Matt's Visit

So there are nicer things about living closer to home. My brother was in England on a business trip and so he was able to stop by for a night and stay with me and see where I live. I took him up to Winchester on Friday night (cause in fairness it's a lot nicer than Southampton), and we had a drink at the Wykeham Arms (a famous pub that's become sort of our local as med students when we're at the Winchester campus). Then we went out for dinner at ASK pizza and pasta, on the high street, which was really nice.

Today, Saturday, we slept in a bit (i.e. till 10) and then headed into southampton so that matt could see it, could buy some prezzies for his kids, and then we headed for lunch at "Cowherds" a really nice pub/restaurant in Southampton. I had toad-in-the-hole it was pretty amazing food (thanks matt for taking me out by the way).

That little paper cut out is a miniature version of a school child who goes to school in Indianapolis, Indiana. A friend of mine who is a teacher made a project where each kid made a miniature version of themselves and they sent them around the world, to different people to see what experiences they get up to, so I've been trying to have her with me at the ready....still there's not too many exciting things that happen to me here.
I thought I probably needed a picture of my brother, just to prove to people that he actually came. It was good having him. I hope he comes back, and next time can bring Hailey, Eoin and Moia along as well.

Books that deserve my attention but probably won't get it...

Well, I made it back to southampton alright. It's pouring down rain here, but I'm just thankful to be back and finally done with travelling for the moment.

I've decided to put off editing on the essays i need to do in order to list a few books that I'm really wanting to read but that this medical school thing combined with the fact that i'm a really slow reader, are making impossible.

These aren't in order by the way.....

1) The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good by William Easterly (2006)

A rigorous study of the overall failure of the attempts of the North to transplant its institutions on the South and propel economic, social and political development.

2) Gandhi, Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth

-I've started this one, and it's good, really interesting. I'm finding myself having to look up a lot of the hindi/samskrit terminology he uses, but i'm finding his ideas fascinating....i'm only 20 pages in though, so it's still slow going, and i'm guessing i won't get to read anymore till easter.

3) Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell

-I want to read it partly for reasons of being conversant when it's brought up in conversation, but also partly to know what this book that i keep recomending to people really has to say....slightly worried.

4) From Wild Man to Wise Man: Reflections on Male Spirituality by Richard Rohr and Joseph Martos

-it's a topic that always interests me, almost because the term "Male Spirituality" can sometimes in our society be seen as an oxymoron. I also have a deep respect for Richard Rohr, partly be recomendation, partly from listening to him speak and partly from the work I read by him on the Enneagram.

5) Is the Reformation Over?: An Evangelical Assessment of Contemporary Roman Catholicism

-although I'm not sure I like the title of this book, cause the question itself almost sounds triumphalist to me.... i am deeply intrigued by the idea. There is so much that I see as good in the Catholic tradition, especially among the religious orders. There is so much history and depth of understanding in the traditions of spiritual direction, that I have many times thought about conversion. There is still however, in my mind, some things which keep me from doing this. I believe this book, by one of the worlds most reknowned scholar of modern christianity would greatly increase my understanding.

These are some of the first that come to mind. I'm also open to any suggestions if you have any that you think would be good for me to get a hold of.

I'm still alive...for now...

Sorry I've been out of posting for a while, I've been doing my Christmas tour of America and didn't seem to get much of a chance to sit down and ponder. I had a good time in California with relatives, my other mission for my time there was to do my shopping that i've been needing to do for a good 3 years, (and hopefully will last me for a good 3 years more). So now, my shoes are not falling apart, my jumper doesn't have a huge giant hole in the sleeve, and i have more than one pair of trousers besides jeans (sort of a necessity in med school..).

The nebraska wedding was great. John and James (two of my ex-floormates) were kind enough to give Benjamin and I a lift from Lincoln Nebraska to Chicago....it would have been only a 6-7 hour trip had we not woken up to a blizzard. As we were on the motorway still inside Nebraska a car infront of us slammed on it's breaks, we we're only going 40 miles per hour, as the snow and ice was thick, but as John swerved to avoid the car in front of us our car lost traction and we skidded accross four lanes of the road. Because for some reason or another God wanted at least one of us in that car to still be alive, our car missed all the other traffic and skidded into the muddy median between the two sides of the road. Again, by the mercy of God, we were able to push the car out of the deep, and covered with mud, were able to get back on our way. When we walked into a McDonalds to get some breakfast and to see if the storm would get any better, the woman behind the cash register burst out laughing....we did look pretty funny, one of us had a huge chunk of Mud on his forhead that he hadn't seen to clean off.....anyway...the rest of the trip to chicago was pretty uneventful....although we did have some good times dancing in the back seat.....okay so it was only me who was dancing.....

