On this day, one of the windiest days of rain I've experienced yet, I thought to myself, "Why? Why did I wear the pants that fall down with the shoes that leak with the socks that stop at my ankles?" I was all sorts of uncomfortable as I walked home from the bus stop. My toes hadn't been dry since the first five minutes of my waking day. There was a break in the rain, but the wind carried on.
Now i'm deliberating over what to cook. (Those of you who know me well can regain consciousness, pick yourselves up from where you've fallen over backwards on the floor, and fix any other effects your flabbergasted reactions may have had to your composure.)
Yes, that's right. I have been slowly and surely learning how to cook. My roommate Anna Pawsey has been patiently working with me on basics like rice, chicken, burgers, etc. It may sound like a small feat, but I have to admit i'm awfully proud of this new achievement. I can honestly say that I know how to cook chicken in a way that is edible, and even slightly enjoyable. I wouldn't have been able to say that before.
Tonight's meal, however, will not be a good example of my new-found abilities, as we will probably just make scrambled eggs.
Off I go to our tiny little microwave-less kitchen.
Wish me luck!
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
morning routine
I wake up at 7:05. I'm the first one up in the house. My first thought is usually something about school..."What classes am I teaching today? Do I have all my materials? What's my plan? What day of the week is this? How many days until Friday?"
By 7:45 I'm down in the dark kitchen watching it gradually lighten outside while I eat my anticipated bowl of cereal. Mmm cereal. I must say, I have a knack for picking out the most satisfying grainy, honey clustered, energy-boosting cereals.
Sometimes by 7:55 when I lock the door behind me, there are voices and morning shuffles beginning upstairs as the house wakes up behind me. I walk up the sidewalk and assess the weather. Sometimes its windy, but not in a cold or daunting way. Other mornings, it's rainy and gray, and my hands won't seem to warm inside my coat sleeves. Either way, the clouds make the sky a dull kind of periwinkle. This morning the sun peeked through just enough for a proper orange sunrise. Usually I am not so lucky, but this morning it was beautiful.
The walk is short enough: just fifteen minutes over sidewalks and across small alleys. I usually walk by the church just after its bells have stopped the ringing echo that follows the morning song. Each note lingers on so that the notes start to hum together in strange harmonies.
It is my peaceful preparation for the day: a walk in the friendly rain. :)
By 7:45 I'm down in the dark kitchen watching it gradually lighten outside while I eat my anticipated bowl of cereal. Mmm cereal. I must say, I have a knack for picking out the most satisfying grainy, honey clustered, energy-boosting cereals.
Sometimes by 7:55 when I lock the door behind me, there are voices and morning shuffles beginning upstairs as the house wakes up behind me. I walk up the sidewalk and assess the weather. Sometimes its windy, but not in a cold or daunting way. Other mornings, it's rainy and gray, and my hands won't seem to warm inside my coat sleeves. Either way, the clouds make the sky a dull kind of periwinkle. This morning the sun peeked through just enough for a proper orange sunrise. Usually I am not so lucky, but this morning it was beautiful.
The walk is short enough: just fifteen minutes over sidewalks and across small alleys. I usually walk by the church just after its bells have stopped the ringing echo that follows the morning song. Each note lingers on so that the notes start to hum together in strange harmonies.
It is my peaceful preparation for the day: a walk in the friendly rain. :)
Thursday, October 16, 2008
carrie 2005
Sometimes i envy the old me: the one who got to enjoy this beautiful crazy place without all the responsibilities and duties I have this time around.
I wish I could bump into old me on the street, walking to or from the Magee campus with the wet, yellow leaves sticking to the sidewalk and say, "Hey! Chin up little girl! You may think 3 months is a long time, but it will be over and gone in a wisp and flurry, and before you know it, you'll be wishing there had been a smile on your face while you reveled in the beauty of a culture so unique! Walk the river road for no reason, go out for coffee at the corner cafe, buy yourself an orange juice and enjoy the traditional pub music!"
Oh me.
To present me I say, "You are fickle. Last time you had too much free time, this time you want more of it. Learn to live in the now, sister!"
