Today was our first day of class.  We had breakfast on the terrace overlooking the Blue Mosque and then spent the first class introducing ourselves and talking about our preconceptions of Turkey, Islam, and Muslims, and how those perceptions since our arrival.

After class we went on a wonderful private boat tour and had the chance to observe the architecture and landscape of the European and Asian sides of Istanbul at the same time.  It was so cool!

Our guide knew the history of almost every building along the Bosporous.  Here are some pictures!

Where to begin…

I’ve been living with my good friend Anna in Leiden, Holland for the last three days, and it has been wonderful.  On Monday, Anna and our friend Morgan collected me from Schiphol and brought me back to Anna’s where she made Dutch pancakes for us.  Dutch pancakes are kind of like crepes but a little thicker, and instead of being filled with fruit, you cook them with gouda or bacon or raisins.  Mmmmmmmmmm…

On Monday night, the three of us hung out in Leiden, caught up on each other’s lives, and talked about the Netherlands.

Part of the reason I’m taking this trip is to decide where I want to study abroad in Fall 2011.  Sure, I could go online and research these places, but it’s not the same.  I want to explore them and find the place where I feel I fit the best, the one that feels most like home.  I never realized what a small world I lived in up until three weeks ago.

On Tuesday I went off on my own and explored Amsterdam.  There’s a free tour put on by New Europe, so, because I have no money, I did that to get myself better acquainted with the city.  It was actually really fun because the tour guides are all really energetic and sarcastic and point out both the historical, the significant, and the more “entertaining” places to go.  They speed through most things, which is okay because you get to see a lot and you can pick out the places you want to go back to.

I actually walked right through the Red Light District without even realizing it.  It’s not that interesting.

Then yesterday, Anna took me to Den Haag, where Parliament and a lots of other neat buildings are.  We strolled around and she showed me a bunch of interesting things i.e. the sand sculpture contest that happens every year.  Usually the sculptures are recreations of famous paintings.  The most amazing thing I saw there was the Mesdag Panorama.  It’s this painting that is 120 meters around, and to see it you have to walk up these stairs into a gazebo.  Being in the gazebo makes you feel like you’re actually on the beach looking out at this scene, and what’s really cool is that the painting is exactly what Den Haag would have looked like had you been standing in that exact spot in the 1800’s.  Well worth the trip.

A couple cool things I learned about The Netherlands:

-Most churches aren’t used for religious reasons anymore.  The one by my friend’s house is used for college exams.

-They still have a royal family

-QUEEN’S DAY

-Most people speak enough English to help you if you’re lost

-Putting your hands under the table during dinner is REALLY rude

-I love red cabbage

-Parliament is not located in the capital

-There are more bikes than people

-Hardly any Dutch people actually use marijuana.  Most sales in Amsterdam are to tourists.

-A lot of Dutch people dislike Amsterdam because they think it’s crowded and embarrassing

-People from Holland are all extremely nice, except the ones on bikes.  They will hit you.

-The Dutch are very literal.  The New Church is the new church, The Royal Palace is the royal palace, and The National Monument is the national monument

If the rest of this trip is anything like the last 24 hours, it will be the most eventful two and a half months of my life.

Yesterday morning, I realized the Obama’s were in town and that Barak decided to take a day trip to Louisiana.  What this meant for me was that the highway between my house and the airport would be completely blocked off at an undisclosed time.  Naturally, it happened while I was on my way to the airport, so my mom and I took a super secret shortcut and luckily made it to my flight to Newark, NJ on time.

This flight was supposed to take me to Newark where I would connect to a flight to Belfast, and I only had twenty minutes between the two to run to the next gate.  The Newark flight was delayed by forty-five minutes while I was sitting at the gate, so I already knew I’d miss the flight to Belfast.  Then, while we were sitting on the tarmac, Obama landed.  Our pilot came on and said we would be delayed another forty-five minutes, which turned out not to be true, and we took off soon after.

As we finally stepped off the plane in New Jersey, the PA system shouted, “Final boarding call for Belfast.”  I booked it, and so did a few other girls who I realized were in the program with me.  We made it just in time to get on to our last flight.

One movie and three hours of sleep later, I finally touched down in Belfast.  The green fields were a pleasant welcome home, reminiscent of my last summer in Conamara.  When we walked up to customs though, we were given a much less pleasant greeting.  Yes, my groupmates and I were detained for the first time in our lives.  It was actually kind of nice though because it gave us a chance to bond, and our program director, Tim Campbell, was able to get us into the UK.  Apparently there’s a very new law that says you need work visas even if you’re volunteering.

After we were rescued, we went to our little cottages, dropped off our things, and bused over to the St. Patrick Center in Downpatrick.  It’s such a beautiful building.  We toured around, came back to the house for a showers, naps, and grocery shopping, and then we headed back to the St. Patrick Center for the Peace Garden blessing and  a nice barbeque with other members of the Friends of St. Patrick and some of the people we’ll be working with for the next two weeks.  There were a lot of politicians and other important Northern Irish people present.  We had the chance to schmooze and meet a lot of interesting folks.  I actually spoke in Gaelic with a few people.  That was soooo intimidating!  But I think I did well.

I’ll be volunteering at a bunscoil (a Gaelic immersion school for gradeschoolers) an then with another Gaelic-speaking group.  Hopefully the kids at the bunscoil don’t put my skills to shame.

Tomorrow we’ll be going to some sort of fair that Tim said involves ferrets.  I don’t know how I feel about that.

I’ll post pictures tomorrow (my time) :]

So, I just realized that I leave for Europe on the 28th, not the 31st. So… three less days of packing//getting ready. Oh well.

Watch out, Europe! I’m on my way