3 months

Who would have thought 3 months would have gone by so quickly?

I apologize for not updating my blog more frequently, sometimes it is just hard to find the time when I feel like sitting down and writing. Usually when I finish work in the evenings I am ready to just get a bite to eat, listen to some music, watch some tv and then head to bed.

Recently there have just been 4 of us working full time with the babies and after school children, which has made the pass several weeks even more exhausting.

The summer program is about to begin in about 3 weeks. This means new summer volunteers will be coming to live here for a while.

I am looking forward to seeing new faces and having other people around to hang out with.

The newest change at Quakers has been the new family group that started this past Thursday.

In this group we have a total of 14 babies, meaning children ages 0-4. In this group we also have 3 sets of twins. Needless to say our hands have been very full.

Each child is so special though and I am loving getting to know them all. I will work on getting some pictures up.

In the past month there really hasn't been anything too exciting going on other than working. Last night I went to a concert with a co-worker called Duke Special. It was really great such good entertainment and it was nice to be out and about.

The weather has been really nice even getting up to around 24 degrees Celsius that's about 75 degrees Fahrenheit.

I will post more pictures and updates soon!

Camping and other events

May 15th will be the 2 month marker! Everyone said the older you get the faster time will go, and I am really starting to believe that.

Getting older mixed with the day to day life of living at Quaker Cottage is making my time fly. I don't want to wish it away but I would rather it be going fast and staying busy than the other way around and wishing time would move on.

So what have I been doing in the past 2 months?

Well I am an official bus driver now and am learning the routes to pick up our mums and after school children. Let me tell you it is a lot to take in, especially since there are 2 bus routes with each group we have. But I am getting there slowly, I will need to pick it up quick because soon I am going to be the only volunteer here that knows what is going on and will have to train the new people coming in.

I am getting to know all of the kids better, and really enjoying getting to know them. There are days where my heart just breaks because you realize what a child may be going home to and I just want to keep them all with me.

The Quaker way of dealing with issues is something I am quickly adapting too and feel I have always had in me, but isn't really accepted in America or places I have worked. Basically everything is dealt with through love and understanding and the children get to plan what they enjoy doing. There are moments when we have to be a bit firmer and there are boundaries but nothing like home. I wish there was an easy way to describe it to everyone, but it is one of these things you just have to experience yourself.

Starting the end of June we will have our summer program and short term volunteers will be moving in.

I think I finally have a week schedule down and am feeling more comfortable throwing out my own ideas and taking charge of situations, it's so great to finally have that feeling.

This weekend will be our first residential. Which includes taking one group of about 7 families to a retreat center on the North Coast. The weekend consists of separate activities for the mums, babies, after schools, and teens, and also some combined fun. A lot of these families never get away and get to enjoy time with their children and just have fun and relax so it is a great time for everyone to get away.

It is for sure to be a long exhausting weekend but I am really looking forward to it.

The latest excitement was a camping trip to the North Coast with my roommate Heather and a BVS friend Becky. We took a bus to Ballycastle and then walked about 2 miles to a place called Kinbane Head. There is an old ruined castle on a point that sticks out into the ocean. This was one of the best camping spots I have ever had. Sleeping to the sounds of waves crashing around you and being completely away from all civilization. It is hard to even capture the beauty in pictures but I have posted a few below. After camping the next morning we walked about 2 more miles to the next town where we took a bus and then caught the train home.

By far one of the best weekends I have had so far here in Northern Ireland and look forward to many more.

Enjoy the pictures!

One Month!

Over Holiday I took a trip down to Dublin with Micah and Lucy for 2 days. This was on the train ride back

The snow falling on the buses.

Wow time sure does fly, it is hard to believe that just last month this time I was getting ready to leave to fly to Geneva and then on to Belfast. This is my 3rd full week at work already and I have experienced so much and learned so many different things.

Quakers is the type of work place where you can't really be told what to do you more have to just experience what is happening, each day of the week is also different depending on the groups so this makes it harder to explain as well but I will run through a typical week.

Monday- 9am work begins by setting up the babies room, preparing the snack, checking the mums' rooms and other various tasks

10am leave on a bus run to pick up the mums and babies

11-1:15 ish play with babies, have various tasks for babies 0-4, including going for a walk, painting, playing with cars, babies, changing nappies, and lunch time.

