Slang aside, I had an awesome weekend! On Friday the Whitworth British Isles Study Program came to Derry for the day- it was so wonderful to see friends from home! I didn't realize how much I had missed them until I saw them at the bus station- it was so weird to see people from home in Northern Ireland, almost like the colliding of two worlds, but it was so great to catch up on life with them :-) I tagged along with their class and got a historical tour of the city as well as a visit to the Free Derry Museum- something I will definitely have to visit again since I spent the majority of my time chatting rather than exploring the exhibits :-) I definitely felt my first wave of homesickness as I walked home in the rain after waving goodbye.
But God definitely has a knack for perfect timing; as soon as I got home I had to pack up and leave for the Christian Union retreat in Ballintoy which definitely helped alleviate my homesickness. I wasn't sure what to expect and was a bit anxious about going, but now I am so glad I went!
We stayed in a big house in the countryside complete with cows and a dirt road. It was so wonderful to be in a home and get to know people from the CU better; they are such fun, wonderful people and I am so grateful for the time we spent together. We had a speaker come and stay with us who had recently graduated from the University of Ulster at Coleraine; he spoke to us about living as a Christian in the university setting. I really appreciated what he had to say and am hoping to live it out during the rest of my time here and in Spokane when I return.
The weekend was filled with great conversation, Wii Olympics, games like Signs and Sardines, and a bit of driving around the coast. On Saturday we went to the Giant's Causeway which was a blast- the weather was amazing and it was great fun to play "outrun the waves without falling on your face" with my friends Sophie and Glenn. I was so proud of myself- I only crashed once on the Causeway rocks :-)
We stopped for drinks and cake at a cafe in Bushmills- I had the biggest hot chocolate I have ever seen in my life- and then headed to the beach for a bit. A few people walking along the beach stopped to laugh at us as we tried to get a good photo of us jumping using a camera set on a timer- we didn't quite get the whole timing bit down so it definitely took us a lot of tries.
That night we played a bunch of games including the most intense game of Signs ever- the rules here are much different than those at Whitworth!
Sunday evening gave us a great time of group bonding :-) After we had packed the cars up to head back to the university, we found out one of the cars wouldn't start. No one had jumper cables (or jumplings as they're referred to here) so we proceeded to push the car up and down the hill to get it to start. After a zillion tries, a laying on of hands, and almost running the car into the house the car finally started- definitely a gift from God :-)
Coming back to campus after the CU Weekend, I feel more plugged into life here at Magee. It is great to feel included and to be closer to some of the other students on campus. I'm definitely beginning to come to terms with how short my time is here and am learning to appreciate and savor every moment of my experience in Northern Ireland.
Also, I feel like I should mention that the above pictures are all courtesy of a friend's facebook photo album- thanks Stewart! My wonderful dad is sending me his old camera so I hope I will be able to post more photos soon!
Slan go foill (Goodbye for now)!
2 comments:
Oh my goodness! What a great time connecting with old friends and new ones. You'll have to teach us their version of signs when you get back. I love reading about what you're up to Smac!
Yeah, I want to know the new way to play Signs. Sounds like so much fun..... LOVE YOU! :)
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