Yesterday we moved from our hostel in the city back to the hostel we started out in for our last short week in Belfast. In a lot of ways it felt like coming home. We took the Farset International Youth Hostel for granted last time we were here. It wasn't until we moved into what amounted to closet space with a bunk bed and a sink in the city, accompanied by the roar of traffic, jackhammers, and glass-shattering garbage trucks early in the morning that we realized how good we had had it at the Farset.
Needless to say, we were practically singing with joy on the cab ride back to the quiet, homey little hostel on the hill overlooking the city where the beds are soft, the blankets warm, the bathrooms private, and the tv... there at all.
As befits our custom on hostel-moving day, as soon as we were in our room, we both dropped our bags, kicked off our shoes, and settled down for nap-time. Ethan has a habit of turning the tv on and then not watching it, so as he slumbered I lay awake watching a special on Hitler on Yesterday, the UK version of the History Channel.
Eventually, after two hours of Nazi conspiracies and the daring British who unraveled them, I nudged Ethan awake and suggested we head into town for lunch. We still had our interview with our Ceili instructor on the books for that afternoon, so we needed to be closer to town to catch a bus to meet her at the Culturlann later, anyway.
Feeling adventurous, we continued our tour of foreign cuisine, and wandered into a Chinese noodle bar called Chopstix for some amazing food. On this trip so far we've eaten Indian, Portugese, traditional Irish, British, and now Chinese... we even tried UK McDonald's "Great Tastes of America" burger line... I've been to Texas several times, and I promise I've never tasted anything like what was in that Texas BBQ burger. After Chopstix, we meandered into McDonalds so Ethan could use the wifi to work on his blog, and I ordered a Starburst Mixed Berry milkshake so we wouldn't look like solicitors.
As our scheduled interview time approached, I coerced Ethan into giving up his blog efforts so we could make it in time to catch a bus... which we missed. We ended up getting on a bus leaving at the same time we were supposed to meet our Ceili instructor for her interview. Luckily, she was waiting on us when we got there and was more than happy to answer our questions.
Her love of the language, the culture, and life in general reminded me of something important. The reason we're here. People like her.
We're here to care about people like her. To care about the things that she cares about. We've been far too self-absorbed.
Looking back over the blog entries we've made it's easy to see a certain self-interest. They're all about us. To a certain extent, that's to be expected in a blog. We're telling about what we're doing here. But, on the other side of the coin, what we're doing here isn't about us at all. It's about the Irish people. It's about learning as much about them as we possibly can in order to share what we've learned with those who care enough about them to come after us.
We've done a lot of learning and very little sharing.
I hope to change some of that with this blog.
Who are the Irish? They're artists. They're fun-loving, craic-finding, happy-go-lucky, take-life-as-it-comes people. They're passionate, flaring up to fight because someone looked at them the wrong way, but amiable, quickly befriending someone after shouting insults at them. They're lovers of art, of the written word, of poetry and novels, of painting, of murals and sketches, and of music, both traditional and popular. They're proud about their heritage; happy to share it, and willing to die to protect it. They're burdened, weighed down under the strain of years of oppression and occupation by religion, government, and poverty. They're spirited, rising up to sing and dance in the face of their sorrows. They're people, just like anyone else.
Last night we got to join them as people. Ethan wrote about the Andy Irvine concert at the Culturlann, and how he felt the sense of community and unity growing up out of the music. I sensed it then, too. But last night we attended another concert. This time at An Droichead; it was a band called Goitse (pronounced Got-sha) made up of young Irish people and one young man from Philedelphia. And I think Goitse best embodied what I love about the Irish people: a diverse community enjoying life, past and present, and one another, erupting into a spirited ferver of art and soul. An unveiled yearning for life and joy hidden behind the shroud of circumstantial affliction.
If you want to know what that sounds like, watch the video at the bottom of this entry.
I also realized last night that the cultural centers we had been visiting here both represent this passion for heritage and life in different ways. They're two sides of the same coin. Culturlann is about holding onto knowledge of the past; An Droichead is about focusing that into the future. This is the spirit of the Irish people.
Last night in the crowd of people celebrating music and hope for the future of a traditional style, I could sense that, though we never uttered a word, we were all speaking the same Irish language.
And this is how it was meant to be. Missions isn't about bringing people in to look like you. That's selfish. Missions is about going to people, celebrating with them, weeping with them if necessary, and growing so that both of you look more like Christ.
We've reached a turning point in our journey. In more ways than one. It's our last week in Belfast. We're going home soon. I'm just sorry it took us this long to see the other side of the coin.
Who are the Irish?
- Sam R. Franklin
5 Days Left in Ireland
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