into perspective.

When I was in the eighth grade I became obsessed with surfing. The matter of me becoming obsessed with something isn’t really that odd. I have a natural tendency to become overly consumed by things (authors, styles, bands, etc). This tendency for obsession might not be the sort of thing I should share on the internet. For any future suitors out there, be forewarned that I have never taken any sort of obsession to a scary level so don’t be afraid.

Anyway, surfing is probably the ultimate peak of my tunnel vision. For a solid two years I was enthralled by the world of competitive surfing. I asked for a surfboard for two years in a row for Christmas. When asked by my mom where I would use it, my response was often “the bathtub.” Instead of a surfboard I got subscriptions to Surf and SurfWorld magazines. I ordered surf DVDs and watched them while pretending that I had the slightest clue what was going on. I covered my binders with collages of pictures that I cut out from my surf magazines. I talked about Kelly Slater and Andy Irons like we were close personal friends. “Yeah Kelly killed it at Pipeline yesterday”

The ultimate display of my odd love…my room was a surf girl wannabe’s paradise.

For those of you who might remember Pottery Barn Teen and the Surf Girl room? Yep, I had it. A pillow embroderied with “Surf Girl Chelsea” sat at the head of my bed, and I don’t think there could be a better physical representation of my bizarre obsession.

Some of you reading this remember all these quirks of mine from growing up, and I’m sad to say you can attest that all of this is true.

That background puts into context the importance of my most recent globe hop. I just spent seven days surfing in Morocco!

Let me repeat that, Surfer Girl Chelsea just rode waves (maybe more like splashed on the top of some small waves) in North Africa. 

This trip is by far the most unique trip I’ve ever been on. It was unlike anything I’ve ever done and most likely, unlike anything I will ever do again.

In general, Morocco is so different from anywhere I have traveled. The desert meets beach aspect was breathtaking combined with a country that is the ultimate clash of traditional and progressive. The same saying that is used about Mississippi could apply to Morocco, it is a land of extremes.

We stayed in a surf village, Taghazout, about thirty minutes from the larger city of Agadir. Every morning I got to wake up to this….

(all these pics are courtesy of my friend Erica. I am a never ending camera problem this year. My nice camera is still getting fixed from the orange juice spill in Edinburgh and I left my cord to upload pictures from my other camera in Mississippi. So until it arrives, I'm stealing pics!)

Then put on a way too-tight wet suit and carry my long board down a rocky path for about a 20 minute walk. By far, this is the most physical thing I’ve done in a long time. And I’m giving myself a lil pat on the back because besides the mumbled complaints under my breath for the most part I had a great time!

(Taghazout, Morocco. Part of the walk to the beach)

Once we got to the beach we would spend the morning and afternoon at “surf camp”, getting instruction on the basic from Omar, our surf guru.

(our whole group stopping for a pic. This is right after I rode a ton of huge waves:))

(camels on the beach. totally normal)

(our surf guru Omar hosted some sunset yoga for us on the beach)

We took two days away from the beach to experience some of Morocco. One day we drove three hours to Marakesh to experience the markets. You could get lost in never ending rows of stales selling jewelry, leather, and fabric.

On another day we found ourselves at a natural oasis in the middle of the desert. With crystal clear water and palm trees, Paradise Valley looked like a scene out of a movie.

(natural oasis in the middle of the moroccan desert)

One of the cooler parts of the trip: the unique crew. The trip was put together by the NUI-Maynooth Surf Club and when describing the group it sounds more like a bad bar joke. Two Russians, a Parisian, three germans, three Americans, a Canadian and three Irish all walk onto a beach in Morocco…none of this is an exaggeration, I went surfing with the UN.

I could tell detail after detail about the trip, but I know this is getting long. Overall, I’m really glad I pushed myself to go and can’t think of a cooler way to start off my second semester in Ireland!

Back to the grind of class, but at least I have a tan!

Cheers Yall,

 Chelsea 

PS. Glad to be BACK!