Now what?

KEEP EXPLORING! The more you read-up on the cities you will be visiting, the more you will get out of your time abroad! Remember to bounce back to Module 1 and Module 2 of this online pre-departure information any time.

Here are a few more helpful resources for the cities you will be visiting soon!

Belfast

In the not-too-distant past, Belfast was synonymous with internal strife, division, and the ugliest parts of the separation of Ireland from the United Kingdom. The city has made a remarkable transformation in recent years and now, the capital of Northern Ireland is home to seemingly innumerable restaurants, bars, shops, and attractions for nearly any kind of visitor. The murals and fenced-off neighborhoods found throughout the city remain to tell the story of a different time and a people tragically divided.

Derry/Londonderry

Officially ‘Londonderry,’ this city is the second largest in Northern Ireland and a critical location for the resurgence of Northern Irish cultural identity. Like Belfast, Derry was also a major center of political strife and violence in the second half of the twentieth century and many historians point to the city as the starting point for the conflict between separatists and unionists that would become known as “The Troubles” which, incidentally, provide the city with it’s contentiously split name. For the past twenty years, Derry has been rising steadily as a point of cultural interest in Northern Ireland and, in 2013, the city was awarded the first ever title of “UK City of Culture.”