Chicago: it really felt like going home. It felt so good to be in a place that I had spent 4 years getting to know, with people who in some ways know me better than family. It was great to stay with Matt and Ryan, who I had been in a prayer group with four 2 years, Sam, also part of that group, was there with us for 2 nights as well. Sunday night was a good time just to catch up with everyone as we saw in the new year, and then on monday, as we all eventually woke up, we headed over to "Father Paul's" house for Kenyan Chai, and ended up having dinner there too. When I was part of the HNGR programme, during the integration/consolodation part of the programme, we had a class every wednesday night during my last semester at Wheaton. After that class each week Dr. Robinson (whom we all seem to lovingly call Father Paul) would invite us all over to his house just for discussion, mentoring and 'most importantly' Chai (usually made for us by his wife Margie). It was a really good time for me, and was especially good to discuss the whole emotional/personal side of how HNGR affected us than was really appropriate in the classroom. The HNGR programme really has the capacity to mess you up....in a good way that is, it literally turns your world upside down. Anyway, on monday we talked a lot about our lives now, how we were trying (to more or less success...less in my case) to live out the values and things that we learned during HNGR. Our conversation ranged from gossip about who was dating who, to the effect of online media (such as blogging) on society and internationally, to God and the restoration of the world from all the mess that we're in. It was seriously a great time. Dr. Robinson encouraged us all to see Blood Diamond so we all decided to see it then that night. YOU NEED TO SEE THAT FILM. It's not something that will make you feel good, actually it will probably make you feel sick, but it is important to see because the exact same things are still going on today, not just with the diamond trade but also with other resources like the coltan in our mobile phones found in Democratic Republic of Congo. Maybe with more awareness, something can be done....maybe.

Anyway, it was great being in Chicago, and although I felt so at home, and was overjoyed to see such close and valued friends, i got a sense of peace that right now I am where I'm meant to be, in Southampton. So Sunday, I'll be on my way, back to Glen Eyre Hall and the Bolderwood campus to rejoin the long trudge towards qualification. Let's just hope I haven't forgotten everything over the break.

THE Event of Last Year!

Mark and Dana's wedding was good times. I was really honoured to be a part of it. I can think of very few couples who i've thought were more suited for each other than Mark and Dana. Their love and mutual commitment to God was inspiring and they definitely displayed through their wedding ceremony that the most important part of their relationship was their commitment to God and what his purposes are for them as a couple. It'll be interesting to see where they end up in a few years.

Dana is awesome. What more can I say?

(Left to Right) 'Pulitzer prize nominated' Dakarai Aarons (star journalist for the Memphis paper "Commercial Appeal"), Benjamin Washam (my former roommate and the guy who keeps me on the straight and narrow), Steve Coddington (Mark's brother and best man), and then Me, now a good 10 lbs heavier, thanks to my 3 weeks in America.

Why vegitarians can hate animals too...

So I found this article in the Indipendent (from drugereport.com) that talke about how a UN report says that the world 1.5 billion cattle are responsible (either directly or indirectly) for more environment damaging emmissions than all forms of transportation (car, plane, ship) combined.

It serves as a pretty good example for why some of my friends are vegetearians. They aren't motivated necessarily by some extra love of the cute and cuddely, but more for a love of the earth and for proper uses of resources. I think they have a case. So I'm slowly trying to reduce my dependence on meat. I'm not an "all or nothing" type of guy, and I generally think the best policy is "everything in moderation" but I think we could all do with decreasing our dependence on meat for protein. I'm aiming for trying to have only two meat meals a week, I'm not there yet, but it's an aim...and on the upside it's healthier anyway.

Here's the article:

http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article2062484.ece

Just a side note...

I always find it difficult in this blog between posting my philisophical wonderings, convictions and dreams, but then also my day to day going ons as a socially active med student. The transition from one post to the next isn't usually smooth and often may seem in tension with one another. I guess that's the stuff of life though, the so many different speheres that we live in, so many different world views, practices and happenings. So I think I'll keep putting it all in, even if it doesn't fit just right.

Just a couple pics from our christmas ball...

So last weekend was our course's first annual Christmas ball. It was a 4 course meal with wine and champagne on arrival. Quite a fancy affair apparently (good thing I had brought my thrift-store tux with me....although I've been chided by Tim -in the bottom picture- for not calling a tux a "dinner jacket"....heaven forbid). It was a good time to get together with the entire year and just have some fun, the two years ahead of us in the graduate course were also there, so that was good too. Anyway, here's just a couple of the more decent shots that were taken during the night.

So this shot was probably my favourite of most of all the pics i've seen of the night. It shows reality, Emma Brandish, (dubbed the unofficial social secretary of our course) in the middle with her posee of guys around her, each one ready to do her bidding, just as she'd like it.


This is most of my year towards the end of the night, I actually think we look pretty good considering the litres of sweat that has come off of us, and the litres of alcohol that have gone into us. It was a good times though, definitely had my "bonding" time with coursemates now.

