Homecoming

Finals, papers, it's all done. Flying standby was completely different this time, as on the way home, I got 1) on the first flight available, and 2) in business class seating. Got home around 11:30 at night, woke up at 7:15, went to church, all's well, I live happily ever after.

Kinda.

I love being in my own bed, in the house in which I grew up. I love it when both brothers are home. My room is MY room, I'm not going to be moving out in three months for good. The doodles/eventual murals are still on the walls, the plastic owl is on the bookcase, it's my room. Downstairs, it's all the same. Everything is where I left it at the end of August. The bookroom is more open, true, but everything's essentially the same.

The problem is when I step outside. My home town just doesn't feel like home any more. Parts of it are foreign to me, like the empty spot where a tree once stood, or the stack of fencing that a homeowner had removed. This building is closed, another building is something else. The people that drive by are unfamiliar to me.

I'm sure the feeling of not being home is, in part, caused by the knowledge that with another year of age (yeah, my brithday's today), I'm another year closer to finishing my degree, getting a job, and moving away. My wanderings aren't over yet.

I guess I have a ways to go before I get home.

² My soul longs, yes, even faints
For the courts of the LORD;
My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. 
³ Even the sparrow has found a home,
And the swallow a nest for herself,
Where she may lay her young—
Even Your altars, O LORD of hosts,
My King and my God.
⁴ Blessed are those who dwell in Your house;
They will still be praising You. Selah 

Psalm 84:2-4, NKJV

Canoeing, Capering, Camping, Climbing

The four C's of the last two days! Woohoo!

Thursday morning, we had the choice between canoeing and kayaking. Liz, our instructor, wasn't taking us out because she has a bad back currently, so we had Kat in the kayaks and Jon in the canoe. Melanie and I both chose to go in a canoe, so we worked together the entire day. We canoed down the Menai Strait, under both bridges near Bangor, dealt with currants, eddies, and the tide, and generally enjoyed each other's company while singing random songs. Everyone else had a kayak. Jon taught Mel and I separately. I was at the front, doing all the big steering, and Mel was at the back, doing the subtle steering. It took us two tries to get coordinated enough to cross the currant, but we didn't tip over. Jon said we did really well for it being our first time in a canoe! After we went several miles down the Strait, the tide changed and we paddled around a couple islands and a quarter of the way back to a small beach where Liz was waiting for us with a trailer. We loaded up all the stuff, drove to the Conway Centre, put everything away, and discussed technicalities of what we were taught and names for all the equipment. Then two other girls and I left, they had something to go to, and I had Morris dance practice!

Last night we only did...two, I believe, dances that I was really comfortable with and had done before. The rest were ones I had either done a grand total of once or had never done. It was great fun, learning all these new dances THAT WE'LL BE PERFORMING ON SUNDAY. I'll have to review the figures before we actually do them, because right now, I can't remember how a single one of the new ones goes. That puts me up to...five hours canoeing, two and a half hours capering.

Liz picked me up from practice so I could do the camping bit of our Outdoor Pursuits trip. Cathryn made me a "hobo packet" for supper, and they did save enough marshmallows for me to have s'mores. The hobo packet was delicious, all they did was take veggies (I had them leave the meat out), wrap them in two layers of foil, and stick the packet on the fire. While it was cooking, our entire group of sixteen or so people played a game called Mafia. It was a lot of fun. In a group of 15 people, we had 4 Mafia members. Each round, they chose someone to kill while everyone else is 'asleep'. In the group, also, was the Cop. He picks out someone as a Mafia member, and gets told by the Narrator if he's right or not, all while everyone else including the Mafia is 'asleep'. There's also a Doctor, who picks one person per round to save, and if he's lucky, he saves the person that just got killed by the Mafia. Everyone else is a Townsperson. The Narrator comes up with a brilliant (and often ridiculous) story of how someone was murdered, and the Townspeople vote on who they think the killer is. The person with the most votes at the end of the round dies. I got picked out as a Mafia member simply because I kept laughing. Cathryn's reason for picking me was, "she's over there, laughing by herself, keeping quiet, and for all we know, she has Liz's hands chopped off and stuck in her back pockets!" (Liz had just been killed by the Mafia). My first line of defence? "It can't have been me that killed Liz. I don't have back pockets." Trent, our Narrator, found that funny. It was a great time all round. I was a Townsperson both times. After that, we sang a few songs, then went to bed. It was quite fun, sleeping in a teepee. We had a fire in the middle of the circle, which a few of us woke up to occasionally feed. It got below freezing last night too, but the sleeping bags we had were amazingly warm and comfy. I didn't sleep much, but the times I wasn't sleeping were very relaxing, mostly because I was sleeping next to Jake. Jake is a big guy, and he snores. I like his snores. They were rumbley, comfy snores. It was somehow comforting to hear Jake snore, like proof I wasn't the only one there :D

Liz and Sally got us up at 9 this morning, we took until about 11 to all be ready to go for another activity, and we went indoor rock climbing. It was a lot of fun. Mel was my partner again, and we did a lot of fun climbs. There was one where all I had to do was place my back against one wall, my feet on the other, and climb the way we climbed the living room doorway! The only difference was that this climb was about four times higher! I also did a climb involving an auto-belay device, all I had to do was clip my harness into it and climb. That was actually the steepest climb I'd ever done, it tilted back towards me a little. When I got to the top, all I had to do was jump off! HA HA! The one thing I've had issues with this entire time, jumping into thin air! Well, I did it. I can't decide if it's progress or foolhardiness that I'm getting more comfortable jumping off of things. 