1:30- leave on the bus run to take the mums and babies home

2:15- return to Quakers, cleaning of the baby room if need be and then tea break to have discussions with everyone and some planning time

3- usually our day is finished

Tuesday- the morning is exactly the same as Monday

then around 3 we head out on another bus run to pick up the Tuesday after school kids. We do arts and crafts, games, books, and other fun tasks for them

5:30 leave to take them home back around 6:30

Wednesday is similar only we have a longer tea break with more meetings and then leave around 4pm to pick up the preteen group, we do activities with them and leave around 6:30 to take them home and our day is usually over around 7:30

Thursday is like Tuesday

and then Friday is like Monday only we have final Friday cleaning of Quakers and may not finish till 3:30 or 4

Remind you this is a typical week, and in my 3 weeks here, I haven't had one go exactly as planned.. but this makes life all the more interesting.

I think most interesting so far would be the week before Easter Holiday, when we had just a wee bit of snow and then the Electric went out for 4 days.

During these days we had to grit the mountain rd. so the buses could get up and down, and then since it was my kitchen week I was cooking soup and warming water over a gas oven.

We walked the babies up the mountain road to keep them warm since it was so cold in the play room.

There are 2 roads leading up to Quakers, and we have to be careful when we go down a certain one, since young boys both protestant and catholic like to gather on their respectful side of the road and build barricades or throw stones at each other. I have been told this is one of the worst years in a while for them to be out so frequent and often. I have moved my share of barbed wire and bricks from the road as well as smiling and waving as we drive past the boys hoping they see us and don't throw a stone over to the other side.

Yesterday we had to change the way we were hiking because a fire had been set to a certain part of the mountain.

I am learning to get used to the separation in the city and hear what each side has to say about the other, but all in all I do feel safe where I am living and am just smart about where I am going at certain times.

Quakers is great because we bring mums and babies from both sides of the conflict and they learn to get along with each other and learn their is nothing wrong with someone just because they have a different belief.

There are now 2 full time volunteers and myself living in the house, but Heather will be leaving come the beginning of May and Peter will leave in the beginning of July.

We are working on getting more summer volunteers, and full time volunteers there are a few possibilities but it doesn't sound like anything too definite yet.. could make for some interesting times, but nothing we won't be able to work though.

I am looking forward to the summer, because we do a lot of going out day trips and that sort of thing and it will be a good chance for me to see more of Belfast and the surrounding areas!

A week in the life of Quakers and a hike in my backyard

So I've officially been living in Belfast for 9 days now, it has been going really well.

I haven't been certified to work with the children yet, so I have been doing a lot of cleaning and working in the kitchen and preparing crafts and such.

I have also started driving the buses, the 2 main buses we use to pick up the mums and kids are automatic and have been pretty easy to learn to drive. It isn't as strange as I thought to get used to drive on the left hand side of the road.

Hopefully this week I will work on driving Sunny Bo, the bus we use for our personal use, he is stick shift, but things should go well with that.

Mondays and Fridays are shorter days and we work from 9-3:30is and Tues, Wed, and Thurs are longer days and we work 9-6:30 or 7. We have after school children on these days.

This coming week is my cooking week, and I will be making Lasagna and then baked potatoes for my "snack" meal. I get to learn how to make chips (fries), hopefully all goes well since the mums and be pretty particular about the way their food is cooked.

On another note, I took a hike in my backyard this morning, it was wonderful I was able to take time to think and reflect on a lot of different things.

I am truly amazed at the beauty of God's creation, I was speechless as I looked over the city from one of the highest points in Belfast.

Above are some pictures from my backyard hike.

Welcome to Quaker Cottage

After an 8 hour flight and 3 days in Geneva for an small orientation I arrived at my new home Friday evening around 4:30.

There is so much I could write about my flight and my time in Switzerland, but to sum it up I learned I am better at sitting still than I thought, I don't know a lick of French, Hostels are small and loud at night, my body can adjust pretty well to different time changes, it's nice to have familiar faces to travel with, Cheese Fondue is delicious, and meeting new people is always fun.

