The Luck of the Irish

The phrase "the luck of the Irish" has taken on new meaning for me as I have found the Irish countryside to be one of the most enchanting places that I have ever visited.

Dingle, Ireland is perhaps my favorite spot so far. It might be a tie between Dingle and Edinburgh. Somehow, we managed to visit Dingle during a week of incredibly rare, warm weather. The last two days were absolutely gorgeous- perfect weather for exploring a coastal town full of ancient ruins and rolling countryside.









On Monday, our first full day, our tour guide took us on a 6 hour tour all around the Dingle peninsula (Slea Head Drive and Connor Pass) to the major, must-see spots. I believe that I said my fair share of prayers as our happy-go-lucky, Irish guide swung around the corners of the very narrow road in our massive tour van, with sheer cliffs dropping into the ocean right outside my window. He didn't seem the least bit nervous to drive at such a speed, dodging other cars, sheep and even dogs, but the rest of us were gripping our seats at several points throughout the ordeal.










Other than serving to further solidify my relationship with my Maker, the sights of the tour were spectacular. The Dingle peninsula is home to several, ancient ruins from early Christian times- it was amazing to see. The Galarus Oratory- the ruins of an early Christian church- is the oldest Christian relic in Europe. We also stopped at Kilmarkedar Church which is one of the most important Christian sites on the Dingle peninsula as it houses a 6th
century stone carved with the Latin alphabet. Outside of the church is a graveyard, and Ireland's first clock- a sundial.

Yesterday was my favorite day of the entire trip thus far. Immediately following morning class, three other girls and I rented bikes and set off along the waterfront peninsula that we had toured the day before. The weather was perfect- not too hot, but not too cold- and as we had about 6 hours, we took our time stopping at several spots for rest, lunch or just sightseeing. It felt so good to be active after about a month of travel, and we estimated that we rode somewhere in-between 10-12 miles total. Although Kelsey and Sarah ended up riding much further than my friend Taylor and I (about 31.5 miles!), the sore muscles that I have today indicate that I did about as much as I should have.

The best parts of the bike ride were definitely our lunch spot- a secluded, grassy ridge over-looking the ocean, and the little, country church that Taylor and I stopped in on the way home for some silent prayer and reflection.

Early tomorrow morning, we are driving about 2 hours north to Shannon airport and then flying to London where we will be staying for over 2 weeks. More updates to come!











Pictures: Spring lambs/ The country church/ Our bike ride view

Beatlemania and Dublin

Hello again!

Since my last update, we have once again traveled from city to country. Following the Lake District, we drove down to Liverpool for one night in order to pay tribute to the Beatles, and then flew out of Liverpool to Dublin the next morning. After spending five days in Dublin, we drove across the country (6 hours) to the countryside village of Dingle on the western coast of Ireland.

Liverpool was a much bigger city than I had imagined, and a bit run down as well. It is currently undergoing improvements, however, as it was named this year's European capital of culture, and was therefore given funds to renovate. I've never been a huge Beatles fan, but I enjoy their music, so it was fun to explore the Beatles museum- mostly because it is interesting how famous they were able to become. Liverpool is definitely proud of their rock and roll heritage, and the city is decorated with monuments to the Beatles.

We stayed in apartments while in Dublin which turned out to be the best possible arrangement because of how expensive the city is. It was unreal how much money even a simple meal cost, so it was nice to be able to buy groceries, and save some money. Dublin was much different than I had anticipated. I was a bit disappointed at first because it just felt like any other large, multi-cultural, metropolitan city. In fact, there were so many foreigners in Dublin that it was hard to find the Irish! I later found out that there has been tremendous immigration into Dublin ever since Ireland joined the European Union two years ago.

One of my favorite nights in Dublin was when I went to visit Liberty Community Church- the church that my Portland pastor- Bob Mihuc- used to pastor. It was so fun to meet people that know and love my pastor and his family. Two girls from my trip went with me for the Wednesday night service, but it ended up being cancelled so we chatted with those that were there for worship practice, etc... Mostly, it was just nice to be in a Christian community, hear their stories and fellowship.

Other highlights of Dublin were the shopping, visiting the Yeats museum, and admiring the architecture. Here are some of my tourist pics:

The rogue poet- Oscar Wilde and Trinity College

As you may be wondering, I am in fact in Dingle, Ireland now. There is simply too much to write for today, however, so I will cover the beauty that is Dingle in my next post. Cheers!

From City to Country

On Monday we left the city streets of Edinburgh and traveled by coach (bus) 3 hours south to the Lake District of Northern England. The prospect of almost a whole week in the country was a bit daunting at first, having just left fast-paced city life, but I was thoroughly enjoying myself by the second day. I didn't realize that I needed to slow down until I was forced to do so, and I have especially appreciated having time for solitude and prayer.











