A wee bit of this and a wee bit of that

The statue is of C. S. Lewis and the wardrobe that he writes about in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. I will write more about him because he will get his own post seeing as this is where he grew up! Oh and if you didn't know this already I am a huge fan of his work, particularly his Narnia series.
On Thursday afternoon, I get the opportunity to go to Victoria Primary, which is what we would call an elementary school with sixth graders, included depending on their age. I help with homework club, which allows them to get homework done with other kids around, so they don't feel like they are the only ones that have to do it. It also gives them the opportunity to ask questions to people whose main concern is helping them finish and understand it and don't have other tasks right at that moment. That relieves the stress of the parents and gives them less headaches hopefully. Last Thursday, one of the kids told me that he has visited America on holiday. I asked where in the US and he asked me if I knew where Walmart was. I told him after I stopped giggling, that giving me Walmart as a location was like telling me he visited TESCO (a local supermarket chain). The kids thought that was pretty funny. I then assumed he went to Florida, which I have found that is where a good amount of  people from Northern Ireland go when they go on holiday to the US. He had gone to Florida, I found out later.

Drop-in is a Friday night activity where local youth can come to the church hall and play ping-pong, play Wii, use the laptops, grab a soda and sweets, and just talk. Correction: our drop-in is on a Friday night but they can be held any night. I was anxious my first Friday and felt really awkward adding myself to the mix and trying to start conversations when they were playing a game so intensely. This past Friday though I was much more comfortable and really enjoyed it. The highlight of the night though was when I saw one of the girls from the homework club. She is a P7 which basically means that she has this year and then she enters secondary school. So she was the youngest one there and did not know anyone there except me. She reminded me of myself the previous week, so I invited her to play wii bowling with me and then I had her come with me and sit where some other girls were sitting. I didn't know the other girls but because I was from the US and generally interested in what they had to say they were very interested in talking to me and equally included the girl in our conversations. I thought about it later how my insecurities were later used to help identify another girl who was new and helped her make friends. That moment was another reminder of why I am here and certainly will remind me when I don't feel up to something, that what I do can have an impact on others whether good or bad.

Word of the Week: Bap is what people in the US would call a hamburger or sandwich bun

The little things that I love

Since there is so much to discuss about Belfast and what I am doing here, I will keep the next couple of posts dedicated to the different parts of my week.  So it is only fair that I give each type of group I work with, their own post.

On Wednesday and Friday mornings, I work with Strand Playgroup. Playgroup is for children age 2 1/2 to 4 years old. They meet from 9:15am to 12pm. I work with two other ladies there and have an absolute blast. When they first come in, they get an hour of free time which includes playing with sand or water, painting, coloring, jigsaw puzzles, playdough or reading. They then have snack time which consists of toast with fruit and either milk or water. They get singing time next and then race around a gym-like room that is called a hall. They have trikes and cars and a slide so they can be a little more active. Story-time is the last thing that they do before they leave. I have absolutely loved being a part of this group of 16 children. I have been able to learn a little Polish because one of the children is Polish. The children are so attentive and ready to play and learn. It has been a highlight for my mornings and seems to keep me energized.

On a totally different note, I was able to go to Ballymena on Saturday with the Presbyterian Women (PW). By the way, most things in Belfast seem to get an acronym and I might start to do that also in this blog because I think its somewhat contagious. So just comment on an acronym if I don't explain it. Anyway, I took a coach (really nice bus) with the women involved in PW to do what I found out would be shopping. It turned out to be a beautiful day, though while we were waiting for the coach it was raining. The women were fantastic and extremely funny. I felt as if I was on a bus with the Golden Girls and some of the women off of the British sitcoms. They provided entertainment on the 45 minute ride back to Belfast by doing a fashion show down the aisle of the coach, with the items that they bought that day. One woman read a couple of funny sayings that had been on church signs.

The picture is an example of some of the newer murals that have been put up and it is my favorite of the murals that I have seen. The mural stands on the outside wall of the post office and directly adjacent to that post office is a local bakery. After the bakery is Strand Presbyterian Church, where playgroup is held. It is the brick building behind the mural in the picture. Oh and the bakery is quite amazing. I have to make a somewhat large breakfast after I run in the mornings that I go to playgroup because I might tend to gorge myself on their delicious scones.

Blooper of the Week: People in Belfast refer to time differently than in the US and very rarely say the actually numbers. They say half-nine or quarter past three and now I fully understand and don't have to translate in my head what that means. The first time I heard it though, I just assumed that I knew what time they meant and had to wait an extra 25 minutes because I was early.

Word of the Week: Mizzly which is a hybrid of drizzling and misty and has become one of my favorite words. That's good too because it is often mizzly in Northern Ireland and I had the benefit to experience it today.

P.S. I like mail... so feel free to send some, I can definitely give you my address friends!!!

Settling In

I have been in Belfast for more than a week now and have really enjoyed it. We just finished orientation on Tuesday and I started work on Wednesday. I am working at two great places. They are Strand Presbyterian Church and East Belfast Mission. Both places are dedicated to reaching out and being a vital presence in the community of East Belfast. The only major obstacle at this point is scheduling, mostly because I want to be at both places at once and they wouldn't mind that either. I have noticed both sites changing and growing to accommodate the community at-large. I will give you a better idea of what is going on each site (AKA what I will be doing) when I have a more "concrete" schedule. I put that in quotes because from what I can tell, my job will be changing also, to accommodate the needs of the sites and the community.

I am living with a girl named Patricia, who is from Jacksonville, Florida. She is working at Garnerville Presbyterian Church. She and I have gotten along quite well and seem to be quickly becoming good friends. The other Young Adult Volunteers are scattered throughout Belfast.

BLOOPER of the week: Pants are called trousers in Northern Ireland and when you mention pants, you are referring to underwear. I mentioned at one point last week that I wasn't going to change my pants when I meant to say trousers, naturally laughter ensued. 

WORD of the week: Braces- what people in the US call suspenders (to hold up trousers)

From across the pond

Well,
I'm here, more on that later.