Day 10: touring Belfast

Touring Belfast I was able to get a better grasp on the turmoil that its residents live in each day.   Standing outside on the different sides I had a helicopter hovering above keeping an eye out for signs of trouble.

The two sides are distinct one for their loyalty to the UK and the protestant religion and the other deeply rooted in Ireland independence and the catholic religion. 

Hearing the stories and walking around I felt as if there was a clam before the unknown.  Standing at the Peace Wall (the wall that separates the Catholics and Protestants) we came across the gates that are shut each night to segregate the two sides.

The Oranges (Protestants) and Greens (Catholics) fly their flags proudly.  There have been ideas proposed to segregate a community that no longer wants to be governed.  The solution was seen as putting up a wall around the community as a physical barrier from the rest of the world, essentially isolating them from all other cultures and governments.   Now that I see this more or less in practice I know it is not a joke but a really unfortunate way to treat a community of indivduals.  It might erase some immediate conflict for the government but it can create a dangerous and undesirable place for individuals to live in.

It was eye opening because as a westerner we feel safe for the most part and I think we are lucky to have the opportunity to spend our nights without opposition looming overhead. 

I saw the next generation kicking the ball around the park with these murals of their community’s martyrs as background to their game. Knowing that some of them have to potential to likely continue the trend of their fathers before them is a troubling thought but, there is a chance for peace for Ireland and other countries that suffer from these kinds of traditions. 

I do not know the answer but I do know after talking to the people of Belfast that it will not happen over night.  Most likely the solution lies in the future generation.  

I hope that when I come back I will be able to see the changes in this region.  The town center is alive with energy and the people that I have meet have been extremely nice and so helpful in telling me their stories. 

It’s important to remember that Northern Ireland is more than individuals separated by two different sides.  These are people trying to live their daily life and advance in the world; if we choose to ignore that and focus on their past than we are not being very good leaders  who are effecting positive change on this world.

Day 9: Belfast

The journey to Belfast was an eye opener, once we got here.  That's not because everyone was sleeping on the bus.  I spent the bus ride watching classmates bobbing up and down as they were fighting the desire to sleep; the drown of the bus soothed them.  Once in Bealfast we arrived at the Innovation center (http://www.nisp.co.uk), whiched backed up to the birth that the Titanic was constructed in 1908. 

We had a day of speeches lined up, after a short tour of the docks we piled into a room and got started.  This was my favorite day of talks, compared to the talks in Dublin.  The reason that I found these speeches much more informative, felt that I was getting information from people that had struggled and succeeded.  Dublin was more of people still struggling.  I am still reflecting on the talks and will probably add some more later. 

These are some boys I met while exploring the town.

Day 8: Second day with the company

Today, I learned about managing time and the team even when issues arise.  It was not that the team was falling behind but we had to get through the tough schedule today.  We were in tow offices today Enda was making a pitch to a friend to help him prepare for a pitch this evening.  It has been a long day and I am off to bed for early day.  Tomorrow we are heading to Belfast to see the other side of Ireland.

Day 7: First day with the team

First day meeting Edna and working with the team was a success.  There was so much to gain from the experience that I am still processing what all I have learned.  As a team we worked perfectly together each one of us had a strength and we came together to become more productive and to feed off each of our ideas.  I am excited to see where we go from here.  The office is in place called Silicon docks, it is where all the big names in tech are located like Google's foreign office.  I want to go paddle boarding on the canal maybe on a free day, weather permitting.


Other things that I did today, it was a beautiful day!
Living in a world of technology we are constantly connected, the plus side not having a phone is that I am more focused on the world around me, while people are surfing the web on the bus and not looking up to have a conversation.  I feel I am seeing more of the faces of the Dublin and having more conversations.  The downside, I have no clue where I am going but hey its an adventure.  haha After work I went to the market in the grand canal docks (silicone docks) where I bought some wine and other food for the night, then we hoped on the bus back to campus.  After returning we set off to explored the outer perimeter of the University College Dublin's campus running along the path. Having day light that goes on till 10pm allows me to fit a lot into a day.  After a jaunt around campus, two of the teams got together for a little wine and dinner party in the dorm.  The people on this trip have all been extremely fun to hang out with and talk to, some more shy than others but all wanting to smile and have a great time.

