Where has the summer gone?

The last 2 months have been very exciting.

I have:

- made new life long friends (Thanks Emmy and Amanda for everything you have done this summer)

-turned 23 (I was told this is the best birthday year yet, so I'm expected to live it up, I also learned you get cool presents when you live outside of the country)

- ate a tuna sandwich most everyday for lunch (don't want to see tuna for a while)

- Spent a week in Berlin at my BVS retreat (good times, great people)

-Played at some pretty awesome play parks (Northern Ireland play parks are by far better than American ones)

- Explored beaches and castles

-Fed ducks and geese bread

- Sang many many many silly songs ( "When I was one I sucked my thumb the day I went to see I climbed a board a pirate ship and the captain said to me, we're going this way that way forwards and backwards over the Irish sea, a bottle of juice to shake me loose and that's the life for me......"

-paddle boated in swans (got drenched by teens having a water fight)

- Drove a lot and pretty much have mastered the stick shift mini-bus (Do not like the motorways here, not many entrance and exit ramps and can be very tricky to figure out)

- Changed lots of nappies

- Rode in the back of an ambulance for the 1st time (we had a boy fall out of a tree from about 10 feet flat on his back, luckily he just fractured his shoulder a wee bit and is A ok, but very scary)

- Played lots and lots of card games

- Got to pet an Owl, a fox, and a hedgehog

- Missed my friends and family tons (thanks for all of the emails and notes)

- Sailed on a real sail boat for the first time!

- learned I like oatmeal and some Indian food.

-Picked Blackberries and made a cobbler (had to climb through the window to get them right behind our house)

-Hung out with a lot of cool kids and overall just had a good time.

There were many challenging moments to my summer as well, and it is bitter sweet that it has gone so fast.

This past Thursday two new long term volunteers (Reid and Emily) moved in from Texas. I am excited to get to know them better and have some constant people around for a whole year.

I will be very sad to see Anna and Emmy leave, but it will also be nice to get back to routine.

I haven't been the best at blogging, and I apologize. I will try and do better for the next 6 months while I am here :)

If you have any questions about what is going on, please feel free to email meat pd4me13@yahoo.com

I love hearing from people!

“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.

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!