Robb + Jessie Married & in the Badger State
my awesome sporting weekend in belfast
New post by Trent!
Also, go here to check out pictures. - Robb
Hey guys, sorry it’s been a while since my last post. Hope you all are doing well and everyone is making their way or have made their way through mid-terms alright. Keeping you all in my thoughts and prayers. Anyways, on to my weekend…
On Thursday this weekend, I was invited to attend a Northern Ireland under 21 football (soccer) match against Lichtenstein’s under 21 club. It was alot of fun to see all my friends get dressed up in their jersey’s to go out and support their boys. The crowd left a little to be desired just because it was an under 21 match, although had it been the official national team, my friends assured me, the stands would have been sold out and we wouldn’t have been able to get tickets. It was fun nonetheless and despite such a small size the crowd still got into their chants and made alot of noise in support of Northern Ireland. Just in case you were wondering, Northern Ireland beat Lichtenstein 4-0… it was a murder picture.
The day after my friend Aaron “Riddler” Riddle invited me out to go see an Ulster rugby match. For those of you who don’t know, Ulster is another name for Northern Ireland and the Ulster club is in a division with a bunch of other teams from around the UK. Apparently they are about middle of the pack. The night we went they were playing against a Scottish team. We arrived about 10 minutes after kick off to find Ulster already up 22-6. Rugby scores usually are about the same scores number wise as American Football, just to give you an idea of the excitement that had already unfolded 10 minutes into the game. The game itself was awesome, I had never been to a rugby match or seen one or knew how the game was played but my friends filled me in. The crowd was great, it was alot bigger this time and everyone was singing “Stand up for the Ulstermen” (the teams theme song) and doing chants and the whole bit. Flags were waving and everyone was wearing jerseys, including myself as my friend let me borrow one for the match. The game ended 61-17 with Ulster coming out on top. It was a very exciting and high-scoring game to watch and all the kids stormed the field at the end because it was the last match of the season.
And then Saturday came around….
liverpool FC and our class trip to dublin
Trent’s latest post!
Also, go here to check out pictures. - Robb
Hey guys, it’s been about a week or so since I last posted, let me fill you in on the events that have transpired….
Well, I want to start off by saying that I finally made it out to a pub to catch an authentic Liverpool FC match on the BBC. For those of you who don’t know what Liverpool FC is, they’re my favorite English Premiership Soccer Team. It was a great game against first place Chelsea which we won 2-1. The great part was that it was the semi-final match for the FA Cup (which is an intra-league tournament) and now Liverpool, against odds, has made it to the final. Go Reds!!!!
That aside…. Our class this weekend took a trip to Dublin. I have to tell you, it is a pretty amazing city. The first thing we did there was went and took a tour of the Kilmainham Gaol, one of the oldest jails in Dublin. It was pretty intense to see the cells and execution sites of alot of prominent figures in the course of modern Irish history. The one thing you notice is how cold the jail was. Apparently alot of prisoners just died of hypothermia when winters got really bad. Our tour guide also gave us some info on the sentencing of prisoners and how they intensified during the Irish potato famine. He gave us a prison report about a 10 year old boy being thrown in jail for 1 year stealing 3 eggs. Like I said, it was a pretty intense tour.
easter in belfast…
UPDATE: Trent has now posted pictures from Ireland.
Go here to check them out. - Robb
Hey guys, really hope all your Easters went well…. here is a little window into mine.
So, I was planning to go to 3 services here in Belfast, one Anglican, one Presbyterian, and one Catholic. I was planning on doing this because my independent research here is on the effects the doctrine being preached in the churches of the respective communities is having on the peace process here in Northern Ireland. Unfortunately I was only able to go to one service as the busses only ran once every hour and in transit it took about 2 hours to get to the church and 2 hours back.
The service I went to, however was really interesting. I chose of all of them to attend the Roman Catholic church as I had never been to one and thought I might as well seeing as I’m in Ireland. If you’ve never been to a Catholic mass (especially one as eventful as Easter), you should. It’s Intense! Stand up, sit down, kneel, stand up, “and also with you”, sit down, do the cross, receive holy water sprinkles, stand up, kneel, do the cross, and a slew of other rehearsed phrases you have to regurgitate at different points during the mass. I just copied the person next to me and I did ok.
the historic walled city of derry and the giant’s causeway
UPDATE: Trent has posted pictures from Ireland right here! - Robb
First off, I’d like to start by saying that I have meant to be doing this much more often but due to our hectic schedule I haven’t had much free time… not to mention our miserable internet situation up here at Stranmillis. Anyways, last weekend our group took a class trip up to the historic walled city of Derry (which for those of you who don’t know is in Northwestern Ireland, right on the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). The city is rich with history having walls that are over 400 years old still surrounding the central part of the city and also being the stage for the 1972 riot known as “bloody sunday” (any U2 fans will know what I’m talking about).
my first week or so in ireland
Our dear brother Trent approached me last week with the idea of being a “guest blogger” on the Stranger while he is away studying in Northern Ireland. Here is his first post:
Wow…. First off I just want to say thank you for the continued support of my friends in both prayer and encouragement, believe me, you guys have moved mountains. Phew… so much stuff done in 8 days, where to begin….
I suppose I’ll start with my flight, it was 13 hours of fly time and 16 hours in total travel, it was pretty ridiculous and those who know me know I hate flying. That aside the flights were fine and I just watched movies the whole time. My first night in Ireland I stayed with an amazing family where the dad is a Presbyterian minister in Belfast. We went to service with them and they treated us to a traditional Irish feast after service, it was great. That night their son took me out to a pub owned by the UDA (Ulster Defence Association; it’s a Protestant paramilitary organization that some would consider terrorists) for a pint of Guinness…