Dancing and the Irish Coast

I last posted on Friday and i already feel like so much has happened. the rest of Friday day was spent journaling and reflecting on my times here and trying to process, which was rewarding. Friday also brought my first letter from Katie, which made my day. i love receiving mail, especially while i am so far away from home, and katies letter was a wonderful gift.

friday evening the whole group went to meet with the presbyterian chaplin for queens university, the large university here in belfast. he shared his experience with the troubles and working with youth and different people. there were also a couple of queens students who shared about their experiences. it was great to get another viewpoint on the troubles and to hear stories from people who have been impacted by them.

friday night a large number of us went to a club here in belfast called the fly. we spend the night dancing and laughing and enjoying each other's company. i really realized how i love to dance. i just love it, i will dance with anyone or by myself, as long as there is good music. there is no doubt in my mind that this love was passed down to me by my mother, and i thank her for that. my friend, davis, had an interesting and scary experience at the club. he was essentially hit on by a guy all night. davis is a pretty big guy, but this guy who had taken a liking to davis was even bigger. the guys name was sid and he worked as a bodyguard, so that gives you some idea of how massive this guy must be. anyway, davis said he was trapped by this guy for a couple of hours in the club and the guy kept trying to buy off all of our friends with drinks. luckily davis made it out of the situation safely.

yesterday we had a great adventure on the nothern irish coast. the day didnt start off so great for me, as i felt carsick for most of the morning. about 30 minutes into the coach ride to derry, or londonderry, i threw up, which was just a terrific experience, let me tell you. but after that incident i felt much better for the rest of the day.

our first stop was a londonderry, also called derry, or freederry, depending on who you ask. here we went on a walking tour guided by a hardcare catholic republican who was clearly biased. it was fascinating to hear such a biased account on the troubles. this man was born and grew up in derry and was very knowledgeable about everything that had happened, but was clearly biased against protestants and england. my understanding was that he felt the catholics were victims in the troubles and blameless. i have come to understand the trickiness of designating who is a victim and who is an oppressor because so much of it relies on viewpoint, which, especially here in northern ireland, is dictated by chance. if i were born in a catholic neighborhood, then obviously i am going to sympathize with the catholics, and vice verse for the protestants. this has contributed to my understanding of the delicacy of the situation. at times it is difficult to get my mind around how this situation could have snowballed into so massive a situation. my thoughts and prayers have continually with the people of belfast and northern ireland.

the next stop of the day was at the castle dunlace, which was on the cliffs overlooking the sea. the location was beautiful and the grass was so green. we spent about an hour and a half exploring and playing in the ruins of the caslte. i will try and get some pictures up next time i post.

next we drove up the road a little ways to giants causeway. giants causeway was also beautiful. first we hiked up these big hills which overlooked the ocean. while hiking it started to mist rain pretty heavily. in the middle of the mist rain we had to walk down these steep narrow slippery stairs to get down to the coastline. the hike down was kind of scary, and reminded me or something out of the lord of the rings. down on the beach there are basalt rock formations. essentially these formations are hexagonal pilars of rocks. i have never seen rock formations like these anywhere else in the world, and they were fun to hike around and play on. three people on the trip, including my good friend bo, took a quick swim in the ocean. i was going to join them, but i left my suit on the coach and was disappointed to learn they went without me, but happy that they had that experience.

after playing at the causeway at drove down the road a little further to a christian community called corrymella, which is also active in the troubles and reconciliation work. we had diner there and then heard the story of the guy who started the community. one interesting thing this community did was take groups of protestant boys and catholic girls and have them interact together in an effort to try an eliminate some of the stereotypes of each other. while being there and listening to people from the community speak i really got a sense that the spirit was alive and active there, and it gave me a better sense of hope for the troubles actually coming to an end and a time when all protestants and catholics in northern ireland will be able to coexist and be friends.

the bus ride back from belfast was a lot of fun. everyone on the bus was joking and laughing and talking the goofing around. the group of students that i have the privilage of studying with have been amazing. everyone is so much fun in their own interesting way and there isnt a person on the trip that i dont like. there is really a sense of community and family among everyone in the group. for example, yesterday after i got sick on the bus, everyone was very concerned and made sure i was okay and kept checking up with me for the rest of the day. i am blessed to be part of this family.

today i went to church at fitzroy presbyterian church. this church was very different from christ church in dublin. one thing i think i am going to enjoy throughout the semester is visiting different churches and experiencing how different traditions worship. fitzroy reminded me some of the presbyterian church i attended at home in denver. one thing i felt at this church was that the congregation was very active in the community. i enjoyed seeing a church congregation who was interested in reaching out to the people around the church, because i think that is so important. it is easy for a congregation to stay inside the walls of their church, but our call as christians is to serve the community we find ourselves in. it was neat to see a church in a foriegn country doing this.

my travels are going well. early tomorrow morning we head for cambridge. i am not excited to travel early in the morning, but it will be fun to find myself in a new place by lunch time. please pray that our travels tomorrow go safely and smoothly.
love and blessings,
mikey