Happy Halloween

Halloween... what an interesting holiday. I found it quite interesting that in the public school in the states I am discouraged from singing songs about witches and goblins, but in the Catholic school here we celebrated making witches brew and singing spooky (for a 5 year old) songs. That was the start to my Halloween break. I only had to work a half day on Friday, so I planned some little activities for the kids to celebrate in their costumes. It was good fun. We stirred up witches brew, and I peeled grapes and cut up apples and we sang the magic words of our song as we put them in the cups. One little girl came up to me all upset... when she had said her magic words "crash, bang, alakzam, now you disappear" hers didn't disappear. It is amazing how much young children believe... magical isn't it. Even with that the morning went by quickly, and I was on my way out of town to Edinburgh. Thankfully, my friend Catherine lives near the international airport, so I left my car at her house and she ran me to the airport. She was also generous enough to pick me up this morning somewhere around 8 a.m. Didn't I tell you how wonderful the people here have been. (thanks again Catherine) So my flight left early and I ended up in Edinburgh by about 4 to meet my friend Michelle from exchange. The city of Edinburgh is beautiful. It feels more cosmopolitan than Belfast. The old buildings are gorgeous. I suppose if you are surrounded by them your entire life, perhaps you don't see how beautiful they are, but I loved them. I could live in a city like Edinburgh, although I do have to say that all in all the Irish people are friendlier. At least from my interactions. I toured most of Edinburgh on foot, mostly because Michelle and I took a road that we thought ought to lead us home and we got somewhat lost. The angled streets make for a beautiful city, with unusual buildings, but they are not nearly as easily navigated as the US grid system. Our 20 min walk home turned into an hour and 20 mins. We basically went away from her home before heading back. It was alright though, we saw fire twirlers, and like I said a good portion of the city. We were going to go to the Roselyn chapel from the Divinci Code, but that bus only runs Monday through Friday. I missed out on that, but if I make it back again I would rent a car and see some other areas. Instead of the chapel we went to the royal mile and the Edinburgh Castle. Again, I have to say... I can picture myself in a castle. It was beautiful, and quite nice to look out over the city. I really had a great time. This morning when Catherine picked me up I was absolutely exhausted. I left Michelle's house at 5:15 and so most of today I slept away. Everybody needs a day like that sometimes, right? It is so strange that I could spend a weekend in Scotland. I am going to pick up the Irish news... I have been told that I can find good package deals to see other places for weekend trips. It was funny though, last night as I was getting ready for bed I thought to myself that I was feeling ready to go home-- I was pretty wiped out. And the odd thing was that I was thinking about Belfast. Strange-- I guess it is home now.

Roughly translates to "If you hit me, I'll hit you back" :)

the truth is discovered

So my weekend visits in Belfast further confirmed my earlier suspicions... I am supposed to be a princess. I really think that I could enjoy spending my days reading in the garden and enjoying fruity drink served to me by distinguished gentlemen--- hosting elegant affairs and dancing under the stairs... greeting my guests from the stone staircase... and waving softly... elbow elbow... wrist wrist wrist.... why do I know that if I am not to be a princess someday??? Ughhh... I suppose my patience will only make me better royalty! These are a few pictures that I took on satuday.

I also went to the market on Saturday with Grainne's mom (mum for all of the Irish readers). It reminded me of the north market a bit. I started thinking... having my philosophical moment in the Belfast castle garden how so many things are similar here. Not the same, but close with a different spin on it. It is actually quite comforting. If homesickness ever strikes me, this may be the most difficult part of the trip.. close but no cigar! We'll see. I also started thinking when I come home I need to start taking advantage of the things that Columbus does offer... so watch out friends... you are all sure to be dragged along!

another beautiful day...

My camera battery is dead so I can't show you the sky here. If you are sitting in Ohio thinking could any place on earth have more miserable weather than where I am right now, I can answer with a resounding YES! I think that we have had 2 days of fall (sorry) autumn since I've been here, and I have soaked in every second of those days. Mostly we have had misery in the form of wind and rain and skies that make my children ask if it is almost night time. Many people here have already warned, if you think that this is awful wait until winter... I should have made an exchange in Greece or Italy... wouldn't it be nice to live someplace that always had wonderful weather. Oh well, I suppose if it were perfect here, everyone would live here. Despite the ugly weather, I am still enjoying myself. I am getting ready to have Chinese food for my friend Nuela's birthday... I am charging my battery now in the hopes of a few fun pictures to post tomorrow. I suppose we'll see.
I have had a couple of funny moments in the classroom this week that I thought I would share today... The first one came when I was working with a small group of children and we were writing one of the Kipper in our sentence. The little boy beside me was writing right along and after he had finished the 2 ps he looked up to me and said to me... I'm a good pee-er. I had to chuckle... he had no idea what he had said. But good to know!
The second incident happened when I was working on the ing chunk with the kids, and we rhymed ing words... and all of a sudden it came to a boy and he got all excited that he realized minging had the ing chunk in it. He nearly jumped out of his seat shouting Minging... you know like-- his feet were minging! Good thing I knew what that meant!
Hope that you all enjoy your weekend... I will try and post pictures soon.

