Saturday June 15

     Today, Tim picked the entire group up at around ten and we drove together into Belfast. He brought along his stepson Graeme, who likes to be called "Graembo", and wanted to spend today with Tim in lieu of Father's Day. Graeme is differently abled and is such a sweetheart. He is very talkative and was quite excited to spend the day with Dr. Tim and the rest of our group.
     We went first to the Titanic Museum. Words cannot rightly describe it.  The building itself was a multimillion dollar project to commemorate where the grand ship was built and launched.  The museum is situated in the harbour near the shipyard where the boat was constructed and is adjacent to where the drafts and plans were drawn.  Those building have been bought by the government and are hopefully going to be restored and will later become part of the exhibit.

     There is also a ferryboat from the Titanic that was restored and floats alongside the museum now. Inside the exhibit tracked Belfast as an industrial city that was first focused on linen production and later transformed to a shipbuilding industry. There were displays of the linen-making process, shipbuilding, as well as various interactive displays, reconstructions of rooms with projected passengers, a cgi surround-screen simulation of what the Titanic would have looked like, and even a ride which flew passengers through the hull of the ship as it was being built. What truly captured my attention, however, were the displays that showed the series of telegraphs, survivors stories, as well as stories of those who died with the unsinkable vessel.

     Then, as many of my American friends and fellow Theatric designers will be jealous to hear, we were able to go into the Game of Thrones exhibit.  Game of Thrones is actually filmed here and you will probably recognize some of the scenery from my photos of the gorgeous landscape around Ulster. (Dr. Tim mentioned that he might possibly be able to get us onto the set sometime later this week so fingers crossed!)  The exhibit had costumes and props from the show, which was all very exciting to see! I took quite a few photos for my designer and GOT fan friends.

   Tim then took us on a short bus tour of the city and then gave us the choice of what we wanted to do next.  Rya, Carolne, and I decided to attend a garden party concert and benefit called "The Big IF", a hunger awareness event being held due to the G8 Summit in order to try to convince them to truly do something to bring about the end of world hunger.  There were different charity organizations there and a lot of really wonderful people from all around Ulster, Ireland, and the UK. We saw a wonderful gospel choir that sang "Lovely Day", watched dancers featuring "Prodijig", and listened to Jim Broadbent recite poetry. 

Afterwards, we went and had a quick bite to eat at Maggie May's Cafe and then rejoined the group for the ride home.
     As the rest of the group prepared for an evening out on the town, Rya and I attended an evening mass at St. Brigit's in Crossgar. It was a lovely service in a humble but beautiful building.
After arriving home, I stayed in and actually spent the evening skyping my family and friends and catching up on my blog.
   I hope everyone is having a lovely evening in Arizona!  It's the early hours of the morning right now and I will be heading off to bed soon!

Thanks again!
Kelsey Kelleher

Day one (ish): Travel Thursday to Friday

     I set off from Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix, Arizona on a flight to Chicago at around eight in the morning. I was kindly accompanied by my parents and my friend Kyle. Barely packed and having never been out of the country alone, I was a bit nervous to say the least. I was excited to get to my first connection in Chicago, where I was to meet with three of the young ambassadors from Minnesota and Wisconsin, Rya, Kelly Jo, and Brendan. I first met with Rya, the occupational therapist student from Minnesota and soon after Brendan (archaeology) and Kelli Jo (junior high education) from Wisconsin. we grabbed some lunch together and, realizing our flight was moved to a far away gate, we hurried to our flight to Washington DC.

     The flight was late in arriving and the four of us found ourselves running through two entire terminals to make our final flight to Ireland. We were the last ones to board the plane, but once we were on, we settled in for our long flight. I had originally been seated between a very nice older man from Dublin who needed the aisle and his ailing wife who needed the window, but I was luckily able to give them some peace by moving tonthe empty seat by Brendan.Thankfully the flight was peaceful and I had a grand time getting to know some Irish locals and watching "Jack the Giant Slayer".
    Flying over Ireland was such an exciting experience! So much green! It looked like a quilt of a thousand shades of green. We landed safely and met up with Matt (the linguist) in line (or "in the queue") for customs. Dr. Tim Campbell, the Director of the St. Patrick Centre in Downpatrick, along with Ryan (media broadcasting) and Caroline (art history) met us outside.
     The ride to the North of Ireland was full of bumps and swerves, cows accidentally being called "sheep", castles, bonding, and excitement. The group as a whole grew close very quickly; by the time we arrived at our destination, it seemed as if we had known one another forever. I had actually gotten very carsick on the ride because i had left my motionsickness medication at home, so I do not remember much of the ride or what we did directly afterward.
     We arrived at the beautiful cottage we are staying at and were absolutely floored! The house has multiple bedrooms, a few sitting rooms, fll dining and kitchen, and looks out onto fields dotted with cows and a peaceful late. There's many pretty paths scattered around the quiet property which are lovely to walk in the evenings as the sun sets (and it sets at around 11:30 pm here!). The view from our sitting room upstairs is my favourite; it is the most beautiful view I think I've ever seen from a house.

