After breakfast we went with Billy to Shankill Road and Falls Road. Billy lived on Shankill road growing up and experienced the violence that took place between the Protestants (UVF) and Catholics (IRA). His father was involved in the UVF and Billy experienced first hand the fear of living in a place where everyday people were being brutally killed by bombs and other terrorist activities. Billy first took us through Shankill Road to show us the murals that have been painted to show the history of the conflicts as well as memorialize those who died for the cause. Billy told us when we got out of the van to be careful because last year the group from JBU was stoned while walking around - simply because the people living there are just full of hate and animosity. There are many Protestant churches in Ireland that have been abandoned or turned into Muslim churches, which is the largest growing religion in Ireland.
We passed by an abandoned church near Shankill Road where a couple of kids who walked by and looked a little rough who picked up large stones and began throwing them at the church, this made our group really nervous, but luckily we were not harmed. Over at the Falls Road there were Catholic murals as well as a memorial to the young Catholics who died. Over 50% of the deaths caused in this struggle took place in the small block of Belfast where Shankill and Falls Road create a boundary. In the afternoon we passed by a fish and chips shop called Beatties where Billy grew up eating at. He bought us chips to share and they were awesome. They came wrapped in paper.
That night Andrew, Kelsey, Phil and I spent many hours playing the card game called Spades.
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