That is why the other night when I got back at 11 pm from helping behind the scenes at the Drama group's wonderful presentation of 'Midsummer Night's Dream,' i looked at the clock and deliberately snubbed it: shoving it to the side with an obstinant and decided nod. Regardless the hour...regardless the stresses of going to school with an hour less sleep, I stayed up late with my roomate to enjoy a cozy and pointless internet surfing session.
I had all intentions of adding hot chocolate to my free-time splurge, but I forgot and fell asleep.
It was just a brief hour, skimmed off the surface of my rations for sleep, but it was just what i needed. :)
I wish I could bump into old me on the street, walking to or from the Magee campus with the wet, yellow leaves sticking to the sidewalk and say, "Hey! Chin up little girl! You may think 3 months is a long time, but it will be over and gone in a wisp and flurry, and before you know it, you'll be wishing there had been a smile on your face while you reveled in the beauty of a culture so unique! Walk the river road for no reason, go out for coffee at the corner cafe, buy yourself an orange juice and enjoy the traditional pub music!"
Oh me.
To present me I say, "You are fickle. Last time you had too much free time, this time you want more of it. Learn to live in the now, sister!"
That is why the other night when I got back at 11 pm from helping behind the scenes at the Drama group's wonderful presentation of 'Midsummer Night's Dream,' i looked at the clock and deliberately snubbed it: shoving it to the side with an obstinant and decided nod. Regardless the hour...regardless the stresses of going to school with an hour less sleep, I stayed up late with my roomate to enjoy a cozy and pointless internet surfing session.
I had all intentions of adding hot chocolate to my free-time splurge, but I forgot and fell asleep.
It was just a brief hour, skimmed off the surface of my rations for sleep, but it was just what i needed. :)
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
it is wierd to return
Dublin was amazing, don't get me wrong, but it is very strange to have to relearn a routine that was new to begin with. Routines are comforting things after all; at least they have been for me.
I'm not going to lie to you, blog; it was a little rough returning to the schedule of school. Not to mention, I had to say goodbye to Rachel and Zack who visited me in Dublin AND in Derry.
But alas, I am back in the schools and relearning my routine. My lessons have been going well so far and I can feel God's energy lifting me up. Today I had some exciting new activities going on. I chaperoned the drama group all the way in Omagh where they gave a WONDERFUL performance of Midsummer Night's Dream. Though my role was quite minor, I had a blast watching the kids rehearse and the applause they received at the end was well-deserved and made me as proud as if I had directed their show myself!
It was quite a long but wonderful tuesday.
I'm excited for tomorrow as well. I'll be participating in an after-school group called 'Hands for a Bridge." I don't know that much about it yet, so I'll save that for another day's blog.
God bless and bless God!
I'm not going to lie to you, blog; it was a little rough returning to the schedule of school. Not to mention, I had to say goodbye to Rachel and Zack who visited me in Dublin AND in Derry.
But alas, I am back in the schools and relearning my routine. My lessons have been going well so far and I can feel God's energy lifting me up. Today I had some exciting new activities going on. I chaperoned the drama group all the way in Omagh where they gave a WONDERFUL performance of Midsummer Night's Dream. Though my role was quite minor, I had a blast watching the kids rehearse and the applause they received at the end was well-deserved and made me as proud as if I had directed their show myself!
It was quite a long but wonderful tuesday.
I'm excited for tomorrow as well. I'll be participating in an after-school group called 'Hands for a Bridge." I don't know that much about it yet, so I'll save that for another day's blog.
God bless and bless God!
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
10 notes about dublin so far
Ten notes about Dublin so far
1.) Its much better when its not raining.
2.) there's a funny noise that tells us when we can cross the street and it is terribly fun to imitate
3.) The signs are in Gaelic and English
4.) There are bike lanes and separate stop-lights for the bikes
5.) Current home of the Book of Kells, (the oldest illuminated Bible)
6.) Its warmer than Derry
7.) Capital of Ireland
8.) the people here are much easier to understand than in Derry
9.) The post office still has bullet holes in it from the various rebellions that preceded Irish independence.
10.) There's a kebab shop around every corner
1.) Its much better when its not raining.
