Belfast, Northern Ireland

Our Ireland adventure has begun...First stop- Belfast, Northern Ireland. Tim, our MMN guy (not sure what his title is to us) who is absolutely amazing helpful, picked us up at the airport- even with his sore neck! He took us back into Belfast and gave us a quick driving tour and took us over to Peter and Jenna's house. Peter and Jenna are Mennonites serving in Belfast, but unlike our 1 year commitment, they are serving there for 2 years. 

Belfast is a really interesting city and in fact all of Northern Ireland hit me by surprise. I was not aware of all of the problems that were there. There is a history there that isn't that old of a lot of violence between the Catholics and the Protestants. There is still a lot of division there, but we heard that it has changed and there is an effort there to be peaceful. It was interesting when Tim told us on the drive in that there would be a bomb go off while we were in the country. That was a bit intimidating to hear. He also drove us by the police station, which was an incredible sight. It looked like a fortified prison because the police are often the targets... 

This was on the building close to where we were staying. It is basically showing whose "turf" your entering... Messages of intimidation. There were lots of ways to mark territory...

In a short explanation of what I understand, England (Queen Elizabeth 1) planted a lot of protestants into the north of Ireland, which started the 400 year conflict. This created the two sides, Irish Catholics and Anglo Protestants. When Irish was fighting for its independence and was granted freedom, the top four counties of Ireland (Northern Ireland) were not released because that is where most of the Protestants were still living generations later. So, 40% of the population were Irish Catholics that still wanted freedom and the rest were people very much O.K. with being part of the United Kingdom. 

In the 60's and 70's there were a lot of protests, shootings, and bombs around town. The neighborhoods are still split Catholic and Protestant and the kids still go to either a Catholic private school or a Protestant school. We learned the the United Kingdom is spending a lot of money supporting this division by busing kids to the appropriate school. 40 foot walls have been build through neighborhoods to separate the two groups, and checkpoints used to function. 

 Peter and Jenna took us on a 7 mile walk around Belfast that took us through the residential areas. We got to go on both sides of the wall and kind of look at the differences between the two.

Standing at the base of the wall on the Protestant side.
We got to write our own message of peace on it. 

This was another mural that they had. I found this one very creepy because the gun follows you where ever you go.  Alot of the murals that were once violent like this one have been covered up with different things that promote the unity of Belfast and the pride that they have. 

This is a "bleeding heart". We found it in the Botanical gardens in Belfast. I thought that it was fitting for a white (peace) bleeding heart to be growing there with all of the violence that has happened and the innocent lives lost.

Poem found of the "peace wall":

Belfast is really fun

No more killing

No more guns

We're loud, we're proud

A generous crowd

Of motorbikes at traffic lights

Cars outside bars

Cleaners and cops,

And sweetie shops

Building sites, lamppost lights

Churches and trees

Dogs with fleas

On the Shankill Road

You'll find a friend

We hope the peace will never end.