On our last night in Edinburgh, some of my friends and I celebrated my 22nd birthday with a night on the town. Kelsey and Katherine treated me to dinner and dessert, and then we finished up the night with a game of pool.










The youth hostel (see pic) where we are staying is an old mansion where the Romantic poet Samuel Coleridge once stayed. The mansion overlooks Derwentwater Lake and is surrounded by beautiful forest, pastures, and waterfalls- one waterfall is actually outside our dining room window. The scenery is breathtaking. Wordworth, another Romantic poet, actually grew up in the Lake District so it has been fun to read his poems describing the surrounding lakes and hillsides.

Our hostel is just 3 miles outside of the quaint, tourist destination of Keswick (see picture), so on nice days we often walk into town, and the nasty ones we take the bus. Yesterday we walked about 2 miles the other direction from our hostel to the tiny English village of Grange. I've never seen such beautiful landscape or such a pastorally perfect town. We had tea at Grange Bridge Cottage (see picture)- a family run restaurant/cafe, and spent some time reading. It was lovely.

We leave the Lake District on Sunday and head for Dublin. It will be fun to be in the city again, but for now I am enjoying my time in the country. The main thing that God has been teaching me this week is how to be comfortable being myself when those around me live differently- this is something that I have had to re-learn. Also, I am discovering that I needed this time in Britain to not only reconnect with God, but to rest up a little, and allow Him to revive me spiritually. Dr. Chaney once told my sister Erin that every 7 years, farmers let their fields rest so that can absorb needed nutrients for future harvests. The same is true for us spiritually- we often need a time of rest where we are not actively engaged in ministry, but simply take time to remember our relationship with God as it is the source of our strength. I have realized that it is time for me to be a fallow field for awhile, and I have been amazed by God's faithfulness in blessing my time of spiritual rest.

Here are some more pictures of the Lake District:

An American Accent

Friday was the first day of class. It was somewhat strange to enter into an educational environment after spending the last couple of days solely enjoying the hospitality of Edinburgh, Scotland.
In order to get to our rented classroom, we walked through an affluent neighborhood that reminded me of the posh, Queen Anne neighborhood in Seattle, except with houses made of stone that probably date back hundreds of years. The classroom space that we rented was in a quaint hotel across from a beautiful, stone church with a bell that rang on the hour- it was all very European.
In class, we discussed the unavoidable experience of feeling extremely displaced when first arriving to a foreign country- even a Westernized one like Scotland. People inevitably treat you differently, and that isn't always a good thing. It is also very strange to be the one with the accent-people often ask me to repeat myself, even when I am speaking slowly.
On Thursday, we spent a couple of hours on a walking tour of Edinburgh, the highlight being Edinburgh Castle. It was odd to explore the dungeon, and realize that the Scottish were quite feared in years past, and there was even an engraving of an American flag on one of the prison doors that was carved by an American prisoner (see picture). On the way home from our tour, Katherine, Kelsey and I got a bit turned around, and we ended up taking the scenic route. It is suffice to say that I don't know how many miles we walked, but we had a good appetite for dinner that night.

Here are a few more of my pictures so far:

The yellow flowers were growing all over downtown- they smell like coconut!

The little cottage was at the end of a large garden space downtown, I think that it may be the gardener's cottage- I took this picture for you mom!






Finally, the tower with the spires is Scotland's monument to the author Sir Walter Scott who was native to Edinburgh. Prior to Scott's writing, traditional Scottish bagpipes and kilts were outlawed by the ruling English, but his novels managed to popularize Scottish culture and heritage in England. King George IV was so inspired that he not only repealed the oppressive law, but also visited Scotland wearing a kilt himself.

Gearing up for Britain

Life as I know it has been turned upside down.



I have spent the last two weeks packing up my life in Seattle, moving all my earthly possessions to Portland, and preparing to spend the next 9 weeks studying with my English literature program in Britain and Ireland. I will be graduating college within a week of my return to the states, so I have been forced to bid farewell to being a college student, to being a nanny, to a wonderful church community, and to the majority of my Seattle friends as we seem to be scattering to the four winds after graduation. I am, of course, excited to see Europe and have many amazing adventures, but change is often hard for me, especially when I am enjoying life as is.


