Ireland.
I think I'll begin a series of reflections on our trip to Ireland with a simple day-by-day, blow-by-blow account of what happened:
July 18th - Travel
Our group got to the Nashville airport about 10am, and everything seemed to go quite smoothly. No major headaches of any kind really. Just a long day. One trait of our group was established im my mind and sort of stuck with me until the end...we were an incredibly loud bunch of people.
July 19th - Arrival
After landing in Dublin, we boarded buses for the 3 hour trip to Ballymena. Fatigue was beginning to set in at this point, so most people dozed. This was the first good look at Ireland I got. In order to describe it, I would have to mesh together a lot of other places. At many points, I could have been riding through Anytown, USA. At others, the sights were more foreign. I guess all of that means that it's simply unique. At this point in the trip, we were being teased with sunny and warm weather...that wouldn't last long.
We arrived at the Faith Mission Center and began scoping out the accomodations. Most rooms had bunk beds (mine had 3 sets of bunks - 6 total beds), some had mattresses to place on the floor. There were two showers (amazingly, this never presented itself as a major problem to our group of 50+). Overall, I was quite impressed. This was definitely nicer that what I had envisioned. We were literally one block from a mall of sorts, and not much further to eateries and shops of all kinds.
On the subject of eateries, let me make one thing quite clear: The Irish love potatoes. There were a minimum of two potato offerings at every meal. One meal consisted of pork chops, mashed potatoes, french fries, and potato salad. The other thing most Irish people have in common is a sweet tooth. Much ice cream was consumed. A local favorite is a type of homemade ice cream sandwich called a slider. In addition to ice cream, chocolate is a point of pride for most of Europe, and Ireland is no exception. I was often reminded how superior European chocolate is to its poor American imitation. Another sweet which I found quite delicious and now wonder at its absense from American shelves is honeycomb. Dried honeycomb made appearances in candies and ice creams right alongside chocolate and vanilla. It's really quite good. Local dessert favorites (think homemade now) include a meringue (sp?) dish called Pavlova which is served with whipped cream and fruit and a caramel coffee banana pie called, interestingly enough, banoffee. There is much more that could be said of the Irish cuisine, but I'll save it for another posting.
July 20th - Worship
We attended Hillside Community Church for three services, a communion service, a second morning service, and an evening worship service. This is where we got our first real taste of the absolutely amazing hospitality which we were shown throughout our stay. The effort and expense of having 50 noisy hungry (sometimes rude) Americans invading was borne with nothing but love and welcoming hugs. The services themselves were fairly normal. The church served us a lunch of hamburgers and hot dogs (or steakburger and sausages if you're a native).
July 21st - First day on the pitch
At 11, we gathered in the sanctuary room of the Mission Center and worshipped with song and teaching. After lunch, we headed to the Dunclug estate, the closest thing to a housing project that you'll find. Kids from all over the estate and surrounding area poured in to play soccer (football) and participate in Vavation Bible School type activities. There, gathered on the same green field were Catholic and Protestant kids playing together. The history lesson in that small fact is longer than I think I'll type here, but let it suffice that I was told by quite a few people that those kids would never socialize in that way if we weren't around. In fact, they don't. The field that we played on is empty for the rest of the year.
A group of us then headed to the home of the Carnes, a lovely older couple and their son and daughter for dinner and tea. Sam, the father, played the piano for us after the meal. Again, I have to stress how hospitable these people were. The conversation and time spent in their homes is quite a special memory for me. I think it was for the rest of us too.
Next, we returned to the fields for more soccer. This time, the older guys showed up (as expected) and several of us joined them for soccer in a cage. Basically, it's a gravel basketball court surrounded with metal fencing. The nets were inset into the fencing, and the play was intense. It was a lot of fun, and we were blessed to have no major injuries (a couple of scrapes and a twisted ankle).
I won't reiterate the events on the field and court each day. They were very similar as we learned new names and (hopefully) made new friends. The only exception was that the rain on Thursday night cancelled the court game as did the worship concert on Friday night.
July 22nd - Second day on the pitch
On this day, we woke up with pain in muscles that had probably never been used before. I can distinctly remember how it hurt to even cough or sneeze. This was real, intense pain. From that point and through the rest of the week, you could pick out those of us who played soccer each day by the way we hobbled down the stairs. After an 11 worship service and some stretching, we headed back out onto the field.
July 23rd - Glen Ariff
We woke up early to head into Glen Ariff, a valley fit for a hike. On this particular day, it was a hike in 60 degrees F and steady rain. There were waterfalls and beautiful foliage to take in, but I must admit that the weather conditions made us more ready to hike out again than to stay and gaze at the beauty. After that, we drove into a lovely coastal town called Carnlough. Conditions had improves, and we had a lovely time. Some of the group went for ice cream, some for scones and tea, and some just we sight-seeing along the main street.
