The 20th of December began with a prayer and team meeting. After the meeting we went shopping for our final KK (Kris Kindle) gifts and food for the Christmas celebrations. We spent the evening in the Ember for dinner and hanging about. Micah joined Bobby, a couple other guys and a visitor of the Orf family (also named Micah) at the pub for a boy’s night out.
Tuesday we were suppose to have training, but Scott decided that it was a beautiful day for a walk by the Lagan. It was FREEZING! Our feet were numb by the time we arrived at Sharon’s house for tea. In the afternoon, Lucy had a meeting with Maria and then Micah had a meeting with Maria, Scott and an interviewer for a training program.
Wednesday began Micah’s fight against sickness. He was suppose to go to the Root Soup kitchen in the morning, but since he was not feeling well, decided against cooking. Probably a good idea!! We relaxed most the day and then headed to Bobby and Joy’s house for a shepherds’ meal. A tradition in Micah’s family is to have a shepherds’ meal close to Christmas time. It consists of a simple meal of bread, cheese, meat, fruit and veg and the reading of the Christmas story, all in candle light. It was a really nice evening with the Orf family and a great way to really get into the Christmas spirit!
Thursday was another day to rest up before the holiday celebrations. In the afternoon we went on a walk. Micah had desired to walk down a street that we pass frequently, so we ventured down and found a beautiful snow-covered field. A development had been started so there was a road and street lamps, but no houses had been built. It was the perfect place for a wee walk! In the evening we ventured out to a Japanese restaurant with the other volunteers to have sushi! It was so good and a really nice evening out.
Friday began with the KK celebration. Throughout the 4 weeks of advent we were giving gifts (in secret) to one person in the community. On Christmas eve we all gathered to guess who our KK was. Micah was way off, but Lucy guessed right. It was a nice way to start Christmas eve. The afternoon was free, and the evening consisted of a party for the family members of the core members and another shepherds’ meal with the people who were going to be around for Christmas day. This is the first year for 2 Thanksgiving dinner and 2 Shepherds’ meals. We are truly blessed here! After the shepherds’ meal we headed to a midnight mass at Maria’s church. It had lovely music and Thomas loved it because we were not back until 12:30! He loves staying up late. Thomas and Makiko slept over in the Ark for the weekend so they wouldn’t be alone in the Ember. It made a full house!
Christmas day began with a big breakfast of baked French toast and egg casserole. Afterwards, the 6 of us (Thomas, Frans, Julia, Makiko and the two of us) opened presents. It was mainly Thomas opening presents because he has a lot more connections in Belfast, but we all received a few. After opening presents, we went on a walk. We headed to the same field that we had been in earlier in the week. It was quite beautiful still and there was enough open space for a snow ball fight and snow angel making! Once we were back in the Ark/Ember, it was time to dress up for dinner. In Maria’s tradition it is important to look nice for Christmas dinner. Scott’s family, Maria, and the Orf family all joined the 6 of us for dinner. It was nice to have the ‘extended family’ over for the meal. We enjoyed a lovely dinner of salmon, potatoes, lots of veg and lots of yummy desserts. After dinner, we headed back to the Ark to talk to our families. It was really nice to be able to chat with them on Christmas day. Once the 6 of us were all gathered in the Ark again, we put together puzzles, did crafts, ate lots of food and hung out! What a lovely and busy Christmas!
Sunday was Boxing Day in the UK. Traditionally the rich would box up leftovers for the poor after the big Christmas meal. Now-a-days it is another excuse to eat lots of yummy food. People who were around the community were invited over to Matthew’s house (a soon to be core member) for a huge smorgasbord prepared by Roberta (Matthew’s mum). We had 5 meat dishes, 2 potato dishes, 1 veg and 7 desserts! SO MUCH YUMMY FOOD all for 11 people! There was just a little bit left over! In the evening, Lucy helped Jillian off to bed and Micah watched the Tottenham game with Neil.
