Sunday, Sunday

Our correspondent today is Gina O’Riordan:

We began our day with 10:30 am Mass at St. Brigid’s Church down the street. Just as Mass ended, we stepped out into the Belfast rain (my umbrella and rain jacket have become my best friends). So we all hurried back to the dorms to dry off and get comfortable because 9:30 am was too early to roll out of bed for a group of teenagers! Katie, Michelle, Ms. Duarte, and Mr. Bizga went into the kitchen and began making breakfast then Raymond showed up. He only stayed for tea as he had some things to do at Clonard Monastery. We had some time to get work done while the cooks were in the kitchen, but I could barely focus with the aromas drifting into my room! When breakfast was ready, we all filed in and filled our plates to the brim; we had regular scrambled eggs, scrambled eggs with red and green peppers, bacon, French toast with syrup and berries, and fruit salad. It was brilliant!!

After breakfast the guys went to a local coffee shop called The Roast while the girls watched P.S. I Love You with a cable connecting my iPod to the TV. It was a perfect movie to see in Ireland; the main character Holly Kennedy (Hilary Swank) has been married to the Irish guy Gerry (Gerard Butler) for 9 years when he suddenly dies from a brain tumor. He sends her letters (in a secret way) to help her cope with his tragic death, and she eventually visits the beautiful country of Ireland (without all the rain!). Galway Girl was even sung, and we all joined in! At 4:30 pm we all met back in the kitchen for literature class with Ms. Duarte. We have been discussing Seamus Deane’s Reading in the Dark, a novel set in Derry that discusses a young man’s maturity, dealing with themes of insubstantial presences, family secrets, questionable truth, religion, and Irish history. It is an amazing story, but we all agreed it would be hard to understand without the knowledge we gained being in Northern Ireland. We first had a short reading quiz and then a scholarly discussion for about an hour.

Afterwards, some people went with Mr. Bizga to Clonard Monastery to help Raymond stuff envelopes for the Lourdes Pilgrimage that Walsh Jesuit also partakes in. Others stayed at the dorms to finish some work and catch up on sleep. When everyone made it home, we had gourmet pizza for dinner, courtesy of Tesco, while watching the men’s final of the Wimbledon tennis tournament. I, being an avid tennis fan, had the task of explaining the 4 hour match to everyone, one which I gladly undertook. Rafael Nadal won the championship, ending Roger Federer’s streak of 5 in a row, at around 7 pm when we had reflection. Then all went to their rooms to finish some homework and go to bed; we need all the rest we can get for the big week ahead!