Dreams and thoughts...

I love this picture. It sums up everything. The smile, the guitar, the pints of beer (one full, one empty =)) and the paper that just perfectly says "Ireland" on it. Anyways, this was me with the band that night. 

Whites Tavern and me with the guys. 

The band.

Hello all-

Well, the holidays are over and not completely without hard times, but I got through them just fine. I find myself now at the end of January, the time flying by and mid-term right around the corner. Our 5 month anniversary is just two days away. It has been longer than that since I left Texas. Sometimes it feel like only yesterday that I arrived here in Belfast, sometimes it feels like years that I have been here. Like with everyone, I still have good and not so good days. I have to say though that overall thinking back to the day we all stepped off the plane, I cannot even describe the girl that I was then, I feel so transformed by my time here. Like I have said before, I truly believe that I have learned more than I have taught. Isn't that a blessing!?!

Above you see some pictures of me playing guitar with a traditional Irish band. One thing that I have learned in N. Ireland is that sometimes you just have to put fears aside and go for it. That is just what I did when I played with this talented group of musicians. I just brought my guitar to a pub one night hoping that the band I had heard there the week before would be there again and this time I could join in. I went over, introduced myself and they said "sure love, have a wee seat and get your guitar out, we'll teach you how to play our music." For the next couple of hours I played and laughed, drank pints of beer on the house and made some good friends. Traditional Irish music is no easy thing to learn, let me tell you. I spent half the time just staring in amazement at the guys. I however got to learn many songs. I tried and tried to upload a video of us playing but the blogger would not take it. I will continue to try. If you imagine the music that was in the scene of Titanic when Kate and Leo go and dance in the bows of the ship, that was just about spot on to what I played with them. Haha. I can see all of you going and fishing out your old copy of Titanic and fast-forwarding it to that part. Do it, you will see just what I mean! In the end I found that it is true what they say about the Irish, they are some of the friendliest people in the world. This chance to get to sit and play music that sums up the root of this culture was a gift that I will never forget. I intend on going back and playing with the guys again. It was such a great memory that I will never ever forget. 

As I continue on with this journey all of you are in my thoughts and prayers. I hope that all of you have had a wonderful start to your 2008 year. Blessings and much love to you all. 

Melissa 

I love Paris...

                                                        I will, triumph...                      

                                                               Me and the Eiffel Tower

                                            

So, this is the video that I took at midnight at the Eiffel Tower. The only problem is that I took it with my camera and held it long ways not knowing that I cannot turn the picture around. If anyone knows how to fix this, help would be welcome. For now you can see the most important parts by tilting your head. It is rubbish recording but some people will never see the Eiffel and I thought it would be cool to put it up! (Bonne Annee) means Happy New Years in French. You will hear it many times! 

Hello everyone and Happy New Years from Belfast! I celebrated New Years with my good friends Sarah and Jessica in Paris France (along with a crowd of people we made friends with in France). It was wonderful! I have posted some of the many, many hundreds of pictures I took over the week long trip. We saw everything, the Mona Lisa, the Eiffel Tower, the architecture from a river boat up the Seine River. It was so very nice to get a change of scenery from Belfast. Although it was colder than Belfast...I know, hard to believe. It is so wonderful to be able to change your view for a while, what a blessing to get to spend a week in France. All I knew how to say was please, thank you, yes, no and I am sorry. Somehow we got by with flying colors. There were times where we were at a loss because of the language barrier, but hey...that is half the fun right? 

The best part of the trip was when we came back to Belfast and all three of us girls, all just having rung in our fourth month in this place calling it "home". Something so very important that I have learned this year is that the concept of home can be so many things. Although my real home in Texas is what my heart is missing and yearning for sometimes...Belfast somehow feels like home for now. What a gift to be glad to come home...come back to our friends and "family" that we have built in N. Ireland. How incredible it is that after a mere four months we feel comfortable in the unfamiliar. 

I hope that all of you in this 2008 year we have just begun all find a home. A place where you heart is, if only for a time. Also I hope that all of you can find community and strength within your most unexpected places. May God bless all of you in this new year! 

Bonne Annee friends!

Melissa