2.) there's a funny noise that tells us when we can cross the street and it is terribly fun to imitate
3.) The signs are in Gaelic and English
4.) There are bike lanes and separate stop-lights for the bikes
5.) Current home of the Book of Kells, (the oldest illuminated Bible)
6.) Its warmer than Derry
7.) Capital of Ireland
8.) the people here are much easier to understand than in Derry
9.) The post office still has bullet holes in it from the various rebellions that preceded Irish independence.
10.) There's a kebab shop around every corner
Friday, October 3, 2008
God works
Today was great.
I found out today that i'll be picking up more classes and I am thrilled about that! Not to mention I have a laptop arriving soon, so I'll have a place to actually write all the extra lesson plans I'll be doing. :)
And as though we were all in one big movie where the whether follows the mood, its been beautiful today. Crisp, but beautiful.
Last weekend I enjoyed a quick visit to Belfast and this upcoming week the entire group is going to Dublin. I loved my last visit to Dublin. Its refreshing to feel like you're on vacation and to be in such a different kind of city. Derry is wonderful but there's a constant knowledge of what happened here and of the unrest that still exists from time to time. Dublin is alive with a different kind of feeling. It adds to the cross-cultural aspect of this program to be able to visit Dublin after having been here for a month: when all the little differences between the North and the South will be surprisingly obvious.
At least thats how I remember it.
In any case, God has shown some wonderful things shining through a rainy and rough week, and I'm grateful to him for each day I have here.
I found out today that i'll be picking up more classes and I am thrilled about that! Not to mention I have a laptop arriving soon, so I'll have a place to actually write all the extra lesson plans I'll be doing. :)
And as though we were all in one big movie where the whether follows the mood, its been beautiful today. Crisp, but beautiful.
Last weekend I enjoyed a quick visit to Belfast and this upcoming week the entire group is going to Dublin. I loved my last visit to Dublin. Its refreshing to feel like you're on vacation and to be in such a different kind of city. Derry is wonderful but there's a constant knowledge of what happened here and of the unrest that still exists from time to time. Dublin is alive with a different kind of feeling. It adds to the cross-cultural aspect of this program to be able to visit Dublin after having been here for a month: when all the little differences between the North and the South will be surprisingly obvious.
At least thats how I remember it.
In any case, God has shown some wonderful things shining through a rainy and rough week, and I'm grateful to him for each day I have here.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
the bus stop the buses don't stop at
Yesterday when I was finished with the last lesson of the day, my cooperating teacher, (bless her heart,) stopped me to give some feedback. She has a lot of wonderful wisdom to share, and I learned a lot from the things she said...but she was just thorough enough in her advising that I missed the school bus by just a few crucial moments.
I took a moment to thank the All Mighty for the random impulse to withdraw a few bucks from my account the day before. Though its a grim enough fate to be left standing in the rain with no way home and only £5 on hand, it would have been worse to have nothing.
I had nothing left on my prepaid phone and therefore, no way to call a cab. For a brief second I considered walking to the nearest shop and topping up my phone...but with a £5 minimum top-up fee...what would I pay the cab driver once he arrived?
So I looked at my sparse array of options. 1) I could walk the miles and miles back home. 2.) I could walk the several miles to the bus stop, catch a city bus to city center, and walk home from there.
I started off for the bus stop, hoping all the way that my cooperating teacher wouldn't drive by and see me walking in the rain. Believe it or not, I preferred the miserable walk to the embarrassment it would cause her and I both if she found out what a miserable trek home I was attempting.
When I got to the main road and therefore, the bus stop I enjoyed the wordless company of an equally drenched man who stood there as well. Neither of us said a word, but it was such a miserable thing we were both enduring: standing there in the wind and rain at a bus stop we had walked far to reach: that it seemed we ought to count ourselves comrades on at least some very small level. After about 15 minutes, a bus came, but it whizzed right by us as if we should know better than to wait for it at this particular bus stop. Then another bus came and went...and another.
After a while, a car pulled out and a woman got out to stand next to us and wait.
'You don't know what your doing!' I thought to myself, 'Don't you realize what purgatory you've just entered! Don't you know this is the bus stop the buses don't stop at?' Despite the warnings I was shouting inside my head, I stood silently and let her join our miserable little waiting party.
