Orientation week in London

Today is day 4 of me being in London!! It feels weird again to be a student, I caught the early train down Monday morning from Liverpool because everything started at 8am in London and I was walking down the streets of London towards the School and I was actually starting to feel all bubbly so that was cool as I don’t tend to get excited like that about many things. Good to feel that I was doing the right thing!

So just in case you don’t know, I’ve moved to London because I’m starting a Masters of Public Health Nutrition at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). Monday was all orientation stuff, getting to know the school, some of the lecturers and the admin staff that we will be working with. Tuesday we ended up having off so I spent my day walking around London looking at different houses. I swear I walked like 20-30 miles hey! I was walking almost all day. I should have just bought a day ticket in hindsight but I was trying to save money.. oh dear. I looked at 3 places, one in New Cross Gate which is south east London, one in Mile End and another in Canary Wharf, both in East London. In the end I’ve decided to go with the room in Canary Wharf because it is quite cheap, I felt the most comfortable there and it shouldn’t be too much of a hassle getting to uni. I was going to try get a bike to ride to and from uni, but having been warned about how many bikes are broken and stolen I changed my mind, at least temporarily! My current ‘plan’ for attack of transport is to catch the DLR half way then get off at Shadwell and jump on a Boris Bike and ride the rest of the way.  I could catch the DLR (Docklands light railway) the whole way into Bank, but it would be a bit manic there in the morning at peak hour and I’d much rather be above ground and away from the filthy air down in the tube.

For those who don’t know what a Boris bike is, they are hire bikes you can get in London that are sponsored by Barclays Bank. However, the reason they are called Boris bikes is because the mayor of London was the guy who organised and pushed for them and his name is Boris so….. there you have it! All I need now is a job and I'm sorted. Now that I've organised a place to live other than the hostel, I definitely feel much more at ease so that is good.

It is exciting to be studying with such a diverse group of people. My course has I think 23 people in it from all walks of life, countries ages and nationalities.  At first I thought there wasn’t anyone from England in the course! There are only two men in the class, both from Zimbabwe who have left their families there while they study. Other people in our course are from India, America, Canada, France, Sweden, New Zealand, Sri Lanka. There are other countries too but I forget! Tomorrow the uni is taking us on a social to Kew gardens. I’ve never been there before, but we will be looking at all the food plants they have which will be cool because I love cooking!

I read this quote the other day by Uraguayan poet, historian and journalist Eduardo Galeano and found it quite interesting as a person who generally likes to explore, meet new people, see new places and things. The world has definitely become a much smaller place for us with the potential to meet new people and go places we never could ever before.

One day the world won't be upside down, and then any nedwborn human being will be welcome. Saying "Welcome. Come in. Enter. The entire earth will be your Kingdom. Your legs will be your pasport, valid forever."

Belfast

Two weeks in Belfast have just flown by. It’s true what they say that time seems to pass faster and faster. While I was there I had my 25^th birthday, so that was interesting. A few of the people who like me had longer stays in the hostel ended up taking me out to one of the nearby pubs for a drink which was a bit of a laugh. An Irish girl bought me a half pint of Guinness for my birthday which I managed to drink about an 8^th of before getting too full! 

On the weekend I jumped on a bus tour that took us all around the north, to a rope bridge that used to be used by fisherman many many years ago, to the Giants Causeway and also to Derry/Londonderry which I’ve already spoken a bit about. It was extremely interesting seeing the history of Northern Ireland and learning more about the troubles that have happened. 

I was really lucky with the weather while I was over there, I got quite a few sunshiney warm days and not too much rain either. Even when I went on tours over the weekend, the weather was predicted to be cold rainy and miserable but instead it was predominantly sunshine with a little bit of light rain. When we got to Giants Causeway it did pour down with rain when we first arrived but it didn’t keep going for long. I’ve got a photo somewhere (yet to be downloaded) of me walking down near giants causeway all wrapped up in my waterproof jacket under an umbrella. It is about a ten minute walk to the causeway from the carpark up the top and you can get a little shuttle bus down there if you want to spend a pound each way, but its not really worth it. It is a very easy walk. I got a bit cranky though at one of the bus drivers though because he specifically drove into a puddle (a very very muddy puddle) and covered me in muddy water. I’d managed to avoid getting wet in the rain and then he did that so yes I was slightly annoyed about being covered in mud!

The causeway itself is pretty cool. Legend has it that I think Neil McFinn (don’t quote me on this) was a man with a bit of a temper and looking for a fight he went over to Scotland to start a fight with this Scottish man (lets call him Scotty McLaren for want of a better name). Anyway he got over there and realised that he was much much bigger and that he was going to lose the fight so he kind of ran back home. But because he’d caused so much of a fuss, this Scotty dude was a bit riled up and decided to come over to teach Neil a lesson. Neil then told his wife what he’d done and she said she’d sort it out. So they dragged in a wooden boat that they had outside, dressed Neil up like a baby and put him inside it. Soon enough Scotty comes over and he’s mad, and Neil’s wife tells him that Neil is away, so he is welcome to wait inside the house for him to come home.  While he’s waiting there inside the house, he notices the “baby” in the cot and thinks to himself that “how big is the father, if that’s the size of the baby?” makes his excuses and runs home, but in his fear he rips up the road between Northern Ireland and Scotland and the Giants Causeway is all the remnants left of that road.