In the last two weeks I have:


- Celebrated my birthday twice: with both my Seattle housemates and my family
(I will be in Scotland on my actual birthday)

- Survived finals week (after dropping and breaking my lap top)

- Celebrated my nephew's 1st birthday a month early ( I will be missing his birthday as well)

- Said goodbye to my nanny family of four years- very sad

- Taken a mini road trip with college friends from Seattle, Washington to Ashland, Oregon

- Attended an amazing play at the Shakespeare festival in Ashland with Gitta and my aunt and uncle

- Burned myself out on shopping (for travel essentials)

- Learned to ride a motorcyle- kind of :o)

- Enjoyed the company of good friends with fun activities such as the Portland Saturday market, swing dancing, and an edge-of-your-seat game of spoons

- Celebrated Easter and the gift of divine grace

Having never been to Europe before, it is hard to know what to expect, but I am pretty sure that I am going to have an incredible time. The group that I am traveling with seem like a lot of fun, and I am looking forward to learning under one of my favorite professors for the whole nine weeks. Also, I am planning to travel to other European countries while abroad, and I have already planned one trip to visit a friend in Germany so that will be fun.

One hope that I have for this blog is that it will serve as a means of accountability. I have been in a pretty dry place in my relationship with God recently, and I have determined that this trip is going to be a turning point for me. To put it plainly, God has been faithful and I haven't. It isn't that I have been living wrongly, but I simply have not made Him a priority in my life as of late, and the realization that the lack of relationship with God only leaves you with religion has inspired me to make some changes. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

Wish me luck as I embark on a new adventure!

As always, I would appreciate your prayers.

Home again, home again

I am in Portland.

I flew home on Monday night, and have received an amazing welcome from my family and friends. My parents have been feeding me delicious, non-Mexican food, and Portland is experiencing an early Fall season which is okay by me after the heat of Mazatlan.

My time in Mexico was amazing. I definitely recommend immersion if you want to learn Spanish. I have so many wonderful friends south of the border now, and I can't
wait to go back and visit them all. For now,
however, it is nice to be home.

Gitta and I had a lot of fun during our last weekend in Mexico. On Friday night we took a bus 30 minutes out of the downtown area to visit our friend Jesus' family (see picture below). Jesus met us in our neighborhood, and we boarded a bus that was filled with locals who were heading home after work. Gitta and I got some strange looks as we got on the bus- it was headed to a much poorer area of Mazatlan, and I get the feeling that there aren't many tourists who venture out in that direction. Jesus' neighborhood was a different part of Mexico than we had seen before, but I would guess that it was a more authentic representation of how most Mexican people live. His home was a little blue house that he shares with his parents, his four sisters, his brother-in-law, and his two year old nephew. His married sister lives in one half of the house with her family, but the part that I saw was made up of three rooms: the living room, a hallway/bedroom where they all sleep, and the kitchen. I am pretty sure that the bathroom was outdoors. It was humbling to see how happy they all were while living so simply.
We received an incredibly gracious welcome from his family. His mom started laughing when she saw us because she hadn't believed Jesus when he had told her that he was bringing two American girls to visit. They sat us down in the kitchen, and insisted on feeding us Jesus' favorite food- fish cake. Before we had left, our host mom told us that it was important to eat what they offered us, so we ate a good amount of the food and then looked through stacks of family pictures with his family. The whole time that we were sitting in the kitchen, little neighbor kids were running in and out of the house, and there was the occasional adult neighbor as well. It was fun to see such a communal way of living. I guess it would be hard to be lonely while living in such close quarters with your family and neighbors. :)

Mazatlan is a city with culture. There are statues, fountains, museums, and theater performances all available for public enjoyment. During the last two weeks that I was there, a collection of a photographer's work was on display in the Machado- a historic courtyard in the middle of the city. The photos were absolutely stunning, and I took a picture of my three favorites (see picture on right). The Mexican Independence Day was also during our last weekend in Mazatlan so on Saturday night, the Machado was completely filled with people celebrating the holiday. It was kind of exhausting to push through all of the crowds, but there were tons of food vendors, and traditional Mexican dance performances so it was worth the effort (see picture). Vive a Mexico!

My school in Mexico was also a great experience. A gentleman named Verne who has an insurance business in California ended up being at the school for the same weeks that I was, and he was a lot of fun. For the first three weeks of school, Verne and I were in a class by ourselves, and then a girl from Virginia, Ashley, came and joined us during the last week that we were studying. The teachers in the school were wonderful, and I got along with all of my classmates really well (see picture for a reenactment of a typical class session).

Although I am ashamed to admit that I only blogged once after Gitta arrived in Mazatlan, it was so much fun to have her with me. It really wasn't safe to venture out at night by myself, so prior to Gitta flying in, I spent a lot of evenings watching Mexican soap operas with my host mom. That was an important cultural experience, I suppose. The actual Mexican independence day is on Sunday, so a ton of family came over and we had a bit of a fiesta. Ana, a family friend, and Veronica, our host mom's daughter were also having a birthday the next week so we had cake as well which was a treat. We were so welcomed and looked out for while we were living with our host family, it was amazing. Lupita, our host mom, is in the picture on the right in the yellow, and our host brother, Ernesto, is in the blue. The other people in the picture are Lupita's two daughters, Dora and Veronica, their children, and then family friends- Marta and Ana.