Finally, a bus stopped. I got on immediately, only pausing to worry when we pulled away and the other two bus-waiters didn't join me...I got the slightest bit worried. All city buses eventually lead to the city...but I wasn't sure how far out they went before getting there...I had paid £1.70 for the day pass...so i knew it couldn't be a bus that went too far away. The bus went on and on and finally the bus driver shouted back, 'Where are you going anyway?' (This is typically what bus drivers ask of people who have stayed on for a long while...its happened to me before.)
'All the way back to city center,' i said.
'You'd be quicker still waitin on the side of the road!'
'I just didn't want to wait in the rain anymore.' I admitted, confident enough with my reasoning and willing to brush off any laugh he might have at my expense.
Indeed the bus ride was fairly long...although perhaps shorter than my time in the rain had been. It was at least long enough for my trousers to dry off a bit, so I didn't mind. I got a bit worried when I saw we were headed in the direction of Limavady, but when we turned around I relaxed in knowing we were on our way back to the city center.
It was after 5 when I got home and school ends at 3:20.
It felt great to run up to my little room and get into warm, dry clothes. There was a turf fire going in the little living room fireplace and before long I was sipping hot chocolate in a cozy room watching CNN with my little temperary family.
Indeed there's nothing like a long journey to make home feel so home-like. :)
I took a moment to thank the All Mighty for the random impulse to withdraw a few bucks from my account the day before. Though its a grim enough fate to be left standing in the rain with no way home and only £5 on hand, it would have been worse to have nothing.
I had nothing left on my prepaid phone and therefore, no way to call a cab. For a brief second I considered walking to the nearest shop and topping up my phone...but with a £5 minimum top-up fee...what would I pay the cab driver once he arrived?
So I looked at my sparse array of options. 1) I could walk the miles and miles back home. 2.) I could walk the several miles to the bus stop, catch a city bus to city center, and walk home from there.
I started off for the bus stop, hoping all the way that my cooperating teacher wouldn't drive by and see me walking in the rain. Believe it or not, I preferred the miserable walk to the embarrassment it would cause her and I both if she found out what a miserable trek home I was attempting.
When I got to the main road and therefore, the bus stop I enjoyed the wordless company of an equally drenched man who stood there as well. Neither of us said a word, but it was such a miserable thing we were both enduring: standing there in the wind and rain at a bus stop we had walked far to reach: that it seemed we ought to count ourselves comrades on at least some very small level. After about 15 minutes, a bus came, but it whizzed right by us as if we should know better than to wait for it at this particular bus stop. Then another bus came and went...and another.
After a while, a car pulled out and a woman got out to stand next to us and wait.
'You don't know what your doing!' I thought to myself, 'Don't you realize what purgatory you've just entered! Don't you know this is the bus stop the buses don't stop at?' Despite the warnings I was shouting inside my head, I stood silently and let her join our miserable little waiting party.
Finally, a bus stopped. I got on immediately, only pausing to worry when we pulled away and the other two bus-waiters didn't join me...I got the slightest bit worried. All city buses eventually lead to the city...but I wasn't sure how far out they went before getting there...I had paid £1.70 for the day pass...so i knew it couldn't be a bus that went too far away. The bus went on and on and finally the bus driver shouted back, 'Where are you going anyway?' (This is typically what bus drivers ask of people who have stayed on for a long while...its happened to me before.)
'All the way back to city center,' i said.
'You'd be quicker still waitin on the side of the road!'
'I just didn't want to wait in the rain anymore.' I admitted, confident enough with my reasoning and willing to brush off any laugh he might have at my expense.
Indeed the bus ride was fairly long...although perhaps shorter than my time in the rain had been. It was at least long enough for my trousers to dry off a bit, so I didn't mind. I got a bit worried when I saw we were headed in the direction of Limavady, but when we turned around I relaxed in knowing we were on our way back to the city center.
It was after 5 when I got home and school ends at 3:20.
It felt great to run up to my little room and get into warm, dry clothes. There was a turf fire going in the little living room fireplace and before long I was sipping hot chocolate in a cozy room watching CNN with my little temperary family.
Indeed there's nothing like a long journey to make home feel so home-like. :)
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