A afternoon at the museum (sadly, sans Ben Stiller)

The day started out with a necessary re-grouping session. We have found that since our transition to the fast pace of Belfast in a new space, we haven’t found as many opportunities to come together and check-in/reflect. It’s cool that we’ve jelled so much together in the past nine days (and the pre-trip seminars) that we missed those big group times and really noticed how it affected us to not have that time all together.

We had some exploring time to see parts of the city that we’d not yet had the chance to experience. The main excursion of the day was the Ulster Museum situated in the beautiful Botanic Gardens. The museum is free and has recently been renovated, with a new exhibit on the history of Northern Ireland and the Troubles. We were asked to try and notice what the exhibit might mean to each side of the conflict, and if we ourselves were individuals from each community how we might feel like walking through the museum.

As for us three, we noticed minor things that stuck out to us. For one, the language referring to the paramilitaries versus the British army seemed different. The panels seemed to imply that the British army provided a “service” while the paramilitaries were more focused on “violence.” We also noticed a lack of artifacts, but there was a great amount of stories and powerful visuals.

Tonight we also began cooking dinners for ourselves! While the adjustments to a busy, public kitchen were sometimes tricky (i.e. finding the cooking utensils near the end of our meal, making do with what we had), it was pretty fun! We were very worried about feeding everyone and hoping everyone would like it, but it turned out well in the end. We found that it was really another great time of interdependence, and a nice venue to meet some of the other travelers calling this hostel their home!