Day 11...

It doesn't really feel like day 11 here in Belfast...although I couldn't tell you if it feels like day 50 or day 2. I guess not day 2, then I would still be very tired and have a headache. So, on the scale, who knows what day it is. The job description has been a little more filled out as I step into somewhat of a consultant role for the pastoral team and get to put together a giant survey and report on the life on the church and the congregation. I am also participating in KidzGAP (aka moms and tots...so cute), FridayFusion with primary age kids, and Drop-In with inner city youth. Tonight I have the privilege of teaching dance class to some of these youth...we'll see how that goes...I dunno if contemporary dance is their cup of tea (with milk and sugar of course). So if I come out alive tonight, I will then update you all on how it went later.

I was very excited to get to spend the bank holiday on Monday with the lovely Lauren Tumilson, who is so glad to have someone here to do cheesy touristy things with...like buy items with shamrocks and leprechauns on them and go on cheesy city bus tours. Really, it's nice to be in the same city as she is and have her show me the ropes.

I also had the privilege of taking part in the David Ervine memorial lecture yesterday evening with a keynote speaker who played a large role in the peace process in South Africa. While I may not have been connected to the peace process here or to David Ervine personally, as many of the attendees were, I gained an insight into the wide range of people that are working towards peace in this community and how they understand the struggles that are still going on here in Belfast. It was lovely to hear the comparisons between South Africa and Northern Ireland and know that the process is a lengthy one in any place, and that sometimes you must fall back and regroup, give up power, and live in a time of transition for a long time.

Still missing home. And the time difference still really stinks. I don't know if this will improve in the next 8.5 weeks or not...we'll see.

Things that I have learned or that perplex me:
- The weather here...sunny one minute, pouring rain the next, and ranging from allowing me to get a sun burn to feeling like I'm going to freeze to death...strange
- The stairwell leading up to the EBM offices ALWAYS smells like sunscreen. I don't understand it. I don't think I ever will.
- To do a cheesy double decker bus tour is really actually pretty fun, and they do a good job with being neutral and slightly comical on the political side of things...but most of it is about the Titanic.
- I am good at getting others addicted to Facebook games/iphone apps...Candy Crush. Do it.
- Britain's Got Talent...and that dang song by the 14 year old girl can get so stuck in your head!! [Put your lighters in the air, if you've ever been scared...]
- I drink a lot of tea here.
- The candy is better here.

That's all for now.
Peace,
Carrie

4 Days in...

What is EBM?

East Belfast Mission.

Newtownards Road. Methodist.

Action. Serving. Doing.

The mother of projects…Skainos.

Compass, Irish Class, Stepping Stone, Hosford House, Kidz Gap, more.

re:fresh, re:store, re:furb.

Sharing space, embracing change.

Tent of meeting.

Meetings daily.

Tea with milk.

Partying hard. A new building wedding.

So many Marks, and so many Garys.

Getting crisps from Davy.

Being part of a family.

Embracing chaos.

Reconciling brokenness.

A place for the family, a place for the many.

A place of grace, a place of mercy.

Some of my thoughts and the things I have seen or heard over the first four days of being in Belfast. The mission is more than just the church, it reaches beyond the very many walls of the building that it sits within and shares what it has with the community that surrounds it. Thus far, despite my jet lag which manifested itself in my feverish attempts at sleep, lack of hunger, the deep urge to need a nap in the middle of the day, and the most relentless headache known to man…I have been welcomed in by all those in the community that I have met, and I have had the pleasure of multiple different settings to interact beyond a Sunday morning. I have attended a wedding, watched part of Eurovision, attended a wedding reception, sat in on meetings, engaged in prayer, hip hop danced with some women, had a family dinner, and who knows what else has slipped my mind in these four days, which Gary says feels like forever already.

I am excited to get my particular project underway, and I am enjoying my time to engage in the community, and look forward to some of my other work beyond my initial project in implementing creative arts.

Right now, I am missing home…it’s very hard to be this far away and this time difference away. I need to find the grocery store…this could be helpful in the very near future. Apparently I need a phone…and if I could have magical wireless internet capabilities, that would be the best thing ever. I like crazy colored ikea couches, but these may get old to sit on to talk to people late at night in ten weeks time.

Things I have also learned:

- a purse is a wallet, not like the whole bag…that’s a bag

- chips of course are fries, crips are potato chips

- washing machines are tiny here

- it’s tea with milk…

- a few magic tricks from some cute little girls

- I truly cannot understand some Irish accents...I’m trying!

- it gets dark here around 10:30 and light around 5:00…by the end of the summer that is supposed to be midnight and 4am…I may sleep in my windowless bathroom.

That’s it for now I believe…

I’ll try to be at it again soon, once more of my project is underway.

Love,

Carrie 

So it almost begins...

To all whom it may concern...

 I'm attempting this blogging thing again as I adventure off for the summer. This time it's a nearly 12 week journey landing me for 10 of those weeks in Belfast, Northern Ireland, working with East Belfast Mission and The Skainos Project.

 It all began in the fall when I was fully introduced to the idea of Skainos and the mission behind it (I knew about East Belfast Mission from YTI). The idea of a new center based on the idea of the tent of meeting and shared space for the full community beyond the body of the church was intriguing and drew me to the idea of looking at this system as a possibility in the future for a community in the domestic US. Who knows?! I guess I'm going to go find out. And thank goodness I got the opportunity through Candler Advantage to do this for class credit and with monetary help...this really is a once in a lifetime opportunity that will prove my awesome packing skills and provide insight and wisdom from some great supervisors and mentors who have lived through watching conflict and a need for peace and shared spaces among community members. I will get to learn so much about identity, change, and the church's role in peace building...I'm excited!

 So the plan is to fly out of here in not-so-hot-lanta on Friday May 17 and find my way to Belfast on Saturday May 18, where I will intern it up through July 29 before doing some tourism of the Republic of Ireland with mom and dad. I'll return home on August 8...most likely jet-lagged.

While I am excited to go, I'm nervous. It's my first international trip alone, and I'm leaving some wonderful people behind. Here's hoping I land in Dublin and make it on a bus to Belfast...

I guess we'll wait and see.

Until I'm across the pond,
Carrie