Snogging Parks

So I’m writing this blog post not because I went on some amazing adventure or experienced some history being made, but because I’m sitting in my room bored without the Internet (I know, I’m pathetic. Deal.) So I thought I’d put some productivity into this project and actually try to maintain my Northern Ireland Adventure Blog (If this goes well, I may even continue one for my fascinating daily life.). I’ll take some time explaining how the Walled City works in this post to give everyone a feel of how I’m living life here.

The day after we arrived in Derry and settled in with our host families, a group of us decided to explore the city to scope out the best pubs and shops and places to hang out. Taking advice from Bluffton’s Northern Ireland alum, we headed to Whetherspoons, a local pub for lunch.

It. Was. SO GOOD.
They have pretty good deals for food and drink! I ordered their fish and chips (I’m still getting used to calling fried ‘chips’) and a drink for £6.99, which comes out to about $10. I’m not even ashamed to admit that I went to Wetherspoons’ sister restaurant, The Ice Wharf, two more times this week. I highly recommend it for anyone visiting in the area! Even though we all love Wetherspoons, we agreed to check out the smaller local pubs and find some live music.

Speaking of live music, Derry is also this year’s City of Culture! There are all sorts of activities going on throughout the year. Unfortunately, we just missed their big music festival, but they are having a Culture Night soon throughout the city where we can experience food, dance, and music! *cue Flogging Molly, The Pogues, and The Dropkick Murphys*

Except not really ^-^”

 

Pigeons!

This is the building where we have classes

Hogwarts! (Not really) =(

Another suggestion by alum was the department store Primark, which is kind of like if JC Penney and Forever 21 had a baby. The clothes are adorable and CHEAP. It kind of makes me wish that I had only brought along one outfit so I could buy a whole wardrobe to take home with me. Alas, I do not have that much room in my suitcase =( My only wish is that they will eventually open a store in the US!

A ginormous crochered...thing. Pretty!

The Peace Bridge!

Okay. Storytime. The other day while we were out walking around, we heard some what I assumed were some school boys shouting rude things at us and calling us some names that little kids should not know the meaning to. I was feeling pretty disgusted that kids were behaving this way (I’m showing my sheltered small town upbringing here) but we ignored them in the hopes they would go away. When I turned around to face the group of kids I was surprised to discover that they were not school boys, but school GIRLS. That’s right. There was a group of 10-12 year old girls harassing us.

Wut…?

So gangs of little girls rule the streets of Derry, who knew?

Also, Snogging Parks are a thing?

We wanted to find the Peace Bridge and Peace Flame in Derry and we found a park to cut through next to these monuments. There were a lot of teenagers out of school for the day and lo and behold, they were all making out and canoodling all over the place. Are these in the States too or am I just still sheltered?

So that’s it for now. Other than being harassed by little girls, nothing super exciting has happened yet. I’m still loving Derry and its culture and I’m looking for the opportunity to try new things!