Derry Diary #19
17 July 2004
Culdaff, Co. Donegal (Caratra Park)
Overcast mild, periods of sun and rain

My tattoo is really itchy today. Does that mean something, like when your nose itches it is supposed to mean you're going to have a fight. I hoping it heals up soon.

Another thing I was thinking about today after looking at the picture of QE2 on the pound sterling note, the money that is used through the United Kingdom. (the dollar has sunk in value even since we have been here, by the way. It costs nearly $2.00 [$1.96] per pound...what's that all about? It is the worse exchange rate since I began coming to this island.) Back to the queen (it is a 1960 pic btw), I wonder why the pound doesn't have famous kings and queens from the past. The U.S. has presidents and statesmen on their currency. How about a Henry VIII £ 50 bill or everyone's favorite a George III fiver? No wait ...didn't he lose the colonies? Maybe we should put his likeness on a new $15 bill. Just a thought.

The Blue Flag Culdaff Beach	Tent City

Left the center at around half ten for the hour journey North up the coast to the South, Irish Free State for a cross-boarder youth camp out experiment for the Centre. I published the picture on Friday and all these photos can be found on the site (http://www.blackshade.net). We arrived at Culdaff around 11.30 or so after a "Millennium Flacon" lift from Tommy Mc Court. (Tom is the Harrison Ford character). Jackie was in the back seat telling him how to drive. The banter was hysterical.

Pathetic Tent Construction	Girl's Comfy Tent

How to set up a tent. Yes it is true, American kids are resourceful...but this task seemed to be a daunting one and took a good 45 minutes to finish. There would be one tent for the boys and one tent for the girls. In the boy's tent, I was left on the porch while they were comfy in the interior. Luckily the rain that came down was not the usual pouring cats and dogs variety. Any wetness I got, was minimal I guess the boys thought in case of any trouble from the youngsters in the camp, I would be the first line of defense. Right. That's a plan? I think not.

These youth camps are run a bit differently than, let's say, camps in the U.S. Maybe the kids here on this island are tougher or the city makes them daring. I'm not sure what. They bounce back and sometimes with a vengeance.

The organized chaos of the campsite and the program took a bit of time to get used to. Culdaff is a rather beautiful "Blue Flag" beach that stretches for more than a mile. The kids in the neighborhood would go swimming no matter if the weather was hot or freezing cold. The weather was spotty at best and the air was a bit nippy, but these kids ran into the surf no matter what.

Cal and Patti and I went to search for "sandies" with a couple of the boys. Sandies, as I can gather from the folklore, are little eels which the kids use as bait for fishing. They live in the shallow water of the shore under the sand and can be pryed loose with a knife. Therefore one needs to wade into the water to get them. I stayed on shore.

Gavin Digging for Sandies	Gavin not finding any

Patti did a daredevil jump off the sandy cliff as she is prone to do. I believe she was the first one down the makeshift water slide as well at the Baldrick Crescent Fun Day last week. The picture below does not do her leaping feat justice.

Patti Leaps off the cliff	Patti practices printing her name

We returned to the campsite for burgers and sausages and quote "a bit a craic" a phrase we will here over and over again as the "long-nite-of-the-wanes" crept upon us. A brief walk into the little village of Culdaff for a listen to music at a pub. I call it the "Grumpy Bar" because, even though it is a public house we weren't buying pints just colas and Sprites. The pub was so cheap that the band had to buy their own drinks. Eventually we left to head back for a fire on the dunes and "a bit of craic."

Chatting around the fire	Midnite - Nora's 17th

Phil had brought his barbeque to the beach and fired up for more burgers. If I never see a burger again, it will be too soon. (figure that one out). The fire was great, using wood from all over the place to build it up. as the sun went down and the air grew chillier, it was a welcome addition. The fire drew all sorts of people to it including two wandering English girls who were dressed for a country in a hot zone and not the frigid coast of Donegal. They left after about 15 minutes when the conversation got a wee bit too English. I guess it is an Irish and more specifically a Northern Irish thing.

At midnight on a nite when it was possible that we would be up all night, Nora's birthday arrived. All the kids around the fire and our group sang "Happy Birthday" to Nora. She was beaming. In honor of her 17th birthday our group decided to take a dip in the North Atlantic...in the semi-darkness of the summer night. Just to give you a perspective, from the beach straight ahead is Iceland, and the area where the Titanic sank. It was cold, but Nora, Patti (of course), Val, Andrew and Mel braved the unforgiving sea for a quick dip. There were plenty of lifeguards at the ready and almost willing to jump into the 3 foot water to save any and all.

Now the decision, to sleep or not to sleep, that was the question. The decision was to sleep, at around 2.45 am with a still light sky above. As you know we are way north. We all jumped in our bags in our respective tents, clothes and all and bundled against the wind and later, the rain. Outside however was a different story. Phil the leader spent time in his car driving slowly around the football pitch (soccer field) looking for his stray wanes. It was then he caught sight of about 50 rabbits who began to run for their burrows. Phil gunned the car and drove after them all over the field. We are not sure if he got any, but it was "great craic" to watch him. He finally gave up and went to sleep. His snore reminded one of bears hibernating.

But all in all it was a trip-trip as you can tell from the pictures.

Justice is swift	Gavin

Derry Diary #20
18 July 2004 (Nora's 17th)
Culdaff, Co. Donegal, Derry
Partly cloudy, periods of sun and rain

After a light morning rain, we rolled out of our tents and prepared for the journey back to Rosemount and the Tree House play school fun day. Phil was up and cooked eggs and sausage for all the boys and for our group. Cal and I missed it because we went for a morning walk into the village looking for the holy grail of coffee. I think, for the sake of my own sanity and lack of sleep the night before, the coffee was probably the better choice. After a cup, I am ready to face whatever comes our way ...almost.

The Fun Day was a calmer event than the treacherous water slide of Baldrick Crescent. It included a Bouncy Castle of course ...every fun day has a Bouncy Castle. Nora took the first round of collecting 20p from the little ones to jump in the castle for 5 minutes. But the medal of honor goes to Mel who was pressed into duty to do face-painting. What was going to be a supporting role turned into the main event for her and the hundred or so kids who wanted Yin-Yang's or Tri-color flags or butterflies drawn on their little faces. She worked straight for 3 1/2 hours without a break. A trooper of the highest caliber. This more than makes up for her bowling score in spades.

Mel's marathon facepainting	Nora's 17th Party at Home

Clean-up after the Fun Day was easy with all the hands pulling together. In a half hour or so, the litter was gone, the dishes done, and the floors cleaned and hoovered.

The dinner of lasagne was put together by Janelle and Mel and was delicious. We surprised Nora with a pie and candles and cards to brighten her day. She was beaming ear to ear.

My friend Willie Horton (and I probably spelled his first name wrong again) dropped by this evening. He had been by before and I didn't acknowledge it. Now I am and a picture too, taken by one of the wanes. It is always good to see Willie for updates on his life and to share my extraordinarily boring life story with him. We had a quiet, well sort of quiet, cup o' tea.

Government Man Horton

Val gave the prayer/journaling this evening with the question of what event/activity over the past 3 weeks had an impact on them individually.

Tonite is our last sleep since tomorrow we stay up all night doing our end-of-immersion mini-retreat/activities and cleaning.

More later.

cheers,

paul and Cal