Belfast turned me into a Baby

"There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people." 

-- Howard Zinn

This quote was shared in a documentary about a particularly awful day during the height of the Troubles in Northern Ireland called "Bloody Friday".  Food for thought.

In-country orientation is over, and there has been lots to process.  Northern Ireland initially strikes me as a country of contrasts.

Land of extraordinary natural beauty (and extraordinarily friendly people):

(And SHEEP!)

 Land of open wounds and conflict:

(Pictures taken inside a car -- sorry for the poor quality!)

(Murals located in East Belfast)

While I've learned more about the history, culture, and geography of Northern Ireland than I thought was possible in a week, I feel far from comfortable trying to explain the complexity of the world I now inhabit.  Somewhere in the middle of our first week, I didn't feel dissimilar to an infant -- pink and bug-eyed and ignorant -- trying to process and understand this fascinating and thorny world for the first time, totally dependent on others to take care of me and teach me everything I needed to know.
I'm not quite so overwhelmed with information anymore, although there is still plenty to learn.  Mostly, I'm so glad to be in this place, with its long, long memory and its capacity for warm, warm welcome.  And we have been welcomed so graciously by our neighbors, placement supervisors, new congregations, and our site coordinator and his family.
I'm still a liiiittle nervy about starting my work for the first time tomorrow, but we were reminded today that sometimes the best way to learn is by jumping head-first into the deep end and figuring it out as you go along!

Our first task in approaching
                  Another people
                  Another culture
                  Another religion
Is to take off our shoes
For the place we are approaching is holy.

(Quote from the illustrious "Unknown" -- way to go, Unknown!)