Tim and I on the coach ride back to campus. There ended up being two after-parties.... I decided to skip both so that i could get up in time to do work the next morning (didn't happen though, despite my best intentions). I found out however from Doug and Netty that the first after-party they decided to go to, everyone had fallen asleep within 15 minutes of getting back, so they left and phoned the other party to see how it was going. The people there said they were all just sitting around drinking cups of tea. Dissapointed and disheartened Doug and Netty decided they too would just go to home bed then. Wow, we must be getting older.

CROSS-ATLANTIC SOCIAL JUSTICE CHRISTIANITY

(So, being back home for the week was great. I really enjoyed it and got almost no work done, so I'm really going to have to lose my social butterfly mentality and get some work done these last 3 weeks before Christmas. By the way my brother is still in hospital, healing extremely slowly, and pretty much would do anything to get out of there, so keep him in your thoughts and prayers. )

So I've only been in the U.K. for a little over 2 months now but there's something that I've been noticing, and even though I'm not here that long yet, I still want to begin commenting on it.

Over the past 4 years when I was studying at Wheaton, I found myself involved with Christians who had a particular understanding of what Jesus' message was all about, it was my interaction with these people, communities, and ideas, along with God's incredible grace that kept me from throwing away my faith altogether. There's lots of ways people use to describe these Christians; some involve big theological definitions, some other terms are more derogatory, but the one (which I still don't like, but which I think most people understand) is basically these were "social justice" christians or maybe a better one is "wholistic" Christians. These people were trying to understand and live out the message of Jesus which involves both word and deed, basically speaking love and showing love.

Anyway, naturally being in a new place I've been trying to connect myself with these types of christians here, and I have found some really good groups of people. It's interesting though, but I'm finding that although these people hold sort of the same understanding of Christianity as my friends back at Wheaton did, their approach and ideals are quite a bit different. And I think that's a really good thing, the more i look into it the more i think we have to learn from one another.

Christians I've met in the UK are passionately concerned with structural, societal and environmental justice. They campaign for issues such as Fair Trade, and buying Organic food. They advocate what people call "Ethical" living. What I've come to understand by that term is that it means, trying to live a life where your purchases were produced fairly and safely, where you're day to day life has as little negative impact on the environment as possible and where even the money in your bank account savings is not being invested in unethical activities (such as the arms-trade).

These Christians wouldn't wear Gap (probably close to a sin), or buy "super cheap" things (at places like Primark- like a K-Mart), because if something is super cheap it has most likely exploited someone.

There is the understanding here that if you spend just that bit extra you are ensuring justice for the person you've bought it from (of course it's not that simple, but that's the general gist).







Churches hold Fair Trade Sales, and at my church a woman sells ecologically friendly cleaning supplies everyweek at the back by the information table. The last church I visited had successfully campaigned to have Southampton become a Fair Trade city.

In America however, although SJ christians are aware of these issues(Fair Trade, organic, non-GM modified food) they are not the focus, and usually less effort is put into them (I think i'd make an exception for Shane Claiborne though...who makes his own clothes). More effort/intention goes into the personal and relational side of justice issues. More common issues such as: where you live (whether in the subarbs - a seemingly cardinal sin- or in shafted areas -i.e. 'where Jesus would live......'), Racial Reconciliation, Who you spend you're time with, and Learning not Teaching become primary.

The mantra of some of the American SJ christians might be as Viv Grigg said (I think quoting someone else) "Earn as much as you can, Spend as little as you can and Give generously." People frequent the shops that UK SJ christians would think sinful, they buy the super cheap foods, they buy the super cheap clothes (well in fairness few clothes are bought at all, holes are a matter of spiritual maturity wherever you go). But they do this for the greater value of "identifying" with others, with the outcast and the shafted. The way of life is rather called "Simple Living" on that side of the pond.

I have to admit I'm not here long enough to even begin trying to understand UK multi-ethnic relations, from what little i've talked to people, I keep getting different opinions, and all I can tell so far is that the situation here is VASTLY different from the US and also from Ireland, who untill recently had never seen any sort of economic immigrants from other parts of the world. So with that in mind I won't even venture to see the Church deals with "racial-reconciliation" if that phrase even makes sense here.



Anyway, my point is that we need to learn from each other as we all have potential pitfalls. We need to be acutely aware of how we (wherever we are in the world) are part of intertwined webs of connection that mean what I buy in my local Tesco has an effect on someone living in Peru, or Spain. And that the clothes I wear, may be the handywork of exploited children and other economic slaves. Taking care of the environment is not an "add-on" for Christian faith, but is central to Christain doctrine from the very begining..... (try to answer the question of "what humans were originally meant to do?" without thinking about this).

At the same time, we must never forget that what is just as important is how we live our lives locally. As Shane Claiborne puts it (the poor don't need your money, they need your time, your relationship -). If we truly believe that the roots of "poverty" come from broken, perverted, and misused relationships, then it is only through relationship that "poverty" will be alieviated.



