Irish blessings
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During Easter break, a team of 12 people from Roberts Wesleyan College (this author included) had the unique opportunity to fly to Northern Ireland and work with Tower View Free Methodist church in Bangor, a 20-minute ride from the capital city of Belfast (Bangor’s claim to fame? Two members of the rock band ‘Snow Patrol’ hail from the sea-side town).
Before I digress about the trip, you readers need to know that there are more redheads in Western New York than in Northern Ireland. (Seriously.) And rest assured, our Irish friends made fun of us when we asked where the redheads were. It’s a common misconception which the Irish find quite entertaining.
Getting There
A piece of advice to anyone who wants to go abroad: always try to avoid traveling during a holiday. If, by chance, you are delayed and late for your connecting flight (like we were), there will be plenty of stand-bys waiting to snag your seat on the plane (and there were). In this case, be prepared with an emergency fund unless you want to spend the night in Chicago’s O’Hare airport while you wait for the next flight to London-Heathrow. If you are traveling with a group, have a matching ribbon on each piece of luggage. Thanks to our wise chaperone, we were able to save our luggage from the fearful unknown of a London-Heathrow terminal.
Money
Prices are exorbitant in Northern Ireland, as they are still on the pound currency. $2 exchanges for approximately 1 pound, and it’s no surprise, because Ireland’s economy is the third fastest growing in the world. Fortunately, our team didn’t finance this trip alone. We began sending out letters in November 2007, and we had raised a lump sum from sponsors which provided airfare, food and transportation while we were in Bangor. Our team raised $22,000 altogether, but it really wasn’t much after airline tickets were purchased. The week’s travels alone were spent riding in a 12-seat bus, which cost roughly $180 per tank of gas. Housing was free, provided by church members around Bangor. As for souvenirs, well, some of us picked lots of clovers to bring home for family and friends.
Food
Forget about coffee. The natives don’t know how to make it well, and Starbucks is non-existent in most of Northern Ireland (strangely reminiscent of Western NY). Develop a taste for tea, because the hospitable Irishprovide tea and snacks three times per day. Learn to love onions. They (and not potatoes!) were a large part of most Irish dishes I sampled, much to mychagrin. The good news? You can find McDonald’s, KFC and Burger King almost anywhere. Oh wait, I meant the good news. Cadbury and Galaxy chocolates willruin you forever because they’re simply heavenly (and quite superior to Hershey’s).
Language barrier
Yes, we all speak English. But some of the accents are so thick that you feel you need an interpreter. I only encountered this once. Unfortunately for me, the speaker was trying to give me a free bottle of sparkling water and I didn’t comprehend in time. We learned to avoid using the words “khaki” and “pants” together. For the Irish, khaki is a slang term meaning “crappy” or “gross” and pants means “underwear.” (This explains the horrified looks of a host family when one girl offered her khaki pants to a fellow team member.)
Lessons learned
In the past two years, Northern Ireland has recovered agreat deal from the war. The fear of bomb threats no longer haunts the streets of Belfast. Instead,they are crowded with busy shoppers and sidewalk musicians. Yet a darkness still hangs over the city, like an open wound trying to heal. They compare their conflicts to our own civil war – depending on where you go, the war is still not over.
Our team’s goal was primarily to work with the church’s youth program. The teenagers of NorthernIreland are unruly and law enforcement is scarce. Passersby were nonplussed to witness 11 year olds making out in malls or 14 year olds prancing around the park with a bottle of liquor.Teens of all ages were constantly lighting up cigarettes. Yet many of the street inhabiting teens were drawn to the guitars, chocolate bars and drama we provided on the streets of Bangor. At the end of the week, we introduced the church community to a “coffeehouse” style youth service where we sang, ate and talked to the kids openly about faith.
The trip meant much more than simply seeing my motherland. Our team’s goal was to reach the people of NorthernIreland, and in the process they reached out to us with their encouragement, hospitality and love. The week was filled with unexpected events and wonderful new friends, and I’d live every moment again if I had the chance.
