Saturday in the City

Today I went into the city again to explore St. George's Market, a large farm market that's open on Fridays and Saturdays, with some of the other girls. It was a great place, and quite lively. I got a bit of tumeric and garam masala spice, ate a savory Moroccan chickpea cake and a croissant, and got a few pieces of turkish delight. There was a lot to see and smell.

Some of the stands at the entrance.

Spices!

Fish!

On our way back through the city we saw a parade in celebration of the Irish language go by.

They were mostly students from various Irish-language schools, and normal people.

Nice end to the week

Spring is, amazingly enough, approaching! In parks and front lawns I can see crocuses starting to come up already. The weather's holding steady around or above the average coolest temperature (43 degrees). I've spent the past few days doing lots of walking.

Some crocuses in the park along Falls Rd.

On Wednesday, I went into the city with Deena for part of the International Students Festival (the first ever for Northern Ireland). The mayor of Belfast came and gave a short speech!

I went grocery shopping on Thursday, and as I got to the parking lot I remembered that because it was Thursday, it was farmers' market day! I treated myself to lots of lovely fruit, and some vegetables. They call zucchinis "courgettes" here... but they taste just as delicious.

Some of my spoils.... yum.

The market.

On Friday I went up to visit Queen's University again with the Dutch and Spanish students. We walked around the campus and the two greenhouses. They're a fun group and it was nice to be out and about.

Bas and Elena in the greenhouse.

Wow

It's hard to believe that I've been here for a little over a month now. I feel very comfortable here now-- I know how to get around and have established some familiar landmarks around the city that I can orient myself with.

I'm also quite proud that I've finally gotten accustomed to their coinage. It's a bit strange: there are pennies (1 pence), 2 pence pieces, 5 pence, 10 pence, 20 pence, 50 pence, one pound coins, and two pound coins. I never thought I'd miss 25 cent coins! But now I can tell them by sight, which makes counting out 1.10 at night in a taxi much easier...

One thing that I'll never take for granted is the sight of the hills around the city of Belfast.

This is what I see every morning when I walk to the college, if it's a clear day.

This is what I see on my way to the grocery store. The hill is even higher when there's no mist.

This Made Me Laugh

Sorry-- I just couldn't resist sharing this comic! Click the image to make it larger, and enjoy.

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