It has been too long since we have been on the blog scene! We are going to start blogging again once a month to help give you tidbits of life in L'Arche.
We'll get the blog ball rolling with a note from one of our previous Assistants; Naomi from Canada:
Greetings dear friends and family,
Here I sit in a wee cafe, on a sunny street in the town of Agios Gordios, Corfu, Greece. As some of you know my parents (and secretly my sister also) came and met me in England and we flew over here for a 2 week vacation before going home. This 10 days on Corfu has been quite enjoyable, very tasty, and delightfully warm, but first I will give you a wee bit of closure on where I was before Greece.
Saying goodbye to my beautiful Belfast was not an easy task, no more so was my farewell with England. After living in L'Arche Belfast for the previous 6 months I had grown to love many things about the city, including its many inhabitants! Living and working in such close quarters with so many amazing (and I fully mean that) people was nothing less then a blessing. The friendship and relationships that I made during my time there will last a life time. I truly feel like I have not left a job, or some mere friends, but a community and a family.
From digging in gardens in the freezing January winds until my hands lost feeling, to throwing small handfuls of powdered paint at complete strangers whilst running around dancing to thumping Indian beats; there was always an adventure to be had! Some of my joys were; being introduced, and falling in love with several awesome local Belfast bands, and staying up to the wee hours dancing and singing along, fabulous dinners out with amazing friends, to making dinners in the warm Ember kitchen for 15 great friends, and then cramming around our extended table to enjoy them. Not to mention the countless films at so many local cinemas, gorging on popcorn (sweet or salty?) and pic-n-mix! The very many wonderful memories I have of my time in Belfast will stay with my forever.
My brilliant Belfast family gave me the send off of a Queen! Including a whole night of performances all made for me! There were poems, plays, songs (one of my Irish mates, who just happens to be the lead singer of my all time favorite Belfast band, The Lowly Knights, sang me a lovely Isish-i-nized Canadian anthem!), dances, acts, and so many wonderful presents I was shocked!
My trip to the airport was a damn-well emotional one, but I think I handled it pretty well, waiting until I got around the wee corner to security to break down!
From Belfast I flew back to England for one last visit before coming home. It also was a lovely visit, and I had a blast coming and going throughout the past year. The Red Bell pub, and all its quirky inhabitants, has also become some what of a second home to me. I have my Belfast family, and also my Red Bell family! So many great times at that pub, one cannot count! I am also let to work shifts in the bar each and every time I go back, which is not only fun and something I curiously enjoy immensely, but also very handy for the pocket!
Leaving the Red Bell this time, instead of being emotional and sad, was pretty much regular routine! It no longer feels the normal, 'when will I see them again' because its pretty obvious I'll be back within the year at least:)
After my not-so-hard departure from the Red Bell, I flew to Gatwick to meet Mom and Dad. I get off the plane, and am slowly making my way to baggage claim, where I have to sit for a time because, as everyone who's ever taken a plane knows, there is a lot of waiting involved. So there I am, leaning on the luggage trolley I have commandeered when I see someone running at me out of the corner of my eye. But no worries, it's not someone carrying a bomb intent on blowing up the airport, its my Mother, arms wide open, huge smile on face. Apparently rules like 'no one but passengers beyond this point' don't apply to her! Anyways, it was brilliant seeing them both, they were so excited and happy, still giddy from the flight over.
So, the past 10 days have been, like I said before, very enjoyable. Eating out has become almost boring as we do it every day, the sun has been brilliant, although we did have a few days of rainy thunder storms! For the most part we have been relaxing, eating, laying on the beach, swimming, sun-tanning, eating, drinking, eating some more... oh, and drinking:)
And now, I sit here in this wee cafe, on our sunny street, in Agios Gordois, writing you all this (not so wee) email summing up the last bits of my time here on this 2009-2010 European adventure of mine.
- Naomi was with us from November-May and after being absent from the Ember for just these couple of weeks is already sorely missed. Naomi, a big thank you from all of us for your gusto for life, your joy and the spirit of adventure you carry with you at all times. Love, your Ember Family
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