     I was feeling very ill from the car ride, so while the others went out and got lunch, I soaked up the beautiful scenery and explored the house. As the day went on, I soon recovered and we made our way to the Saint Patrick Centre in Downpatrick for a lovely welcome barbecue and friendship ceremony. Not only was the food delicious, but we met some absolutely lovely people. Each of the seven Young Ambassadors had brought a stone from their respective parts of the world with their name and chapter name on it. At the friendship ceremony, Dr. Tim Campbell (who prefers we call "Tim") explained that the Saint Patrick Centre strives to find commonalities between both creeds of Christian faith and to bring peoples of different traditions together by their similarities. The Cannon there made an interesting point by having us recite the Lord's Prayer, a prayer known by heart to both Catholics and Protestants alike.
     Later that night, Kelly Jo, Caroline, Brendan, Ryn, and I went out to a local pub in Downpatrick where Dr. Tim's friend's son Adam was performing. He was absolutely amazing! We met some very nice local people and had a grand time. Everyone was dressed to the nines as having come from Downpatrick horse races. The atmosphere of the pubs (We went first to Murphy's and then to Brendan's) was something I've never seen in the USA. There are entire families that go out, a wide variety of different generations congregated and enjoying themselves together. As my mom will enjoy to learn, they actually DANCE here! We had loads of fun and made it safely home with plenty of time to sleep and prepare to get up for a full day on Saturday.
     I know that I am very late with posting this and you all have my sincerest apologies! we have just been so busy and enjoying our time so greatly that we have barely had time to even sit, much less figure out how to connect to the internet here! I am working on getting the pictures uploaded to my facebook and the other days written up! Hopefully I'll be all caught up by the end of the weekend!

Much love,
Kelsey Kelleher

     Hi there! I am incredibly behind on my posts but I might as well post what I have finished and then catch up.
     Today (Friday 14th), we were able to sleep in a bit. Maynard picked Kelly Jo, Caroline, Matt, and I up at our cottage around eleven and drove us into Belfast. We had originally planned on atrending the Titanic Memorial museum, but Dr. Tim had informed us this morning that he has planned to take the entire group tomorrow. Instead, we spent the day touring around Belfast, learning more about its historic past, rich traditions, and charming pubs, such as Ally Cat's, Voodoo, and Kelly's. We were also able to squeeze a bit of shopping in and even finally located a tourist shop where we were able to shop for gifts for our family and friends. Afterwards, we met back up at the Crown Pub and headed to the Moneyreagh Community Centre for the "Moneyrea 783 Social Committee An Ulster Scots Evening" to watch Maynard speak. When I had asked him what he was speaking about on the way over, he told us that he was going to speak about choices made one hundred years ago and how the choices of 1913 affect 2013. Over the past few days, I have learned what an amazing orrator Maynard is; he can come up with speeches off the top of his head and always has a multitude of stories in his back pocket to pull out at the drop of a hat. Because of this, I have learned the importance of storytelling to the Ulster culture. My background of Theatre always has emphasized the importance of storytelling and I feel that my time here with Maynard has further strengthened my belief in its value.

     The cultural evening was absolutely lovely. There was a performance on Lambeg Drums, ornately and symbolically painted drums beat by two long sticks that are Dutch in origin but had come to Northern Ireland around the 1690s, were enlarged and produced in Lambeg, and now seen as a Ulster Scots instrument of pride. The performance also included a traditional fife. The music was loud and exciting and left my ears ringing and my heart beating fast! Their technique was precise, exact, amd riveting without any sort of (what the lovely Mary Moriarty would call) "fluff". I pity the backache those drummers must get, though! The enormous drums weight about 40 lbs. And are held agsinst the performer's front with a simple neck strap, no padfing or belts. They also played oyher instruments, including the accordian, the tin whistle, and other traditional drums.
     There were also Scottish highland dancers, led by Michelle Johnson, a young lady employed by the Ulster Scots who Kelli Jo and I will be shadowing as she teaches her classes on Monday. The Michelle Johnson School of Highland Dance performed various National dances, a pre-battle sword dance, and celebratory dances. Maynard then began his speech, using poetry and a line from a letter from a previous Arizona Young Ambassador. Although my own viewpoints may differ from his point of view, it is inspiring to see someone who do fiercely believes in and loves his country and what it stands for. He spoke of many valient Scotsmen who helped to settle Ulster and have been psrt of their rich history. He read "The Raiders" By Robert Burns and talked about marches land and bringing that tetm to Ireland. He also quoted Reverend WF Marshall's "Hi Uncle Sam" that was written to present to American soldiers arriving in World War II to show what those from Ulster have done. It was a beautiful speech and the audience seemed to love it.
     I had a lovely chat afterwards with some very nice people as we ate some refreshments and had some tea. I spoke to David, one of the drum players, who told me about the drum sticks, which were made of bent cane. I also briefly met Nelson McCausland DUP minister of the Department of Social Development, Jimmy Spratt MLA for Castlereigh, Mike Nesbit leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, his wide Linda Bryans, a news journalist, Jim Allister, leader of TUV, Traditional Unionist Voice, and the mayor of Castlereagh, Alderman Michael Henderson.
    When we got home, we all tried working on our blogs but mostly got distracted by skyping loved ones at homr. It was a lovely day all around and I cant wait for tomorrow.
Much love,
Kelsey