Tuesday's Happenings

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Tuesday was a nice family day in Dublin. We departed for lunch around 2:00 after gaming (kids) and blogging (adults) in the morning while enjoying coffee and tea. Speaking of blogging, we are also posting Concordia updates that will show up on our Team Mueller page (in addition to the Concordia Psychology Department FaceBook page). Sorry if you were confused by different, yet similar, posts from the same day.

For lunch, we headed to The Duke, one of the many (MANY!) pubs in our neighborhood. Reed and Abbie had gone on our first night in Dublin and wanted to share it with Jackson and me. We had a reasonably priced lunch for about €30 (yes, that seems to be reasonably priced for here!). We got sandwiches, salads, and our go-to Dublin drinks (R=Guinness, E=Kilkenny, J=Coke, A=ginger ale in cute little green bottles). Next we headed to a place we learned about from our tour guide, Sean, to get Italian hot chocolates for the kids and espressos for us. It didn’t quite live up to our expectations based on his hype, but oh well.

The boys returned to Trinity and the girls had a lovely afternoon exploring Grafton Street. If you “search it up” (as Abbie says), you will find images of the over-crowded pedestrian street lined with high-end shops and street performers. Abbie LOVED it. (It sure doesn’t take much to entertain that girl, a characteristic we really appreciate!) We did a little souvenir shopping, though I kept it brief as this is NOT the place to find good deals. We spent some time in a tourism office looking at all the information…again, Abbie loved it. I’m sure the girls will have to do this another day as it was a very pleasant way to spend a few hours. We ended with a cold drink from Burger King, mostly to make change to use at the Trinity launderette, where I sit as I write this (€4 for a wash!). We heard from three students that their service placements went well today; we will get more updates tomorrow. Reed will hold class in our apartment tomorrow evening, so we are looking forward to touching base with them.

Guinness bread makes great toast (especially with Irish butter)!
Relaxing in the morning (typical scene!)
Enjoying Italian hot chocolate
Historic Grafton Street sign
Grafton Street (doesn’t show how busy it is!)
Abbie was happy to tip the street performers
Gaiety Theater where we will see Riverdance Thursday (& Chinese restaurant)
Erin the Irish dancer
Abbie the Irish flutist
Across from Trinity – could be part of Hogwarts! 🙂

Walking tour & welcome meal

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Our Monday morning started in a leisurely fashion which was good, as 3/4 of us had trouble falling asleep (Reed did not). The kids and I had lunch in as Reed met his students and Tony for a Book of Kells tour at 11:30 (the rest of us will see it when my folks arrive). When they were done, they came by the apartment and got a quick tour…we want them to feel welcome here (they’ve designated themselves as our other four adopted children, at least for three weeks). 🙂

We all departed to meet up with Tony and our tour guide for the afternoon, Sean Finnegan. (A highlight for me was getting to meet Tracy Dicks, the London-based AIFS staffer who set up both this and the Cape Town program!) Sean is a lovely older gentleman who knows a lot about Dublin. As he works for the tourism office, he promised to tell us no lies while on the tour…he had quite a wit about him and often tried to stump us with questions about his city. 🙂 Our 60-90 minute walking tour ended up being about 150 minutes, and we didn’t even travel much distance! We strolled from Trinity down to St. Stephen’s Green, which is only about 1/2 mile away, and back, stopping frequently to hear about the sites. It was interesting most of the time, but everyone grew tired by the end of it. The kids (all six!) handled it well, and we were proud of them.

We had some time to return “home” in the afternoon before our welcome dinner. We met the students and Tony at the front gate of Trinity and headed toward Temple Bar around 7:00. We were ushered up two sets of stairs to a nicer restaurant setting at Oliver St. John Gogarty’s, which I didn’t expect (I thought it would be more of a pub setting, which the first two floors are). We had a lovely dinner, complete with duck for Hannah, lobster for Jamieson, steak for Kayla and Tony, sole for Jamie, pork loin for Jackson, Irish stew for Reed, fish & chips for Abbie, & veggie lasagna for me. We sat there long enough to make room for dessert, so it was a fun celebratory type of meal. We heard about the students’ home stays, which are going well, along with other things they’ve done to explore the city, both together and separately. They are a really great group of individuals, and we are so glad each one is here with us!

We returned home around 10:00, still fairly awake…it doesn’t get dark here until about that time, so our clocks are a bit shifted. We all slept well (I am writing this Tuesday morning), and are ready for another Dublin day!

