We have now spent a week in lovely Greystones, Ireland, in Wicklow County, in Leinster Province (in case you were wondering, we have to memorize where all of the counties and provinces are on the Emerald Coast.
We spent the first few days adjusting to the time change. This involved nights of twelve hours of sleep, snoozy meetings, and hikes to get fresh air. On Saturday, we toured Greystones, and visited one of the best local coffee shops in town, Holmans. It's quite a change from the typical American Starbucks cup of coffee, in that the coffee itself is much tastier and therefore needs very little additives to taste good.
We all went to bed pretty early that first night, after playing ice breaker games and chilling out in the Red Room at the Y. We also met Jonathan and Lisa, the managers at the Y. They have two young boys and we have fallen in love with both of them.
Sunday we visited our "home church," which is the local Presbyterian church in Greystones. The church was very nice and welcoming, and one of the church leaders invited our entire group of nearly 40 to his house for coffee and tea.
That afternoon we hiked Bray's head, which we have a gorgeous view of from our windows at the Y. It lies along the coast, which we also have a view of from our windows. We were all pretty excited to do our first official Irish Hike, but the bad weather that has recently been hitting the British Isles wiped out a lot of the path to the top of Bray and into the village. So instead of taking a two hour hike up high, we took about an hour hike along the coast. It was still really refreshing.
Monday we went to Dublin for a very cryptic scavenger hunt. We had to find things like "The Hags with the Bags" and "The Tart with the Cart." Most groups found all of the sites, which ended up being mostly statues located along the roads in downtown Dublin.
Tuesday was our first day of classes, and we learned an overview of Irish history which helped to understand the people and the culture.
Wednesday we went to Glendalough, which is the site of a monastic village that dates back to the 6th century. Personally, it was one of the most moving places I have ever been, just because of the scenery. It was in a valley in the Wicklow mountains, placed beautifully between two large cliffs. We followed two lakes up the valley, the lower and upper lakes. Then we branched off in groups to hike different trails of varying difficulty. The trails mostly went up between these two mountains and lead to a third mountain which had snow on top (very rare in Ireland). It was gorgeous (look for photos to come).
Thursday we spent in class, we also had chapel (and pizza for the first time). Most of us also discovered this fabulous cafe in town called the Happy Pear, which has ample wireless.
Today is Friday, and we had class this morning. We finished by lunchtime, and this evening we are going to a Rugby Match in Dublin. It will be freezing, but quite exciting.
Okay, the battery is rapidly dying on my laptop, so no time for photos today. Look for some in the near future!
Ireland is amazing. I still can't believe that we are here. Being surrounded by God's creation gives me a new glimpse into who God is. Everyone is doing very well, except a few outbreaks of sickness, we're doing pretty well. Traveling has been very rewarding and we've had a chance to see a few monastic sites. The group is getting along very well! The food is great and everyone has been enjoying a little smoothy place called "The Happy Pear" and Bewleys coffee shop. Here are some pictures to show you a little bit more of what we are experiencing. The sea shot is what we see from our house!!! Its amazing, ocean and mountains, what more can you ask for? Please continue to pray for group's unity and that the virus that's going would stop spreading. Thank you for your prayer and love. From Ireland with love,
