I wanted to love Belfast

I remember hearing about  “The Troubles” 
during college as a young adult;
but honestly my attention span, interests, 
and, let’s face it, hormone levels 
were directed elsewhere.

Coming from a high school that was evenly split between 
Italian mafia Catholics, 
Jewish princesses 
and WASP’s (White Anglo-Saxon protestants), 
it was impossible to imagine not getting along with someone 
because of the religious background of their family.

I remember moments of vividly not liking the Catholics kids in elementary school 
but that was only because they got to leave (public) school early on Wednesday afternoons 
so they could go to ‘parochial class’ 
at the church down the street.

Yes, I would have sold my denominational soul for early dismissal!

I expected to be moved by the murals and the walls demarcating the ‘sides’ of the conflict
 if for no other reason than because I love street art!

And yet, I wasn’t.

I was surprised by the commentary on the hop on/hop off bus 
and how peppered it was with references to ‘them’ and ‘us’.

I was surprised to hear that the schools are STILL segregated 
 and that the sectarian issues they fought over for 30 years 
have merely been glossed over by a thin veneer.

And I was surprised that I was surprised. 
It’s not as if OUR issues with segregation have been adequately addressed, 
let alone resolved.

I was terribly dismayed 
by thoughts about how deeply ingrained ‘tribalism’ is 
all over the world 
and what a waste of energy and effort it takes to maintain our divisions.

I was moved and confused 
by all I don’t know 
about what motivates people and societies 
to identify ‘the other’ as threatening.

Belfast is a city the size of Toledo, Ohio or Newark, NJ; 

a modern, urban, commercial, moderate size city.

It’s main attraction is the ‘Titanic Quarter’, 
a 97 million Pounds, waterfront redevelopment attraction, 
capitalizing on the fact that the ill-fated Titanic was built and launched from their docks.

 An 8 storied building filled with interactive material, 

 interesting ‘facts’ about Irish society at the time 

and pictures that, by now, are familiar to anyone 
who has ever watched “Titanic” or heard Celine Dionne belt out 
“My heart will go on”.

 For anyone who knows me, 

it won’t come as a surprise that the ‘city’ part of our trip to Ireland 
was dragging out too long.

Highlights were "the best burger in Belfast"

 and the oldest bar in Belfast.

 But overall, this country mouse needed to be moving on to open acres!

I was glad we had decided to stay in Bangor – 

 a ‘suburb’ of Belfast about 10 miles east of the city - 
and that we decided to take the train into Belfast for our day of sightseeing.

The transportation was seamless, 
SO much easier than worrying about ‘car parks’, traffic etc. 
and made me wish public transportation was more available in the US.

I wanted to love Belfast; but I didn’t. 

I’m glad I saw it; 
but I was gladder still that our visit was over.

 We were headed ‘up North’ to the sea and the Antrim coast.

The Atlantic Ocean has always  been my North Star – 
and I was finally headed ‘home’.