“What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul”

Have you ever stopped in the middle of the playground and looked around and just listened to all the laughter? There is something so pleasant about the sound of a child's laugh and it can erase all the bad feelings from a day.

Lately there has been so much on my mind, a lot of thoughts came when I left Belfast and spent a week in Hamburg.

I came to realize I am really living in a world that is unlike any other place I have experienced before. It makes me sad to think that now I feel it's normal for a child to not be able to talk at the age of 3 and for 8-10 year olds not to be able to read and for kids to feel like it's Christmas when you give them a wee cuddle. For one year olds not to be able to crawl and teenagers who care more about getting out of the house to be away from parents than making it to school the next day.

I knew coming to Quakers I would be working with kids who needed extra care and attention but I tend to forget just how much these children really need.

Is it normal for a 7 year old to be taking care of their 4 year old sibling, I see this all the time while walking down the street. These kids are expected to take on so much responsibilities and have little time to just be kids. I so badly want the best for all of them, but it's then I realize they are making the best of what they have.

That's when I stop to think, yes their lives are sad, but for them they are getting by. I can't fix all their problems, I can't make them go away. But I can laugh with them, I can cuddle them, I can make them feel important.

I am sitting on the balcony over looking the city and wondering what is going on in each of the houses, which kids are getting to eat a decent dinner which kids are left to tend to themselves, and which kids are being loved?

My heart aches for all the people in the world who are struggling just to make it through each day.

Today I was able to hang out with the babies, and my heart was lightened by all the laughs I was sharing, weather it was because the ducks were eating the bread, being pushed on the swing, to blowing up a balloon. These kids teach me something everyday... Life is hard it's not easy, but if you dwell on that, and don't open your heart up to love, then you will never get anywhere.

So yes life is sad here, but it is also one of the best places I could be working, I am getting so much from these kids and I love being able to give them a little piece of me as well.

It's all "German" to me

Yesterday was the day I flew out of Belfast for my long awaited Holiday to Hamburg to visit my friend Kendra.
Kendra is living in Hamburg and volunteering at an organization called Peace Brigades International or PBI. I met Kendra at my BVS orientation in Florida and am really glad we have remained friends since then. We both have had some interesting experiences and it's nice to have someone who can sort of relate to what you are going through as in being a volunteer and living in a foreign country.
Being in Germany makes me thankful I am in a country where at least I can read signs in store windows and mostly understand what people are saying on the street.
I always took Spanish courses through high school and college, and never even bothered to learn much German. aside from "Hello, no, yes, good morning, and good night" all lovely phrases but not very helpful to me when trying to communicate. I just don't have an ear or mouth to correctly speak German. As Kendra says I just need more practice. But I just want to say everything with a Spanish accent. The rest of the week should be interesting.
After an early 4:30 am wake up call I took a taxi to the city airport yesterday morning where I caught a flight to Birmingham and waited for about 3 hours until my flight to Hamburg. The second flight I experience a lot of turbulation due to a "heavy rain cloud" another passenger described the expeince similar to that of riding a horse, it may sound exaggerated but I will have to say I think it was pretty accurate. Needless to say I was glad to be back on the ground again.
Kendra met me in the airport and took the train back to her apartment, after a stop at a friends apartment to get a bike key. I was over taken by the heat here, it was about 80 or so degrees if not warmer, and I have been used to upper 60's low 70's at the highest. I can say I do believe this was the first time I have been outside and started sweating just by standing still. I do not miss that feeling, even thouh the heat has been nice and I am enjoying walking around in my rolled up jeans (didn't think to bring shorts with me, not that I have many pairs in Belfast anyway).
We then changed and went for a swim in a river near by, it was nice to be in water, even though it was a bit dirty and we had to shower afterwards. We then went to a true Mexican resturant similar to a Chipotle, it was really good and the closest thing to Mexican food I have had since leaving home in March.
Today Kendra had to work, so after showing me to the Botanical Gardens she left and I wondered around looking at all the pretty flowers, and enjoying the lake there. It was nice just to spend a relaxing day in the park.
Everyone here rides bikes everywhere it's like a bike utopia ok not really but compared to seeing maybe 1 bike in a day in Belfast I am a bit overwhelmed. Needless to say Kendra has 2 bikes and we will be riding them around when she gets off work. I went out for a practice spin on my own, I was a bit shaky I realized I hadn't ridden a bike since my accident in high school.
I am currently waiting on Kendra to get home from work, and thought it would be a nice time to blog. I am not the greatest at keeping up with everything that happens. But to me a lot of what goes on is the same so I don't feel like it's new and exciting to blog about.
However, my two new roommates Amanda and Emmy are doing a great job writing things that happen and posting pictures if you are interested you can check out their blogs.
http://mandashayne.blogspot.com and http://emmylakes.wordpress.com

I will return to Belfast on Saturday the 17th.

Summer

The Pictures above are of my 30 K walk and a pretty rainbow looking over the city. The summer program is here and we have been taking full advantage of all the nice weather we have been having.

On Saturday two new summer volunteers came over from America, Emmy and Amanda. It has been so nice to have extra people around the cottage. Not only for work reasons but to have people to hang out with as well.

Both seem like great girls and I can't wait to spend more time with them here.

They will be here till the end of August. When more changes will happen. Three new long term volunteers from America.

The weather has been unusually warm here, and by warm I mean mid to uppers 70's. I thought I would miss the summers back home, but I think I am glad to be away for this one.

But I am praying we get rain soon it sounds like it could be a really bad summer.

It has also been a bit dry here for Northern Ireland anyways.

Work has been going really well and it's great to be able to tell new people how things work and have the full time staff turn to me to get things done. It's a nice feeling of finally belonging somewhere.

Other than work, life has been going well. I took a trip on the train with a friend to Bangor (a town not to far away) I also went on a 30K walk. in case you are wondering that is 18 miles. yea and we finished in 5 hours, it was so great though. We walked through farms and the countryside and along the beach. It was so nice to get out of Belfast.

I am planning on taking a trip to Germany to visit another BVS friend in Hamburg.