The speed of sound

I was walking down Princelet Street the other day with Hannah and the kids and a bunch of pigeons flew up into the air from the pavement where Ben was about to terrorize them with his bike. Of course, whenever this happens, I always start singing “Speed of Sound” to myself for old times’ sake, but not always out loud. And it struck me that oh, my goodness – I’m halfway through my time here, and what an idiot I’ve been not to realize how fast time is going!

With Eid past, life among the Bengalis has gone back to normal – whatever that means. Kids’ club has started up – we’ve had one week at the Hanbury and one week going out to see Prince Caspian at the RichMix Cinema on Bethnal Green Road near the top of Brick Lane. (X3 in the cinema...I had forgotten how much I really enjoy that movie. I was near to tears more than once. Such a sap!) After that ,we had girls’ club, which was supposed to be bowling, but ended up in a long and futile battle with the London Transportation; a long wait in Aldgate East tube station, and then a long wait outside of Liverpool Street Station, and finally just goofing around over an early tea at McDonalds for the rest of the time. It really turned out to be a great time, though. There are some great girls there, and so many of them are pretty young, so hopefully they will be able to stay involved with the girls’ club for many years to come. Four of them commandeered my camera for a while, and I’ve not uploaded the pictures onto my computer to look at them yet…this could be rather interesting!

I made the mistake on Sunday of trying to walk the cycle that I have borrowed (thank you, Andy and Jacob) up Brick Lane in search of food to share at a picnic. As might be expected at 1:45 on a Sunday, both beigel shops were full up of people with queues way out onto the street. I decided that I couldn’t be bothered to tie my bike up somewhere and wait that long, so I continued squashing past people (one of whom, probably an American by accent, said “seriously!” as if it were a capital offense for me to try and walk my bike through the street) like I was going the wrong way in a river until I found an older man selling some fruit and brought that instead. I was meeting up with some people from church at Victoria (fam: Vicky) Park for lunch, and that turned into a long afternoon of doing the cryptic crossword – which I am quite horrible at. This might be complicated by the fact that I don’t know all the phrases, euphemisms, and figures of speech that someone writing these crosswords might be using, unfortunately. But it was a lovely day, and when I got back to the Spirings’, Hannah’s parents were there and I got to chat with them about their recent sojourn in America, among other things. Hannah’s dad introduced me to the practice of putting golden syrup on Yorkshire puddings, which was delicious but so incredibly rich. Every time I think about golden syrup I kind of groan, just because it’s so sugary! It make me want to smack my lips together and drink a lot of water.

At City Gateway, things have been a bit crazy, but thus is life. Yesterday was my first (well, technically second) day of helping out at Lansbury Lodge women’s project, and I must admit, I did not expect to be quite doing what I did all day. At Limehouse Youth Centre, I’m still helping to run evening club, do door-knocking, and get ideas/events started for girls’ night. I believe we just got the next batch of door-knocking stuff today, so that will be my afternoon, perhaps.

Have made a few goals for the next couple weeks: first, get my coursework done but not be a recluse (tough one, that!) Second: manage to enjoy the time with my mother and not fight too much. Third: post more regularly on here/journal regularly.

A friend at Limehouse and I were talking about the differences between areas of London, and the comment came out: things are much more laid back here, in the East End. In some ways, I suppose this is true - you don't quite have the hustle and bustle in a high commerce or touristy sense that you might get in the heart of the West End. In some ways, things certainly go do slower here, are less efficient, and generally more agreeable. But certainly not in all ways. Canary Wharf is an important centre for business (even with its ghastly skyscrapers), there are several major motorways as well as tunnels under the Thames, and the immigrant community is a rapidly changing one as well.

So - I guess it depends on what you mean by 'things move slower.' If you are Michael Scott, then things move a little bit slower in Scranton, PA. If you are Erin Clark, then perhaps where you currently live can't really be defined by 'slow-moving.'

