بيروت!

I arrived to Beirut airport at 2am yesterday! It is two hours ahead of the UK and seven ahead of the States. It was a good time to arrive because otherwise there would have been lots of traffic! On the flight over, there were very few people on the plane so a lot of people spread out and laid down over three chairs. I decided to watch The Great Gatsby with Arabic subtitles :)

 

I'm staying with Naomi and Jonathan and their three children for a couple days before I move into my flat in the Junior School. This is the pretty view from their porch!

We went to a supermarket, the phone shop, and Starbucks today - very exciting!

 



Had a Thanksgiving dinner tonight with other Americans. It was so yummy! Going to see the school tomorrow... Stay tuned for more information coming soon!

*insert witty Scottish phrase here*

Besides from church services and church programmes, there is a lot going on in Scotland and the Glasgow area! One Saturday I went up north into the Highlands to Inverness, for a Shinty/Hurling match. It was Ireland against Scotland and Ireland, obviously, won. :) It was very cold and rainy but it was good fun and we got on TV!

The Irish play hurling and the Scots play shinty, they are slightly different sports so it's interesting to watch! You should look it up if you've never heard of either sport.

The next day, Sunday afternoon, a group from Cartsbridge went to the largest windmill farm in Europe! It was such a nice day when we started on our walk but once we got in among the turbines, it started hailing – typical. J There was a lovely café there, though, where we went to dry off and warm up.

 

That night I went to Calderwood Baptist Church for their evening service with a friend who goes there. It was good to see what another church in the area was like and I had the privilege of helping them set up for “the best playgroup ever” that met the next morning. I have to say, the toys were pretty cool. J

The  next Saturday, I skyped one of the other FirstServers, Rachel, who was doing well in Aberdeen and is now back home for Christmas. That night, a girl from the church had a fundraising ceilidh for her trip to India and it was so much fun! It’s great exercise and it was such a laugh. I compiled some youtube videos of all the dances we did so if anyone wants to see what they’re like, let me know!

On a Tuesday night, after choir, I went into Glasgow Uni and went to a CU event called source. It was a music/art event and there were a whole bunch of sets from spoken word, to improv, to harp playing. It was really cool and a great way to see a bit of the uni and student life. The day before I left, I went back into the West End in the daytime to see the campus and buildings, it's really pretty and looks like Hogwarts.

Some strange specimen in the Botanic Gardens

I met up again with Tara and her mum was over so we went for lunch on Saturday which was lovely, great to catch up, and talk about the memories of Portrush/Portstewart. That night, a group of girls from the church and I went for dinner and a show. We had a yummy dinner at a restaurant and then went to see 42^nd Street. Besides the rubbish American accents, it was a good production and it felt so good to be back in the theatre! J









 

 On Monday, I went with a friend to a local disabled Scouts group. They were learning about film-making and spilt up into actors, cameramen, directors, and scriptwriters to prepare a film. I was helping a bling guy and it was lots of fun. All the guys were hilarious. After that, I, again, went to basketball. Not sure why I even try… J Thursday night, I went with two friends to see Catching Fire! One was a die-hard fan and was very emotional (for the duration. :p) It was a great movie, though, they did a good job. A group of us went to Loch Lomond for a wee outing which was a lovely way to finish my time here.

 

 

 

Me and my "family" :)

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at all the programmes I helped with. As well as going along to them, I also prepared games for a school SU group, read stories at a nursery and at the Stepping Stones toddler group, taught the choir a new song, did a talk at King’s Club, went to a water park with the Youth Club, and led a Sunday Club class.

It has all been such a great experience and I will never forget any of it or any of the people. I had some downtime during the week which I tried to use wisely and spend quiet time reading the Bible and praying in a coffee shop – away from the ever increasing distractions. YF and Freedom in Christ were great additions to my week, surrounded by people my age all learning more about God. The discipleship course that they gave us at Tilsley has been amazing and I have learned so much and have been reminded of Christian principles to apply to my daily life.

The last adventure I had before the trip to the airport was to basketball. I managed to bend my finger back and now it is swollen and bruised.

  First the wasp sting on my eye, now this – so far I’ve had two injuries, hopefully not too many more! I have learned so much about cars in the last five weeks from the Stewart boys, finally bought myself some wellie boots, and taught the Scots how to eat Cadbury fingers with their tea – it was a great placement and I will miss Glasgow. Definitely will be back for a wee visit in the future!