The Motherland

Home. Sweet, glorious home.

I am happy to be back. I didn't realize while I was coasting through classes and catching coaches through the UK that the niggling feelings of missing something were in reality the sweet calls of my motherland, and more specifically, my mother. My home is largely so appealing because of mom. (But dad, I love you too :) I don't think anyone can walk through our front doors without feeling a giant sense of warmth and hospitality. This is not to say I did not feel at home in Charlbury (Beccy was a great hostess) but this is MY home. When I walked through the front doors, the love was there- in the form of friends, family, salads, and sausages.

It is so nice to be home.

But let me backtrack a bit, and give you all a brief sketch of what my past few weeks were like. After Heather and I caught our train to the right airport, we made it to Belfast, and proceeded to have 3 fantastic days in Northern Ireland. The highlight for me was our day trip to Derry, sitting front row in a coach bus listening to Josef, our Irish tour guide, go to town on the mike- filling us in on Irish facts, folklore, and using any spare minute to sing his heart out, which was quite obviously lodged in Ireland. My personal favorite was his selection of the Rankin Family "the girl from Belfast city". Brought me right back to my childhood, listening to mom rock out with the vacuum cleaner to that very song. Like I said- my mom is hip.

We had a few stops along the Irish coast which were just breathtaking. Jagged cliffs, bright blue water, and a crisp, fresh wind- possibly gale- that kept us on our toes. Neither of us wanted to have to be the ones to write home saying we fell off the Irish cliffs. The history of Ireland fascinated me. The protestant/Catholic divide is still so alive. You could actually feel it in the gales. Weird.

But, the time did come for us to pack our things and head east. This was done at 4 am, on the Loyalist streets of Belfast, where we had to catch a suspicious bus that we hoped would eventually arrive. We plunked down on the street, and waited for others to turn up, to ease our troubled minds. Well, we got what we wished for, in the form of a young drunken Irishman, who kept us very entertained with ridiculous Irish jokes. Bless his heart :) Then a taxi snagged him up, and our bus pulled in. Before we knew it (literally, the flight was about 30 minutes) we landed in Edinburgh, which in my opinion is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been to. Who else can boast a castle on a hill in the center of their city? (I am sure some countries can, so don't actually answer that). We got to our hostel exhausted, but I was feeling especially dutch, and so I worked that morning from 11-1, stripping bed sheets and making beds, which earned me a total of 7.50 pounds, or (how I preferred to think about it) a free night of room and board. Hooray for a stubborn work ethic.

Then I saw James. To describe it in a word- wonderful. His flight landed right on time, I managed to find my way to the airport with relative ease (considering I have a brain that cannot turn itself into a map) and then I waited, which felt like an eternity, for him to pop out of the doors. Granted, I was facing the wrong set of doors, but I caught him out of the corner of my eye, and then actually caught him as he sprinted over. Nothing like a good bear hug.

The next week was a blur, which saw us touring the city, taking a highland tour, climbing the craigs, enjoying some nice pubs, enjoying some nice company, and taking the overnight bus to London. I must admit, I did not fully put myself into James' shoes, considering I was in full travel mode, and he was coming off of very little sleep after exams, had been travelling for ages, and lost 5 hours in the process. My brilliant idea of taking an overnight bus to save money on a hostel meant that James had to put up with 8 hours on a bus that didn't exactly like long legs and torsos, whereas I have this weird way of falling asleep practically anywhere. However, for his sake, I stayed awake and sang some tunes and told some stories. This was great until the bus driver actually pulled over and reamed me out for keeping everyone on the coach awake. Big exaggeration on his part, but I shut up.

At 6:30 am. we pulled into Victoria station, parked ourselves at a McDonalds and waited for Tim and his cousin Derek to meet us. James took that opportunity to change out of his pajamas in the nearest washroom. The only reason I mention such a trivial thing is that James' before and after face is branded into my mind- heading towards the 'loo' - happy anticipation. Being charged 20 pence and being under the watchful eye of a security guard whose sole pleasure in life is probably derived from rushing people off toilets- saw the reemergence of one angry James. I found this quite entertaining. He saw this as a great injustice, and resolved to get his revenge by stretching his bladder. We found free toilets after that.

Hanging out with Tim again was great. We sat for a few hours in St. James Park, watching crazy birds and catching up. We hit up all the main touristy things- of which St. Paul's Cathedral was a highlight. By the afternoon though, I was ready to get out of the city and set my feet back in my little town. Those few days flew by, and before we knew it we were flying by. I came home to a surprise welcome home party, which was fantastic. I stayed up till about 11:30pm (which is 3:30 am) went to bed still feeling quite awake, then woke up bright and early and headed to work for a good solid 9 hour day. It is now day two- which consisted of a fabulous day of work with my good friends Katrina, Robyn, Kristina, and Vaness, and I have yet to even feel a little bit sleepy. Jet lag is a myth people.

But anyways, it is wonderful to be home. I have high hopes for this summer, and I can't wait till the weather stops creating ice. Until then, I will wear gloves when I weed pots to save my cuticles.

Cheers to everyone from ABU and Redeemer, because I miss you all already! I hope to hear from you guys throughout the summer. It truly was an experience of a life time, and I will never forget you guys!