The Routine: Wednesday

See those bright lights and Belfast smiles? They're all for you, folks! All for you!

Well, well, well. I see you all came crawling back to my fascinating blog. You lucky dogs, you. Anyway, we're going to continue on with my routine again. Because I want to. And you have no choice but to read it (please don't exit out and read it).

Wednesday is actually pretty chill. It starts off with Moms and Tots in the big hall at the 174 Trust, which you can find a picture of on my Monday post. Moms and Tots is sweet. I love working with that age group, and the moms and child-minders are genuine, caring, and hard-working people. They are also hilarious and tease me a lot.

Julie and her son pick me up at about 9:50, so usually we come in with a few other volunteers and get everything set up in the hall by 10. There are books, small foot-powered vehicles, a mini-slide and mini-see-saw, and toys. All kinds of toys. Too many too list. I usually head over to the vehicle section of the hall, where the boys and I play a game we created. They call it "Monster." I pretend to be a monster that falls asleep in a chair. They wake me up. I yell "Who disturbed my slumber?!" in a deep voice. They laugh and point at the other kids. Then I act like a giant, usually. Sometimes a giant monkey or bird creature, but usually a giant, which means I wave my arms around a lot and stomp my feet and roar and slowly walk after them. They laugh and I catch them and then I go back to sleep. They wake me up again. Repeat.

Then I grab the tea kettles and I start preparing snack with the other volunteers.

Knights of the Preparation Table

The parents and child-minders get tea, coffee, and/or toast. If someone brings in something awesome like cake or a Polish dish, they get that too. A couple awesome Polish women attend Moms and Tots, so I've had Polish chocolate and another delicious Polish pastry, but I don't remember what it's called.

The kids get plenty of water.

Water we doing?

As well as plenty of healthy food. Fresh fruit, buttered toast, and then every now and then a biscuit (or as Americans call them: cookies).

I have nothing clever to say about this picture, but it looks delicious.

After we've all eaten, we clean up everything and do some craft. I remember this day we decorated snowmen. Note the cotton, top hats, carrot noses, and snowmen bodies.

We be crafty.

After craft, I lead songs like "Duke of York", "Twinkle, Twinkle", "Walking Through The Jungle", "Beehive", "Hootchie Gootchie Dance", and "Scarecrow." A lot of those I learned when I got here. We pull out instruments, march, do actions, and sing our hearts out. The kids get funky and it's hilarious. A good note to leave the morning on.

Then, if there are no announcements, everyone splitsvilles and the rest of us stay to clean. Usually these people pictured below, and then Heather gives me a lift home. The volunteers are wonderful at Moms and Tots. Not only do they give me lifts, but sometimes they'll have me over for lunch and feed me. So kind. By the way, since Moms and Tots is a part of the Trust, it's cross-community, so anyone is welcome to come.

Judith (who also helps at Special Needs Club with me), Heather (who gives me a lift home), Me, Kristen (makes amazing feta scones), and Julie (who gives me a lift there).

Then I spend a good chunk of my day doing errands and housework. Things that need to be done during the week that I haven't or won't have time to during the upcoming days. Or, if necessary, to nap and recharge. Then I'm off to Bible Study at Woodvale Methodist.

Awww Yeeeaaah

Bible Study at Woodvale is led by Shankill Methodist minister Mark Charles. Woodvale's minister, Margaret Ferguson, who you can see at the bottom left sitting on the floor, leads another course at Shankill Methodist. So we switcheroo the ministers, but you are welcome to attend any course you like. Mark, or Charlie as he is often called, has led some great courses about taking action with Christian lifestyles, as well the most recent course about the Holy Spirit. I've learned a lot from Margaret, Mark, and all these people. It's always a peaceful vibe with excellent discussion.

And that's Wednesday. See you later, I'm leaving. Or to put it like they do over here: "I'm away."

The Routine: Tuesday

C'mon In Cafe

What could be more interesting than knowing my day to day work routine? NOTHING. THAT'S WHAT. And so the saga continues. Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you...Tuesday!

My, my! What fine dining you have!

Every Tuesday morning I walk into Woodvale's hall that hasn't fully heated up yet to some delicious smelling food and some very pleasantly set tables. Oh la la! I start my day off with C'Mon In Cafe! An outreach program for anyone in the Shankill area to come on in to a cheap yet quality meal.

Lesley and I

It was started by Lesley, my favorite "wee" woman other than my mom and my old roommate Cat. She went around pubs, diners, and events in the community, asking the locals what they needed from the church and just in general. What she took away from her conversations, basically, was that the locals wanted a place to be and socialize for a reasonable price. And then C'Mon In Cafe was born!

Carol Ann and the Dish Area

Carol Ann and I do the dishes. She usually washes and I usually dry and put them away. For the record, there are days when I do the dishes! She's just a lot faster than I am so she prefers to do them.

Don't dish it out if you can't take it!