To switch gears a little bit (and to wax philosophical), I've been trying to keep up on American politics...unfortunately, I have not been entirely successful. Or is it fortunately? No, I won't go that route. I think it's good to be informed about politics and to make an informed choice whenever one has the privilege to vote. What really tires me, however, is the constant barrage of arguing and slandering and accusing and defending and...and...and the knowledge that no one candidate is going to keep all his or her promises - by a LONG shot. I've been saying recently, when pressed, that I really don't think a two-party system is sustainable in a county of the US' size and responsibility.

Hrmmm. That will take quite a lot more mulling over.

At any rate, this week masha clark is coming to visit (I think she is pretty stoked) and Allison is coming on Friday, after which the two of us are going to Sevilla. Sigh...it will be nice to have a holiday to catch up on Zzzz's, conversation, and pleasure reading ;) And of course, tourism!

the OTHER "cable car" song

also, I really love Anberlin. the music group.

Eid Mubarak

Well, this past week included Eid Al-Fitr, the celebration day (or three days) at the end of Ramadan. After finding a pretty selwa kamiz to wear on Whitechapel, Alice and I headed out post lunchtime-service to visit late into the evening. Was interesting to hear how Alice explained our celebration-or-not-celebration of Ramadan...because we weren't really celebrating, not being Muslim, but we certainly wanted to be with our friends in the community while they separate and show respect for their culture by coming beside them in a really joyful time, I guess. At any rate, it was wonderful to have kids who remember me from being in school and, now, kids' club.

For yes, today was the first kids' club for this term. We had 31 at one point (although we leveled out at 28) and the hour and a half went SO INCREDIBLY FAST! I was picking up kids from Jacobson House, although few could actually come today. Will have to follow up this week and try to see the kids who couldn't come!

I sent in a very long paper this week, which was lovely and cause for much rejoicing. Sending in the paper was lovely, that is - not the paper itself! It wasn't horrible, but I just did not really want to write it at all. Next up are a few textbook reflection style papers, which should be fine.

I'm still plowing through "The Book of Hiding", although I made considerable progress this week and hope to finish it today. the Lifeshapes book is going, too, but I don't want to read it too fast, preferring to mull over what I read a bit more.

It's officially autumn here, which means chilly, chilly, chilly. I forgot how tough it is to really keep warm here...man, I am such a pansy! What happened to I-love-winter-Erin? Will have to stock up on the jumpers :)

Pictures at long last!

Thanks to the correct camera cord (all the way from Hong Kong - literally. a technology shop in Hong Kong), here are some pictures for you:

share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0Abtmblo2aMmTkY

if you go here and click on "View Album" and then "Detail View"...you'll see the pictures and my comments.

I'll try to keep them coming as I take them, but in my efforts to avoid being a tourist, they may be slow in coming.

Public transit

You know what I love? Public transportation. Yes, it's hot and miserable and often late, sporadic, or slow. But I love it.

And I especially love that when a bus' oyster scanner isn't working, the driver just tells you so, and you get a free ride. Way to go, Transport for London! You make lots of people happy with your generosity.

Oh yes, I am still a student -

Well, I have certainly been remiss in my updating of this blog! This past week or so has been quite busy, as I have finally (mostly) established a schedule at the school, at City Gateway, and at the church. Just a few things to update on, I guess!

1- I love Thursdays. Really. This might be because I am most comfortable at Christ Church (of anyplace around here), but I love getting up for early morning prayer-song-bible discussion, I love brainstorming for kids' club and assembly, going visiting, cherishing lunchtime and teatime, knowing that all I have to wake up to is a great morning in the school and an afternoon off...

2- Ugh. I think I'm getting an illness parallel to the "I want to be at Houghton but not do schoolwork at Houghton"...except with the title "I want to be here working in London but not having to write papers about this unless they count as free journalling, and even that I'm not too keen on." Too bad neither of those illness-names will ever be clinically trustworthy; instead, I have a common cold and there is no chicken noodle soup in sight. Sainsbury's? If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my (culinary) trends...