Anyway, we got back around four. That's...five hours canoeing, two and a half capering, a night of camping, and four-ish hours climbing. After getting back, I had mushrooms for supper sautéed in some margarine, and I was asleep from 6:00 to 9:00. I'm only up now to post everything on the blog. I'm knackered. I'm going back to bed.

Almost Home..?

In only a few weeks, I will be on a plane heading back home. I'm really very excited for it, but at the same time, I like it here. Where else can I get a mountain view from my window? There is so much beauty here, I don't want to leave it.

And yet, it'll be a relief to drive for an hour and not have my ears pop because of altitude change. It'll be nice to have straight roads, to see for miles on end. I like the trees and hills here, but I can't wait to get back to the grass and fields. I'll probably miss, at some point, the quaint paths through town, the brick walkways, the winding streets...but you know, I am anticipating getting back to the grid street system.

I've made friends over here, to be sure, and I'll be keeping in touch with them. However, I want nothing more than to get back to the friends and family that are so very close and so very dear to me. My friends from home, that I've known since I was a kid, I've missed them a lot. My family, I'm used to seeing them on breaks, I've never been away from home for this long. My college friends, I've never spent a whole semester away from them before. I want to see everyone so badly.

I want to go back to baking with my mom, in a familiar kitchen with all the old cookbooks and that bible of all cookbooks, the Joy of Cooking. Unsure of a ratio? Check the Joy of Cooking. Length of time for baking pie? Joy of Cooking. No more changing recipes for Celsius, no more frustration over measuring cups, everything will be back to the way it was.

I can't wait to see snow.

I can't wait to hear thunder.

I can't wait to get home.

Thanksgiving Across the Pond

Thanksgiving was a great day! The International Student Offices set up a meal for all the Americans on campus, and we had turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, broccoli, and pecan pie. After everyone had stuffed themselves to the brim with yummy delicious food, they made us dance.

We had our own personal ceilidh, a troop of Welsh dancers performed for us and got us all dancing! It was so much fun, and I actually remembered doing some of those dances at a previous ceilidh. Everyone was tired after only one and a half hours, though. I could have gone on forever!

So, what was I thankful for? Well, first off, I'm thankful for a great overseas experience! Wales is a great country to visit. The people are friendly, the weather is mild, and the scenery is fantastic.

I'm thankful for all the people in the Central program! I couldn't ask for a better group of people to get stuck overseas with. Well, unless I was allowed to bring my family...and close friends...but other than that!

I'm thankful for a God who protects klutzes. I have been lost, found, injured, and healed more times than I care to count. He led me to an Orthodox church only an hour away. When all has been lost, He has been there.

Well, that about sums it up! Happy Thanksgiving from across the pond!!

Outdoor Pursuits

Outdoor Pursuits is possibly the best class ever.

Our first week in the class, we did surfing. It was great, especially since I had been in a large tidal body of water only once before, and had so much fun playing in the waves. Surfing was rather difficult, however. I just couldn't balance enough on the board, and if the balance wasn't an issue, it was getting myself going fast enough to catch a wave. By the time we were done, I had ridden a wave - on my knees - a grand total of four times. It was great.

Then came a REAL challenge - the ropes courses. I have this thing about...not heights, really, more like being really high up with practically nothing beneath me. Falling. I don't like falling. However, I managed to get through the course! My comfort zones have been stretched! I may even go off the high dive at the pool, who knows!

The next week was our mountain walk - we hiked up a mountain called Tryfan. It was difficult, mostly due to the little fall I had down a flight of stairs before we headed out. According to those watching, I lost my balance on a step, rolled, stood, grabbed the railing, lost my balance again, rolled again, and ended up sitting on the concrete floor, cross-legged, shocked, and giggling. I remember giggling. The gentleman who helped me up said that that was "the most judo fall" he'd ever seen. THEN we climbed up a mountain! It was a lot of fun, but I disliked taking breaks - whenever we stopped, my right knee (which had gotten hurt when I fell down the stairs) stiffened up and hurt like crazy. Then I hit that knee again on a rock. Twice. It was great to reach the top, though. After reaching the top and having lunch, we had to get back down the mountain. I slipped many more times coming down. Great day!

Then I got sick. Everyone else did sea level traversing. I stayed in bed, sneezed, coughed, and ate soup while watching Pride and Prejudice. My exercise was getting up to go to the kitchen.

