Greetings from the parrot :-)

I say parrot because I have developed an interesting habit of mimicking the accents I'm hearing. I met another student who told me he couldn't tell if I was Irish or Canadian :-) I hope I'll get a handle on that soon! God has blessed me with a wonderful group of girls who love to explore and travel rather than stay out all night at the clubs and bars- which seems to be the main choice of entertainment here.  

Yesterday after orientation we stumbled upon the cathedral of St. Eugene. I couldn't find anything about it in my travel book, but it was a beautiful church and provided a welcome break from the rain.

The stained glass windows and stations of the cross were amazing to see. Unfortunately I disrupted the silence in the chapel when I turned a corner and hit my nalgene bottle against a pillar. I couldn't believe the echo it made! So I decided to stay behind the pillar until the sound went away :-) It's amazing to me how easy it is to find such beautiful and historic places all throughout the city! But I guess that's a perk of being in the UK!

After the cathedral we walked back to the walled city and visited the Tower Museum. Since it was about to close one of the museum employees offered to give us a quick tour for only a pound which was a great deal. The tour was definitely a quick one but we got to learn some of the history of the Troubles and hear a story or two. We heard about half-hanged McNaughton and the story behind the red hand on the Ulster flag. A long time ago families in the Ulster (Northern Ireland) area would compete for power by seeing who could paddle to shore and touch land first. One competitor wanted to win so badly that he cut off his left hand and threw it ashore! 

It started raining harder so we decided to make it an early evening and head back- I feel like I'm starting to get my bearings in the city which is a huge comfort. However, the accent here is a whole other story! I was in the market the other day when an older man asked me to get something down for him. He asked me all sorts of questions but I couldn't understand a word he said- so far I've been able to get by on the "smile and nod" tactic which I hope won't backfire on me anytime soon!

I am so enjoying my time here and am excited to start classes this Monday. The university staff here is very laid back so we can add/drop classes fairly easily throughout the next two weeks- which will be a good way to narrow down my list of class choices!

Thank you so much for all the prayers and encouraging notes- it is such a blessing to hear from you all!