I didn't take many photos Thursday and Friday because we were at two schools during those days. Thursday we went to Lagan College, an integrated school, and Friday at St. Dominican College, a Catholic Maintained school.
Getting to visit these schools was really interesting. At Lagan we toured the school, sat in a couple of history schools (that were both discussing the Civil Rights Movement), ate lunch at their cafeteria, and then met with two students. We were also invited to their annual Ceili, which is a type of Irish folk dancing. There were student dance troops, professional dance troops, and then we got to do some group dancing. On the whole it was a lot of fun! (Pictures can be found on their Facebook page)
St. Dominican College was an interesting experience. There was a transportation strike that day so the only students that were at school were the ones that we talked to. For lunch we walked into the cafeteria and there were two tables done up with tablecloths and place settings. It was a bit off putting because it felt like we were an event.
We spoke to students in the political science class about how they have experienced discrimination or just about their lives. What struck me most was how most of the girls said that they don't really know any Protestants. That is something that I never really thought about.
They also planned a panel with different politicians from different parties to debate issues. They talked about shared versus integrated education, whether a Northern Ireland will ever happen, and the current issues of the country.
We walked around the school and went into the church where the girls go to mass. It is a beautiful little church.
Our last day in Northern Ireland was our tourist day and we visited Carrick-A-Rede bridge and Giant's Causeway. The Northern Irish coast is beautiful and I can't wait to post all of those photos!
Thanks!
Kara
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