We headed back for more football.
July 24th - McMillen
Sunshine and I and another couple were invited to breakfast at the home of the McMillens. We had another enjoyable time with a Hillside family. I'm still trying to think of a better word than hospitable, but I can't. We also got to walk through the McMillens' adjoining furniture store and shop. It was very nice.
After 11:00 worship, more time on the field.
July 25th - Last day on the field
We woke up to find ourselves smack at the end of a week. It didn't seem possible, but the ache in the muscles reminded us it was. We had a great time on the field in the afternoon, and the worship team held a concert at Hillside in the evening. Several faces I would never have expected to see at Hillside showed up for the concert. The room got quite warm, but everyone had a great time anyway. After the concert, we returned to the Mission Center to find homemade pizza! Several members of Hillside joined us and a good time was had by all.
July 26th - Touring
We took off in the morning to visit the oldest license whiskey distillery in the world. Bush Mills was licensed in 1608, and it has been churning out fine Irish whiskey ever since. Of course, the tour concluded in the bar...very nice. After that, we had a lovely and light lunch of soup and sandwiches. Next was the Giants' Causeway, a very interesting piece of geography on the coast. There's mythology involved in the name, but the formation is made up of vertical pillars of igneous (from lava) rock which all form a pier-like structure out into the water. The cliffs just off of the water provided amazing views. You could see Scotland in the distance. On the return home, we took a wonderfully scenic drive through some of the narrowest roadway that could possibly accomodate our rental buses. Winding up and then back down cliffs and hills, we saw a good portion of the northeast coast including a return drive through Carnlough.
July 27th - Tears
It was a day of goodbyes to those friends we had made in such a brief time. For some in the group this was their second or third trip to Ballymena, and the goodbyes were even harder. The actual schedule of events mirrored the previous Sunday, but the night service included a slide show presentation of the week. The afternoon was spent cleaning up the Mission Center.
July 28th - Travel II
We awoke in time to leave on a bus at 7 am headed for Dublin. When all was said and done, we travelled 21 hours straight...and slept well once we got home.
Well, that's a VERY rough outline of the week. I'm sure I'll say much more, but I thought it might be helpful to see what happened chronologially first.
I think I'll begin a series of reflections on our trip to Ireland with a simple day-by-day, blow-by-blow account of what happened:
July 18th - Travel
Our group got to the Nashville airport about 10am, and everything seemed to go quite smoothly. No major headaches of any kind really. Just a long day. One trait of our group was established im my mind and sort of stuck with me until the end...we were an incredibly loud bunch of people.
July 19th - Arrival
After landing in Dublin, we boarded buses for the 3 hour trip to Ballymena. Fatigue was beginning to set in at this point, so most people dozed. This was the first good look at Ireland I got. In order to describe it, I would have to mesh together a lot of other places. At many points, I could have been riding through Anytown, USA. At others, the sights were more foreign. I guess all of that means that it's simply unique. At this point in the trip, we were being teased with sunny and warm weather...that wouldn't last long.
We arrived at the Faith Mission Center and began scoping out the accomodations. Most rooms had bunk beds (mine had 3 sets of bunks - 6 total beds), some had mattresses to place on the floor. There were two showers (amazingly, this never presented itself as a major problem to our group of 50+). Overall, I was quite impressed. This was definitely nicer that what I had envisioned. We were literally one block from a mall of sorts, and not much further to eateries and shops of all kinds.
On the subject of eateries, let me make one thing quite clear: The Irish love potatoes. There were a minimum of two potato offerings at every meal. One meal consisted of pork chops, mashed potatoes, french fries, and potato salad. The other thing most Irish people have in common is a sweet tooth. Much ice cream was consumed. A local favorite is a type of homemade ice cream sandwich called a slider. In addition to ice cream, chocolate is a point of pride for most of Europe, and Ireland is no exception. I was often reminded how superior European chocolate is to its poor American imitation. Another sweet which I found quite delicious and now wonder at its absense from American shelves is honeycomb. Dried honeycomb made appearances in candies and ice creams right alongside chocolate and vanilla. It's really quite good. Local dessert favorites (think homemade now) include a meringue (sp?) dish called Pavlova which is served with whipped cream and fruit and a caramel coffee banana pie called, interestingly enough, banoffee. There is much more that could be said of the Irish cuisine, but I'll save it for another posting.