The group at Trinity
Our Guide, Sean Finnigan with Yeat in the background (Jamie, our English major is intrigued!)
Guinness on the move
Swan in St. Stephen’s Green
Erin loves the Dublin lampposts
Dinner at Oliver St. John Gogary
Abbie’s ready for some Irish music
Jackson at the front gate of Trinity
A view through the front gate toward the campanile
Our top-floor corner apartment

Exploring the sights, sounds, and tastes of Ireland

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As I write this, our students are at their service placements for the first time. Can’t wait to hear how their experience is! (More on that tomorrow. )

Yesterday was a very fine day indeed! We met up and made our way through the Book of Kells exhibit in the Old Library at Trinity College. History within history within history. The Book of Kells is an illuminated manuscript of the four gospels that “represents evidence of a scholarly and artistic culture of the highest achievement.” (Killeen, 2012) There’s more on it here. After that we were led on a walking tour of Dublin by Sean Finnigan, a Dubliner of many years. On that tour we learned about the history of the south side of Dublin, passing through Trinity College (where we heard some anecdotes about Oscar Wilde and Bram Stoker, as well as a few other former students at Trinity).

From there we walked through the city soaking in what we could about Irish history and culture. Perhaps the most interesting point of the tour came at its end (2.5 hours into it!) in the old House of Lords. It was there that Mr. Finnigan exlored the political and religious divisions here while invoking William of Orange and his father-in-law James the II,  the hoi palloi, the Protestant ascendancy,  and, eventually, Bill Clinton and the peace process in Northern Ireland. Certainly well worth our time.

We wrapped up our day at Oliver St. John Gogarty where Jamieson impressed us all with his ability to down copious amounts of food! All in all, a great day.

The group at Trinity
In line at the Book of Kells
Book of Kells: Chi Rho page
The far end of the Long Room, Old Library, Trinity College
Proclamation of the Republic (Easter Uprising, 1916)
Campanile at Trinity College
Our Guide, Sean Finnigan with Yeat in the background (Jamie, our English major is intrigued!)
Places along the way
Dinner at Oliver St. John Gogary

Our arrival & first full Dublin day

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We arrived midday Saturday after an easy journey, and our American Institute of Foreign Study (AIFS) guide, Tony Langan, was at the airport to meet us. All but one of our students was on our 10-hour flight from San Francisco, and the other one was waiting with Tony when we arrived. Tony sent the students in one taxi to their home stays, which are in a suburb of Dublin, about a half hour or so from city center. He rode with us in our taxi to settle us into our accommodations at Trinity College, right in the heart of Dublin. We have a nice apartment  and feel quite lucky.

Sunday we ventured out for a stroll through the Trinity campus and Temple Bar, a neighborhood of cobbled streets (complete with shops, bars, & LOTS of tourists) for lunch and groceries. The weather is lovely, a mix of sun and clouds and mid-60s. Here’s a recap of what we saw and did…

A typical Irish pub…we are going to this one tomorrow night with our students.
Temple Bar
Abbie at the Bar (with Dad)
His and hers (Reed’s Guinness and Erin’s Kilkenny Cream Ale)
Bangers and mash for the boys
Trinity campanile
Our abode at Trinity
The girls in a selfie at Ha Penny bridge (1816)

Home

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Just a quick update to let everyone know that we all made it home safe and sound last night. We had some interesting mishaps along the way, but we persisted on and all parties are back at their respective homes. We have lots to think about…to remember…to continue to learn. It was a wonderful adventure, made perfect by sharing it together. We are thankful to God for watching over us, and we pray our sponsored children and their families also feel His protection. Here are just a few pics from our day in Mhlosheni, Swaziland. (We weren’t all together for the visits, so I don’t have those for everyone yet.)

From Swaziland w/ love

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Believe it or not, our first accommodation in Swaziland has wifi connectivity! The two teenagers with us are quite pleased. Okay, so are the two 40-somethings. 🙂 Anyway, I thought I would post a few more people pics for your enjoyment…

We arrived a bit late this afternoon (surprise, surprise), but everything went smoothly with the border crossing, etc. We are staying at the quaint Timbali Lodge in Manzini tonight and then will move on to Milwane Reserve (in traditional beehive huts!) tomorrow night. We had delicious pizzas for dinner (Abbie said they were the best pizzas she’s ever eaten; Connor said they were the best he’s ever eaten in Africa…I think his sense of humor comes from his dad).

Our World Vision partner, Bonginkosi, greeted us as well…it is great to see him again so soon. His smile grew very wide when we presented him with a giant bag of his favorite Skittles. Tomorrow will be a good, long day visiting our sponsored children. I am so looking forward to sharing this together as a family.

