Highlights of the past 13 days...

Monday, April 27:
I went to The Fray’s first concert ever in Belfast. After standing outside in the cold wind and short spurt of rain, they finally let us in. The show was awesome! Of course, since the concert I’ve been listening to their new album over and over. Favourite songs are Where the Story Ends, Happiness, and Ungodly Hour.

Tuesday, April 28:
We had a small group Bible study outing to mark the end of the semester. Paul, Stu, Rebekah, Bethany, Kari, Amanda and I all went to the adventure golf course for a round of mini-golf. Stu won with 43 and I was a close second with 44. After mini-golf, we kept up our tradition and drove to McDonald’s for a snack. Johnny Stewart met us at McDonald’s and then came back to campus with us where we spent a couple hours in the chaplaincy playing cards, drinking tea, and chatting. It’s nights like that that I will miss the most.

Wednesday, April 29-Sunday, May 3:
I flew to Paris and took a side-trip to Bayeux for a tour of the Normandy beaches. Look for details in a separate post.

Monday, May 4-Friday, May 8:
It was revision week on campus, which means we had no classes and we were meant to be studying all week. Did I actually do any studying? No. Instead I did things like clean my bathroom, vacuum my floor, bake and go grocery shopping, all to avoid studying.

Tuesday, May 5:
I went with Amanda and Kara to see 50 Dead Men Walking, a film about the troubles in Northern Ireland. Perhaps it was such a powerful movie because I was watching it in Northern Ireland in a theatre filled with people who could very well have lived through the troubles. Whatever the reason, I definitely recommend seeing this movie.

Thursday, May 7:
Since a bunch of our friends had been studying and doing coursework all week, Amanda and I decided to organize an outing to The Empire Basement for Blues night. We had a small pre-party here first and then took taxis to The Empire. The live blues band was brilliant. Even more brilliant was the 70-something year-old, white-haired man dressed in black busting crazy dance moves out on the dance floor. It was very comical! We also met some interesting characters at the bar, one of which appeared to be stuck in the 80s with his leather jacket and long, poufy hair. A lot of our Irish friends joined us and we had a fabulous night, which was made even better with our stop at the chippey down the street before taking the taxi back to Jordanstown.

Saturday, May 9:
Bethany and I went to see State of Play at the cinema. It was another intense, suspense-filled movie – just the kind I like! When we left the cinema, the sun had finally come out after six-days of rain, wind, and clouds. Later that evening, Acky picked Kari, Bethany and I up for a night of banter at his house. Leanna, Gav, Charlie and Emma were helping at the church’s youth night, so we stopped and visited them for a wee bit and then we went to Tesco to stock up on junk food for the night. I think I ate enough calories for an entire week in that one night. We had four different kinds of pizza, grilled cheese, Cadbury chocolates, crisps and dip, ice cream with cones, and Hob Nobs with Nutella. I get sick just thinking about it. When we could eat no more, we played two games of Articulate before calling it a night at 1:15. I’ll miss nights like that too.