Spring in Ireland

The last couple of weeks have truly just felt like the Father smiling on me. Like warm sunshine after a long, wet and cold winter. 

The past of couple of weeks have honestly just been fun! Between an excursion to Dublin and getting to just be a tourist. Then getting to spend a day with my team leader and his lovely wife, going to Glendalough.

My team leader, Tom, and his wife Vicki at Glendalough

Or getting to have spontaneous guitar lessons one evening because I mentioned that someday I'd like to learn how to play. Or going on a spontaneous cycling excursion just to have an equally spontaneous hail storm. Or simply the adventure of making spaghetti bolognes for the first time. But never getting the chance to eat it because I got spontaneous dinner invitations all week! (Rough life, I know). Or going to a wee coffee shop that one of the lady's from church works at - just to encourage her-. But spending the next 2 hours there, just getting caught up on all the local craic in the village. (And getting introduced to everyone that came though the door!) Or getting sent home with knitting - because now that I have my own place, surely that means I have time to just knit. Or even just 2 hours of Somalian girls wanting piggy-back rides and to play with my hair. 

 Sunshine and snow all in one day, inspires nails and hair to get done! 

Or team meetings - just being able to gather together to pray! 

Team day with Courtney and Vicki! Yes, that is a cemetery we are standing in! 

Or getting connected with a Bible study in Belfast with my peers and discovering I'm just the class clown, who knew? 

Some of the girls from Word in the City Bible study met me for breakfast at 9 on a Saturday!! St. Georges Market. It's a must do! 

               Or getting to have my first Ulster Fry. 

Or simply getting to go to a playground, because one should never be too old for one! 

                            Martha and Joshe. He claimed he didn't want to go. Too old/cool... look at that grin!

Or an hour of Maffia with the youth. Or just chasing a perfect sunset up Slemish. Then trying to get back down before it was too dark! (See the picture at the top). 

Full On

This past week has for sure been one for the books! But then again, what can you except when it's St. Patrick's day week. In Ireland. Need I say more? Don't answer that for I am about to tell you about my incredibly brilliant culture week! 

The problem with having a good story to tell, is knowing where to start it. (Or just taking a mediocre story and turning it into a great story.) 

Tradition has it that the mountain right outside Ballymena, Slemish, is the mountain that St. Patrick tended sheep as a boy when he was first in Ireland as a slave. So traditionally masses of people every year for St. Patrick's day pilgrimage to the top of Slemish, St. Patrick's Mountain. 

Slemish, the bump on the horizon

Since I live in Ballymena, I naturally had to partake in this tradition. This tradition that non of the locals actually do. Ironic really. But there you go. 

Masses of people making the pilgrimage to the top. (I got there early, so this is tame to what it would have been a couple of hours later!)

At the top!

This was erected in honor of the day.

There was even a wee note from Patrick! ("Here's wishing you sweet memories and a happiness that endures from now till next St. Patrick's Day, the best to you and yours! -Patrick") Cute.

I even got a certificate for climbing it! 

The very next day (Friday) saw the Youth Fellowship voluntarily getting itself locked in a room with only a periodic table to escape with. They said it would be fun. Good for bonding. Hope you're not claustrophobic! 

The first puzzle was actually finding the place! We were 3 cars leaving from Ballymena, we didn't even get as far as the City before being separated from each other! After a grand tour of a car park somewhere south of Belfast, with a bunch of suspicious empty buildings we were literally going in circles! But the good news is all 3 cars found each other (which meant it had to be the right car park!), from a distance across the suspicious car park! It suddenly becomes a competition to see who can find this place first! 

At long last and sobbing from laughing so hard we find the place! 
Once inside, it was like something from a movie! Our group was split into 2 groups. After being told to search the room for clues and not to overthink it, we were locked in the room. While the other team waited for us outside.  After about 45 minutes we finally cracked the code! (The other team cracked it in 20 minutes, by a 12 year old!) 

The Youth Fellowship at Escap3d. A good time was had by all! 

After a late night in the city, I drove to Larne Saturday morning to run a half marathon. My first race in the UK (outside the U.S. period). You could say I was nervous! I'm not used to running with other people, so the competitive side of me killed it in the first couple miles, and died the rest of the way! Well... not quite to bad, (but I did do something to my hip flexor). 

The Larne Half is along the coast line, as Larne is a coastal town. (It's where you'd get the ferry to Scotland). It was an out and back race, which I'm not a fan of! But the long bit was along the coast, how bad could it be?! It was beautiful! The smell of the sea air filling my nostrils, etc..... On the way back, about mile 7 or 8 the road started going downhill. As I was passing a fellow racer I commented that if it was like this the whole way back it was a home run! He replied with "not a chance!" Thus was the beginning of a friendship! I stayed with him till mile 11, just chatting. (Which means I was running too slow if I was able to keep conversation up!) There were several times when I felt I could have gone ahead, but decided to just cool the jets and keep it steady. At mile 11 he told me to "go you ahead, I'll see you at the finish line, sure?" So I did. Sadly, I quite liked his company. 

Waiting for me at the finish line were the Mcdeely's! As I almost didn't tell them I was racing, it meant the world to me that they were there! (Not their thing!) 




Later in the afternoon there was a Orange Order parade in Ballymena. (The protestant version of a St. Patricks Day parade.) -The Orange Order is a politically conservative British unionist organization. The Order sees itself as defending Protestant civil and religious liberties-.Marty thought it'd be good for me to see, for cultural benefits. 

Marty was right. It was good from a cultural point of view to experience. But it was a bit disturbing, reminded me of an American Revolutionary War reenactment. Just a bunch of Brits marching through town. So naturally as an American, I'm not a fan! If I understand correctly, this is an ironic response since the Orange Order is political independence, which means as an American I should have loved it, because we're all about our indecency! Truly though, it was heart breaking to see a little of how generations of hating Catholics has snuck it's way into everyday life here in Northern Ireland.