Orange Day

Today was Orange Day and our host Laura was participating in the parade with her reenactment group so she brought Alex, Erin, and I along to watch the festivities. The big parade was in Antrim where all of the Orange party lodges march through the town with bands and congregate in a field. After everyone arrived in the field they had a Protestant service and plenty of food and it ended with everyone marching back. They did not allow alcohol because they were trying to keep it family friendly but some people most definitely snuck it in.

For those of you who want to know more about the Orange Party click here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_Institution

As we were driving to the parade with horse in tow Laura told us about the violence that is usually associated with this day and about some of the history. She said currently teenagers on both sides (Catholic & Protestant) will text each other to meet up to throw rocks or other items at each other. When the police arrive both sides turn on the police. What a bad idea.

It was interesting to find out that most of the schools in Northern Ireland are segregated and there is a push to try to integrate them but only a small percentage are. We then got into a discussion on religion, it was interesting to hear her viewpoints on religion although I strongly disagree with them. She stated religion should be difficult that is why it is religion and that by it's nature it should be exclusionary and limit you from doing things. She thinks that all of these "new" religions where people can pick and choose what they believe in don't make sense. All of you will be impressed to know that I kept my mouth shut!

After arriving at the parade site we walked around the grounds of the castle of Antrim which was demolished in 1970 but still has beautiful gardens and a river alongside of it.

Then it was parade time! It was very interesting to hear all of the variations on english being spoken, for example when some of the people walked by and they would be talking to each other I would have no idea what they were saying! Alex was having a hard time too because her english is limited so we were having a good time trying to decipher what they were saying.

As the parade was starting and people were lining up I said to Alex & Erin "I bet people are going to litter all over the place at this parade."
As if by magic or just poor manners 3 minutes later a child was eating something that he didn't want next to us and his father told him to just drop it in the ground. I was aghast, but once again I kept my mouth shut! Not looking to get into a brawl while I am here. (:

The parade was very interesting, there were at least 50 lodges represented and each had their own bad from drum bands to flute bands to accordion bands! Laura was surprised to hear that we don't have marching accordion bands in the States. The bands were quite formidable with huge drums that you felt reverbrate through you as the passed by within arms reach.

After the parade when we gathered in the field and sought to find some lunch. I had fries because that was literally the only thing I could eat! I finished it up with doughnuts for dessert. I am sure I will burn it off on my first day of farmwork tomorrow as I am sore from the 3 hours of work yesterday! There were a lot of trucks that said "Ice" on them but apparently that refers to ice cream, not shaved or italian ices. Darn. Also I kept seeing signs that said "Bacon & Sausage Soda." I thought that sounded really gross until Erin informed me that soda stands for bread. haha

The crowd at the gathering was quite an interesting mix with Union Jacks abound. Some people even had it painted on their faces. There seemed to be a lot of young mothers and everyone smokes here! Tattoos are very prevalent as well. There was most definitely some interesting people watching.

Now we are back at the house and the girls are taking a wee nap before we head to the pub. Everyone here uses the word "wee" all the time so I am trying to incorporate it into my vocabulary. I had to explain to Alex what it meant and how Americans use it vs. the English. Today she taught me in french how to say "bless you" and the word for ladybugs. Also she knows french sign language so we have been comparing signs.

Look for the accompanying pics and video on Flickr!