One of the quotes on my facebook page is by Mother Teresa of Calcutta, "It is easy to love the people far away. It is not always easy to love those close to us. It is easier to give a cup of rice to relieve hunger than to relieve the loneliness and pain of someone unloved in our own home. Bring love into your home for this is where our love for each other must start." That quote always cuts me deep..... how can I so be concerned about others far away when I treat my family so badly?



Our living out Christ's love must both be local and global, as we in a globalized world are very much connected to both levels. However, we must remember that one thing that separates Christian social action from it's secular or governmental cousins is that if something is Christian (i.e. following the example of Christ) it must be necessarily personal and relational for this is how Christ shows himself to us.

Homecoming

I've got the chance to go home this next week, which I'm really looking forward to, especially since I'm spending all of Chrsitmas in America, and won't have much time at home then. It's called reading week, so i'll need to be doing a good amount of work as well, but it will just be good to get to go home. My mother is leaving for America with Hailey and the kids on Wednesday, this will be a chance for Hailey to show off the kids to the relatives who haven't seen Moia yet, and will be a welcome break for my mother to see her family. They arrive just in time for American Thanksgiving, so I'm sure they're all looking forward to that.

My brother's still in hospital, and they were told that if they had waited another day to bring him in they would have had to amputate! He's doing okay, but his body is going through a battering with all the medication and anti-biotics that he's on, and who likes being in hospital this much? Hopefully he'll be out in a few days (just in time to have his wife and kids leave...ah well....great timing right?).

Still, I'm really looking forward to the week. If any of you are around and want to meet up let me know.

Film night, life expectancy...and depravity

So I had fun tonight. Back when I was at wheaton, during my Sophmore year, we had a few months where every week (or so) we would have "trippy movie night." Where a few of us would get together and watch a movie that you definitely had to be awake to understand... American History X, Magnolia, Adaptation, were some to name a few of the ones we saw. Here at Southampton it seems that trend is reviving slightly. A couple weeks ago I organized for a group of us to see the South African film Tsotsi, and then tonight a few of us went to see the Palestinian film Paradise Now.

It's a film i'd seen before, but was still powerfull. The part I enjoy most about seeing a film is often the conversation afterwards. Getting what other people thought of the film and the themes and issues they pull out of it, makes it so that it feels like you've seen 3 or 4 different films for the price and time of 1. Tonight i was definitely moved by what a friend of mine thought of the film and how she related to some of the characters personally (I won't go more into that though for privacy's sake), but it really did give me a perspective on the film, which I hadn't seen before, which i probably wouldn't have seen because of my background. Again that film just brings back how complex, difficult, heart wrenching, terrible, injust, peaceful, violent and current, the situation in the Middle East is. If this film does one positive thing, it's that it forces the viewer to accept these terrorists as humans, it deletes the option of demonisation, and that has to be a good thing.

In other news, this week we've been studying obesity. This morning we had a symposium, or a series of short lectures on obesity and public health issues, and I found it fascinating, as well as challenging. In an off handed comment of one of the presenters, he said that even in Britian the health inequalites can be very different from different populations. He said that if you are born in some parts of Glasgow, you're life expectancy is only 50, while if you're born in parts of Devon, you're life expectancy (male) is in the late 70s. How can that huge of a difference exist in such a small country where its free, equal, health system is known around the world? It's amazing to me how much we as a society have failed eachother. We have divided ourselves regionally, by class, and by background. They say it takes a village to raise a child, but we've split the village up, and only some of the kids, living in the right areas, get the village's attention and guidance and opportunities it seems. This is just the case of inequality in Britain, one of the richest countries in the world. Compare us to Cambodia, Sierra Leone, India's or Kenya's mega slums.... Our global village seems to do an even worse job at this.

I get this far in the post, and I realize, I don't know what else to say. I hate writing posts like this, and i do it too often.... what's the point? We all know the world is a messed up place, just as much here in Southampton as it is in Bolivia or DRC. Why is it messed up? It's cause I'm messed up and you're messed up. The Christian doctrine of human depravity seems to me to be one of the religion's strongest arguments (along side the understanding that the depravity was not the original design or intent nor the end point of the human narrative). We talked today in class a bit about why leaving market forces to themselves in issues such as self-regulation of the advertising industry won't work for maintaining good public health policy, since advertisers, like most human agents, will naturally work from the values of greed and profit, rather than looking out for the public at large. This is why we still have coercive junk-food advertising aimed at children, the most vulnerable of our society.

I know total depravity is probably not that popular of an idea. And it's true, most of us aren't murderers, compulsive liers, or extorionists, but what we are is probably something worse, apathetic. We don't care that we are part of global systems that are designed to keep our countries richer and others poorer. We don't care that the clothes we buy were often made in horrendous conditions, or that the coltan in our mobile phones is part of what fueled the war in DRC where more than 3 million people died in the last 5 years. This subtle side of our depravity is perhaps worse than the easily identifiable and visible sides, and probably the hardest part to change.

