At the beginning of this week we were assigned a project that had us thinking differently that we had so far in our curriculum. We were given a problem and a solution and it was our job to come up with the middle.
The problem was the people forget things that they need to remember and the solution was a photo frame that had a reminder system that would alarm when necessary. It was our job to decide whom the frame would be for and to design the system and how this would work.
After a night of procrastination/frustration about what we were supposed to be doing Anthony (the assignment giver) came back to the Inch House the next morning and gave us a few ideas on how to get started, some confused me even more, and then there was the one that gave me the technique I used that brought me to my final solution. Basically, I thought of daily life for different people categories such as college students, middle-aged parents, the elderly and then I settled on working mothers as my target audience. We had a short meeting at 3 on Monday to show what we had thought of so far and then after that we were on our own until 9:30 Tuesday morning when we had to present powerpoints. I took a break and went for a run and then come back and worked until late in the night. The internet (which is already very slow) completely cut out on us around 1 a.m. when majority of us were still up and looking for pictures. So we all panicked and started figuring out what time we should get up in the morning, in hopes that it would be working then, to finish our powerpoints. The Internet came back up in about twenty minutes so we were all able to finish before we going to bed, the majority between 2 and 3 a.m.
The next morning went very well, everyone had their presentations and also did well presenting them. Anthony said goods things about everyone individually and then about the group after we were done.
Wednesday at the Inch House was a free day. We had a big game of Ultimate in the field across the street, which is next to a bunch of sheep. There was a newborn that was having a lot of trouble standing up. We all watched it cry for help and struggle to get up. Its mom would not go very far, it was funny because it seemed like she was getting impatient and wanted to walk to the other side of the field but didn’t want to leave the lamb alone on the ground with all these people standing around. Eventually the little guy got up and we all clapped for it.
Tony, the man who runs the Inch House, had told us about this castle on the island earlier in our stay there and since it was our last night a few of us decided to go out and find it after dinner. It didn’t sound like it was very far and it also doesn’t really get dark until after 9 so after dinner 5 of us set out to find the castle. We were told that we had to climb over a fence and walk though a farmer’s field to get down to the castle but that it would be obvious when that time came. So when we spotted the castle’s silhouette in the sunset we knocked on the door of the house in front of it but nobody came so we just hopped the fence and started walking towards the castle. There were maybe five cows in the field and the all began to stare and then slowly move towards us, which started to get a little intimidating so we slowed down a little, then about 10 or more cows appeared from behind some brush and started moving a little faster towards us. We decided that there had to be another way in so we turned around and climbed out of the fence and went a little further and went over another fence and down a hill, over a small stream, over a gate, ending up in a sheep field (we heard them but it was starting to get too dark to really see them) which is where this castle is located. We were able to walk all through it and up the stairs. We climbed to the very top, but once up there I realized that it was a much farther drop to the bottom than I had thought. We struggled to get good pictures, but I think that Taylor (carrying a SLR) was able to get some. By the time we got back down to the bottom of the castle flashlights were necessary. Instead of going back the way we came we took a dirt road after hopping the gate which eventually brought us back to the same cow pasture from before only this time they didn’t notice us and then we walked back to the Inch House.
Yesterday we came to Belfast after a long day of traveling/touring. The first stop was a short photo break at a castle. Next was Giant’s Causeway, which is this large formation of hexagonal rocks by the ocean. After that a tour of the Old Bushmill’s whiskey distillery including a taste test at the end. Our last tourist stop was at a rope bridge to a little rock island. Then it was an hour and fifteen-minute drive to Belfast. The hostel we are staying at is not the best so it’s a good thing that we are only here three nights. I have to say I’m glad we are on the move again for a little bit, over a week at the Inch House seemed too long.
I don’t know how familiar you are with the Troubles, a time in Northern Ireland beginning in the 1970s and I’m not so sure that they are over yet, but it is different in Northern Ireland. Inch Island is about 5 miles from the border on the Republic of Ireland side and very close to Derry or Londonderry. I also noticed that it just seemed different in Derry (there is also a wall dividing the city) and there is also something different about Belfast. Now this tension that I am sensing here may just be made up of the fear that I have in these cities that something could happen here, but I really think there is something different. To me it seems like these cities are pretty big and that more people should be out on the streets doing things but there aren’t that many people out here.
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