wee bit

I just have a wee* bit of my trip left, and I'm sad! It has flown by, I knew it would. I take off for CO Saturday morning. I have one more day at work and one more night in Belfast.

*wee: little (the word I'm thinking I will adopt into my regular language)
Another cool thing they have in Belfast is the traffic lights. While in the States we have the lights go from green-yellow-red, here they also have it go from red-yellow-green. I love it! I think its genius. Give the driver a little warning that it will be a green light soon. I think it keeps traffic moving and is just such a smart idea.

Anyways, this week has gone really quickly, I didn't realize I hadn't written since Sunday! Monday our office had a team building day and traveled by train to Dublin. What was supposed to be a 2 hour journey turned into almost 4. We met at 7:30am for the 8:00 train. After about 30 minutes they informed us that we would need to get off the train early and load onto busses for a portion of the journey. Apparently an earlier train crashed into an abandoned car left on the tracks. The tracks were still blocked so we had to take the bus. After about an hour on the bus we loaded back onto a train, but it wasn't the express train. We were packed into the commuter train like sardines, standing for the next two hours. A lot of people were unhappy but it wasn't terrible, it was fun to talk with other commuters and hear their recommendations for Dublin.

We finally arrived in Dublin and headed to the Guinness factory for a tour. It was really interesting to see how the beer is made, see each raw ingredient, and watch them do the perfect pour. You got a free sample of it too, which I tried and thought was disgusting! But there's no other place to try it!

After lunch we took the train back to Belfast where we parted ways. I spent the evening with Natalie and her boyfriend, Andrew. We headed to dinner at a pizza place. It was fun to meet Natalie's boyfriend since I had heard a lot about him from her but hadn't met him yet. He's really sweet and it was fun talking to them because they are really involved in their local church. They have both been youth leaders and told me stories about volunteering and running youth programs.

Tuesday was the first work day of the week. This week I have worked on analyzing the phone bills (exciting stuff!) and sitting in on more meetings with data programmers. I have learned a lot but have really enjoyed being assigned some projects so I can contribute to the company and have tangible work to complete. Andy and I have had a great time sharing an office and keeping the mood light at work!

Tuesday night I went to see a movie and get Chinese food with my flatmate, Cara. We have gotten along so well it has been so fun living with her and Steven. They are both so sweet, I'm so thankful for the time I have with them.

Wednesday night the boys (and Natalie for a little bit) took me out to a local pub to experience a little bit of Belfast nightlife. It was a blast! I had a great time getting to know the guys outside of work and see what a regular night would be for them. There was live music at the pub which was really fun to experience as well. I talked with one of the performers which was neat as well. He sang some Irish folk-ish songs and jammed out on his guitar! Great fun.

Today I had the opportunity to take a break from work and visit the Titanic quarter. The Titanic was built in a shipyard in Belfast. It is actually just about 5 minutes down the road from where NiSoft is. Chris took me there for a cup of coffee and walk around the dry dock and pump room where it was built. It was cool to see exactly how big the ship was. They had a replica of a piece of the boat and showed where that piece would have been on the boat. That really showed how large it was. We watched a short film on the construction of the Titanic as well. Just down the street are the Samson and Goliath cranes used by Harlem and Walsh (H&W) for boat construction. It was neat to have a small history lesson.

After work I fell asleep on my bed for two hours, I was so exhausted! I can feel the constant fast-pace of this past week catching up with me. It felt so good to sleep. I am actually headed to bed now too.....Goodnight!