Happy Christmas!
To those who have been bombarded with blog posts over the past few weeks: be merry and be joyful because from tomorrow onwards I will have less time to write… and your mailboxes will not be targeted by new notifications for a while 😀 My jet plane will drop me off somewhere between The Netherlands and France to spend Christmas with my family. Needless to say, I am quite looking forward to it… presents are wrapped, books were chosen to read while resting, phone backed up and synched with new music and suitcase about to be filled. No, not taking 5 pairs of shoes this time, only the one pair of Dr. Martens‘ boots that suit my every style!
Gratitude: a burdening emotion?
What a week in politics, human and animal rights it has been. Palestinians and Israelis were calling each other terrorists among other terms of endearment. Wolves were still being hunted in the US; dolphins had been massacred in the Gulf of Mexico and other niceties in the animal kingdom came to the fore. No, this had not been an easy week for this world. And then there was NYPD officer Larry DePrimo… Humanity. Humility. Goodwill. Empathy. And most of all: simply a good person. He gave a homeless man new socks and shoes when he found him without footwear sitting next to a shoe shop in Times Square.
The dark underbelly of Ireland’s society (part 2)
(Original blog post The dark underbelly of Ireland’s society) Sadly I was not able to find the half-dressed homeless man in town this morning, so the attempt to give him some clothes and food failed. The bag with clothes is still standing here, and hopefully, I will be able to help him someday. This is the street where I have seen him beg before (Henry Street, Dublin) © Willeke Van Eeckhoutte and Ireland, Multiple Sclerosis & Me, 2011-2012. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Willeke Van Eeckhoutte and Ireland, Multiple Sclerosis & Me with appropriate and specific direction to the…
The dark underbelly of Ireland’s society
I love Ireland. Anyone who reads this blog or who knows me personally knows how much I do. Some days, however, like today, I feel ashamed for being a part of a society that lets beggars sit half-naked, without shoes, without pants in the bitter cold on one of the busiest shopping streets of Ireland (Henry Street, just off O’Connell Street). People walking past carry shopping bags of expensive stores without glancing at a man sitting there begging for money, or if they glance, they show contempt: “How dare he sit here like that?!” Perhaps this image does not fit in many people’s reality, but it doesn’t make it a lesser reality because they deny this person’s hardship. If anything, people who show contempt for someone so poor and so…
My mum
Tomorrow I celebrate my 10th anniversary of living in Ireland. Somehow it’s a surreal anniversary, not only because of how time has flown by so fast since the day of my leaving but also because of the strength of some of my dearest family members have shown over the past years, especially my mum. My mum is my best friend, my backbone and my reason d’être. She’s strong despite having lost her first born, her second husband, her dogs and much more. She’s risen like a phoenix from her ashes and every day I am more proud of her. Every day she shows that life goes on, that there is always light at the end of the tunnel and because of that, I love her so much.
The big Irish divide
Last month I finally visited Shankill and Falls Road after taking time out to see “the other part” of Ireland: Belfast in Northern Ireland. I’ve been living on this green island for 10 years now and had been in Belfast on shopping trips before, but had never seen the inner city and the famous Shankill and Falls Road areas. Somehow I felt like I knew a lot about its history already; that this knowledge shaped my idea about the centuries old divide… that was until I saw the areas affected by it. ‘Loyalist‘ or ‘Unionist‘ (those who prefer to stay under the British flag) and ‘Nationalist‘ or ‘Republican‘ (those that want an independent and united Ireland, where Northern Ireland is returned to Ireland) weren’t just words anymore; they became areas,…
Everyone’s an Olympian
After 7 years of waiting, the London 2012 Olympic Games are finally here! Off we go again for another breathtaking 16 days of sport, success and sorrow! I’ve ice cream in the freezer, my couch blanket and caffeine ready to make the most of the coming days. London 2012 was always going to be special to me because I’ve never lived so close to the Games as this year. This may sound funny to you but as a sports fan; I have been looking forward to having the Games to close to my native country as well as my adopted one. Every 4 years the Olympics take over 16 days of my summer calendar and this year it will be a blast. Not only because of the proximity of the…