We were greeted in the airport by a man named Scott who is working with Micah and Lucy my two fellow BVSers who were in Geneva with me and will also be living in Belfast. He drove us (on the left hand side of the road) all the way up to Quaker Cottage, which you can see from almost anywhere in the City because it's so high up on Black Mountain. Ballygomartin is a tiny lane and was greeted by Sarah a BVSer who will be leaving in about three weeks.

She showed me around the Cottage I am living in which is a 3 bedroom spacious cottage.

Currently there is a German volunteer(Peter) and Heather another BVSer living in the Cottage with me. and Sarah moved to the Caravan and gave me her room. All three of these other volunteers will be gone by July and hopefully 2 others will be moving in in the next couple of months if everything works out... but enough of that.

The view from the Cottage is breathtaking, if it is clear we can even see Scotland past the Sea on a clear day and we can see rest of Belfast. It will take some getting used to city life and seeing lights and everything, but the mountain reminds me of home because we are secluded and there are even cows and some farm equipment.

On Saturday Sarah and I walked down the mountain (about a 15-20 minute walk) and then ended up walking into city center where a lot of stores and such are. I exchanged some money so I could do some grocery shopping. We met up with another BVSer who is at a different project and just walked around the city some and even went to a farmers market which was pretty neat.

I was even able to meet 2 of my coworkers yesterday (Phil and Rory) I think I will get along with them really well, and I am excited to meet everyone else tomorrow.

After our day out we took the bus to the bottom of our road and then proceeded to walk back up (about a 30-35 minute hike) my calves are a little sore today. There are some parts of the lane that are almost straight up.

Two German volunteers from last summer came back to visit and spend time for the week so it has been fun hanging out with them.

Today I have been doing a bit of cleaning around the cottage and settling in more.

I am ready to meet the children tomorrow and officially begin work. :)

Until then I am enjoying quiet moments because I don't think I will have many over the next few weeks.

I have been gone for almost a week now, but am loving every minute of my adventures so far. Hopefully things continue this way. There is so much to learn and so many "Irish" sayings I need to catch up on and learn what to say and what not to say.

For example pants here are underwear people like to say Aye for yes and Crack means having a good time of good fun.. oh so many things to pick up on. :)

A glimpse into orientation

The Last night was Celebration night. Lucy, Alex and I were on the celebration comedy and decided to plan a wacky tacky themed celebration, with games, karaoke, smore's and punch. It was a major success
On drop off day we found some kids making bracelets and decided to play with them for a while
We had a free day in Miami and spent it at the Beach :)
During the second week we had a potluck with camp volunteers and past BVSers we ended the evening with come contra dancing
The other part of my food group Lacey and Ian cooking up another delicious meal :) We had about $29.00 to make 3 meals for 17-19 people.

Now What?

How to describe what I am feeling right now? I don't think there are any words.. The best way is to say it's a feeling of bitter sweetness..
I have made a family of 14 other people from all of the United States and Germany these past 3 weeks.
We have grown in so many ways as a group; we have laughed together, cried together, shared many stories, views on life, games, bruises, inside jokes, bad food and good food, and learned how to roll what ever was thrown our way.
Even though I may never see many of these people again face to face I know that I will always have this family this support group.
How awesome is it that we were all bought together from many different walks of life to share in one common ambition which was to serve other people and live simply.
I have learned more about myself than I imagined possible before orientation.. after I have had time to process everything more I will write again.
It is official now that I will be living in Belfast Northern Ireland at Quaker Cottage. Everything has worked out so well and I just have such a strong feeling this is where God is calling me and I can't wait to see where my year of service will take me.
Challenges will include; learning the metric system, driving on the left side of the road in a stick shift mini bus, adapting to the Irish culture and learning new dialects, loving mothers and children, living with other people, being on my own in a setting I have never experienced, keeping an open mind and heart in all issues, and many more I'm sure I haven't thought of.

But despite all of these challenges I'm not concerned or worried, I am a bit nervous but I am just ready to be there and have things under control. I have to wait till about March 14th before I can leave the country because I need a visa to live in N. I. for a year.

Hopefully the process goes quickly.

I just had a few minutes in the airport before flying home to VA and snow

will update more with pictures soon .