London Detour

After the Belfast Marathon, Niki and I took flight to London. It was my first time in London, and Niki's early birthday trip. We stayed with Rachel whom Niki knew from MCC in Brazil and I had met while we were travelling in Brazil. Her flat was a part of what I would call an eco village within London, which was very interesting. Rachel's hospitality made us feel right at home quickly. In London over two full days we did quite a bit. We went to Buckingham Palace, the London Aquarium, an art exhibit on Dali, the National Gallery, a large market place and the theatre to see Evita. The trip was quick, but enjoyable. With only 3 and a half months left for our volunteer year, it feels like time is going by quickly.

Belfast Marathon

On May 7th, 2007 the streets were packed for the annual belfast Marathon. The marathon began in the middle of the troubles and is said to have been a significant part of the peace process; Protestants and Catholics had to agree to allow others to run down their streets. In the past there have been bomb scares in Belfast on Marathon day and previous volunteers have talked about these, but during the race this year there was none. Very important considering the 8th was the first day of shared power between Sinn Fein and the DUP. Some of us joked that a bomb scare probably helped runners to run faster. Corrymeela every year has a team entered into the relay marathon. Kai, Robbie, Hanna, Kelly and myself were the team this year. I ran my stretch, 5.3 miles, in 45 min. Our whole team finished in 433rd place in just under 4 hours. There were 1627 relay teams and 1453 full marathon runners. A previous long term volunteer was doing the full marathon this year and finished in 182nd place. It took him 3 and a half hours. I still have a long way to go before I can do that, but the marathon was fun and we all had a good time.

Trip to Narnia

Last week Niki, Christian and I packed our bags and caught a bus to Narnia. The Mourne Mountains are considered the primary inspiration for C.S.Lewis' Narnia, and thus while we were walking I couldn't help but feel like I was walking in Narnia. We camped in Tollymore Forest Park and took day trips into the Mournes. The big hike that we did was to climb slieve Donard, the tallest mountain in Northern Ireland. We began at the Bloody Bridge and walked along the waterfalls until we reached an old granite mine and eventually the Mourne Wall. We followed a section of the Mourne wall up to the top of slieve donard where we saw signs of megalithic cairns and fantastic views. The trip was great, because it allowed us to go camping and exploring with Christian in a non work environment. It also reminded me of how much I love the outdoors. When we returned we worked with the community members. One of the highlights of the weekend was when Christian and I had fun learning about the corrymeela video camera and creating a video with it for the talent show while working with the youth. The weekend reminded me of a church retreat.