She'll be coming down the mountain... road

Do you know those moments when you know if your mom could see what you were doing she would kill you... yeah, well I had one of those last night. I went to my friend Claire's house for dinner and grocery shopping and she lives about 30 minutes away. Getting there is getting easier each time I make the journey, but I have yet to go home the same way. There aren't really a lot of ways that I should take home, I just seem to get lost rather easily. One would think that taking the road labeled to Belfast would be a good choice... but again and again I am learning that is not the case. It really is the blasted round-a-bouts. In the states when you are going home you know if you went right, go left ect... but here, the circle is killing me. Which branch of the bout did I come from? Where am I now... in the case of the knott's corner round-a-bout... I chose incorrectly. It kind of felt like the moment in princess bride when the little man was debating which glass to drink from... I am the little man. So needless to say I was on the road to belfast... which I shouldn't have been on, and there was a car following close behind me, and most of you don't know, but going over the mountain... no lights to show me the way. I was on this road, and there wasn't a good place to turn around -- so I decided to just follow it to belfast and hope that I knew where I landed. well, fine in theory.., in practice not the best choice I could have made... well I drove for what seemed like a really long time and didn't seem to be going down... and just as I was about to pull over and do a U turn I started to go down the mountain... I figured it couldn't be long... then the fog hit. You know how brights aren't all that helpful in the full-on fog, and there were no lights to guide me... I was winding down a road I didn't know,.. with very little guidance... and it seemed to take FOREVER! Finally I made it to where the city was beginning to be visible below me, and I felt a little better... although, I didn't recognized anything. I came down into a protestant area (marked by the flags) and as you all know I don't live there. I was really afraid that I had landed on the east side of Belfast... where I know NOTHING! So I kept driving, and as much as I love living here, Belfast doesn't feel beautiful at night. All of the shops are sealed by the metal garage doors securing them. Makes you feel really safe. I kept driving, hoping my car didn't die and that eventually I would see a sign for the motorway or any road I knew.... I kept looking for landmarks thinking i'd call someone and see if they could direct me home.... and I kept driving... finally I came to a round-a-bout with a sign pointing to belfast castle and belfast zoo and I was about to pull over when I saw a landmark that I knew just ahead. AHHHHHHH.... it was Carlise Circus... a roundabout near my school.. on the absolutely opposite side where I thought I was, but it was the way I go home from school everyday! Saved! I was absolutely exhausted when I got home, and I am glad that I have been driving around trying to get my bearings. Early September I think that I would have completely panicked... so I guess I am feeling a bit better. Pretty soon I might even be able to tell you where I went out on Saturday night:)

What religion are you again?

