Trip to Ireland

Chaidh mi-fhìn agus mo charaid Lizzie do Bheul Feirste ann an Èirinn fad trì latha. Choinnich sinn ri tòrr sgoilearan Èireannach agus Albannach agus chòrd e rinn gu mòr, oir bha tòrr spòrs againn. Thug sinn òraid seachad air beulaibh dhaoine eile agus chaidh sinn air cuairt a dh’fhaicinn taigh-tasgaidh an ‘Titanic. Dh’ionnsaich sinn mòran agus tha sinn ag iarraidh tilleadh an ath bhliadhna!

On the 23 of September 2013 I was given a fantastic opportunity by my school and the Gaidhlig community to take a trip to Belfast, Ireland with one of my class mates for three days. This trip was part of the Columba Initiative, which was set-up as part of the Good Friday agreement and promotes links between Scotland and Ireland particularly with culture. My friend Lizzie, my Gaidhlig teacher and I came into school on Monday and left our school around half nine. Speaking for myself, I was extremely nervous because I had never spoken in front of a crowd of people larger than about thirty and that I hadn’t known for years and felt comfortable around. The idea always seemed daunting to me. Also, although I find meeting people exciting I sometimes struggle to connect with new people at first and I know Lizzie felt the same.

When we arrived in Belfast, we hopped on a bus to the Travel Lodge we were staying at. There were plenty of other people there before us waiting in the lobby and we all introduced ourselves. After we got our rooms all sorted and had some free time, everybody went down for dinner in the hotel’s restaurant. Dinner was a good chance to get to know everybody and I enjoyed the company almost as much as the food!

Later on that night there was an ‘ice breaker’ quiz night. We all separated into groups with Irish and Scottish people mixed in together. My group was interesting. We were all too busy talking to pay much attention to the quiz, which I suppose wasn’t such a bad thing as it was the whole point- to make friends. The man in charge didn’t quite agree though and it ended up we came in last place! We weren’t bothered at all though and we even got a last place trophy which we decided we should tell our parents we got for winning.

The next morning was speech day. As it turned out I was one of the last to present my speech. Everybody before me had been amazing, you could tell they all put a lot of work into it. Finally my name was called; I went up- hands shaking and I voiced my opinions on childhood in this century and in our parents’ time. There was certainly more than thirty people sitting in that hall but I picked a point on the wall and I think it all went well. The grammar school in Belfast was so beautiful and big. There was so much detail on the outside and none of us could stop looking at it on the way out. We were all amazed.

When we had finished our speeches half of our group went shopping or back to the Travel Lodge but a group of us decided it would be interesting to take the bus tour. We saw most of Belfast and it didn’t disappoint. The man talking was full of facts about the city and I enjoyed listening to it all, even though the weather was much like Scotland’s.

Wednesday was probably the day I was looking forward to the most because we were going to the Titanic memorial and I’ve always had an interest in the Titanic. We explored the huge building and I found out lots of new things about how the ship was built and how tall it was. I also spent far too much money in the gift shop but I didn’t even care, the sailor hat was worth it. After we had seen the museum it was time to go catch our flight home. We said our goodbyes and agreed to persuade our teachers to bring us again next year.

We really enjoyed the trip and loved getting to know the type of culture in Belfast. The friends we made were good and we had no reason to be nervous in the first place. We would love to get this opportunity again and it has given us confidence for speaking in front of bigger crowds. I am glad I put my name down for it months ago because it was one of the most interesting trips I have been on with my school. It was also fun trying to make the connections and find the similarities between both languages. If I could I would definitely do it all again.

By Eilidh Macaulay