Chicago!

Hey,

So, I'm aware it's been a very long time since I last posted but I am, I admit, a lazy writer and haven't really had a lot of inspiration so, I'm really sorry about that.

Last week marked the end of one of the most amazing experiences of my life. On the 10th December 2011, I was accepted, along with 6 other 17 year old's on the trip of a life time.

Every 2 years, the Rotary Club of Belfast send 6 teenagers halfway around the world to the beautiful city of Chicago. They spend 10 days taking part in an official programme organised by the Rotary club of Highland Park meeting with amazing people and government officials who have had their own trails and tribulations. The purpose of this trip is conflict resolution. Northern Ireland has a long history of violence and this trip was created in 1992 to give teenagers a chance to see what other conflicts are happening and also an insight into how they can better their own communities when they return home. The best part is you don't just stay in a hotel, oh no, you are paired up with an American student who traveled with 6 of their peers the year before to Northern Ireland to take part in a similar experience.

The Chicago Skyline

Before we embarked on our journey we heard from the students that traveled there 2 years before about how this trip was going to change us and how is was indescribable. Of course we didn't believe them, I mean we knew that it was going to be good but how amazing can it really be? We were completely wrong. This trip was amazing, the places we seen, the people we met and the stories we heard changed us all for the better. We visited so many places (and we were so exhausted by the end) we met the mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emmanuel, we visited a navy base, two high schools and on our free day our hosts took us to a Cubs game(amazing hot dogs, amazing atmosphere) and too many places to list.

The best part was we not only got to experience the city as a whole but by staying with teenagers our age we also got to fully immerse ourselves in the culture. Every evening was spent getting to know our host siblings and hanging out with all the other American students and each other and making memories and friendships along the way. It was truly heartbreaking having to leave at the end of 10 days and saying goodbye to all these people that we had made such strong connections with (seriously the amount of tears shed could fill the Irish sea).

However, the experience was not over for us yet, two weeks ago we met 6 more American students. For the next 10 days they would be hosted by us. We would get to impart the wisdom we learnt while on their soil, we got to immerse them in our culture, our food and our slang (it was so funny seeing their reactions to this). Sadly, unlike when we were in Chicago, we did not all live in the same area so we didn't get to hang out with each other as much as we'd hoped but we still made an effort to establish the same connections we had made the year before. Last Friday was another sad goodbye and it was even worse because the 5 other students and I were not only saying goodbye to 6 new friends but we were also saying goodbye to this programme and we were now going to have to get back to normality and move on. 

I will, however, never forget the people I met and the memories I made and hopefully I can use these experiences later on in my life.

Until next time 

Erin