Holy Week and Dublin Trip

Holy Week here at L’Arche was affected by bad weather especially on Thursday. The tradition on Holy Thursday is to go to the North Coast to spend time at the Giants Causeway, Corrymeela, and wash each other’s feet. But due to snow along the trip route the trip was cancelled for the first time in nine years. The community was really disappointed, but we still enjoyed ourselves here. We began the day by meeting at the Arc and washing each other’s feet. It was in remembrance of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet soon before being crucified and also as a symbol of our living and working together as a community wherever “our feet take us”. Afterwards, we shared a meal together in the Ember that was followed by a walk in Belvoir Park (pronounced Beaver Park).

On Good Friday, we met again as a community in the morning to participate in a walk around North Belfast (we live in South Belfast). The purpose of the walk was to remember the connections L’Arche has made in the past year and dream about where L’Arche Belfast is moving in the near future. The connections included potential housing for people with disabilities, for the elderly, and for anyone else that experiences loneliness or wants to live in a community. The next stop on the walk was a 24-7 ecumenical prayer center that will hopefully be opening soon. After that we saw potential garden space on both sides of a peace wall. A Catholic Community Center was the next stop. They will be leading the garden project on the Catholic side. They work with youth from the community giving them alternatives to drugs and violence. Finally we headed to a Protestant community center that has offered a café space to L’Arche and other people with disabilities to work in and run. It was an overwhelming, confusing and cold day, but it opened our eyes to a lot that L’Arche will be involved in during our time here and a lot of other projects that are working at social injustice in different ways than L’Arche. After the walk we headed back for a traditional L’Arche Good Friday lunch of minestrone soup and bread. In the evening (after an afternoon nap) we had another typical Good Friday meal at L’Arche…hot crossed buns. Then, we went to a Good Friday Service at a nearby Presbyterian Church that Jenny attends. We went with Jenny, Cami, Larry, Matthew and Jillian. The most memorable part of the service was at the end when a lady came up to talk to Jillian and said “You’re singing was…” and Jilllian interjected with “LOVELY” (a typical Jillian response). So funny!

On Saturday, we got up and Micah went for a run and Lucy for a walk. (Micah is training to participate in the Belfast marathon with 4 other employees of L’Arche. He will be running 5.3 miles of the race!!) Afterwards we headed down to St. Georges Market (ranked 6^th best market in the UK). The market was filled with booths of food, food, crafts, food, and a small petting zoo. It was fun to walk around and look at the different booths. We did a lot of “window shopping” but did try some Nepalese curry and bought three loafs of bread for 5 pounds!! We look forward to going back and trying some different food soon!

On Sunday we were present. We woke up at 5:20 to attend an inter-church dawn service. The rest of the day (after returning to bed for a few hours) was spent in the kitchen cooking and hanging out before our Easter feast! We began with hors d'oeuvres in the sitting room followed by roasted chicken, roast beef, baked potatoes, veggies, salad and stuffing. We let it settle while we played a few games: charades and signs. Then we headed back for a dessert of fruit salad, chocolate and caramel mouse, and squirty cream (known to people in the U.S. as whipped cream).

On Monday, the two of us plus Pam (a fellow BVSer also in Belfast) headed to the train station at 6:15 to catch a 6:50 train to Dublin, Ireland. After arriving in Dublin, we eventually wandered to the North Star Hotel and Micah chatted with the two guys at the information desks. He really got them riled up when he asked them if it was going to rain today. We then hopped on a bus to city center where we picked up our tour bus. We visited Malahide Castle and Dublin Bay. It was our first time in an Irish Castle!! Lucy was happy to learn the name of the yellow flower that grows like crazy on the hillside here: Gorse. In the afternoon we went on a hop on-hop off city tour bus and saw a lot of the sights around Dublin. We “hopped off” at the Dublin Castle, St. Patrick’s Cathedral (where we saw a woman get arrested), St. Jameson Distillery, Smithfield Chimney, and Trinity College. We then had dinner at a pub in the Temple Bar area before heading back to our hostel where the real adventure began. We had booked a four person room thinking that with three people we would have it to ourselves. We walked in and saw a nice pin-striped sport coat, a brand new pair of white Adidas tennis shoes, and 2 very large suitcases in the closet. Our minds began to race to try to figure out who this person was. We decided to head down stairs to play a couple games of cards. After a long day we headed to bed early, we were woken up when “Joe” came in and out a couple times before finally settling in for the night. At 4:30 a.m. we awoke to the sound of doors slamming and people yelling and cussing just outside our door. Someone was apparently trying to steal and their roommate put the “thief’s” suitcase in the hallway, which is what began the whole argument and the police being called. Quite an alarming wake-up!! After a little sleep we got up with “Joe” at about 7. “Joe” ended up being a friendly guy who just got a job in Dublin and was staying here while he finds a place to live. For his sake, we hope he finds one soon!!

To make up for the little sleep, we took advantage of the continental breakfast and gorged ourselves with lots of bread before heading out. Tuesday was a lot slower pace than Monday. We stopped for a cup of tea and coffee at a café on the walk to the Guinness Storehouse. The Guinness Storehouse is a museum covering the history, brewing, advertising, and anything else that has to do with Guinness. It was interesting to learn the importance of Guinness to Dublin and Ireland. The afternoon was spent walking about and relaxing in a café before we got another train back to Belfast.

The last six days were a whirlwind of activity so today was spent relaxing and rejuvenating! We hope that you all had a great Easter with friends and family!!

Jillian washing Lucy's feet.

Micah, Naomi, and Cami being dare devils!

Jenny and Larry walking in Belvoir Park.

Jillian and Lucy walking together.

A peace wall in North Belfast. Also a possible garden space.

A mural: UVF is Ulster Volunteer Force--A Protestant paramilitary.

Easter Dinner!

Easter Dinner continued...

Larry and James during charades.

Malahide Castle

Dublin Bay--See all the gorse??

Inside Guinness Storehouse.

Did you know that Guinness was good for you? It is nourishing and builds strong muscles!