Oh to be a Monk

Passage: a path made for somebody through an obstruction; a section of a piece of writing, speech, or music; change of place or condition; process of time passing; a journey, especially one made by sea or air; the fact of traveling to a place or of being allowed to enter or pass through it.

These definitions all have had vital importance for me in the past month of May.

The last retreat with the other volunteers to Iona off the coast of Scotland, encapsulates many of the definitions given above. For those who have not heard, Europe had been inundated with ash clouds from Iceland that forced the airlines to cancel a week of flights and left many stranded with very few options. Instead of flying to Glasgow and making our way from there, we borrowed the minibus from my roommate's church and drove most of the way. Now wait, you say, "I know my geography and you can't just drive to Iona!" Well, you are correct. We took a ferry which escorted us to Scotland with the minibus included. Then we drove for quite a bit until we reached the picturesque Loch Lomond. There is a quite famous song about that particular loch, ask me about it if you are interested. After lunch with the famous view, we continued our drive (catching signs along the way saying HASTE YE BACK) to Oban, where we took our second ferry and left the minibus. We then took a bus and the last ferry. After 13 hours we had made it to Iona.

There were no miraculous healing fountains, no gimmicks or tracts. It was there just as it has been for hundreds of years. We went to the morning and evening worship. That was also a small walk from where we were staying and gave us some time to appreciate walking some more. The second day we were there we made a seven mile pilgrimage around the island. It was extremely enjoyable even if my neck and chest were sunburnt because of it. We stayed at a hostel on the island which had an acre of green grass that was extremely soft and led to an incredible beach with stunning views all around. I was able to run around in the grass, throw a frisbee around and sit with a cup of tea one morning on the grass taking in the beauty that surrounded me.

Now as a history major knowing that several Scottish and Norwegian kings were buried on Iona was pretty interesting. The monks of Iona were most famously known for the Book of Kells (800 AD) which is on display at Trinity College in Dublin. They fled because of the Viking attacks. They fled to an area not too far from Dublin called Slane, which I got to visit when my mom and aunt were here in late March/early April.

Newgrange, is another mecca for those who love Iona, anthropology, or archaeology. I have to be honest, I wasn't excited about going there at first. My mom was definitely the one to push that one. It turned out to be one of the more spiritually moving places for me. We were the last tour of that day and it had snowed that morning and was mizzly. We were pretty tired at that point. The guide explained the history and some of the theories surrounding what Newgrange was for. We were told no cameras or video devices were allowed. We had to snuggle into the passage way and were careful not touch the sides of entrance which was quite narrow. This was quite ironic to the whole group of us because as you can see in photos, Newgrange is big on the outside. I like though that they don't allow pictures, not just for the conservation of this 4,500 year old structure but also because it made the experience much more moving for me. The guide showed us what the winter solstice would be like for those who would come to sit in the dark and wait for the light to come into the tomb like structure. It was humbling to hear that the light wouldn't come every year because of cloud cover or the like. That these people would leave their own shelter and wait in the cold dark place for a light that might not even come showed a dedication that certainly wowed me and many others. I felt very privileged being able to see something that they held so dearly even though there are only theories behind what Newgrange meant to them.

Like the monks, I am also on a journey or passage. No, I am not being chased by vikings, nor have I written anything like the Book of Kells and I certainly don't have the same routine as they would have. What I see is that my passage continues even when I leave Belfast, though the passage might look different.

Apologies: Pictures don't seem to want to load right now, hopefully I will be able to get more up later!

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

Taking one for the kids

I watched her struggle with dispensing the hospital grade anti-bacterial gel to the kids (3yr. olds), waiting to have their snack (milk and toast). It just was not coming out. She unscrewed the bottle from its unmanageable dispenser but she didn't have a good grip on the bottle. I watched it fall and then slightly bounce, while some of that intense liquid made it into my left eye. Thankfully, the kids who were sitting right near did not get hit, though I was standing up and a step back got an eye full of it. I rushed into the kitchen before I said any words that the kids could repeat later. Thankfully, the burning sensation in my eye had dissipated in about ten minutes. As I used a soaking paper towel to get the liquid out of my eye, all I could think of was that this would have been the perfect opportunity to use those eye sinks that they had in the science labs. I was always curious about them but unfortunately even with a great excuse none were within my reach that morning. Moral of the story: anti-bacterial in the eye=extremely painful and would not suggest it

Summer: safety question material for class?