Monday was a rest day, which was essential since we had been with lots of people for the past few days. After some time just resting, we headed over to Bobby and Joy’s house to discuss the event the next night...the Mexican Extravaganza! One thing we really miss here is Mexican food so we decided to bring Mexican food (or at least our version) to Belfast. We spent the afternoon dreaming about all the delicious things we could make and then making the shopping list for the next day. Then we headed over to the Ember with Bobby and Joy to help them make their weekly meal for the core members. In the evening we got the joy of talking to Lucy’s extended family (on her dad’s side). Afterwards, we headed back over to the Orf’s to babysit for their 2 kids while they ventured out to a birthday party.
Tuesday was Mexican Extravaganza day! It was also the day that our water got turned off kind of. More on that later. Micah, Micah (the Orf’s friend) and Bobby went shopping in the morning (for like 3 hours!!). Then the two of us headed over to help with the preparations. Lucy mainly played with the kids, while Micah did more of the prep. In the middle of prep, we had to leave to go to Emily’s leaving prayer. She had been a volunteer for 4 months, but was heading back to the states for a bit and then hopefully Germany. Then it was back over to finish preparations for the Mexican Extravaganza. For dinner we had 3 homemade salsas ranging in spiciness, enchiladas, Mexican rice, and stuffed chillies. The locals were not big fans of the stuffed chillies; they were a bit too spicy for their flavour. After dinner we played ‘la familia’ and another game that we do not know the name of! It was a really nice evening.
On Wednesday we were back in the Ember. Sickness has been going around the community so it was just the two of us in the Ember with the guys. Jillian was the only one who went to the centre; the other three were on holiday. Larry and Micah went grocery shopping in the morning and then Thomas, Larry, and the two of us headed to IKEA to buy a new wardrobe for Thomas. IKEA was crazy busy, so we were hoping to get in and out, but alas the first wardrobe we purchased was broken and we only saw it after we were on the way to the car. So Lucy headed back into the store to exchange the wardrobe, while Micah and the lads headed to the car. BUT...stupid IKEA doesn’t exchange things, so Lucy had to return the wardrobe and then go purchase another one. BUT...there wasn’t any more to be found. Luckily, a friendly IKEA man found another one for me. When we were back home, we started to put the wardrobe together before Micah and Thomas headed to Common Grounds to volunteer. After Lucy had dinner with Larry and Emily, she went back to finish the wardrobe to discover that the wardrobe was not put together right. The sides were switched, which meant the shelves did not fit! BUMMER! Once Micah was back, we decided that we would try to fix it the next day.
Thursday was another day in the Ember. Again due to sickness, we were the only two on. Thomas and Jillian headed to the centre, but Larry stayed home. We spent the day cleaning, doing laundry and fixing the darn wardrobe. After a few frustrations, the wardrobe is together although a little worse for wear. After dinner, Lucy helped Jillian off to bed and then we watched Mr. Bean with the lads. Larry was ready for bed early, and Makiko offered to help Thomas off to bed because the two of us were exhausted from the 2 long days. Thanks Makiko!
Friday was a great day in Micah’s book. Scott, Micah, Bobby, and Noah started to build the chicken coop. It currently has 3 walls, a roof and a floor, but it is really starting to look like a coop!! After the guys finished for the day, we walked up to Forestside to get some goodies for New Years Eve. We spent the evening at the Orf’s with a few other people.
Padraig is such good help.
Today we are being pretty lazy. Micah is still not feeling great, so we are taking it easy. Tonight we are heading to Peter and Jenna’s (MMN volunteers) to play some games. It should be really nice.
Lately in Belfast, lots of people have been without (or with little) water. There have been problems with leaks in pipes that are leading to low reservoir levels. We have been fortunate to have some water all the time, but we haven’t been able to flush our toilets since Tuesday (we can be thankful for bucket flushing) and there are about 2 showers a day for the 4 of us. Supposedly the leaks will be fixed by next week, but Scott informed us that as they are trying to fix the leaks they are also discovering some pipes are wooden dating back to the early 19th century. It sounds like a bit of updating is needed on the water system!
We hope you all are healthy and happy at the beginning of 2011. Pray for Micah as he continues to try to get better! Looking forward to seeing many of you in a few months.
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