Well, it has been a strange week by means of church. Last Sunday I decided to get up and drive around to find a church to attend. I left the house about 10:20 and headed toward Finaghy where Grainne's sister Joanne lives. I drove past a few protestant churches, but they all looked quiet... either the services were over or had yet to begin.. so I decided to keep driving. I figured it was a good idea for me to get out and drive around anyway. I am actually starting to figure out where roads will lead, and I am collecting landmarks so when I get lost, I can find my way back home. I finally landed at a little protestant church not far from Sonia's parents house. There were people walking in, so I figured I had a good shot at a service, and the church was a lovely old stone building. I followed several people in, and found that the service started at 11:00... this was probably the only time in my life that I have been 15 minutes EARLY for a service. So I went in and sat down. People started coming in, and it was like they were on some kind of track,... clearly heading to their usual seat... I started to feel a little awkward like I might be sitting in someone's seat. At 10 til I decided that I would use the restroom and waste a few of the awkward moments... and so I got up and found the restroom. When I came back... not to any surprise a little old lady was sitting in the seat that I had first chosen, so I found another seat across the way. As I was looking around the church, the wooden engravements had apples neatly placed in them... I thought this was a little strange, and wondered if I had happened upon a fire and brimstone church that was continually beating the message of the fall of man...thankfully I found out later it was harvest Sunday...whew... that could have been really uncomfortable. Soon, another little old lady came and asked if I could move down... so I did... clearly I was in her seat too. She started chatting, asking me where I was from, and as soon as I said the states... she had to introduce me to her family and all of her little old lady friends. They were all very nice. After the service one of the little old ladies insisted that she introduce me to the minister. So I went through the receiving line and met the minister who was also extremely nice. He then wanted to get me his card so that if I needed anything I could call upon him. So we went back to his office, I met his wife, and then he introduced me to the other minister of the church who was probably the closest in age to me in the entire church. He insisted that I come to the little luncheon that they were having next door, and so I did. I sat and talk to the young minister and the only other person even remotely in my age group Tony, and a small group of 40 something men. We had interesting conversation, and little old ladies kept coming up to me and introducing themselves to me. It was a little awkward however, because each person would ask me where I was living, and I would answer, and they would say....oh, with a confused look on their face. The minister leaned over and jokingly said we don't get many people here from A-town. Finally this lady came over and started chatting, saying oh I know the person with whom you are sharing your flat and making all of these connections to me, and the young minister quickly interrupted and said,...no no (smiling)... this is a person from America, you are going to get me in trouble. The little old lady had mistakenly thought that I was the minister's girlfriend. Another odd situation. All in all it was very nice. I don't think that it is the church for me, but the people were really lovely.
I also attended mass for the first time this year. I will have to go several more times, but probably by the end I will know whether to sit, kneel, stand... all of the little things that make me feel like an outsider. It was quite funny though. I was sitting with the P5 class as an extra hand because P2 don't go to mass, they go home early. And the kids around me were asking me what to do... clearly I was NOT the person to ask. It was also a bit uncomfortable when everyone in all the rows around me got up to take communion and I didn't. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to go up and get a blessing. I didn't know if every church did the same thing, so I just sat and waited, and hoped that none of the kids asked me too much about it. Mass was actually quite nice. The children's singing was really beautiful, and the message from the priest was great for the kids. The teachers didn't harass me too much about being a protestant, just enough that I know it doesn't matter. I am trying to see different churches, and I hope that I can find one where I feel comfortable. I'll keep you posted.

Missing my calling...

You know how I mentioned that everything was really difficult for me when I first came to Belfast, that the daily things of life that should be simple just weren't. Well, I thought that I had outgrown that stage in Belfast and that I was finally settling in to the dailies, until today. I have been walking out of my house every morning thinking to myself... you need to cut the grass today it is embarrassingly long. Then I would go about my day and never actually make it to cutting the grass. Today I had it on my list and was confident that I could accomplish this smallish task. So around 3:30 when I got home, I straightened my house, did the dishes, and decided to tackle the lawn. Mind you that the yard is maybe a 10 by 10 square of grass, one would not think that this was an overwhelming task. One would be wrong. I first weedwacked around the fence and the concrete that surrounds the yard. Simple enough, it didn't take long. I could tell that the weed whacker was not going to be the tool for the rest of the yard based on the respond to the long grass I had around the edges. So I went inside to get out the lawnmower that Grainne's mom had brought me in the first week of my arrival. I pulled the box from the cubby under the stairs and decided today was the day to tackle my skills not only as a lawn caretaker -- but also as a lawnmower engineer. For any of you that have been graced by my technical skills you would know I am no Sharon Young... (the handiest woman in Ridgewood). And I don't think Grainne is either since I couldn't find any tools. (No offense Grainne is you are a closet mechanic.) Regardless, I decided not to be daunted by minor set backs like no tools, and I pulled all of the pieces of lawnmower out of the box. First of all, I have never used a push mower that wasn't propelled gas... this is truly a push mower. Which I was thankful for not having the hassle of gas, but I am not looking into one of these for my lawn at home. Anyway... besides the mower being in pieces, I really wasn't sure how it was going to work once I finally got it assembled. I laid all of the pieces out on the floor and I even took out the instructions. I have to say the majority of it was assembled, but the handle definitely was not! After much struggle, pushing and pulling coaxing the screws into place I finally emerged victorious-- I had a fully assembled lawnmower. Next was getting it out of the house:) Really that wasn't all that hard. I dragged the mower out to the front yard and followed the directions to put it to good use. I pushed it. Sounds ridiculous, and it was. I am sure that the young boy that lives next door who had been watching my progress while meandering down the road was amused, I was not. Nothing happened... the wheels didn't move, and the blades didn't turn... and of course the blades of grass did not miraculously fall into the collector. So after several tries I found a spot on the lawn that caused the wheels to move, the blades to turn.... and miraculously the blades of grass landed in the collector. The only problem... well at least the first one was the grass was so long, that I had to continually stop and try to drag the grass that wound around the wheels out, and moves the blades to dislodge the bunches of grass that continually kept it from moving. After about 40 minutes (a ridiculous amount of time for this little plot of land) I emerged victorious! The grass was cut, and I was cleaning up. Well... almost victorious. You know when kids cut their own hair... I am afraid that is what my lawn looks like right now... big clumps gone, others left long out of sheer exhaustion... This morning as I left my house I did not have the pride of a beautiful lawn to greet me. I did, however, have a list of things that I have learned. 1. Everything in Belfast must be done a little at a time... dishes, laundry, grocery shopping and of course cutting the lawn. 2. It is not worth having grass if the enjoyment does not equal the energy expended in upkeep. and 3. If Damien offers to do anything again for me... the answer is yes, when can you come over:) (He offered to assemble the lawnmower, and I foolishly did not jump at the offer!) Ah, look at me learning. I am sure that there is a little self-help book lying latent in all of these experiences. Perhaps now that my lawn is mowed I can begin thinking about the title.