It's February? Already? Really?

So its February now, that seems amazing. A year ago, I was hoping and praying that I would be doing what I am doing today. Well, not exactly, because I definitely did not imagine or nor could I have imagined what this year was going to be exactly.

The other eight YAVs and I went to the Inishowen Peninsula for our second retreat of this year. It was nice to be with the group again and feel that community that we have with each other. We were able to go to Malin Head, Derry/Londonderry and the Giant's Causeway. All of these really deserve their own post but I am afraid that I would not ever get to them since my time has seemed to escape me even more. I will have to say though that what I enjoyed the most was sitting on the Causeway and listening to the waves crash against the beautiful rock formation. It has become my favorite sound and view for that matter. Rarely, will I take the time to sit and listen, because if you know me well, I am usually behind schedule. I really appreciated that time to recharge and devote some time to just being, rather than doing. I have to also mention that there was no rain and it was sunny, the three days we were there. That is quite amazing.

I find that my best moments to reflect are when I am with a group out in nature and isolate myself for a bit. While I was in Utah, two years ago, climbing canyons with a group I let myself fall a bit behind. I saw no one behind or before me. It had only been more than a month after losing my dad and Beatles songs began to creep into my head. So as I was finishing climbing that particular canyon that day, I sang songs that my dad would always listen to and cried. It was a chance for me to breathe, which is ironic because that altitude and lack of humidity was killing me. So Thursday as I saw the Causeway, I climbed until I found the perfect place to perch and was able to sit, watch and listen. The waves became the music for me. I did not have the raw feelings that I did, when climbing that canyon two years ago but I certainly was able to have that necessary time to reflect. It was only until sitting there that I realized that I really needed that time.

I am considering so many things after this year of service, that it is kind of overwhelming. I don't know where I am headed but now after being here for half a year, I know it will be even harder because I will have another family to say goodbye to.

Word of the Week: knackered- exhausted

PS. Sorry for such a delayed post, its just hectic and I have just felt like rubbish with allergies, so free time that I had at home consisted of sleeping! And the flowers in the picture were bulbs we planted in our front garden and are now blooming a couple of months early!

Turning the Page

There have been many new traditions for me here in Belfast. One that I think that you might find interesting would be New Years' Eve services. Now when they occur at 11pm, they are called Watch Night Services. I on the other hand, went to East Belfast Mission's Fading of Light service which is held at 3:30pm. To put it into context, it is quite dark by 4:30pm. In previous years the service would celebrate the setting of the sun on the last day of the year. This year was quite a bit different. When I walked into the church that afternoon, I saw five caskets at the front near the pulpit. At that point, I thought that I had come at the wrong time and walked in on a really tragic funeral. After I took a minute, I realized that these caskets were the remains of the people that were buried near the church. They had been dug up because they had been previously covered over after the blitz when the church was rebuilt. They also walk behind the hearses after a funeral to their final resting place but in the past it would have been only men. This time the whole congregation walked behind the five hearses till we reached the undertakers office down the road. It was a surreal experience for me as I was not expecting to ever walk behind a hearse.

The video gives a visual to what I just mentioned and if you look closely, you can find me in the video.

Word of the Week: Scundered - has lots of meanings but normally has been used when someone was surprised

Christmas Time

The Christmas tree is decorated and lit. It sits on the top of our bookshelf so that all can see from the front window. The presents sit nearby around a decorative fireplace. The Christmas crackers sit on the mantle with a picture of all the volunteers. The stockings are hung on the mantle with care. The heat is on to keep us warm. There is even tinsel hanging on our hallway mirror. I certainly have all the material things that I would have every other year at Christmas, except that the Christmas crackers are new. What makes this year different? Family. This year I will be spending Christmas with new families. I will be going to multiple houses which should be fun to see how they celebrate Christmas. The second family I am visiting has two boys 6 and11 yrs. old, 3 dogs and a big fat bunny. That is sure to be mayhem but lots of fun.