Day 6: Iveagh House and the Dail

What a wonderful day the we had today in Dublin we as a group started the morning off with a breakfast at Bewley’s Cafe, what a beautiful building from 1927.  But the fun was about to start, we walked up Grafton Street and around the park to the Iveagh House. Iveagh House is the headquarters of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Dublin.  This was a real treat to sit at the table with Cyril member of the department and discuss Ireland and where they are heading.  This was such an amazing part of the trip and to do something that was unique.  To sit in this room most people would have to be pretty high up in government.

This is the team after the meeting

Next we went to the Dail which is Ireland's Parliament once we entered the building we sat in on a session in the House.  They were questioning the Minister of Finance about the state of the government. We were not permitted to take pictures but I was amazing to see their government in action.  It is very similar to ours in the US.  We were given a tour of parliament and was able to see some heated debates from some of the representative.  The tour culminated for me with an American Civil War flag from the Fighting 69, Irishmen that fought out of New York.  This flag was on the field in Gettysburg.  This is the same flag that my cab driver was telling me about on my first day here as he gave me a ride from the airport.

Borrowed from Jan Rutherford's blog  http://selfreliantleadership.com/blog/

Visiting the Art of the Brick exhibit here in Dublin by Nathan Sawaya was brought me back to my childhood of playing with Legos.  The artist was a Cooperate lawyer that loved Legos and would use them as a stress reliever at the end of a work day.  Leaving his job to pursue his passion he started creating and works of art.  I remembered all of those Legos that fill my room and my imagination, and even the pain of stepping barefoot on that perfect piece that you were looking for ever.

http://brickartist.com/

This is a life size statue made from Legos, this was my favorite piece, the pain of the man holding his lifeless boy.  It was inspired by a book I believe. 

I had to use this picture because mine did not come out

His wife is his muse

I feel really lucky to have seen Ireland in a such a unique way

Day 5: University College Dublin

Today was our first day on campus in the classroom at University College Dublin (UCD).  We had five speakers and each with a different look at the focus us this course.  Leadership, managing and the role of entrepreneurs and how we build the culture that we is appropriate for the company.  Failure is part of the process and learning from the failure is important to success. Being honest with yourself and the company about failure so that there will be growth from usually the inevitable.   One of the speakers, Andrew Parish had a funny saying that he once heard, "You have two ears and one mouth, use them in that ratio."

Jan starting off with some light discussion before we dived into the day

Day 4: Seaside, Football

Today some of the group and I wondered up to a little fishing town called Howth, which was recommended to me from the guy that sat next to me on the plane.  We walked around the town for a few hours and found ourselves restaurant that was new to the Howth area and enjoyed a meal.  It was great to hang out with a smaller group today getting to know more of them on a more personal level.  It was nice getting to see the other areas outside of Dublin, I love exploring but I like the small town feel.  Tomorrow we head out to the University College Dublin where we will be for the week.

By the sea along the jetty behind me is referred to Ireland's eye

cool old abandoned church right in the center of the town of Howth

FOOTBALL J

Junior National Team

Pride for their team and country

The Turkish fan celebrating Turkey's goal with flares, Notice all of the security that is surrounding them. 

It was a rough game for the Irish

Day 3 Kilmainham Gaol and Guinness

Now that everyone has arrived safely, we as a group went on a tour of the Kilmainham Gaol.  This jail played a large role in the history of Ireland.  Housing some famous political prisoners that were systematically executed after the 1916 Easter rising, including the Seven Signatories of the Declaration of Independence.  By signing this document they knew they had sealed their fate.

This statue represents the 14 men that executed after the Easter Rising.  

The newer part of the prison

Madonna in Thron

Painted by Mrs. Grace Plunkett, wife of Joseph Plunkett in her jail cell

The Brickyard where hard labor was performed and the executions took place 

I took the lead and saying that I could get us from the jail to Guinness Brewery.  

