A few pictures of my time in Donegal

Yeat's Grave in County Sligo, I recited one of his poems while staring at his grave and basically stood in awe. His grave is among others and is not encased by itself like a shrine. One of the other gravestones cited the person's name and that he fell asleep, rather than saying he died on such date. I thought it quite interesting and unusual, mind you I haven't visited too many cemeteries.
Wool! And a spinning wheel of course.
One of the few places left that does this by hand
Donegal's crest

Its Just an Ordinary Day

As I have been settling in Belfast, it has come to my attention on how much I rely on routine. It came up because of the lack of routine I can now rely on. I think that I have needed that though. We all can have trouble reacting to change. I was ready for change of atmosphere but then was not prepared for the constant change within my environment. I will also experiencing with both congregations that I work with, the tearing down of their churches and facilities. This will happen right after Christmas. I will discuss later the magnitude of this for both congregations as they will have times to celebrate and remember the times shared in those buildings. It will always keep me guessing and never complacent hopefully. Well, since I work with two very different places, I thought to show 2 days in the life of a YAV in East Belfast. This post will be one of those days.

Tuesday

7:00-745am run around East Belfast normally running part of the greenway which is a 7-mile pathway of greenery lined with tons of blackberry bushes. I tend to smell the local bakery on the way back to my house on one of the large roads that I run through.

7:45-845am get ready for the day, which normally means making breakfast, turning on the water heater for the shower and dishes from breakfast, and of course getting dressed

9am I arrive at the offices of East Belfast Mission, where I sign in and then go to a weekly prayer meeting where most of the office meets for reflection and prayers

9:30-11:30am Pastoral Meeting- where the pastors meet and discuss the life of the church and the programs that go on, its kind of the behind-the-scenes for me and is a crash course for me in some ways of how the church functions through another angle.

11:30-1pm Office work, that constantly changes depending on what programs need some administrative work. Soon that time will be used to work on Christmas projects!

1pm-1:30pm Lunch at the Mission Cafe, a place within the East Belfast Mission family to provide people a place to eat at an affordable price and also supports a program called Meals on Wheels

1:30-3:00pm more office work of various sorts

3-4:30pm football (soccer) at Orangefield High School, a club just started by East Belfast Mission. Orangefield is a high school located in inner East Belfast. It doesn't get much funding so hopefully this will bring more attention and help to the school. I am not sure what my role will be there as I won't start that until the middle of November.

5:15-6:45pm go back to the house to make dinner and have a little time to relax by watching some tv or reading the local paper. It is a 20-minute walk back to my place and I am normally surrounded by the hustle and bustle of people trying to get home. I pass by my local library, my GP's office (doctor's office), the local butcher's shop and the smell of the fish and chips shop. Chips in Northern Ireland would be a french fries but thicker. If you want chips, you would ask for crisps. And if asking for a fry, you will get breakfast fare. I love everything being so local, the feel of the community is fantastic.

7pm chaperone two girls from inner East Belfast up to Dundonald on the metro bus to Re:act, a youth group that meets at one of EBM's member's houses

7:45-9:30pm Re:act, which I help facilitate with a couple from that live in Dundonald and are a part of East Belfast Mission (the church, rather than specifically the organization).

10pm I usually have a cup of tea and talk with my roommate Patricia about the day before going to bed not too much later, as I have to get up even earlier for the chance to run on Wednesdays.

Blooper of the Week: I remembered and set my clock back today but then still was late 5 minutes for church. The doors were closed and I had to go to the side entrance, which was locked but I had a key. I was forced either to wait where later I would do creche (nursery) or go through the door from creche to the door at the front of the sanctuary. Naturally, I waited in the creche room, rather than making a grand entrance in the front for all to see I was late (no one comes in through that door, only leaves).

Word of the Week: Chuffed, means happy and since its been a while I will give a couple more words common around here:

Pram is a stroller (which a lot more guys push around here, no matter the age, which I think is fantastic), Hob is the stovetop, Plaster is a band-aid, and Pavement is the sidewalk

Photo of the Week: they have many sayings and stories about the Titanic being built but my favorite that I have heard recently is, "The Irish built it but an Englishman sunk it."

With that I bid you a good week and it might be a while before I can write again as I will be away for the next two weeks in Donegal.

Work at East Belfast Mission

I now have been settling in for over a month. It does not feel like a very odd vacation or tour anymore. I am making friends and truly connecting with the congregations and the other people that I work with. When you feel out of place, it is truly disconcerting when someone expects you to cope like you have been there for ages. Thankfully, the pastoral team at East Belfast Mission has been extremely accommodating and understood that I would be out of sorts and slowly brought me up to speed. They invited me to join in their weekly meetings so that I could get an understanding of how the church worked from their viewpoint and how they help move the life of the church forward. 

The first Sunday of the month, I spend at EBM. They of course have already thrown me in the morning service by asking me to sing in the praise band. Sunday was my first time singing in a praise band and I quite enjoyed it. I had been worried as I had woken up with a sore throat that morning but all was well by the time the service started with the help of some ibuprofen. This was also their Harvest Sunday. Harvest Sunday is a day that they celebrate the harvest and what has been done for them. Churches normally pick one of the Sundays in October to celebrate this. The decorations around the church reminded me of Thanksgiving at home and made me realize how quickly that is approaching. Since I have been here, I have noticed that time has passed me by so quickly and many times I have worried that a year is too short for me. I know that probably sounds pretty crazy. Anyhow, to get back to the thoughts at hand I will explain what else happens at EBM that I work with. Note: there are many other programs that EBM does, that I do not work with because of time but they are extremely important and quite interesting. I would encourage you to check them out by clicking on the link if you are interested. 

Ok, well back on topic now. I used to think that Mondays were a big drag but now I truly enjoy them. That might have to do with the fact that I help out with Dance Nation on Monday nights. Dance Nation is a hip-hop/breakdancing class. The first hour is for 8 to 11 yr. olds while the second hour is for the older kids. The teacher is a freelance dancer/choreographer/teacher and while not working with Dance Nation, she works with bbc, films and tons of other stuff. She is fantastic at what she does. I never thought I would be over here learning to breakdance or dabble in hip-hop but I would not trade it for anything. I love seeing the guys and girls in the class so engaged and truly appreciative. This class is also free and open to the community, which is fantastic. That is something that a lot of churches here in Belfast are concerned about. They understand that the community needs outlets and they try to accommodate and cater to the concerns of the community.  While Tuesday nights, I hang out with some Form 1 girls which means they are around 12 years old. They help show me what is cool for their age and have helped me understand the schooling system here. Yes, there are prefects here. 

Blooper of the Week: On Sunday I made baked potatoes for dinner and had to quickly eat one before I had to be back at the church that night. As I tried to swallow one of the last bites of the potato, I realized that the particular section that I was eating hadn't been cooked through and was a little hard. This wouldn't have meant too much to me except that it got stuck in my throat and my flat-mate Patricia was out of the house. Well, thankfully I was able to swallow it after a little bit. As I walked to Strand Presbyterian that night, I thought how ridiculous the headline would have read had I not lived through it. It would have said something like American Volunteer dies by choking on a POTATO in Northern Ireland. I mentioned this to some of the church members that night and they found it just as funny as I did, if not more. The irony was just too much.

Word of the Week: trainers, this would be tennis shoes or sneakers in the US. I have used these most mornings to run because it has been beautiful!