After that, we went rock climbing! Thanks to the ropes course, I was completely comfortable with the ropes and harnesses, and was a LOT less nervous about being up high with nothing beneath me. We also went abseiling. I liked abseiling more than rock climbing - less muscle is involved.

The next week was gorge scrambling. We took turns leading the group up a small river, climbing over and under rocks, getting submersed in cold running water, and scrambling up waterfalls. After getting to the top of our path, we jumped off a ten foot cliff into a deep, dark pool of water. It was fun!

This past week, we went sailing. My partner and I capsized. Then we lost our boat. We had to swim after it, right it, fix the sail, and get back on. We eventually accomplished all of this, but we took so much time that our instructor had to tow us in by motorboat. We tried sailing a larger boat as well, but by then the wind was too strong and we were unable to take out the sail. It was a cold day, but everyone liked the cookies I made for them!

Church in Wales

At a glance, the church isn't much. It's an old stone building with a metal fence around it and a painted wooden door. Stepping inside, you would perhaps be surprised by the apparent lack of chairs, and the obvious presence of painted pictures, from the screen in the front to the cool poster titled "The African Saints" on a post in the back. There are candles by the pictures in the windows, candles in the center of the church, candles by the screen. Well, my friend, you would have just stepped into a Welsh Orthodox church - specifically, the Church of All Saints in Blaenau Ffestiniog.

I was blessed, many many weeks ago, with a chance meeting with the Anglican reverend in town, I mentioned I was Orthodox, he gave me a pamphlet with a list of religious leaders, and one of them {gasp} WAS ORTHODOX! I email the priest, Fr. Deiniol, about how to get to church in a town an hour away from Bangor, and he gave me phone numbers to call, both men who live in Bangor and drive to Blaenau Ffestiniog for church. I made the call, and for the first time in a month, I was able to go to church.

It was wonderful. The old, somewhat dilapidated stone church had icons everywhere, on all four walls, and on all four sides of the wooden posts supporting the ceiling. The floor was wooden for the most part, with some colored ceramic tiles in an aisle up the middle and along the sides. There were candles in the middle of the middle aisle, candles in all the windows, candles in front of icons, prayer candles in the front, everywhere. The scent of inscense was also everywhere, a lovely smell, like spices.

Church there is a very intimate thing, especially when there are only four of us in the congregation. Tea after church is also intimate, because...well, there's only four of us.

And, for the first time in a month, I had Communion. What a wonderous feeling it was. The whole experience was wonderful, being in an Orthodox church again, and being again in the Presence of our Lord and Savior. Not just being in His Presence, but being in His Presence with other people. Being a community in His Presence.

I love the church here.

Playing Catch Up - Scenary (S-C-E-N-E-R-Y)

I'll catch up on the last few weeks with focuses on scenary, church, and Outdoor Pursuits. Have a little scenary thrown at you!

Everywhere I've been in Wales, everything is shades of gray and green - the sky and mountains are always gray, the grass is always green. There will be days with blue skies, there will be mountains covered in purple heather, and there will always be small splashes of warm color in the fields, but in general, Wales is gray and green.

That is not to say that it's not lovely here. The above picture shows a walkway through the middle of town, where one could almost forget that he is in a city, thanks to the green. I don't know what this area is called, or if it even has a name, but it's my Dear Green Place. This place has many greens, deciduous greens, coniferous greens, and grass greens. This is one of my favorite paths through the city, in fact, this is the path I take to avoid using B*tch Hill (Yes, it's actually called that. I'll take a picture sometime).

Even when everything is gray, though, there's a kind of stark beauty about it. I believe this tree to be dead, simply because I've never seen it green, but it's beautiful. Most of the grays here are misty, drizzly, windy grays. There are also the rock-hard grays of the walls, the dark-wet grays of the pebble beach, and the just-beyond-reality grays of the mountains. The just-beyond grays are my favorites. When we went to the Aran Islands, they were just-beyond until we were nearly there. All the just-beyonds are great places to stretch the imagination, call up the Red Dragon, and see what it might have been like in another time.

The Menai Straight (of which the above is a part) changes color with the tide and mood of the day. Often, the water will reflect the sky, but sometimes it is darker, angrier. The wind will sometimes whip it up until there are white caps on the little waves, and sometimes it is smooth as glass. I once saw it brown and muddy, and the next day it was a dark-wet gray, the same color as the beach past which it ran. I love my beach, and I call it mine because it is one of my Sanctuaries, where I can go, sit, think, and not be bothered. It is a safe place for me.

I cannot give you a picture of the wind, sadly, but I love the wind. There is never a day without it here, whether it's a gentle, playful breeze or a wild gust. Through all its moods, though, it never stops being a friendly wind. I suppose that will change, the closer we get to winter, but for now, it's a friend.

There you have it, the ups, downs, lefts, and rights of the scenary. I went through the entire post not knowing if I've been spelling "scenary" right. I haven't been. S-C-E-N-E-R-Y. Scenery. It looks funny both ways.