What can I say

 Some of use took a horse drown carriage back to the town center.  

Day 2 - Book of Kells and Panic

After spending roughly four hours walking the city in the morning I went over and saw the Book of Kells.  I had read a book a while ago on the monks who created the book and the painstaking process of making the book.  I really enjoyed seeing that piece of history, but the exhibit was missing something.  I think it was emphasis on the book, as it was displayed next to other books, to show other aspects of the artwork and binding.  But I still enjoyed seeing it and walking through the long hall upstairs.  

Somehow I lost my phone from the time I walked from the front desk of the Hotel to my room.  This is very unlike me and it consumed a lot of my attention for the afternoon. hoping it shows up in the morning so I can think about more pressing matters.  To make matters worse I was locked out of most of my emails because of this ordeal.  Now at 3 in the morning I was able to find a way in to my account.  Tomorrow is a new day! :-)   Touring Dublin with my classmates!

Arriving and day 1

The Flight- one in air medical emergency that I got up for to help with in the middle of the night. Broken wrist and a concussion but the person will be fine.

Sat next to a really nice guy, roughly my age, from Dublin on the plan name David who works in Seattle who was going back to get his fiancé and to see his family.  It did not take much convincing but him and his buddies will coming to Denver to check out Colorado and hopefully time it with a concert at Red Rocks amphitheater.

I was suggested a book on by my cabby, who gave me a wonderful Irish history lesson from the airport to the hotel.  His wife was battling non-hodgkin's lymphoma. 

Green, Blue and Grey: The Irish in the American Civil War 

By Cal MaCarthy 

Walking Dublin
Typically the first thing I do when I get to a new city is I walk it (as much as I can).  So after leaving the Hotel, I walked down towards Grafton street and Temple Bar area just to see the mayhem.  I strategically placed myself into some of the other tourist photos.  I feel that it made their photos better and hopefully they will have a laugh when they see it.  Afterwards, I wondered into Trinity College and walked around the campus. Busy with tourist in their groups, I found quite solitude for a minute from the busy streets on Dublin.  That was short lived and I was off to have a pint and take in some local culture.  Went a had a few Guinness, listen to and Irish band and watched some Irish dancers with Kate, my classmate.  Then we went over to Kehoes, which was recommend as less touristy, by David on the plan and we had blast meeting some local people who offered to hangout again.

This picture was hanging outside one the classroom buildings at Trinity College.

About the trip

This is my blog for my study abroad trip to Ireland

The class is Leadership & Entrepreneurship in Ireland
The course will start on May 23rd - June 6th

Professor is Jan Rutherford, http://janrutherford.com/ 

The company that my team and I will be working with is Groupnos  http://groupnos.com/

My UCD team includes: Katy Gorman, Manikanta "Mani" Gudipati and Myself

I am looking forward to this experience as I learn about the company and the countries that we are visiting.  

I will be working in Dublin and then we are going up to tour Belfast for a few days.

Things I'm hoping to gain from this trip:

Build on my leadership skills, find more effective ways to be a leader

Build on my teamwork skills, making sure I am a valued part of the team

Come back with a more worldly view, I have traveled a lot of places but this will be my first time to Ireland 

This is all for now,

Scott

Picture is from the ASU study abroad program, https://studyabroad.asu.edu

Listening to (Jim) M. Lyons

In our last meeting at the school before heading to Ireland we had the privilege to listening to Jim Lyons speak to us about his time serving the United States under the Clinton Administration as the United States Observer of the International Fund for Ireland (IFI) from 1993-2001.  This was a Presidential appointed position.  Contributions to this fund come from the United States, the European Union, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It supports projects in Northern Ireland and helps provide jobs in the region, supporting the "underlying economic problems", Lyons stated.   The fund was part of the Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1986, and was not only used to promote prosperity but it was also focused on the reconciliation of Northern Ireland (UK) and the United Republic of Ireland, which tensions were hostile at the the time of starting this process.  I found Jim Lyons a great speaker, laid back and passionate about what he was able to accomplish during that time.