A necessary read...just think of Haggard's Kids...

Hey, I just stumbled across this post on Andrew Jones's blog. He shares some of his past story and really puts this whole situation into a light that I needed to see. It's powerful, and such a reminder of what shame can do to an individual and a family. If you get a chance pray for Ted Haggards wife and kids, and I guess even for him too, although that seems a bit harder.

Here's the link to the post.

He's in pain and he's my brother...

Hey everyone, I heard news from my Dad today (by way of text message) that my brother, Matt, was taken into Accident and Emergency at St. Vincents Hospital today and wasn't doing well. It all started last week when my brother went in for a "routine" procedure to deal with some ingrown toenails... I know not nice. Anyway, they had to remove the nail, and subsequently the wound has got really badly infected (if you want to know more about the background to this, and see a REALLY unseemly picture then click here for Matt's Blog).

Anyway, he's been a bit up and down with pain and feeling sick, but today got really bad and his surgeon recomended that they take him right away into the A&E, so now Matt is in a bed at Vincent's with a severe case of cellulitis and probably not having much fun. Please include Matt in your prayers (if you normally pray and even if you don't...it can't hurt), I know he'd really appreciate it.

Another Momentous Day...

So today (okay truly it was yesterday, but does it matter?), I finished reading the book Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. Why did I read it? Cause I felt like it was required reading for those of us in "post-evangelicalism." And in a way it is. It's funny talking to people who have strong ideologies (about whatever), and instead of normal small talk about what do you like to do, people tend to ask "have you read this book, or what do you think of this author." We really do relate to each other by a shared "discourse" which has shaped us and our understanding of reality. This isn't just Christians (or emmergent type people) who do this but lots of other people too. I've met people in Southampton, who we keep asking each other if we've read something, or seen a particular thoughtful film or whatever, and finally find something of common ground... it's mad how good it feels when you find someone likes the same text that you do.... it binds you together in a unique way.... i don't know what it is.

Blue Like Jazz was good. Not life changing, but it did make me think- not a paradigm shift- I feel that we're probably in similar paradigms, but none the less, I feel that the way he put things, was fresh and made me reflect. I guess the next book in the similar genre I need to read is Velvet Elvis, right? I dunno if I will, we'll have to see, even though I'm sure it's good, and am sure I agree with everything he says even before I've flipped open a page.

The hard part about reading these types of books and thinking these types of things about christianity, is that we feel we've found something that others don't have... and whenever you feel like that arrogance is hard to fight off. I struggle with feeling "enlightened" compared to other evangelicals, even though I know, that this isn't true and that there truly is "nothing new under the sun." I was just thinking the other day as I was talking with god and using all my social theory jargin, that God must be bemused by all of us who think we are having new ideas about faith, but truly just changing our vocabulary.... or maybe there really is something new about it.

A small example of this ..... I found myself praying the other day somthing like this "Lord you know how my habitus is messed up and has brought me to this place, cut me with your discourse and shape my understandings of reality in the way you'd want to" nothing's new about that, but that was naturally how my spirit wanted to state things, it's how they made sense to me.

I wish I could relate to other Christians, but I guess that's the catch. In truth, I wish other Christians could relate to me. So many are happy to just devote their lives to their worship services and after church coffee, seminars, cell groups, Christian Unions. The problem lies in that I used to be just like that and relate to that, but I got burnt out very early. I don't want to go back to that place (although sometimes I truly am tempted), but I'm also tempted to think other Christians should come to where I am, but I'm sure that wouldn't be a good thing either. I just keep needing to worry about God transforming me and pray that he would do the same for others I guess.

Again, I'm going to finish here, because it's half two in the morning, I'm a bit wired and am probably not making much sense...

Peace on you all.

A "Momentous" Day...

So today 2 things happened important for my future life as a doctor (inshahlah).

1. I officially became a member of the British Medical Association They even gave me a membership card..... don't necessarily know how I feel belonging to a "professional" organization like that....

2. I purchased my first Stethoscope.- again something about that even doesn't sit well with me, I think it's too much a symbol of power....or something....

So yeah, I've always had issues to the "position" side of becoming a doctor. I don't like wearing a tie, and I don't like being called by a title. Is it necessary? I'm trying to keep an open mind, to learn from people who've been doing this thing longer than I've been around, but at the same time, avoid unnecessary indoctrination. How much detachment is necessary? How much "professional" demeanor? I know those can be useful things..... but then again, are they just symbols of power and position trying to reinforce the fallacy that the doctor is special in some way more than just having a particular education and vocation? I'm having to deal with things, lets just say the anti establishment side of me doesn't like being part of the establishment too much....

