A full day

The brevity of this post will make up for my long-windedness yesterday. It's about 1 AM here, and we leave for Donegal at 10. And I still have to pack. AND I want to upload my pictures of Limerick to facebook because heaven knows when I'll be able to upload pictures next, and I want to unload my camera. Buh. Sleep and I are not going to be close friends tonight.

Anyway - today was a really really good day. I got into Dublin around 1:30, got a bit lost, but eventually found the church (I've only ever driven there with the Speers - it's a bit different when you have to walk a half hour from the DART station on your own). It was a little awkward at first, because the manager had only just been informed an hour before my arrival that I was coming - I thought it had all been set up before, and that they WANTED me there for that shift... but apparently not. In any case, she was very nice about it and introduced me to the kids and all. I think she was a bit skeptical of me at first, which I can understand... I felt kind of awkward coming in, almost unexpectedly, and just expecting to be given a job. But I have to say - I don't want to toot my own horn - but I'm fabulous with kids. Particularly in the 3 to 6 range, which was the group I was put with. Five minutes in and I had them ALL talking to me, telling me jokes, laughing at mine, doing puzzles with me, jumping around... but the best part was when I read them a story during their "tea" time. (Not sure why the staff calls it tea time... the kids had waffles and water.) None of them ate while I read - they were so into watching me. When I finished they all wanted to run and get me another book. I read all throughout their mealtime, and then for about a half hour afterward. Of course it wasn't the whole group listening the whole time, but I had a pretty constant stream of two or three kids the whole afternoon. By the end of it they were even cuddling up next to me. After 5:30, when they'd all gone and I was helping the staff ladies clean up, the manager came up to me and said, "Now Laura, I don't mean to put you on the spot... but if you ever want to come back again..."

Heh. :)

I stuck around the church for the International Cafe, which I enjoyed immensely once again. No getting volunteered for expedition leadership this time, though. I attended the pre-cafe Bible study, which I could write a lot about but probably won't... for a few reasons, mainly that I'm tired. It was interesting though, and I was glad to be there. There were a lot of surprisingly interesting and difficult topics raised. We were reading Mark 8 and 9, particularly focusing on the part about Jesus telling his disciples to pick up their crosses and follow Him. So we got questions ranging from "What does it mean to pick up your cross?" to "What does He mean by 'whoever tries to save his life will lose it'?" to "What happens to people who have never heard about God?" to "Was the story about Adam and Eve real, or was it a metaphor - and who wrote it?" and "What does it mean to have a relationship with God?" There was only one leader there to lead the study, and I really didn't want to butt in, being the new-kid... but she asked what I thought a few times so I got to answer some. Yeah. It was interesting.

The cafe itself was really fun again. I sat at a table where I didn't know anyone, and presently realized that I was sitting next to the Japanese girl from two weeks ago (the one who couldn't say "clap"), and one of the guys who came to the parade with me. The fellow on my other side asked me if I was French. That, coupled with Kate's declaration on skype last week that I've developed a North Dakotan accent, has made me feel very insecure about my speech. Oh, also, while we were eating, my Japanese friend again pointed out that I sit very straight while I eat - and soon I had a table full of Asians trying to imitate me.

Anyway, it was a good day and I was probably more sociable and outgoing today than I've been in a week at least. It felt good.

I'm gonna go pack now, and then see about uploading those pictures. I keep trying to take the time to upload them onto here, but it's just such an annoying uploader to work with! Anyway, I'll try again, if I have a connection in Donegal. We'll see. Until I have internet connection again, then, I bid you all adieu.