Bratislava- Internship

Hello!

I thought I would write a little blog entry to inform those that follow this blog that I am now keeping, and will be keeping, a different blog for the duration of my pastoral internship year in Bratislava, Slovakia. The link is as follows: http://esketology.blogspot.sk/

The blog will be about my travels, certainly, but also more reflections on the spiritual journey that I am experiencing during my internship year. I am pretty excited. It is a month into the year I will be here and it feels like I am living stories that will be repeated for years to come.

London

Luckily, between the wedding and camping, I was able to sneak down to London for a quick 48 hour visit. When I arrived at Maddy and Matt's new flat (which is amazing) dinner was almost ready and there were a fine selection of brews for us to enjoy. We ate and watched the closing Olympic ceremonies. It was really helpful to have them around as some of the performers I did not recognize, but between Maddy and Matt they had them all down by name. 

 While Maddy and Matt had to head to work the next day I went about exploring. When arriving in the London Bridge station, I spotted this sign: 

 Really, London? The Unicorn Theatre? Right. sure. right next to city hall is it? London had loads of additional signage up for the out of town Olympic visitors, but I reckon this is a joke all year round. 

 Around the British Museum, there were multiple facts and trivia painted on the pavement. This goes to support my theory that one of focuses of British culture is to prepare its citizens to be successful in a pub quiz.

 Normally in the underground there are no shortage of "keep left" signs. However, in honor of the Olympics there were hundreds of bright pink signage and intentional reminder that unlike most other countries in the world... the Brits pass on the left. Quite polite of them, really.

 These are two of the pictures I took in the Shakespeare Staging the World exhibit at the British Museum.  It was very much worth the extra pounds entry fee. I should also mention that I was yelled at immediately after taking the second photo. Not just quietly asked to put my camera away but a decidedly "that is your last photo" with a scowl from the tiny man in the corner. As if I were surreptitiously sneaking around photographing things. I looked for signs of no photos before taking the picture. Ah well. So this is John Donne. ta-da! The exhibit connects historical events during Shakespeare's lifetime with characters, events and circumstances in his works. I would say that the exhibit does a good job with the correlation, but I think they would be hard pressed to claim causality in many of the cases. I kept wanting to circle bits of the plaques with a red pen and right "source?" Still good though. 

 William Blake! After I picked up Maddy from work and before we headed to Caroline and Rebecca's for dinner, we stopped by the graveyard of non-Catholics right around the corner. Where we see the grave of William Blake!

 and John Bunyan! Maddy kept asking "who the lady was that is on that grave." Hence the quizzical face to find out she is a man.

 It was a really rejuvenating and all too short trip to London. We ran to catch trains, ate some delicious food and laughed a lot. I do believe I have some of the greatest friends. Sometimes I wish they were not so far away, or all lived in the same city. But as it is... seems almost no matter where I find myself there is at least one old friend nearby to greet me. I am lucky.

Pretty prefect transition picture for the upcoming blog entries. We were on the tube returning from dinner and saw this advertisement. Why, yes. I will go to Slovakia. In fact, I am there right now! :) 

Tenby, Wales Part Three: Sunshine!!

Our last two days of camping in Tenby we had unbelievably nice weather. Such nice weather that we decided to stay an extra whole day and do indulgent things like have a long late breakfast at Cafe Vista. We found Cafe Vista on the first evening of walking around Tenby and the views of the coast are unbeatable and the coffee and food is delicious. Hence the big smile. :)

 Plus I had some good company. Tim in his Cafe Vista promotional photo.

 My view from the balcony.

 Tim's view from the balcony

 Of course, we didn't stay in the cafe all day, though it was tempting. We wandered around the beach (I have so much sunscreen on in this photo) and played some backgammon at the park overlooking the water (no photos of that, but I assure you it was really nice. we even had some fresh cherries for snacks!)

 British Beach culture is fantastic. There are so many families and kids, people of all ages out building sand castles, hiding in little beach tents or turning as red as lobsters. In some subcultures in the UK, a sunburn is something of a page of honor that conveys the message: "I was on holiday somewhere beautiful and it was SUNNY." They love the weather, they do.

I really enjoyed the little bunting decorations around the town. After experiencing running around Tenby under an umbrella and slowly sauntering around Tenby in the sunshine, I have to say, I like it either way. It was interesting to see the shift in people primarily spending time in town to moving to the beaches once the weather was warm. We managed to find a restaurant on the beach which allowed us both shade of umbrellas and coffees... great combination. I hadn't remembered to take pictures of the view from our campsite which was just north of town, but it was also beautiful so we spent most evenings firing up the little portable BBQ and making creative and delicious camping feasts! Holidays are great. 