I doubt we’ll be online tomorrow night, and then Friday begins our journey home. If I can, I will post pics of us with our sponsored children, but I think it is not very likely. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the photos (they include one of my students, Kelsey, who joined us on safari)!

From Kruger w/ love

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Just a quick post on our drive from Kruger Park into Swaziland. We don’t expect to be able to be online once there. We have had a fabulous experience here and have seen lots of animals, and we each have our favorite sightings. We were incredibly lucky to see five lions up close as well as two cheetahs with a fresh kill. Considering there are only around 200 cheetahs in all of Kruger Park (which is about12,000 square miles), the latter was very, very fortunate. More pictures are needed to tell the tales, but here is one of us so you know we are all fine and the lions didn’t eat anyone! 🙂

They Made It!

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As we have been without Internet access until now I haven’t been able to report some good news: after delays on every flight my family finally made it down to Cape Town! Thanks much for the prayers during their long journey. We are all doing well and are very much enjoying being reunited!

Got my Gumby on (& family flight update)

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Well, I’ve got my Gumby on. It is Thursday night as I write this…I should have been about ready to go to the airport to collect my family. Instead, I am wandering around our modern apartmentS (yes, that’s two, two-bedroom apartments, suitable for the 8 of us) at the lovely V&A Waterfront in Cape Town. I have included a photo of the view from our room…if you look closely at the left-side horizon, you can see the red Lego guy that was built in the harbor for the 2010 World Cup. In case you’re curious, the “V&A” stands for Victoria & Albert, as it was Prince Albert who built up this harbor for his mum (as they say in England), Queen Victoria, back in 1860.

Anyway, the family is finally flying, though they didn’t leave until about 5pm Cape Town time. This means they’ll arrive in Johannesburg around 8am Friday morning. Then they have to rebook their hopper flight down to Cape Town. Why on earth South African Airways couldn’t do this for them from DC is beyond me. So, I cannot rebook our airport shuttle yet…and I had to pay 250 Rands to book their Robben Island Ferry that was scheduled for tomorrow. Give me a “G”…give me a “U”… (you get the idea).

Yes, I’ve got my Gumby on…so must the seven travelers making their way across the Atlantic and down the continent of Africa. Tomorrow at this time, it will all be a fading memory (well, maybe not that soon), and I’m sure there will be good stories to tell. Reed is doing great through it all – he’s such a trooper. I hope they can start receiving more of those “journey mercies” our Swazi friends talk about from here on out…they have earned them! May I ask your permission to retract my “cross slowly” philosophy in this situation? Please, oh please, airplane, can you cross over to me as quickly as possible?!

Oh, and the rain just started…it is scheduled to be with us everyday while we are together in Cape Town. That’s not a plan-changer when you’re in Oregon, but it can be here as things like the Robben Island Ferry and Table Mountain Cable Car don’t operate in foul weather. G-U-M-B-Y!

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He's baack! The return of Gumby…

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It is always helpful to be a flexible person, both in body and spirit. However, on days such as this, we see how easy (or difficult) it is to get our Gumby on. I shall explain…

After speaking with my family late last night, I didn’t sleep well. The Oregonians and Iowans met at the gate in Dulles International Airport in Washington DC…I was on the phone with Reed when he spotted my dad, which was fun to hear. Then I learned that their South African Airways “direct” flight to Johannesburg (via Dakar, Senegal) was delayed due to mechanical difficulties. I was restless all night, imaging seven of my dearest family members in a faulty plane.

Still, I assumed all would resume normally…I kept telling myself to stop worrying (“don’t borrow trouble” is a favorite mantra of mine these days). I got up this morning, took my last walk to Good Hope Studies, and logged into my email. There I found my update from Reed. The good news was that everyone was safe and sound. The bad news was that their flight was cancelled.

When a 17-hour flight gets cancelled, fairly significant changes to everyone’s plans ensue. First, there is the extreme emotional let-down after counting the days – and then hours – until we are reunited. (At this point, I don’t know when they’ll be arriving in Cape Town, so I cannot even resume my countdown.) Next, there is the feeling of the sands of time slipping through my fingers…our time together in Africa felt fairly limited to start with, and this does not help matters. Finally, there are the details to work out…re-booking shuttles, ferry tickets, etc.

Of course I am not wishing they were on that airplane with mechanical difficulties. Of course I am glad they are safe and that there will be another airplane to bring them to me. Of course I feel hugely disappointed. Learning through these Gumby moments is not what we choose, but we grow through them…we become more flexible, which is good for our souls. I am going to have to keep reminding myself of that until they arrive!

I will update as I can…thank you for your prayers on our behalf.

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