A potter's soul…

After our first attempts on the potter’s wheel, Sonia and I decided that what you create on the wheel is a direct link to your inner person. It is kind of like reading tealeaves or other random ways of explaining the unexplainable. We had a great time, although we were both a little less than successfull. I wish that I would have had my camera to take pictures of what our efforts produced, but I left it at home, so my words and your imaginations will have to create the pictures. Sonia got to go to the wheel first. It all starts out well enough. You have to make the clay rise and then you push it down, and rise, push it down. This is what are instructor refers to as centering the clay...She also mentioned that this is a very important part of the process, and both Sonia and I are at a loss on how you actually tell if it is centered...So after a while of trying to make it rise and trying to push it down we tire and began to form the pot. You are supposed to have a flat surface and put your thumb in it leaving a good amount on the bottom, but both Sonia and I had a hole started for us by our rising and falling attempts so we just went with it. Sonia produced two flat pots, which later were noticed a picture on the wall of a famous potter who made flat pots very similar to Sonia's ( he must have been a beginner too.) Sonia's creations were actually quite interesting. The edges were thick with a swirl in the base. If she had kept them she could have begun a dinner plate collection, but the clay went into the recycling. It was quite unique and unexpected. We definitely couldn't replicate what we were making, everything was an out of control accident. My pot actually started looking a little like a pot. It was kind of rounded and the top of it started falling in so I began to pull it out, like I thought the instructor had shown us. As I did that the top thinned rather quickly and the entire rim collapsed outward like a flower opening up... I struggled to pull it back together, clay going in several directions, but In the end my pot turned into a kind of mushroom shape...So, I time was winding down and I decided my creation was heading for the recycling, far from perfection...And the instructor told me I ought to try and salvage a little pot out of it...So I did. In the end I made a birthday candle holder or a bud vase...Depending on your taste. It is maybe 3 inches tall with a hole the diameter of my pinky, and a twist in it...Alll unintentional, but at least I will have asouvenirr from my first attempt on the wheel. So if the bud vase/candle holder becomes yours for Christmas...You should treasure it and consider it a window to my soul!

my first half pint

I had my first half pint of Guinness this weekend. I am no longer offended to be considered a half pint... Because it clearly depends on what you are a half pint of! If it is Guinness it is just enough! I actually liked it. It was a cold and rainy day, with a lot of wind. We had tried several times to go for a walk, but every time the sun started to shine we got out of the car and then it started to rain. It was like someone was playing a cruel joke on us. I got caught in the rain and was fairly drenched, so I was glad to have a bowl of seafood chowder and a half pint of Guinness to warm me up. I think that I will have it again, but I have to admit the warm port that we tried later was much tastier! It was like hot sangria and it felt like Christmas. The pictures below are for posterity sake, the top of the Guinness was thick enough to make a smiley face looking up at me... It was delicious! Tami... I think that you would have loved it too! I have many funny memories of Donegal, and if nothing exciting happens at pottery class, I will try and communicate some of them tomorrow. Goodnight.

Tomorrow's thoughts on Donegal

Actually, I am only posting pictures from my weekend tonight. I am too knackered to provide a thoughtful comentary on the weekend. But as you can see from the pictures, Ireland is a beautiful place. I wish you could all come and visit .. (except for those of you that live here... don't come and visit, my dishes aren't done. Just joking Sonia saw me do them tonight, so feel free to stop by!) This is Donegal... and a little bit of Derry too.

Word of the day--

Today's words come from the many pubs I have visited over the last few weeks. It is more Irish slang. The words of the day are synonyms and can be used almost interchangably: TOUCH and PULL
Touch: v. to hook-up with someone at a bar or a club; snogging
Did you touch tonight?