Set of photographs #19

Commentary from Participant

1. This is a war memorial at Carrickfergus Castle [a town on the coast near Belfast]. I love to bring people to this place. I love history.

2. Carrickfergus. I feel like I am on holiday. It is a dream come true.

3. Here are some geese. They come in wintertime here [Canada geese?]. I feed them. I lived in a small village in Romania, but we had rather less to feed the geese there with, less grass. I was feeding the geese when I was studying. The geese are part of the year.

4. This is a community garden [allotment]. I want to grow vegetables. I am going back to growing as I did in Romania. There is both alienation and belonging.

5. This is a beautiful place where I feel joy.

6. This is a park [public park] near me. I have an electric car and I can charge it here and walk in the park and swim. I did not have these opportunities at home.

7. and 8. This is Stormont [the House of Parliament for the Northern Ireland Assembly]. It is a beautiful building.

9. Carrickfergus.

10. The clothes rail in a Charity shop. I love such shops. There is often something amazing. And it is a way of helping other people.

11. This is a Nursing Home. How this place has changed me. A lot of money is invested in parents. At the same time, it is a sad place.

12. This is my greenhouse – a new project.

13. This is the church where I go for Bible Studies. Outside is food collectd to help people during the Covid Lockdown. It is amazing how people help other people.’

‘ I dream of riding a motorbike. I like to be with the Romanian community. I volunteer with them.’

1. ‘I took this picture looking at Belfast from the train, you can see the River Lagan. I have a good feeling when I come into the city. I am a positive person. I was talking to someone who was here when the bad things were happening. He said he felt it on his skin.

2. This building was designed by a famous architect called Lanyon. I like Belfast.

3. This is a picture of women having a drink as part of a tour. In my country women do not sit at bars. I support women.

4. Blank

5, 6, 7 This is a housing estate on the outskirts of Belfast and there are geese on the open grass [see set of photographs # 20].

7,8, 9. This is Hazelbank Park at Greenisland, on the coast north of Belfast, I think is beautiful. When I first came people said then that it was not safe, it was for homosexuals meeting. But I think it is a safe place.’

Participant 12, ‘I understand you. But you don’t have the baggage.’

Tess, ‘Maybe the idea that homosexuals are dangerous is dangerous.’

Participant 12, 'Yes, but years ago some community groups associated homosexuals with pedophiles. I was very shocked at that.’

Participant 26, ‘I made up my own mind about it.’

10. ‘This is a block of flats. They remind me of my own country, there are plenty of these. I am much happier living in a house.

Participant 12, ‘It looks a little bit like Socialist housing buildings in East Germany, no beauty to them.’

Participant 26, ‘It is not so easy to know who is rich and who is poor here. From the outside, the houses look the same, as if everybody is doing well.’

11. This is a church tower in Carrickfergus, many churches.

12. This is a picture I took at night-time. I love nights too. Before, I was not allowed to go out. But now I think it is not dangerous. We lived in Belfast for four years, I did not know it was dangerous. Things happened, explosions. One time a girl came to do graffiti, but the boys made her feel uncomfortable, I felt powerless. I was with my child. I could not leave her. The threw stones after the girl.

13. This is the swimming pool. I started to enjoy the pool after the break-up of my marriage. It was an activity for the children and me, a happy place.

Participant 12, ‘I was swimming in the sea this morning, bliss.’

14. There is a lake beside the swimming pool, it is part of the park. I walk here and it makes me feel different, better.

15. This is a picture of lavender, the herb. It is in a playground near where I live, I combine looking at the flowers with the playground with football. In Romania somebody will always scold you – children here are much freer, sometimes too much so. In Romania I had to listen to my parents. How do you raise children? It is hard to understand how children here have so much power.

16. Carrickfergus. I belong there.

17. The playground [as in 15].

18. This is a park in Belfast. I was so happy, people were able to learn Salsa for free. I feel so much happiness, I love dancing but I had never done Salsa. It is a way to forget your trouble. You get energy, a good vibe, connect to other people from different cultures, men and women. You feel free, brilliant.’

Participant 12, ‘Coming from a different culture, you see women free, taking the lead. It is a great time to be in Northern Ireland.’

Tess, ‘Is there a kind of theme here – how things have changed in Northern Ireland over the years?’

19. ‘This is an old time train [steam locomotive]. It carried my children. It was like travelling in time. There are old trains in Romania, I have bad memories of them, you have to squeeze in, they are not warm. I want to teach my children about the old times, that everything was not always nice, pink [rosy], I teach them to travel in time.

Everything is free here, but there are such long waiting lists [for hospital treatment]. In my country, everything is about money.’

Tess, ‘What about education?’

Participant 12, ‘There are some good and some negative things. If parents don’t have an interest, children suffer. Children who do not go to kindergarten [preschool] struggle. An early start is good, but the testing is not so good. It is so hard to broaden the horizons of the students because of the pressure to study for what might be on the test. Everything is quicker here. German students are older, maybe more mature?'

'I really feel at home here, it is the best of both worlds.’

Summary

Participant 26, ‘When I first came I didn’t know English at all. I have this strange feeling now, I feel at home. I’m happy to come back here. People around me are fine. There is no racism. But sometimes, people don’t look you in the eyes. For example, I have been asked if Romania is a gypsy country. I don’t feel strange because I know who I am. I think is the way you are built to see things – to do with your mentality – I am a positive person. Of course, if somebody did something bad, I could not live here.

If you are coming from a poor country, the opportunities here are such a blessing.

I think everybody is private here. You cannot make friends. I only saw my neighbour’s house after two years. But, in another way, she is my best friend. But people keep their distance.

I have more likes than dislikes. Driving here is safe and respectful. I don’t think I could drive in my own country; people are shouting, they have no patience. I was at Ikea and it was very busy and people had to wait an hour to get out or in. But it was not a bad hour, because people were patient.

The attention and attachment to animals is sometimes too much; you have to put people first.

How older people operate here is also something different – they get their hair done and go for coffee. In my country my mother would not have these chances.

The community centres are great – there are activities for kids and people work without money, volunteering. When I first came I worked as a volunteer in a Charity shop.

There is a sense of solidarity.