Hillside and hike

Today was much better than yesterday. For one thing, it didn’t rain and I could actually see the ocean and mountains. I woke up to my alarm clock (no trouble adjusting to time here) and went downstairs to talk on the phone for a bit. Church started at 10:30 a.m., so a group of us walked over to downtown Greystones together to Hillside Evangelical Church. Everyone welcomed us. They were all used to Taylor students coming in. The pastor even prayed for us during the service! I knew almost all the songs we sang during worship and the message was incredible (on Exodus 2 & 3, Moses and the burning bush—or more precisely, Moses and the Unburning Bush). The pastor really spoke to my insecurities and feelings of isolation I’ve been experiencing so far in Ireland. Communion was a little different than what I’m used to. We tore our own pieces off of sliced bread and ate it as we passed the tray on to the next person. We also drank the grape juice in the little plastic cups and returned the cups to the tray before passing it on. After the service, I met a few young Irish people and a guy from L.A. (his wife is Irish). I know I definitely will continue to attend Hillside.

For lunch we had egg rolls and scones with NUTELLA. I’d had Nutella before in Monica’s room my freshman year, but I don’t remember enjoying it so much. I’m also looking forward to eating chocolate Panda. Today they just had “American Style” peanut butter Panda. Is peanut butter distinctly American?

After lunch, we went on a hike to Brayhead. It was muddy and rather chilly, but it was nice to hike. We went to the train station in Bray just as the DART was leaving, so we had to wait 40 minutes for a bus back to Greystones. Ann was sick and freezing, so she, Trista and I found a bowling alley that was open on Sunday. Inside, we had tea and coffee to warm up and I used Euros for the first time since I got here.

We got back to the station and waited around until the double-decker bus arrived to pick us up. Back in Greystones, we had dinner, meetings and ANN’S RING DOWN!!! Everyone already knew she was engaged and many of us had already heard the story, but it was exciting anyway.

Tomorrow we have our first Irish classes, but it’s all orientation. They say their going to ease into scholastics, but I’m definitely not looking forward to restarting class in any form. I’d enjoyed being on break SO MUCH. I’m just a lazy bum, I know, but I’m really starting to dislike school.