So, at least I had one good piece of news in this whole regard. I won't have to wear a white coat, at least while I'm working in Britain. They've been identified as an infection control risk (i.e. they don't get washed as much as they should and are floppy anyway, so not good at keeping clean). That's one age old symbol of the old ways that's gone at least.

Quotes of the day:

"Rats and roaches live by competition under the laws of supply and demand; it is the privilege of human beings to live under the laws of justice and mercy."

"We have lived by the assumption that what was good for us would be good for the world. We have been wrong. We must change our lives, so that it will be possible to live by the contrary assumption that what is good for the world will be good for us. . . We must recover the sense of the majesty of the creation and the ability to be worshipful in its presence. For it is only on the condition of humility and reverence before the world that our species will be able to remain in it."

-Wendell Berry

So we spent most of the afternoon today watching videos of women giving birth. I should just take this moment to thank you once again Mom for what you did those 22 years ago.

Something you don't want to hear when you're trying to push during your delivery: "you've just had a grade 3 tear".....trust me.

What we actually do....

I think i'm really going to enjoy the relaxed informal atmosphere of this course. The teaching team are pretty much all still excited about teaching this course (this is only it's 3rd year) and work really well together. Let me try and explain how an average week is goign to go for me.

Monday morning at 9:00 we meet in "facilitated graduate groups" of about 9 people to be presented with and discuss this weeks topic (i.e. pregnancy) and learning outcomes (what we need to learn about it by the end of the week).... we then go about trying to decide together how best to learn those outcomes. Monday afternoon we go out on G.P. Visits, in groups of 4 to the same G.P. for the Semester, where we will meet patients (who have agreed to come in) who are good examples of the case we are studying. Here we will also learn clinical skills of history taking and examination.

Tuesday, we go to Winchester Hospital, and are taught more by the teaching team there, through lectures, having patients come in, visiting patients in wards, practicing clinical skills such as veinipuncture, examination techniques and other sorts of things.....,

Wednesday there are "optional lectures" i.e. lectures to focus our learning such as anatomy, immunology, pharmacology, and loads of other words that end in "ology". Wednesday afternoon we have a dissection room tutorial (but we are free to use the room and the "specimens" any time during the week).

Thursday morning is again optional lectures (I'm guessing I'm going to attend all of these as I don't have a Phd in BioChemistry of Physiology like many of my classmates). And then Thursday afternoons is independent study with optional post-mortem demonstrations.

Friday, is a shortened day, at 11:00 we meet again in our "facilitated graduate groups" and discuss what we've learned and then in the afternoon we have a plenary session with an expert in the field we've been studying.

And that's a typical week. Basically the idea of the course is that the early clinical experience and the constant attention to the same issue, will enable us to learn a lot more effectively than just having disjointed lectures. We'll have to see how that all works out though.

1 Week down...

So I've officially been through my first week of Medical School. At least they haven't kicked me out yet, which is a good sign. Like most other first years here in Southampton I've also officially been given "Freshers Flu" which isn't the most fun thing in the world but should be gone in a few days.

I'm begining to realize how much work is going to be involved and so I'm going to have to stop going out as much as I have been, (my budget is going to thank me for that). That said, I have been meeting some really interesting people here and so is always a good thing, I still hate being at the stage of such "superficial" relationships with everyone, small talk isn't my strong point....but that's not something you can or should rush.

That said though, it's really nice to have an old friend from home here too. Emma Caffrey-Osvald, who I went to St. Andrews with is studying medicine here too, she's in her 4 year but is intercalating to do a bachelors of science before she goes and finishes her final 2 years. She had me over to dinner in her house on Wednesday and we just talked about mutual friends and life for really long time, it was great. It's really good to have a familiar face, even if she has seen me at some quite 'memorable' times (....i.e. she's been addressing emails to me as "King Herod"...... don't ask..).

Southampton Mid Week 1-

So, it's post time again. I'm not sure whether this post will be and update or something deep....probably something deep, I'll do an update some other time...not much all that interesting to tell has happened anyway.

Whenever I enter into a new place I'm full of emotions. Each time is also quite different, yet some things remain the same. I've done transition a good bit now, so I sort of know what to expect. I know not to despair now about not having "deep" friends yet cause that will come in due course, I'm learning to be open, to love. To not befriend people seeking friendship, but to befriend people to show them love, and friendship comes if it comes. Anyway..... i won't go on about all that.

What I really want to post about is that I've been cleaning up the desktop on my computer (trying to get the old beast to run faster) and found this. What follows are a segment taken from a relfection I wrote during the first few days after being back from Cambodia, as I was going through intense but rapid culture shock and adjustment. I started this after sitting down to play the piano for the first time in 6-months. I couldn't do it. Who in my community could afford a piano.....it was sort of the straw that broke the camels back.....

