Can’t Wait for Tomorrow by Catherin (a pilgrim)
When we bring a group like the community from Christ Episcopal to a distant land like Ireland, we try to help the pilgrims experience the culture in the land. The question then becomes, how will these cultural collisions effect us, or more directly how will these collisions affect the Pilgrims on their journey? Traveling to the sleepy Aran island can be like stepping back in time to a slower more deliberate life. Today our pilgrims from Charlotte N.C. began to discover how another culture and daily rhythm can impact their lives. I asked Catherin D to share her reflections on the day.
“This morning was an early one because we had to leave for the Aran Islands, three small islands off the coast of Galway is our destination for the next couple of days. We woke up around 7 and road with Seamus, our faithful bus driver who dropped us off at the Ferry along with a couple of packets of motion sickness pills. Elise was one of the worst on the boat, her fear of sea sickness along with the idea that “staring at the horizon line” got her through it.Life on the islands can begin to introduce the self reflection one needs to begin examining the life we are living and begin to imagine what it could look like if we are willing to change.
Once we arrived on the tiny island of Inis Oirr we walked the 200 yards to the small hostel located on the coast with an AMAZING view of the water. Squeezed in between a Bed and Breakfast and a Pub (shocking), was our new home for the next two nights. Roommates were assigned and then the group headed off for another adventure. Not knowing where we were headed we walked down a road surrounded by cow pastures and stone walls…. When we came to a fork in the road the decision was made to take a left. Down the road that we just happened to pick was a slab of concrete overlooking the ocean surrounded by huge boulders. During this time we separated, found our own personal rocks and wrote in our journals. After some down time, we headed to a huge SHIPWRECK. Plassey, the name of the ship that now sits about 40 feet above sea level was a cargo ship that unfortunately, was swept up by the Atlantic and thrown onto the land during a huge Storm. The analogy of a shipwreck both in the literal sense and the spiritual and emotional sense gave us something to think about as we walked around the rusted boat remains.
After the exploration, Team one (the winning team that I was in who cooked some MAD chili) took a quaint little horse buggy ride around the island. One stop along the way of our buggy tour was at the Holy Well. The drinkable well water was holy to the Irish and if you saw the eel in the water it was said, you were sent straight to heaven. Olivia and Scott, being curious decided that it would be a great idea to make friends with the donkey that was watching us. Scott saved a life at this moment when he gracefully hit the donkey away just as it was trying to bite Olivia’s hand off. Only a small scratch in her hand remains.
Now let me tell you, the population of this island is hovering at a cool 250 and our gigantic group makes it skyrocket to the big 300. The lives lived by the native Irish are a VERY simple one. Only one grocery store and souvenir shop are available on the island although there are 3 pubs surrounding the island. Tonight we used those pubs, two to be exact but only coke was consumed along with beef lasagna and “Chips” aka Fries. After our delicious dinner at Tigh Ruairi, we headed down the hill to the second pub where we once again drank cokes and the occasional red bull while we listened and danced to traditional Irish music. After our music stop, some of us headed down to the coolest playground ever! This playground contained a zip line, type rope, and huge spinning climbing cage so when I say it’s the coolest ever, I’m telling the truth. Today was another great day that ended in a stubbed toe for me. Cant wait for tomorrow!