Northern Irish Delegation Enjoys VB Visit

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Donyale Wright, Staff Writer

On September 26th, I had the opportunity to go on a field trip with the lovely Northern Ireland delegation.  We had went to the Virginia Beach Aquarium, the Museum of Contemporary Arts (MOCA), and had a delightful lunch at Watermen’s Restaurant.

On the bus, I learned about the Northern Irish girls’ home life.  They like the weather here, but prefer the McDonald’s from home.  Maiyah Alexander and I found this second part pretty hilarious.

When we arrived at the aquarium, the girls were in awe!  “Its way bigger than the one in Northern Ireland” Niam Hembo had said.  “And you have more animals!”

The girls had also found the MOCA pretty interesting.  We learned about the different types of modern art and where the artists had gotten their inspiration from.  One interesting piece involved a fox caught in a trap.  Instead of trying to free its leg from the trap, it was biting its free leg, which had a ring on it.  The story behind this is that the author was trapped in a marriage that she wasn’t comfortable in, and creating that piece of art is what kept her sane.  

After lunch, Maiyah and I had took a few of the girls to Ben & Jerry’s and they were in love!  “My favorite is the fish food!” Niam had told me.  At first I was perplexed, but then she told me that it was just a certain flavor of ice cream with other toppings mixed in it.  Everybody had found that amusing!

Sadly, the girls flew back home on September 30th.  “We shall meet again soon!” Niam and Rachel Totten had told me, whom I had become good friends with.  It was so nice getting to know them all and learning about their culture and daily lifestyle.

Photo courtesy of writer.