Tenby, Wales Part Two: Caldey Island

Tim and I decided that a good use of one of the days with nicer weather would be to make a trip to Caldey Island.  Caldey Island is home to a Benedictine Monastery and retreat center established in 1910. You can see the Island from Tenby's beaches. In the picture below, behind me and Jesus, you can faintly see the city of Tenby. It starts with a boat ride across the bay. Which is great and terrifying if you are like me and ever so slightly maybe a little bit nervous around open water. 

 We made it and Tim offered to take my picture with the cross, which is nice to have now and also strange, but that's me: nice and strange. So I offered to take a photo of Tim with the cross reflecting on his sunnies, subtle and very cool.

 The Island was beautiful, especially if you can make your way to the more remote portions, which I would highly recommend. The trees above are fairly near where the boat drops you and the cliffs below are on the other side of the tiny Island hear the light house.

 I sat on this rock ledge for awhile, it was cozy and not too close to the cliff as it might look in the photo above. Remember that I am almost 6 feet tall so my feet are going to be a considerable distance closer to the edge than the rest of me. Don't worry, mom. I was safe. Also thought that the view behind me was pretty beautiful (pictured below)

 Here is a bit of the coastal path around the Island. This is a great part of the day because where the tea shops and main area for visitors is, there are a ton of families and kids... which is great... unless you want some quiet time. Far fewer people are found wandering out onto the path. Maybe because of this sign found on the fence:

 However, carrying on down the path allows you seats like this. A place where I imagine monks go when the Island is closed and they have the run of it. It was quiet. It was peaceful. 

 In addition to the new builds on the island, there are several older buildings, including the oldest still functioning Roman Catholic chapel in the UK.  You can kind of see it in the picture above, it is where the tall pointy bit of stone peaks out over the trees. Most other buildings are either churches or named "The Old Mill" "The Old Priory" The Old _____ . You get the idea.

 These are some photographs from inside St. David's chapel. I am always moved that even in a busy touristy Island, so many have made time to come and light and candle and say a prayer for their loved ones.  Below is some of the artwork by the monks on the island. These were also taken in the chapel.

 Some photographs of the outside of St. David's. My favorite part of the Island (other than the cliff path)  was that you could hear the monks singing and praying the hours from the Daily Office. It was beautiful. I'd highly recommend the little boat ride out to the Caldey Island. 

Tenby, Wales- Part One- The Rainy Season

For a bit of vacation before starting my internship, I headed to one of my favorite spots: Pembrokeshire. Pembrokeshire is in South West Wales and so beautiful. Tim and I were deciding between St. David's and Tenby as places to go camping, but as the weather forecast was dubious, we chose Tenby... many more options for a rainy afternoon. Plus there are cool signs... like the one above and the one below :)

 Even though the weather was grim for the first two days, we ventured out onto the Beach, it was especially nice when the tide was out. Here is a view of those pastel buildings of Tenby from the beach!

 Rain jackets and wet hair--this is the kind of beach to which I am accustomed. I think there must be many people who think "beach" and think sunshine and swimming. But I grew up in Washington State and the "beach" to me means turning over rocks to look for little crabs, wind, rain jackets, kites, and candy shops. So the rainy day at Tenby suited me just fine.  Note the umbrella in the photograph above.

 This is the view of Tenby as we walked down from our campsite. Tenby is really beautiful, there were loads of little tea shops where we had afternoon cream teas... or as I ordered: 

me: "Hi, may I please have two scones with jam and clotted cream and two cups of tea with milk?" waiter: "So, two cream teas?"
me: "ah. yes. thank you. that would be the shorter way of saying it."

They were delicious.

 This is the North Beach in Tenby, it was great to walk on it on the way to town, even with the rainy weather. There is something really relaxing about being out and on the beach. When the tide is in, it goes well passed that rock and I feel extra sneaky and cool that I get walk on the part that is normally under water...it is the little things.

This is a picture of Tenby from the beach in the picture above. Not a bad way to walk into town for a cup of tea, eh? 

She's Crafty- Holden's Craft Cave

Weaving a new yoga mat strap! My intention was to make a pastor's stole. Unfortunately/fortunately, I had the wrong beginning pattern so I ended up weaving this instead. At first I wasn't sure what I would do with my new creation, then I realized that I have wanted, for a long time, a strap for my yoga mat, so it can ride on my back while I bike. perfect! So with a few buttons here and sewing there... it should be a very successful venture.

Weaving a big rug out of scrap fabric comprised mostly of a generous duvet donation (the green portion) from my friend, Brad, and cut up t-shirts annexed from the lost and found. Working on a giant loom is so fun. I am pretty sure I earned some sort of 18th century merit badge for my work.

