P2P Day 7: Road to Peace Leads to Belfast, Ireland

The leaders started posting a lot more photos since they arrived in Belfast. I'm guessing the big city has Internet.

It's been fun to see photos from the last few days.

There are pics of puppies from the sheepdog training place, and photos from the sheep shearing, from (what I think is Stirling Castle) and also a great group shot with Nessie in the background.

Despite having Internet, I didn't hear from my kid today.

Parliament

I'm guessing there was plenty of fun happening at the hotel because she was on social media (I saw her liking posts on Instagram) but no messages for me. Well, one. She sent this note to her friends who commented back and eventually passed it along to me. Her friend Louis, who supports a football club in Doncaster, loved the pic.

She also sent some silly pics of her as a ginger (Katie loves gingers) and with her new P2P friends. I love the candid shots; you can see them below.

They went to Parliament (in Ireland) today and learned how government works. Tomorrow there will be some physical adventure. Should get some great photos then.

From the People to People Itinerary

This morning, make your way to the ferry port where your ferry will take you across the Irish Sea to Belfast, Northern Ireland.

The Road to Peace

Discover the capital city of Belfast with your professional Blue Badge Guide. Learn how the city suffered during the period known as 'TheTroubles' but has latterly undergone a period of calmness and economic growth. See the dry dock at the Harland and Wolff shipyard where the infamous ocean line Titanic was built.

The Road to Peace. Learn the history of The Troubles in Northern Ireland - why they started, the effect they had on the people of Northern Ireland and how this has changed for the better since the signing of the Good FridayAgreement. You will also have the opportunity to meet with locals and discuss how this period influenced their childhoods.

The Road to Peace

The Titanic Museum

P2P Celtic Cultures - Please Help Me Get Through the Next 24 Hours

Is this half done or half un-done?

This is always the worst time. This is why Xanax was made. This is how you separate the wheat from the chaff. See - I'm already using metaphors that make no sense. That's how fragile I am.

We have to leave this house at 4:30 tomorrow morning to drive 90 minutes to San Francisco, find airport parking, check her in (checked bag required), get her through security and then I start praying. Praying she doesn't diddle around at the gate and miss the flight to Chicago where she meets up with the Ventura/Santa Barbara delegation and the Wyoming delegation. In Chicago she becomes Ray's problem (her Leader) and I can start breathing again.

Seriously? I ate Taco Bell!

But, back the truck up because it's just 2:56pm the day before and she's having her last lunch with her good friend Ariana. They are dining at a restaurant my brain says I can't afford. Hmmm, how did that happen? Then she has to come home and finish packing. Despite what she thinks, I will be supervising because I let go last year and well this happened (see last paragraph).

I live in fear of what she might forget this year.

My other favorite part of today is getting everything ready for me - because I'll be stopping at a client on the way back home and putting in a full work day tomorrow - so I need to get everything done right now so I'm good to go.

Oh god, there's no telling how great I'm going to look early tomorrow morning. Let's just say, it won't be pretty.

And you know how sleep will go tonight. Just like it does before tests and interviews: you really don't sleep, you kind of twilight yourself through the hours, checking and rechecking the clock convinced you will oversleep and miss the plane. Ug! One time we actually just stayed up all night. They wanted us at the airport at 4am (a joke, there's no one there, it was WAY too early) yet we play by the People to People rules. At least she's on her own for this leg of the flight so if I get there a little late, I won't be shamed.

I'll begin trip blogging tomorrow. The itinerary looks so cool. Their first stop: Scotland!

Day 4: Wrapping Things Up with Presentations and JSA Graduation (and a Little Nostalgia)

Heard briefly from Katie last night. They were scrambling on their projects. I asked for a photo and the clever child sent me a picture of nothing. Yeah. Apparently they hadn't gotten very far. I told her to make Emelia do the talking but she said Emelia was on another team. Hopefully Em had a better project - maybe something photo-worthy.

Today the running around will be kept to a minimum.

