Time to put away the winter jackets?

'Bout ye ? And I reply cheekily with, 'just trying to plan the rest of my life'. There goes the conversation that I have had recently with quite a bit of people. I sincerely apologize for my lack of writing the last 2 months, it has put me to shame. Forthwith, I will try to provide a couple extra posts in the next wee couple of days to assuage any readers that might have felt slightly abandoned. Or sure because I have been gone for so long I have so much to write. You might not want to read anymore after I have written all that I can write!

So since I last wrote, I have celebrated both St. Paddy's Day and Easter in the months of March and April. I have been able to spend time with my mom and aunt here in Belfast and was able to travel with them and another YAV. It has been very busy!

St. Paddy's was quite interesting for me in Northern Ireland. While it is a Bank Holiday here, in East Belfast it was very hard to recognize it. While catholic schools were off for the day, the integrated (both catholic and protestant attending) schools either had a half day or were off and the protestant schools did not have it off. I had to work that morning and early afternoon before going to celebrate with some of the other volunteers in the city centre. As I was walking to work wearing a green scarf I realized I would probably be one of the few wearing green around East Belfast, however when I arrived in city centre I was bombarded with people wearing the tricolour flag as a cape. I also witnessed lots of green sequined cowboy hats. There was a very jovial atmosphere about. I was happy to run into some people from East Belfast knowing that they were also celebrating.

I was able to celebrate holy week with my mom and aunt in Ireland and London. They were able to see some sights and experience the hospitality of Belfast, while also getting to travel with me. It was really nice for me to introduce them to the people I work with and the kids I work with. The kids still ask me if my mom and aunt are going to come back and visit soon.

There are so many traveling stories so instead of me telling a couple on here, when I get back to the States in August we can hang out and trade stories. There are definitely some brilliant ones but are much better told in person.

Cheers,

Sally