II + III

II

It is often hard to approach touchy subjects, particularly on social media by the looks of everyone's accounts they don't exist. However, I think that it is important for me to at least try to explain some of the darker history of Northern Ireland. For a long time the population of Northern Ireland has been divided over the contentious issue of nationality. On one side is the unionists, people who wish to remain a part of the United Kingdom. On the other side there are the nationalists, people who want Northern Ireland to join Ireland in the south as an independent country. There was a long period of violent conflict, referred to as "The Troubles" between these two groups starting in the 1960s and only ending in 1998. There were many "flashpoint" areas around the city that were unsafe. Even after the peace agreement, it still remains a sensitive issue. The violence and pain of "The Troubles" are still very much felt by the population; but everyone I have spoken too regardless of their stance on their issue have all been hopeful for peace.

On another much lighter note, this week I had the pleasure of being able to attend "Kidnap Wednesdays. It's one of the social events that NOW Project runs in order to create an open and welcome community for people with learning disabilities. That Wednesday we read a series of poems. Here is one of them:

Who has seen the wind?

Neither I nor you:

But when the leaves hang trembling,

The wind is passing through.

Who has seen the wind?

Neither you nor I:

But when the trees bow down their heads,

The wind is passing by.

- Christina Rossetti

III

I don't have a great intro, so I'll jump into it.

One of the marketing projects that I've started over the past few weeks is a spinoff of Humans of New York, which I titled "HumansOfLoaf". I've basically been interviewing the crowd of people who frequent the cafe as well as some of my coworkers. It's incredibly cool how diverse the set of people that come into the café are. It's situated right next to the Royal Victoria Hospital, one of the largest in Northern Ireland and the "go-to" hospital for any major operations in NI. Thus we often get a lot of visitors from all over NI who stop by. I personally really like when I do HumansOfLoaf because I never know what to expect and I love listening to people's stories. (If you would like to read them, check out Loaf Catering and Cafés Facebook or Instagram)

Here the photo from one of them:

On a side note, I'm glad to see that my research is starting to progress. In addition to working as a marketing research intern here I am also conducting research. My topic is: Buying-in to #BuySocial: Lobbying Northern Irish decisions makers to support social enterprises. It was a question that was super overwhelming when I started on the first day, but I feel as if I understand the social enterprise space of Northern Ireland a lot better now. (Only after reading through a couple hundred pages of government and institutional documents). I never realized how much I kind of miss research. I love jumping into something and seeing a thesis come to life bit by bit before your eyes. I'm hoping that I will be able to gather more data that is specific to the social enterprise I am working in, so that I may use it as some sort of case study.

So now a move from all the work talk. I have discovered the farmers market! It was really lovely and bustling when I went on a Saturday. There was just so much choice in food (paella, seafood, chorizo, cupcakes, falafels). Apparently it just recently has grown in popularity, having experienced a "revival" of sorts. It's interesting to see how the food scene is developing here, I'm looking forward to see how Loaf Café and Bakery will fit into it.

Cheerio, hope your week has been class! (Haha)

#morganzhuo