On the Sunday I decided to explore a bit of Belfast and jumped on a black cab tour with some other people staying at the hostel. They are quite good tours, basically they are local guys from Belfast who were around during all the troubles and they take you around showing you the different murals and telling you the history of the city. I found it really intriguing about the gates in the city which divide the Catholic and Protestant areas. At first I couldn’t get my head around how they worked because I was thinking that someone would be locked in, but no its actually the gates are locked on all the major roads, so it is possible to get in and out of town no matter where you live, but it takes longer and is more difficult. The gates which are like 20 feet high I think or something like that, were brought in to help cut down on the violence and shootings between the different religious groups, making it more difficult. Apparently, before shooters would go into the opposite side, do their thing and be able to get back into their own area within a couple of minutes. With the introduction of the gates, it would take 15-20 minutes to get back to a safe zone so they are exposed for a much longer period of time. The houses on either side of the gates have got cages over the backyards because people used to throw rocks and things over the wall. The people of Belfast were asked in the last few years if they would like the gates to go down, but the majority voted in favour of them remaining as they felt much safer with the gates there.

One thing I definitely did notice while working in Belfast was how almost everyone went to church, that was different and quite cool for it to be the norm in the workplace. It is a different culture to be working in from what I am used to, and quite surprising to be hearing your colleagues to be talking this and that about their church during lunch or tea breaks.

Photos to follow.... (when I get around to downloading them!)

Building not Breaking

This is an entry i started  writing ages ago and like many things never got around to finishing. I always have some sort of idea running around in my head but then at times with the craziness of life actually getting around it and doing it.... But I thought that since I am in Belfast and Northern Ireland and how there has been so much hurting and conflict in the beautiful country then it would be appropriate.

Yesterday I went on a bit of a tour of Northern Ireland, and part of that was a walking tour through Londonderry/Derry. For political correctness you need to use both names as the protestants refer to as LondonDerry under English rule, governed by London. However the majority of the population in the city are Catholic and refer to it as Derry which came from a gaelic word that meant oak trees. A town famous for a huge amount of conflict, pain and hurt. Our driver explained that in Northern Ireland these days there is 98% peace and 2% conflict, that there is still huge divides between Catholic and Protestant communities where they will not mix in shopping centres, bars, workplaces etc. The above photograph is a statue in LondonDerry/Derry. The two men pictured were very instrumental in developing peace between the communities, however the statue itself shows that there is still work to do as they are not quite shaking hands, there is a small gap between them.

There is an amazing artist in Australia called Lior, and I was listening to this song 'heal me' the other day and it just really stood out to me how easy it is to hurt other people, both purposefully and not on purpose. In Australia it is a very typical cultural thing to tear people down at times rather than build them up, the tall poppy syndrome". Consciously, successful people who achieve more than others are 'put in their place' and brought down to earth, mostly when they display negative attitudes such as arrogance or are perceived as being aloof. However it does tend to come into every-day life more where there is a tendency to put down rather than build up. So I've been making a conscious effort lately to try and reverse that mentality or attitude in my head, be more of an uplifting and encouraging person. All around there are people hurting in so many different ways and positive encouraging words can make such a difference.

Heal Me - Lior

Why do we turn our backs on each other
Are we not strong enough
We can't heal our wounds
So we'll bleed in the dark

How many times have we broken down
On this tired and familiar road
Cos we never stop
To figure out what's wrong

Heal me
Love is a roof made out of leaves
And I'll bask in your shade
But all shelter is lost
When it rains

Skip in the puddles know where to move
Drops become a lake
Stranded in your garden
I can't find the gate

Heal me

So no more dragging each other through the mud
oh
Been keeping score for much too long
Trying to see which one of us is wrong

We build a city of steel
Looking at a pink sky above
You said you want to catch the sunset
While we're still in love

Well I don't wanna look at these structures
and feel nothing but terrified
I don't ever wanna forget why we tried

Heal me

Why do we turn our backs on each other
Are we not strong enough
We can't heal our wounds
So we'll bleed in the dark

How many times have we broken down
On this tired and familiar road
Cos we never stop
To figure out what's wrong

Heal me
Love is a roof made out of leaves
And I'll bask in your shade
But all shelter is lost
When it rains

Skip in the puddles know where to move
Drops become a lake
Stranded in your garden
I can't find the gate

Heal me

So no more dragging each other through the mud
oh
Been keeping score for much too long
Trying to see which one of us is wrong

We build a city of steel
Looking at a pink sky above
You said you want to catch the sunset
While we're still in love

Well I don't wanna look at these structures
and feel nothing but terrified
I don't ever wanna forget why we tried

Heal me

The Lord is close to the broken hearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Psalm 34:18

Norn Iron

A quick hello from Belfast in Northern Ireland (Norn Iron). I've got a job here at the Royal Victoria Hospital for 2 weeks so have come over here while. I haven't done too much as of yet as I literally arrived this morning and went straight to work. Its pretty windy in both Liverpool and Belfast today and I've nearly been blown over a couple of times, but its all good. I caught the bus from the airport to the city then got a taxi to the hostel where I dumped my stuff and then went straight to the hospital. But I've met some people in the hostel and might go to a comedy night or else I'll go and check out some of the open mic's in town.