Sleep-In Monday

I didn't wake up until after 11am today, guess last weekend's trip really tired me out! A solid 11 hours was exactly what I needed. On Mondays, we don't have class until 2pm, and after this weekend, I completely understand why they set up our schedule this way.

We started a week of lectures about northern Ireland today in history. We briefly discussed the fighting between the Catholics and Protestants in the north from the early 1900s through the 1960s, when rioting and marches broke out among the two groups. We saw a clip from The Boxer, a 1997 film depicting the troubles in Belfast and Derry, two cities in the north.

Some facts for you:
- There are 32 counties in the country.
- 26 of those counties are part of the Republic of Ireland.
- The remaining 6 counties make up northern Ireland & are currently still under English rule.
- There are two separate Parliaments in Ireland: one in Dublin, and one in Belfast.
- My family in from County Derry, Colraine to be exact.
- The Stewart side of the family is from Portstewart, one of the most northern parts of the country.

Our lectures about northern Ireland will continue until Friday when we make a weekend trip up north. We'll be making stops in Belfast, Derry and Droheda, and visiting some pretty incredible sites, including the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, the Giants Causeway, and the north's Parliament buildings. I'm looking forward to visiting Derry and seeing where my ancestors were from!

I made another trip to Tesco's tonight to stock up on food for the week. I think it's safe to say I finally seem to have a grip on food shopping and the US dollar to EURO conversion rate. I bought a package of tea biscuits after my roommate Melissa let me try some of hers last week. They taste similar to animal crackers at home, which I absolutely love. It was a great find, and one that I'm currently enjoying as I write this post! And I picked up some Nestle's Curiously Cinnamon, a very similar cereal to Cinnamon Toast Crunch, my absolute favorite cereal from my childhood- another great find.

That's all for now. Oh, and congratulations to my little sister on turning 17 yesterday, and passing her driver's test today! I'm so proud of her!