Jim the Chef

Jim was a chef in the army, I believe it was. He and Lesley cook the meals together and he dishes them out to the waitresses to serve to the customers.

The Kitchen

Jim in the Kitchen

Tea, Coffee, and Juice Area

Waitress Mode

Ray Soupin' It Up:
Ray's in charge of serving the soup and stew.

Helen Enjoying Her Meal

The second part of the day is spent at the 174 Trust with the Disability Club (though I refer to it as Special Needs Club due to Greenwood's Special Needs Camp title).

Steady Eddie

Linda, the frontwoman of the Disability Club, and her husband Patrick take one minibus for pick ups, while I go with Eddie in another. We pick up kids from all over North Belfast and either return to the Trust for games, snacks, crafts, and activities, or go somewhere unique for the evening. We've been to the library, we've gotten a behind the scenes tour of a beloved local sweet shop (candy shop), bowling, Funland, and so on and so forth. It's a great program and a highlight of the week. The kids are always funny, genuine, kind, and ready to have fun. There are actually three separate disability clubs on three separate nights. One for kids in Primary School, one for kids in Secondary School (the one I help with), and one for Special Needs Adults out of school.

Linda, Patrick, and Judith

I really enjoy working with the three pictured above. Patrick is a really caring man, and I learn a lot from Linda during these Tuesday sessions. She's lead the disability clubs for a while now, and she's won some kind of award for it, too. Judith, originally from Poland, is a volunteer who is currently taking classes so she can work with youth as a profession. Her name isn't actually Judith. It's a long, super awesome Polish name that is difficult to pronounce and spell. For that very reason, she likes to be called Judith. Haha.

And that's Tuesday.

The Routine: Monday

The 174 Trust:
Where the Gods of Cross-Community Work Dwell

I recently received an email I'd like to share with all of you:

"Dear T.J.,

I am constantly in awe of your blog posts, pictures on facebook, and how handsome you are. Your life is just so intriguing and hot and I want to know more about it. Please, PLEASE tell me allllllll about what you do in [Northern] Ireland. Thanks!

Sincerely,

Seymour Butz"

Well Seymour Butz, honestly, I found your email horrifyingly on the stalker side, but since you are such a true supporter of my volunteer work in Belfast, I have decided to document my day to day work life for you. Godspeed, Seymour Butz.

Technically, my Monday usually starts out with a YAV meeting in City Centre that lasts about 3-4 hours or I have a one-on-one with Doug. But then by about 2:30, I'm at the 174 Trust. Here's some pics of the place (thanks again for letting me borrow your camera, Courtney). You can also take a tour of the 174 Trust on their website.

John, Me, and Geoff (My supervisor at the Trust)

I luckily ran into these two awesome dudes while I had my camera. Naturally they joked and said "Let's get this over with."

Some pictures of the lovely office. After School Club often sends me here on Fridays to let parents in. I know, I know. Already talking about Friday. Could I jump the gun any sooner?

The Trust is currently expanding.

The Stairs:
My Most Fascinating Caption Yet

The Meeting Room

Hangout Area

Kitchen

More Kitchen

The New Lounge:
Pool, Table Tennis, and more!
...I'll take a pic of the inside another day. The key was being funky :/

Playground

At that time there was actually snow in Belfast. That much snow was a big deal to them. Like, everyone freaked out and panicked. Anyway, this playground has football goals/nets, a jungle gym, a slide, and a climbing wall.

The Irish School:
For Kids!

Cool Artwork

I do a couple of things with the After School Club. I do pick-ups with Charlene, I play with the kids (anything from "cooking" to playing with action figures), and I help with snacktime. Playing with the kids is my favorite. They all have big imaginations and great senses of humor.

Anyway, so when I first arrive, Charlene and I pick up some of the kids in the 174 Trustmobile. Everyone else calls it "the minibus", but I, starting now, call it the 174 Trustmobile. Look at it! It's green and it has the 174 logo on it! It's like their Batmobile.

Then we all go inside to the After School Club room.

Aisling, my coworker, is embarrassed by how the bulletin board in the background is falling down in the picture.

When all the homework has been finished, we usually give them time in the hall to play. The hall is a place where they can run around and be crazy. They ride bikes in there, kick the football around, shoot hoops, etc.

I love the After School Club. It's one of my favorite programs I get to volunteer for. The kids are always hilarious and fun, and the people I work with are all super cool. Their names are Nuala, Aisling, Patricia, and Charlene. They all live in Catholic neighborhoods, which helps give me perspective on that community, a nice contrast from my work at Woodvale Methodist on the Shankill Road (a Protestant area).

Patricia, Me, and Aisling

AGAIN!

I leave the After School Club at 4:00 and join up with the cross-community football club, where both Catholics and Protestant boys play together on integrated teams. The age range has been from 9-17, as far as I've noticed. Every Monday, we are taken to an athletic club called The Hammer, where we play football, which of course, is soccer.