I have so many thoughts bouncing around in my head about my time in Mexico, but there are perhaps two main "topics of discussion." First, I have been thinking a lot about American privilege, or Western privilege. Gitta and I have so many friends in Mexico who want to come visit the United States and can't. Strangely, it isn't even an issue of money, although having money helps. If you are a young adult, particularly a young guy, it is extremely difficult to enter the United States because they are afraid that you won't leave when you are supposed to. The only prayer that young adult males have of entering the U.S. is if they come from a rich family or can prove that their life is in Mexico (this is accomplished by having a lot of money in the bank, a business, a family, etc...). I had this conversation with our friend Jesus, and when I asked why he doesn't visit the U.S., all he could say is, "I can't," and it's true. Everywhere I went in Mexico, I was aware of an unearned sense of privilege. Just because Gitta and I were white, we could walk into any resort in the city and use their pool, beach area, etc... Furthermore, I can travel to Mexico anytime I want because Americans mean money in Mexico, but the majority of my friends cannot come visit me simply because they are Mexican. It just seems wrong.

Second, God has been teaching me the importance of giving my life completely to him. Before I left for Mexico, I did some research online about the different Christian organizations in Mazatlan, and what opportunities there might be for ministry while I was living in the city. I ended up getting in contact with the YWAM (youth with a mission) base in Mazatlan, and was invited to drop by for dinner some night to discuss ministry opportunities. Once in Mazatlan, however, I neglected to follow up on this invitation for the first 2 1/2 weeks that I was there, and only got back on the ball after Gitta arrived, and I started to feel guilty. We headed over to the base on a Saturday, and I soon regretted my procrastination. I was incredibly impressed by the ministry, philosophy and people of the YWAM base in Mazatlan. The base has a house right in the historic, downtown area, and they seem to practice a lot of ministry through relationship. Anyone is welcome to come for dinner in the evening, and they have an entire room full of food, drinks, and supplies in case anyone walks off the street needing help. They build houses for people in Mazatlan year round, as well as having a weekly skateboarding outreach, and a weekly outreach to "the zone"- the drug and prostitution area of the city.

I loved what I saw at the YWAM base, but sadly I only had one week left to join the wonderful work that they are doing after getting my act together. I have learned, however, that God may open doors for you, but He won't push you through them. He put it on my heart to look for ministry opportunities, put me in touch with YWAM, and then waited for me to follow His leading, which of course I ignored until almost the last minute. I am excited by how God might use me in the future, especially regarding my desire to speak Spanish. One of the YWAM leaders told me that I would be welcome to come back next summer and teach English at the base which would be amazing. I am not sure where God is calling me after graduation, but I intend to actually walk through the next open door that He gives me because He knows what I will enjoy doing, and where I will best be able to serve Him.















Here are a few more of my favorite pictures. :)
On the top- Our friends Rosie, Patti and David. Patti is our American friend who works at the U.S. embassy. This is from a day when Patti took us on a little trip to a small town outside of Mazatlan for breakfast.
On the bottom- Our friend Edgar from Rico's coffee letting Gitta make my latte.

Tropical Times

Hola!

Well I have just enough time for a few updates.

First off, Gitta is here! She arrived on Thursday, and has quickly adapted to the Mexican way of life. :) I am so impressed by her ability to pick up languages. She was already conjugating verbs during her very first class session, and she has never had a Spanish class before! We have been having a ton of fun seeing our friends, and spending time with our host family. It is nice to have her here.

Another interesting tidbit is that I am officially an illegal alien in Mexico as of today. The director of our school suggested that we check our documents to see how many days they gave us to be in the country, and it turns out that my time is technically up. I was only given 18 days and today is day number 19. Whoops! I should be fine, however. I am planning to make a trip to the U.S. consulate tomorrow to get it straightened out. If I don't make it back to the States, however, please divide my things equally amongst yourselves. :) I've had a good life.

Ok, in other news, school was cancelled for tomorrow because we have a tropical storm headed our way. Hurricane Henrietta hit Cabo today, and we should be getting some of the wind and rain tomorrow. No one seems to be expecting a hurricane, but technically anything could happen, so people are preparing for the worst just in case.

Overall, I am having a great time, speaking a ton of Spanish, and trying to avoid sunburns.

Love to all,
Bethany