I signed up for a block printing class on my day off  in Holden. SO FUN! I think I have found my new favorite hobby. I walked up to Chalet Hill so I could get a good view of the canyon and made a little sketch. Then you transfer the sketch onto the lino-cut base and carve away until you have the stamp that you want. It took a little bit of work to carve out just the right amount of negative space, but I am pleased with the results.  Because it continued to rain well into the evening, after vespers, I decided to return to the craft cave and make loads more prints, experimenting with the paint in colour and consistency and how the print looked with different levels of pressure and contrasting coloured paper. To be perfectly honest, I could probably live in the craft cave, if they let me. :)

Holden Village- Fourth of July Parade!

My original departure date from Holden Village was to be June 30th. However, all the logistics fell into place for me to stay until July 5th and since I didn't have any plans for the4th anyway, I thought I would celebrate the United States of America's independence day the best way I could imagine... at Holden Village :)

The day started out with a feast of pancakes with red white and blue toppings (raspberries, whipped cream, and blueberries) During meal times at Holden, we ask for birthdays and anniversaries and sing to people. On the 4th of July we sang "Happy Birthday America." I loved it.

It was a work day for housekeepers, but a short one. I swear, I have cleaned more toilets and showers in the past month than in my life time. I'm a pro now though,. But before folks get too excited, I will not be volunteering to do it outside of Holden anytime soon (but back in Holden... certainly!!) During coffee hour we had proclamations of independence in an open mic forum. People read from the declaration of independence, poems, and played music. It was pretty fantastic.

Next step in the day was face-painting. The volunteers who worked with Narnia (the elementary school aged kids) led the effort and red white and blue stars abounded...

Above is Carolyn (fellow housekeeper and friend) enjoying her face painting experience.

One of the best aspects of the 4th of July parade is that each work area (kitchen, housekeeping, mavericks, etc) create their own entries in the parade. In addition to the work areas of Holden volunteer staff we were lucky that some of the mine remediation workers joined in the fun!! :D Above is pictured two of the fellas who work for the Holden Mine Project, I love how they got into the spirit of Holden's festivities! Mark (green shirt) might have been joking when he said that if I made him Shrek ears he would go as Shrek in the parade, and it is even more likely that Ryan was kidding when he agreed to go as donkey if I found him a donkey costume... but I wasn't joking. So here they are:

Looks pretty good. If you can't tell, I am water as part of a larger joint costume with the rest of the housekeeping team. Costume selection for the parade is something we take very seriously. Below is Carolyn in search of just the right dress to express the toilet water we sought to represent.The summer theme for 2012 is a verse from Ezekial: Where the river flows, life abounds. As such, many of the entries in the parade parodied this theme in creating their performance pieces/floats, etc.

The craft cave folks: Where Creativity Flows Crafts Abound!

The Utilities Team" Where the Plunger Goes, Water Flows"

Taylor and Tim (top of the float) are often in the bucket brigade drum core of the regular Friday afternoon parades and was a nice touch to their 4th of July float.

Second most elaborate paper mache work goes to the kitchen crew in their pig roast float, "Where the pig roasts freedom abounds" It was so realistic as to be a bit disturbing. Well done! I'm not being sarcastic right now.As we are the housekeeping team, (Team HK!) our collective brainstorming came up with this banner: "Where the toilet flows, bacterial life abounds"After deciding our slogan, we created a kind of circle dance which imitated a toilet being flushed. Below you can see the white toilet brush giving us a scrub

After being scrubbed, the toilet handle would be flushed (nice work Carolyn!) and we circled around in manner of a toilet's whirling water. Then all bent at the knees with one "SWOOSH" sound... and carried on circle dancing and being scrubbed until the next crowd. Tommy and Anna announced each entry, so perhaps if someone was not able to grasp that we were a toilet being flushed (even though the choreography was amazing) they helped us out by narrating what was happening.

Pastor Scott and Pastor intern Anders (fellow PLTS student and friend!) dressed up as fishermen with photographs of a former staffer named "Bren" on their hooks. Get it? "Fishers of Bren" pretty funny. :)
Then there was the elaborate larger than life puppet that Brad, the potter, with the assistance of Laurie (village artist) and other put together. That thing is impressive and I think the mine remediation workers got a kick out of it.

Of course, there were some stilt walkers and a kazoo band. No parade would be complete without them.
The fourth of July Parade was followed by root-beer floats and watching the fire brigade demonstration, you'd have to be there. Mostly we just ate all day... delicious BBQ for dinner and vespers. To top off the night was the fireworks show! Now, Holden is in the middle of the forest, so fireworks are not and should not be allowed because of the huge risk of forest fires. So in lieu of fireworks live, they show a video of firework displays, play patriotic music and (the best BIT!) hand out bubble wrap to everyone. The garbology team saves up the bubble wrap all year long and then as we watch the fire works video people snap and pop their bubble wrap and sing along to songs like "I'm proud to be an American." It was the best fourth of July celebration I can remember.