"My fingerst cry out,
Don't make me touch the keys, the sound of my expression is stolen
Don't make me touch the keys, the words that I'm writing come with a cost to a broken mother who has sold her child.
As I rise to take up my gold plated, wireless cross, complete with cushioned carrying straps and made from a new alloy that retains strength but eliminates weight, I'm struck.

As I look at the one month's salary hanging on the wall, or the shirts I forgot I had.

I've cut myself off from humanity and called it life. I have thought I had something important to give."

I know that sounds really melodramatic, and it is... I was going through some rough emotions....but it was really how I felt. And I wish I could still feel that way right now, but it's too far removed. When God looks at humanity, he sees us richest 10% of the world who have freedom to do what we want when we want, to buy what we want "guzzling and gulping" the finest, cleanest food and drink. He does see us, but only after, and in the context of, the mass of humanity who are for one reason or another the shafted of our world. Those for whom life is physically, emotionally, and spiritually demanding, all the time. For the couple days that I was just recently back from Cambodia, that at least was the context of how I saw my western life....

But even though I'd like to give us all a big guilt trip about being wealthy or educated (or heaven forbid both), I don't think God works that way (as much as I feel he should). I think he rather move us with this knowledge to seek justice or what people refer to as "Shalom" -that dynamic giving of each other, restoration of all relationships between humans, and between humans and the rest of creation. How difficult it is for the rich to live in this way (Jesus said it), but he said it is possible. How do we start, or continue? (1st things first....it's not about the money....that's really secondary Michael...so stop bringing it up too much). There's two (not-so-easy) steps....

1) Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength (and any other category your society includes....i.e. maybe your liver too or your psychie)

2) Love your neighbour as yourself.

The key.... you can't do one without the other. I'm stopping now.....cause I wouldn't have read this far.

Coventry Cathedral

For those who do not know, Coventry Cathedral is quite an amazing place. I'd visited there many years ago when I was either 8 or 11, and I still remember it quite vividly. The Cathedral is quite famous because of it's efforts of reconciliation. In 1940 the cathedral was completely demolished by bombing during the World War. The leader of the cathedral at that time quite publicly declared not to seek any revenge but rather reconciliation with Britains enemies at the time. Over the years the cathedral has become home to the International Centre for Reconciliation which has strong links to Wheaton and has been involved in trying to broker many important peace deals around the world, and also to the Community of the Cross of Nails, which is one of many christian communities accross the world trying to actively promote peace and reconciliation in their communitites.

It's powerful to go the the cathedral (pobably only if you're inthe right mood though, which I was) and ponder the history and the power of Christ's work of reconciliation. When you stand there you see so vividly the empty shell that remains of the old church building and the vibrant new building built adjacent to it, with the cross, joining the two buildings together. I stood inside the new building and looked at the stained glass wall, in contemporary style, it was one of the most moving pieces of church art that I've ever seen, displaying the glory of good, the light made it look as if the wall was made of water and was moving in front of you, it was crazy, and drew you to worship.

Anyway, above are a couple pictures I took.

A couple of days in Coventry with some servants

So I've known for a while that Craig and Nay Greenfield (who served as my mentors and adopted me into their family in Cambodia) were going to be in England this Autumn. And it just so worked out that last this past weekend Craig was begining to lead a 2 week orientation for new workers with Servants, 3 of whom are leaving soon to live and work in Calcutta, India. They said I could join them for the weekend so these past 2 days, I took the train up north a little more than 2 hours away to Coventry where the International Administrator for SERVANTS, Helen, and her family live. It was a great time of seeing both old and new faces, and again focusing our hearts and minds on God's unquenching heart for the poor. It was good for my sould especially as I'm in a new place, to be with these christians, and refocusing myself to the lives that God has called us to, to live his kingdom, to seek justice and reconciliation of all relationships (shalom).

Along with the great spiritual side of things, on Saturday night I got in a great game of Settlers of Kattan with Craig and Jenny on the great board that Craig made and which we'd used many times in his slum house in Cambodia....good memories.



Here's a copule pictures from my trip....


Sitting (left to right): Sylvia (Swiss), Kate (English, raised in India), Jenny (US American), Thomas (Swiss), Ashleen (originally from California but now living in Switzerland married to Thomas), Craig (New Zealander -and has lived everywhere else) then on the floor is Helen (who is English). Sylvia, Kate and Jenny are all heading soon (within the next couple of months to India to work with the existing Servants workers in Calcutta.


We had our meetings in the church centre of Holy Trinity Coventry, which had a beautiful building and was adjacent to the famous Coventry Cathedral. Above is a picture out from the dining room and in the near distance you can see the new part of Coventry Cathedral. Below is on the left side of the picture is the church centre we met in, quite nice I have to admit.

Okay a couple quick pictures..