While living in Belfast, I have been amazed at how much of life here now just feels so second nature. It has been a running theme between the volunteers that we need to remind ourselves that we are in Belfast. That this is new and different. There are a lot of traditions that are the same here but others that

are quite different. One that I have noticed particularly here at Strand Presbyterian Church is that they don't do the advent wreath or candles. Now the other church that I work with East Belfast Missi

on, which is Methodist, does do the advent wreath along with a lot of other Presbyterian and Methodist churches around Belfast. Many protestant churches would also not do a Christmas Eve service but they would do a New Year's Eve service called a watch service. Now Catholic churches will have a Christmas Eve service and I will be going to a monastery for Christmas Eve and will certainly document the event.

Another tradition around December is pantomimes. I went to a Cinderella pantomime

and it was fantastic. It is for all ages but most families go because it is a big treat for the kids. The fairy god mother and the evil stepmother were both in

drag and that is the mark of a pantomime. There is a lot of audience interaction. For instance when the evil stepmother, Ms. Lush, said "mark my words" the audience was asked to respond with "aye, dead on". I love that they teach sarcasm at such a young age. I was sitting with one of the moms from mums & tots and her husband and son. Her son, Thomas, is two years old and is absolutely adorable, and he just learned the word boo and was probably the cutest thing trying to say boo. He really enjoyed it when you said it back to him. I think it was the facial expression that it created that he liked so much.

Snow has come to Belfast. It has allowed for some beautiful but cold sights! The mountains you see behind the houses are the Mournes where are C.S. Lewis got his idea for the world of Narnia.

PS. yes, you do see two boxed sets of twilight under EBM's christmas tree for gifts for those who are in need this year.

He Wore His Religion Well

As Christmas is quickly approaching, the cold has definitely set in. So grab a cup of tea or coffee and enjoy a little bit of the story that continues for me in Belfast.

On one particular afternoon a week, I get to help lead an after school program for kids in inner east Belfast. It is one of the many times I work with kids that age but it specifically makes me anxious. I remember feeling so glad the first time it finished. The kids didn't listen and were generally were insane that day. I love working with kids but that group surely tested me. I have been a camp counselor for two years along with babysitting for over ten years. I thought I knew how to deal with any kid. HA! How wrong I was. I began to dread going a couple of hours before it would start. I just couldn't understand what I was doing wrong, but I knew that it was somewhere that I needed to be. This past week, I had a brief meditation with some of the leaders before we left along with a game plan. I felt a lot more calm going into the school that day for the after school program. Two of the boys actually listened to me that day and did what I said, right after I asked them. It felt like the sun came out and was shining upon me right at that moment. Note: it was already dark outside because it was 4pm.

Now don't let me mislead you, there were plenty of slurs that were uttered, huffiness, and cheeky behavior. The kids had been testing us for weeks and that day I believe they realized we weren't going to leave them even if they were being really cheeky. That particular school has been fighting to stay there because all the kids are right from that area and walk to school. It only has 58 students, which would range from kindergarten to sixth grade. They would refer to it as p1 to p7. I know I will still struggle sometimes with that group but they seem to accept me. That is a truly comforting thought knowing I have put so much work into trying to get to know them.

I heard a visiting minister recently talk about a man "wearing his religion well". That after school program for me, kicks out the complacency that assumes I have it all right. I think without that and some of the other challenges I face during the week and the rest of year here in Belfast, I certainly well could become that person who just wears his religion for everyone to see but does not put it into practice. Its easy to work with people that you are comfortable with. I urge you now though to seek out those places that need some attention. It won't be that easy instant gratification that makes you feel good after doing it. The hard work though will show. It might not be that week or month and it might not look like what you thought it would. It will though cause you to see the world a bit differently even if it just a 20-minute walk from your door.

Word of the Week: Cheeky-mouthing off or being rude or disrespectful, there are different levels of cheekiness of course