On Today’s Episode of Betsey Discovers Her Irish Heritage…

We’re in Northern Ireland trying to understand the situation my friend Hermès ran away from.

So far… it looks like a shitshow. Not exactly a sexy charity calendar, is it? No. No it is not. That being said, I still think my calendar pitch has some potential. If I was him, I would definitely flee to Thailand too.

First I re-watched a mini doc on Al Jazeera about the Europa Hotel in Belfast, which was a journalist holdout during The Troubles. It sustained many bombings in the 70’s and 80’s. There was plenty of footage from that era thanks to the heavy journalist presence at the hotel.

I chose to watch that doc as a quick background for everything that happened before he was born. This guy is my age, so I needed to speedrun that era so I could get to the modern day. I am familiar enough with that part of history because I watched Derry Girls and did a bunch of research while watching,

I took a break after that one because it’s a lot. It’s a lot! It’s totally fucked, in fact. Definitely not a joke. I’m an asshole. I admit this.

Later I went through the list of recommended documentaries on that video in search of something about the modern day. I found one from this year. It’s called “Northern Ireland: The IRA Resurgence.” It’s focused on how the various paramilitary groups on both sides are targeting children and teenagers and grooming them to become gang members. In the U.S., we call them child soldiers.

This is what happened to my friend. This is why I was struggling to understand what I was reading about him on Google. I could not reconcile what I was reading with the person that I met. This is a different person than the one featured in these articles from over a decade ago.

Maybe. Then again, I don’t know. What do I know? Nothing. I know he gave me bad info about my Hot Beef Stew and completely misled me about his identity, but I can understand why. I’m sure the Hot Beef Stew in question does not want me to know who he is. It’s fine. In my mind, I’ve already reconciled this.

He did, however, give me good info about visas in Thailand and coached me through my immigration detainment, so… I guess it just depends what the situation is, right?

The only way to really know is to ask him directly. I have requested a proper interview with him, but I recognize it may take time for this to manifest.

Now I have started a new documentary called “Northern Ireland: A Legacy of Division.” This one focuses more on the political and economic situation in the modern day. I had no idea it was still so segregated and divided by literal walls. Insanity!

I know nothing about the world. Nothing. The more I travel, the more I realize… I know absolutely goddamn nothing about anything. It’s fine. I’m here to learn. That’s my job.

Jeez, all of this is so depressing. I can’t wait to get to the part where I just get to sit down and eat stew and listen to the faerie tales. Looks like it’s gonna be awhile before we get to that part…