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Ulster Project
"Special Delivery: Local Teens Welcome Excited Irish Students," Arlington Morning News, June 29, 1999, A1.
By WILL POTTER
Shoulders slumped, mouths gaped and a wave of sighs flooded a waiting area at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport when 16 Arlington teenagers learned they had to wait 30 more minutes to see their new brothers and sisters.
But in the end, they said the wait was worth it.
The teens are participants in the Ulster Project, a 25-year-old program that brings teens from war-torn Northern Ireland to lives with a host family in the United States.
At 7:23 p.m., 16 Irish teens arrived at Gate 15 to screams and cheers from their American counterparts. The Arlington group, all wearing red Ulster Project T-shirts, lined the walls of the reception gate. Many held hands and bounced up and down in excitement.
"I'm so excited I think I'm gonna puke," Miranda Davies, 15, jokingly told two friends.
The Irish teens, who had been traveling nearly 24 hours, were somewhat shocked by their rowdy reception.
"We heard all that screaming and didn't know what to expect," said Finvola Kelly, 15. "Right now I'm really excited, so I'm not very tired."
Although she hadn't slept for 39 hours, Jill Henderson was wide awake to hug her new friends and host family.
"Walking up the ramp to all the screaming and cheering was wonderful," the 14-year-old said. "It was absolutely brilliant."
Danielle Landry, an Arlington 15-year-old, said she had butterflies in her stomach before meeting her new Irish friends, particularly Finvola, who will live with Danielle and her family.
"I'm going to spend the rest of the summer devoted to this girl," Danielle said.
The Arlington teens have spent the last month writing letters, making phone calls and preparing for the arrival of their Irish friends.
So when arrival time approached, two teens grabbed the Ulster Project flag, while others found their homemade welcome signs.
Some teens also gathered the gifts they brought for their new Irish friends.
Kristen Parsley, 14, held a set of three Beanie Babies. Erin, the green bear with a shamrock, symbolized her Irish friend, she said. A red, white and blue bear represented Kristen. And the third, a small praying bear, represented hope.
"I have no idea what to expect," she said. "It may be weird at first, but by the end of this month we'll be very close."
