By Ashely Marlow
Overseas Correspondent
It’s hard to believe it’s already March – where did the time go?
The Florence group traveled through Dublin, Armagh, Derry and Belfast for our educational field trip recently, doing the whole tourist thing (visiting St. Patrick’s Cathedral, traipsing around Giant’s Causeway, listening to Celtic music in Irish pubs and longing to take a tour of the Guinness factory). But mainly, we went to learn about the conflict between the Protestants and Catholics.
Some of you may be asking, “conflict, what conflict?” and as much as I wish I could enlighten you, the events of the long-standing conflict are simply too confusing to explain in detail. Basically, up until recent years, Northern Ireland has been plagued by guerrilla wars between the two Christian sects. Bring in British influence and you’ve got a heck of a conflict.
Do Bloody Sunday, hunger strikes, or the Irish Republican Army ring any bells? It absolutely amazes me how ignorant I was about the whole situation, even though most of it has occurred in our lifetimes, so I strongly encourage you to do some outside research if you’re not familiar with it (I’m sure that’s just what you wanted to read, right?).
The Irish are actually big fans of President Bill Clinton because he played a part in forming peace treaties, which have lead to a decrease in violence over the past few years.
Today, British forces still occupy Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, with watchtowers and huge enclosed areas. Their presence is certainly not welcome. As one sign reads, “Keep Ireland Tidy: Brits out now!”
It’s sometimes hard to believe this hostility, because the Irish are the nicest, most hospitable people I’ve ever met. But on the other hand, their feelings are certainly understandable as they get absolutely no privacy, because the watchtowers are designed to see into peoples’ homes and listen in on their conversations.
Although the Western world seems to be experiencing more terror in recent years, it was a daily tragedy for many years in Northern Ireland. There are a lot of walls in the different cities that are decorated to memorialize the events of the conflict. One such wall was a few blocks long – some of it was just graffiti, but most of it was full of messages from people (some from different countries) and their hopes for peace in Ireland. It was very moving. Our trip to Ireland was both fun and eye-opening and has made me realize just how truly blessed we are to live in a country where, for the most part, we have freedom and peace.
For a change of pace, 24 students from the Florence and London programs headed to Egypt for five days of spring break. Despite many assurances that we would be perfectly safe, I was still a bit nervous to go there, especially when I found out that our tour guide’s name was Ossama.
However, it was the experience of a lifetime. I have always loved studying the ancient Egyptian civilization, but I never imagined I’d actually be able to see it first hand. We got to see treasures from King Tut’s tomb, ride past the pyramids on camels, venture into a tomb, admire walls of hieroglyphics, dip our feet into the Red Sea, walk like an Egyptian by the Sphinx and take a beautiful sunset cruise on the Nile. It was an amazing adventure.
This year has proved to be one of great change for me, though not in a way that I was expecting. My mother was disappointed to discover that I am far from being fluent in Italian, and while I will never know all of the historical facts about Italy or its artwork, I have a new found appreciation for the world.
God has blessed me in so many ways, I still can’t get over it. I hope that if you are given the chance to travel overseas, you take it, because it will be a time to remember. Arrivederci.
Submitted March 25, 2004