In just 26 short days, I will board a flight to Dublin, Ireland. That’s right, thanks to your generous support, I have made the 40% deadline needed to leave on this trip! Praise God! There’s still money to be raised, however, as I am not at my full 100% goal. If you feel it in your heart to still donate to me, or perhaps donate again, simply click the support me tab to the left or visit any Bank of America!
My brother and teammate, Paul Iwanaga, posted this on his blog and I wanted to share it with you. It is a great video showcasing Ireland, the country where I, along with all fellow World Racers, will begin our 11-month adventure. I’m also including a wonderful list of some facts about Ireland that fellow World Racer Katie McFaddin put together, also to educate us all on this wonderful country.
1) The Irish tricolor flag, created in 1848, was designed to reflect the country’s political realities. Orange stands for Irish Protestants, green for Irish Catholics and the white stripe for the hope that peace might eventually be reached between them.
2) A bizarre Irish birthday tradition is to lift the birthday child upside down and give his head a few gentle bumps on the floor for good luck. The number of bumps should allegedly correspond to the child’s age plus one.
3) Irish, or Irish Gaelic (a Celtic language), is the country’s first official language and is taught in schools, but few native speakers remain. English is the second official language and more common.
4) In 1859, Irish scientist John Tyndall was the first to correctly explain why the sky is blue.
5) Ireland ranks towards the top of the European lists in reference to teenage suicide, pregnancy, drinking, smoking, and unwed mother rates. Cocaine and heroin use is rapidly on the rise amongst all socio-economic levels, and divorce (previously illegal until 1997) is a new issue for families to adjust to, with a 70% increase over just four years.
6) Forty percent of the Irish population is under the age of twenty-five, and sixty percent is under age forty. Construction, employment and immigration rapidly changed Ireland in 15 years into a cosmopolitan nation. The main work industries in Ireland are related to mining, brewing, textiles, food products, clothing; chemicals, pharmaceuticals; machinery, rail transportation equipment, passenger and commercial vehicles, ship construction and refurbishment; glass and crystal; software, tourism.
7) Ireland is rich in natural resources including zinc, lead, natural gas, barite, copper, gypsum, limestone, dolomite, peat and silver. Ireland produces turnips, barley, potatoes, sugar beets, wheat; beef and dairy products.
8) Although official statistics vary due to difficulties in monitoring movement within the open-bordered. European Union, estimates for the number of Eastern Europeans – mostly Poles – living in Ireland range from 150,000 to 300,000. Since the mid-1990s Ireland also accepted an estimated 30,000 asylum seekers, especially from Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country.
9) Parts of north Dublin, chiefly Parnell Street and nearby Capel Street, are developing into the country’s first Chinatown.
10) In AD 432, St. Patrick from Britain is one of the earliest Christian missionaries traveling abroad. He was captured by Irish raiders at the age of 14 from Britain, and enslaved in Ireland for 6 years before escaping back home. He became ordained as a bishop in Britain and returned to preach in Ireland. He was self-conscious about his writing skills.
11) The tune of the “Star Spangled Banner” was composed by the great blind harper Turlough O’Carolan, who died about 35 years before the American Revolution.
2) A bizarre Irish birthday tradition is to lift the birthday child upside down and give his head a few gentle bumps on the floor for good luck. The number of bumps should allegedly correspond to the child’s age plus one.
3) Irish, or Irish Gaelic (a Celtic language), is the country’s first official language and is taught in schools, but few native speakers remain. English is the second official language and more common.
4) In 1859, Irish scientist John Tyndall was the first to correctly explain why the sky is blue.
5) Ireland ranks towards the top of the European lists in reference to teenage suicide, pregnancy, drinking, smoking, and unwed mother rates. Cocaine and heroin use is rapidly on the rise amongst all socio-economic levels, and divorce (previously illegal until 1997) is a new issue for families to adjust to, with a 70% increase over just four years.
6) Forty percent of the Irish population is under the age of twenty-five, and sixty percent is under age forty. Construction, employment and immigration rapidly changed Ireland in 15 years into a cosmopolitan nation. The main work industries in Ireland are related to mining, brewing, textiles, food products, clothing; chemicals, pharmaceuticals; machinery, rail transportation equipment, passenger and commercial vehicles, ship construction and refurbishment; glass and crystal; software, tourism.
7) Ireland is rich in natural resources including zinc, lead, natural gas, barite, copper, gypsum, limestone, dolomite, peat and silver. Ireland produces turnips, barley, potatoes, sugar beets, wheat; beef and dairy products.
8) Although official statistics vary due to difficulties in monitoring movement within the open-bordered. European Union, estimates for the number of Eastern Europeans – mostly Poles – living in Ireland range from 150,000 to 300,000. Since the mid-1990s Ireland also accepted an estimated 30,000 asylum seekers, especially from Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country.
9) Parts of north Dublin, chiefly Parnell Street and nearby Capel Street, are developing into the country’s first Chinatown.
10) In AD 432, St. Patrick from Britain is one of the earliest Christian missionaries traveling abroad. He was captured by Irish raiders at the age of 14 from Britain, and enslaved in Ireland for 6 years before escaping back home. He became ordained as a bishop in Britain and returned to preach in Ireland. He was self-conscious about his writing skills.
11) The tune of the “Star Spangled Banner” was composed by the great blind harper Turlough O’Carolan, who died about 35 years before the American Revolution.
