pants, rubbers, and rides... the perils of belfast.

It's been a month since Amy, Nathaniel, Andy, Patricia, Sally, Lynnea, Rob and I landed in Belfast and it's high time I got on a blogging kick. For those of you patiently waiting and checking the blog for updates, thank you for your interest. For those of you who not so patiently waited (Julia, Holt, David...) I hope this makes all your blog dreams come true. So with love and a little trepidation (I've never successfully kept a journal, let alone a blog) let us begin.

We arrived and completed a week of orientation in Belfast and began working the following Wednesday. I work at Dundonald Methodist Church and Dundonald Family and Community Initiative, both which are right up the road from the flat Amy and I share. The estate we live in, Ballybeen, deserves an entire post unto itself, so more on that later. DFCI runs a variety of programs throughout the week that I take part in. Today, for instance, I spent the morning with Sticky Fingers, a moms and tots group that meets in the church hall. This afternoon we had Kidz Club which is a Bible-based afterschool program for elementary aged children in the estate. It was at Kidz Club where I got pied in the face for the first time in my life. The things we'll do for the entertainment of kids...

The transition to living and communicating successfully in Belfast has been hilarious and perhaps embarrassing. I quickly learned that I shouldn't have written off the culture-shock lectures from the YAV orientation in New York. While we're living in an English-speaking, developed country, I am most definitely not in the southeast anymore. Here are my three favorite mis-communications of the year so far:

"Pants"

We, the YAV group, were lamenting on the articles of clothing we wished we had brought with us, and one of the YAVs mentioned how she wished she had brought more pants with her. She only packed three or four pair, and so would have to "wear dirty pants" during the year. Doug kindly pointed out to us that pants in Belfast are underwear, not trousers, and the YAV had just announced her plan to wear dirty underwear for the year.

"Rides"

This one is simple- if someone is kind enough to drive you home at the end of the day, you thank them for the "lift" and not the "ride." They are VERY different things. I only wish I had known this weeks ago...

"Rubbers"

A young person asked for a rubber the other evening, and I sat a little shocked while the people around me searched through their bags. Seeing the look on my face, one of the girls laughed explaining that a rubber is an eraser, not what I thought it was. Whew.

This post in no way covers everything we've seen, done, and talked about in the past month. It's overwhelming to think of all I have to share, and it's only been a month! Y'all have my word that I'll be more diligent about blogging in the future. Let me know if there is anything specific you want to hear about! Take care and much love.