July 20th - Worship
We attended Hillside Community Church for three services, a communion service, a second morning service, and an evening worship service. This is where we got our first real taste of the absolutely amazing hospitality which we were shown throughout our stay. The effort and expense of having 50 noisy hungry (sometimes rude) Americans invading was borne with nothing but love and welcoming hugs. The services themselves were fairly normal. The church served us a lunch of hamburgers and hot dogs (or steakburger and sausages if you're a native).
July 21st - First day on the pitch
At 11, we gathered in the sanctuary room of the Mission Center and worshipped with song and teaching. After lunch, we headed to the Dunclug estate, the closest thing to a housing project that you'll find. Kids from all over the estate and surrounding area poured in to play soccer (football) and participate in Vavation Bible School type activities. There, gathered on the same green field were Catholic and Protestant kids playing together. The history lesson in that small fact is longer than I think I'll type here, but let it suffice that I was told by quite a few people that those kids would never socialize in that way if we weren't around. In fact, they don't. The field that we played on is empty for the rest of the year.
A group of us then headed to the home of the Carnes, a lovely older couple and their son and daughter for dinner and tea. Sam, the father, played the piano for us after the meal. Again, I have to stress how hospitable these people were. The conversation and time spent in their homes is quite a special memory for me. I think it was for the rest of us too.
Next, we returned to the fields for more soccer. This time, the older guys showed up (as expected) and several of us joined them for soccer in a cage. Basically, it's a gravel basketball court surrounded with metal fencing. The nets were inset into the fencing, and the play was intense. It was a lot of fun, and we were blessed to have no major injuries (a couple of scrapes and a twisted ankle).
I won't reiterate the events on the field and court each day. They were very similar as we learned new names and (hopefully) made new friends. The only exception was that the rain on Thursday night cancelled the court game as did the worship concert on Friday night.
July 22nd - Second day on the pitch
On this day, we woke up with pain in muscles that had probably never been used before. I can distinctly remember how it hurt to even cough or sneeze. This was real, intense pain. From that point and through the rest of the week, you could pick out those of us who played soccer each day by the way we hobbled down the stairs. After an 11 worship service and some stretching, we headed back out onto the field.
July 23rd - Glen Ariff
We woke up early to head into Glen Ariff, a valley fit for a hike. On this particular day, it was a hike in 60 degrees F and steady rain. There were waterfalls and beautiful foliage to take in, but I must admit that the weather conditions made us more ready to hike out again than to stay and gaze at the beauty. After that, we drove into a lovely coastal town called Carnlough. Conditions had improves, and we had a lovely time. Some of the group went for ice cream, some for scones and tea, and some just we sight-seeing along the main street.
We headed back for more football.
July 24th - McMillen
Sunshine and I and another couple were invited to breakfast at the home of the McMillens. We had another enjoyable time with a Hillside family. I'm still trying to think of a better word than hospitable, but I can't. We also got to walk through the McMillens' adjoining furniture store and shop. It was very nice.
After 11:00 worship, more time on the field.
July 25th - Last day on the field
We woke up to find ourselves smack at the end of a week. It didn't seem possible, but the ache in the muscles reminded us it was. We had a great time on the field in the afternoon, and the worship team held a concert at Hillside in the evening. Several faces I would never have expected to see at Hillside showed up for the concert. The room got quite warm, but everyone had a great time anyway. After the concert, we returned to the Mission Center to find homemade pizza! Several members of Hillside joined us and a good time was had by all.
July 26th - Touring
We took off in the morning to visit the oldest license whiskey distillery in the world. Bush Mills was licensed in 1608, and it has been churning out fine Irish whiskey ever since. Of course, the tour concluded in the bar...very nice. After that, we had a lovely and light lunch of soup and sandwiches. Next was the Giants' Causeway, a very interesting piece of geography on the coast. There's mythology involved in the name, but the formation is made up of vertical pillars of igneous (from lava) rock which all form a pier-like structure out into the water. The cliffs just off of the water provided amazing views. You could see Scotland in the distance. On the return home, we took a wonderfully scenic drive through some of the narrowest roadway that could possibly accomodate our rental buses. Winding up and then back down cliffs and hills, we saw a good portion of the northeast coast including a return drive through Carnlough.
July 27th - Tears
It was a day of goodbyes to those friends we had made in such a brief time. For some in the group this was their second or third trip to Ballymena, and the goodbyes were even harder. The actual schedule of events mirrored the previous Sunday, but the night service included a slide show presentation of the week. The afternoon was spent cleaning up the Mission Center.
July 28th - Travel II
We awoke in time to leave on a bus at 7 am headed for Dublin. When all was said and done, we travelled 21 hours straight...and slept well once we got home.
Well, that's a VERY rough outline of the week. I'm sure I'll say much more, but I thought it might be helpful to see what happened chronologially first.
posted by Chitchat at 2:14 PM
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