The Hammer

I kid you not, on the other side of this picture is a guy, with a jersey number of 11, scratching his bum. I couldn't get a whole pic of it from my angle, so here is just a photo of number 9.

Northern Ireland Team Pride:
Artwork Inside The Hammer

Me and Andy

The football club is lead by Bill, who also runs the 174 Trust. His son Calum also comes and volunteers. Andy is taking youth worker courses and has been placed at the Trust, so he helps out with the club, too. Usually when we're done playing football, we'll go do something else like swimming, bowling, ice skating, banana boating, or the driving range, and then we'll go out to eat at KFC or make pizzas at the Trust.

What I've really enjoyed about the club is how it doesn't really focus on differences. The boys just come together and play football. The club builds friendships and it is as simple as that. Not to say they skip over differences either, though. Bill has moderated a couple discussions with them about the protests and riots going on right now. The Catholic and Protestant boys had different things to say about it, but it didn't affect their friendship in the slightest.

And that's Monday.

Double Day and Birthday Photos

Happy Birthday, Mr. Piccolo!
Woodvale Methodist Church surprises me with a cake on my birthday.

So in my last blog, The Long Blog About Christmas and Overcoming Homesickness in Belfast, I refer to "the family" that took me in on my birthday and on Double Day (Christmas and Boxing Day). This family also takes me in just about every Sunday for dinner. Vera, the mother, jokes that I am her "adopted son." They're a real Belfast family: honest, blunt, loud, and loving. My year wouldn't have been the same without them.

So, even though my birthday was waaaaaay back in October, I thought I'd share some photos from these holiday events I spent with that family. For those of you who are unfamiliar with blogs, you can see bigger version of the photos by clicking on them.

DOUBLE DAY

Simon and I celebrate Christmas the only way we know how, by being overbearingly manly.
See? He's even holding a small dog named Toto.
Courtesy of Holly

In my last blog, I wrote about crackers. If you look carefully, I'm holding the gift you get inside.
Courtesy of Holly

Jaime, Leanne, Holly, and I
Courtesy of Holly

Samantha, one of the four sisters, unfortunately was at work during this picture. I believe she's studying philosophy at a local college her. She's hilarious and likes South Park, so we get along well.

Holly, the farthest sister on the right, is currently a member of the Methodist Tom Travelling Team. They are a mission group that travels the island of Ireland, bringing programs and happiness to all the churches and schools in the area they stay in for a week. Yes, they are kind of like Christmas. Later in the year they will be visiting Woodvale Methodist.

BIRTHDAY

Simon, Granddad Billy, and I

If you look closely, Granddad Billy is sticking out his lower jaw, displaying the only two teeth he has left. He often jokes about his teeth and pulls on them to gross the family out. He's hilarious.

Simon, who is married to Jaime, is a really funny and intelligent man. He's quite knowledgeable about the Troubles and current politics, so I learn a lot form him. He also loves Father Ted. 'Nuff said.

Vera and I

In the best of ways, Vera epitomizes a woman from the Shankill, one of the locations I work in. Unfortunately, Shankill can sometimes still get a bad reputation for all the stuff that went down during the Troubles. It's people like Vera that disprove this bad rep without compromising any of her Shankill heritage and culture. She'll tell you exactly what's on her mind and what she likes and doesn't like, and she'll pile mountains of food on your plate while making it clear she's glad you came over for dinner. Without a doubt, she and her husband Sam are two of the most caring and hospitable people I've ever met.

On a side note: Shankill has come a long way since its turbulent history during the Troubles. Currently most of the riots are taking place in East Belfast (Shankill is in the West). Barely any riots, if any at all, have occurred in the Shankill these past months.

Vera made me a cake!

Jaime and I

Jaime is a gifted teacher and our current head Sunday School leader. I love working with her in Sunday School because I learn something new from her every time. The kids all love her and she has a unique, organic way of nurturing their development without babying them. She's a very genuine person, and, like Vera, is also a great cook that will often have me over to eat. It's always great to sit next to Jaime at Bible Study or Young Adults because she'll crack jokes and get away with it.

Leanne and I

Leanne is a nurse and is one of the strongest Christians I've ever met. She's constantly thinking up ways to further unite the Woodvale Methodist community. For example, she had our Young Adult group that she leads put together sketches and dance performances for the church's Christmas dinner. The people at the dinner loved it, and want an encore for next year.

But she also finds ways to reach out to the Greater Shankill area. With her leadership, our Young Adult group were able to deliver Christmas ornaments to a nearby elderly home. She's recently taken a leadership position in a community cafe project at Shankill Methodist Wednesday and Saturday nights. Even with a busy schedule, she rarely misses a church event. I can count on her to pray for me, to give me lifts to church, and to just be there for me if I'm having a low day. She's a great friend and I can't wait to see what Christian endeavors she accomplishes in the future.