3- Living in reality is hard sometimes, especially with a lingering case of culture shock. As much as I try to avoid the "little erin in the big city" wide-eyed innocence, it's somewhat inevitable...and indubitably frustrating! I think to escape this, I daydream when I ride the bus. This is good, except when it leads to afternoons of writing that lead nowhere near a handing-in-worthy essay.

4- Church vision day was Saturday; apparently, in my short afternoon jaunt to take Ben and Rachel to the park (I love those kids!), I missed Andy's attempt to embarass me...thank goodness :) I may have said this before, but it bears repeating: being here really helps to restore my faith in the church as an institution. Most who will read this know the doubts I have about organized Christianity - or organized religion in general - and its ability to do anything really good and effective in society. I guess I have long preferred to call 'faith' doing what I can in the situations I end up in to honor Jesus with my decisions.

But that's rather individualistic, no? And people by themselves can only be effective to a certain degree! I heard recently that Margaret Thatcher can be quoted in saying, "there is no community; there is only the individual." Even from a completely secular point of view in which I often find myself and my influences, how can that be true?

At any rate, being around a church that is active and passionate is contagious, and I love it. I only hope that I can honestly mature through what I do here.

5- Fall is here. Or Autumn, if you prefer. And it's lovely. I savor the chill in the air, even though I know that I'll probably first glimpse snow when I set down on the tarmac in GR on the 9th of December :)

There's much more I'd love to update you about, and will hopefully do so soon. Please badger me if you care to do so!

Much love-

Ridiculous (let's STOP using that word)

Another week in London town, and some remarkable things:

1. A pub called "World's End." Yes. Like 'Pirates 3.' Ridiculous.

2. Officially have gotten on two wrong buses this week. Ridiculous.

3. Have no one to go learn Scottish country dancing with on Sunday. Ridiculous!

4. Have discovered that 'Iceland' is a budget grocery chain over here. Ridiculously AWESOME.

5. Broke fast w/a Muslim family yesterday - Ifta, the meal is called. There is a TV countdown like new year's eve, except this one is for 7:30 PM when they can officially break fast. Rediculously delicious food, but difficult to eat w/my hands, as I haven't done that for a while. Alice was tying to surreptitiously give me pointers, for which i was very grateful.

6. So apparently Michael Buble and Chris Martin own the world, because I cannot escape them! Not that I particularly mind...

At any rate, this week was my first at Limehouse Youth Centre, which is part of City Gateway. It's a good 50 minute walk down Commercial Road, but it takes practically that long (maybe 5 to 10 minutes less) to get there by bus b/c of the congested route/waiting for the bus...so I think I might make a habit of walking it whenever time and daylight permit, because I like the exercise. This week has been mostly calling for the door-knocking program and running the evening youth club, which varies from night to night.

At Christ Church this week, I sang with Alice for the lunchtime service on Tuesday, which was pretty great. Rod and Andy are starting a short series on 'the world we all want,' which I am just HOPING will somehow include the concept/word of a 'metanarrative,' a true blue Papa Shea-ism. On Thursday, I finished the flyer and handouts for the Kids' club that starts up after Ramadan, assisted with the afternoon assembly at the school (I'm planning the one for next week, which is all about interdependency with creation - any ideas, anyone?), and went visiting around the estates.

Met with Carol Rider at the school and am due to start Monday morning there volunteering as a TA to get to know the kids a bit better. I'll probably be with year 4s, 5s, because of a family that's just come from Bangladeshi with no English needing one of the ladies who is fluent in Siletti to be with them pretty much constantly. Such a hard transition!

Anyways, today was my day off and it was mostly spent wandering around Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens. No one at Speakers' Corner (sadness), got kicked out of a lawn chair (you have to pay for them by the hour!), got a bit lost near the Serpentine, eventually found Peter Pan and the sunken gardens. Then I went to Harrods and marveled at the fact that anyone could charge 650 pounds for a blouse, chilled out in the Egyptian elevator (amazing!) and then went to Camden to get lost and choke on all the incense.

Tomorrow, who knows? I hope to get up early to run and then plan the day from there. Greenwich, perhaps.