No travel to Sacramento but they will be finishing their projects and presenting to one another. I wonder if Emelia will be a speaker! She's such an introvert (so's Katie but she can bite the bullet and get by - especially if she knows her content).

UC Davis - this place is the bomb.

I love that they have to walk over to Wellman every day. In the photo above, the yellow arrow near the top is the dorm, Bixby and the dining commons is just below that. The yellow arrow in the middle is Wellman. That's near the Quad and takes them into the heart of the campus. I don't know if it was intentional, but it sure must have made it feel more like they were college students.

Let's be clear, as a liberal arts undergrad, this is the only part of campus that mattered. All my classes were either in Olson or Young - both off the Quad. Sure there are some science buildings lying around and viticulture is way up by Mrak Hall now, but as long as you had the dorms, Quad, Coffee House and the MU (where hours of All My Children and General Hospital were watched in a dark basement TV room with at least a hundred viewers watching Jenny and Greg, Jessie and Angie and Luke and Laura), you were set. That's food, sun, drama, parties and sleep. Was there more going on in college?

Oh crap, but this isn't about me!

I pick them up around 2ish. I wonder if they made some new friends!?

The agenda for today:

Time	Activity
8:00 am	Check Out – Your floor
8:30 am – 9:00 am	Breakfast – Segundo Dining Commons
9:00 am – 10:30 am	Work on Group Project – Bixby Lounge
10:30 am – 12:00 pm	Presentation of Group Projects – Wellman 106
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm	Pizza Lunch – Wellman 106
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm	Evaluations / Thank You Letters – Wellman 106
2:00 pm – 2:45 pm	Closing Session – Wellman 106

Something Different: Junior Statesmen California Institute on Leadership and Politics

Did I mention, that's my old dorm!?!

Katie and Emelia started a new adventure today.

This is the first time, ever, that Katie has gone on one of these adventures with a friend. Emelia is actually a neighborhood friend who lives close and is nearly the same age as Katie (her birthday is the day after Katie's) so they mesh together really nicely.

The Institute is at UC Davis, my old alma mater, and they are staying in the Bixby dorms - my old dorm! It was awesome going back to the building and watching them get all excited about setting up their temporary home. 

The dorms, built in 1962 (ironically the year I was born) look the same with a few tiny upgrades (or distractions depending on how you look at it - they really messed up how the beds fit in the rooms with the addition of new heaters in front of the windows). 

Unbeknownst to me, Katie packed dorm decorations and a fan ("In case it gets hot mom") and so she had plenty to do upon arrival. I got them there nice and early so they had plenty of time to nest.

I don't know, do they look happy?

I hope they have a terrific time. It's going to go pretty quickly; I pick them up on Wednesday afternoon. If they have a good JSA experience, they can join local clubs at their high schools and attend more events in the future. Not familiar with JSA? From their website:

     The mission of the Junior State of America and the Junior Statesmen Foundation (JSA) is to strengthen American democracy by educating and preparing high school students for life-long involvement and responsible leadership in a democratic society. 

  In the student-run Junior State and at JSA summer schools and summer institutes, participants learn statesmanship as they engage in political discourse. They cultivate democratic leadership skills, challenge one another to think critically, advocate their own opinions, develop respect for opposing views and learn to rise above self-interest to promote the public good.

Here's the day's agenda: 

Time	Activity
9:00 am – 11:30 am	Registration – Segundo Service Center
11:30 am – 12:30 pm	Opening Session - Wellman 106
12:30 pm – 2:00 pm	Lunch – Segundo Dining Commons
2:00 pm – 3:30 pm	Project Citizen Workshop – Bixby Hall Lounge
3:30 pm – 5:00 pm	Group Project Planning – Bixby Hall Lounge
5:00 pm – 7:00 pm	Dinner – Segundo Dining Commons
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm	Documentary/Discussion – Wellman 106
9:00pm - 10:00 pm	Free time / Work on Group Project
10:00 pm	Floor Meeting
11:00 pm	Curfew

Katie already decorating in her mind.

Emelia looking for the bathroom.