Sunday May 31, 2009

We left for church at 10:45 and drove to a part of Belfast that most of us had never been to.  On the way one of the gates in front of a store had a cartoon on it that we were told was blatantly anti-Catholic.  The church was called Christian Fellowship Church and it was probably the best service I have ever been to.  The worship was so alive and I liked the way that between songs people would come up and share inspirational stories or insights.  It was also nice that they were so world-conscious by praying for countries in turmoil and for their own countries sectarianism.  Later in the afternoon Daniel, a former JBU admission's counselor and now studying at the Queen's University in Belfast took five of us on a 2 hour hike around Belfast.  The best part was walking through the landscape not just looking at it from afar.  We passed a mansion called Edenderry, which is now used for weddings. We saw what is called the Giant's ring which is a huge circle enclosed

 by hills with a pile of rocks in the middle that was probably a burial tomb, the secret garden which used to be a rose garden in the 1930's and is called the secret garden because for a while it was forgotten. We passed through Lagan Valley and saw some potato fields, crossed Shaw's Bridge near where the olympic team kayaks, and saw Barrett Demesne, which I believe is the town we passed through which used to be a linen mill town.  Now it is a posh town for young people and the construction company knocked down the linen mill (they were supposed to leave some of it, woops).  We passed through some muddy paths, saw cow pastures, and enjoyed the sun.  After dinner of bangers and mash I joined an ultimate frisbee game and did fairly well, blocking one of Phil's throws.  We watched "The Importance of Being Ernest" later in the evening.  It's a very good movie, now I want to read the book.