I'm running out the door to go buy some quick essentials (if I can find them.... I'm not exactly sure where to go in England to buy things like hangers.....I'll figure it out i guess)... but here's a couple pictures to give you an idea of things that i see here.... as in where I live.


This is the view out my window. I'm in old terrace which overlooks NEW terrace. They look very nice, ours don't (I'll post a picture later).



This is my room (still not un packed, hence the need for hangers).... it's about 11ft by 12 ft so it's not too small, in the right top corner of the room there's a small sink and mirror that you can't see, so that's handy.... anyway.. I need to run cause the day's getting away from me, will post more interesting pictures later. If I see anything that's more interesting that is......

Okay finally here...

So for the past month and a half or so I've been receiving a flood of emails from people asking about how medical school is going and what it's like living in England. Well, today is the first day I can even attempt to form an answer. I arrived in Southampton yesterday at about 10:30 am. This is actually quite early, cause I'm attending the international induction, I didn't have to, but thought it would be good to catch my bearings and get used to the place before class begins. So as most of my Wheaotn pre-med friends have already been through at least 1 month if not 2 of medical school I am still yet to officially start....but "all in it's good time" as they say. I'm sure I'll be missing the days of not having class and things to study soon enough. I'm living in university halls, yet it doesn't seem much like the dorm life I knew at wheaton. I'm in a converted terraced house where there are 10 single rooms with shared kitchen and bathroom facilities. It seems much like a normal small house, but with not living room and where everyone locks their bedroom doors.

In some ways I feel like a bit of a fraud attending international induction, several other international students have already said they thought I was English, and it is true I don't have as much of the language barrier. but all the same, I do feel very alien here, I don't know anyone, have never been here before, and there's all usual differences of figuring out public transport, new currency, new prices, and the like... Southampton seems to be a very different place from Dublin. So far the city seems diverse enough, a bit more than the wheaton area and it's diverse in a different sense from dublin, as most non ethnically english people that you'd meet were born and raised here, where in Dublin that's still a rarity. Still, it's very non urban, the university is in the subarban sprawl of a not very large city, so we'll see how I like after I've been here longer.

So all things considered I'm doing well. Next week when all the new UK students arrive is called Freshers week and will be quite crazy. Induction here has been very different from orientation at Wheaton, mainly I think just cause of the size of the student population. The student body is over 20,000 for the university, and in just the international induction there's over 750 students, which doesn't help in making friends, cause chances are if you meet someone you won't meet them again. I'm waiting for term time to start when I can meet my entering class of 45 people in the Graduate Medicine programme, that's a much more managable group.

Alright, I'll try and post some pictures later.

Okay, random quote of the day, I literally heard it less than a minute ago on the psalters myspace website... it's "when people learn to love each other, capitalism won't be possible and marxism won't be necessary"...... i have a love hate relationship with phrases like that, they're too 'cute' but speak what need to be said.....

So today is an international day of action on the Darfur crisis. I admit I did nothing special today for Darfur, I deleted most of the Darfur junk emails in my inbox without even opening them today... I was reminded again that today was special to try and raise attention about Darfur, when on the radio I heard the director of GOAL (an Irish Aid Agency) in Sudan calling for unilateral military action to take place immediately and to be lead by the USA and Britain. He said they should bypass the UN as China and Russia will most likely never agree to sending UN troops without Khartoom's permission.... it just hit me.... the futility of all our efforts, yet again. We place our responsibility for humanity's well being in the hands of impersonal super-powers and yet take little meaningful action ourselves. Thinking of what he called for (I wish i could remember the GOAL man's name), brought loads of thoughts to my head, like "how could he be calling for unilateral action when the US and Britain have been condemned so much recently FOR their unilateral action in Iraq? Then I thought of the alternative, present, right-now, reality, I would want someone to help protect me and my family from genocide by my own government. My Christian faith would lead me to pacifism, but like so many things in my faith, it only works if I'm willing to go completely. Pacifism only works if pacifists are willing to join victims and offer themselves as the biblical "living sacrifices" in the modern-day tradition of Ghandi and Martin Luther King Jr. I'm not there, maybe I would be if I was physically there, if I had to choose, but it's too easy to sit here in a nice big comfortable house, well full from that pizza and ice cream I just ate, and dream of escaping the nets of a comfortable life. Christianity doesn't do well with comfort, just like it doesn't do well with power. It makes a little more sense how Jesus talked about just how unbelievably difficult it is for a rich man to live out his kingdom...

.......but there I go again making Darfur about me, I've learned something very simple in my life of travelling from place to place.... in the many times that something happens where I can't be there to help make it right (not like I could do anything about Darfur even if I was there except probably make things worse), prayer is something I can do. It's something God has given us so that we can act on the hearts he has given us for the world....it doesn't relinquish our responsibility for physical efforts to relieve the suffering (although it probably does give us stamina and focus for it), but it helps ward off the despair that I'm so prone to when I think of the world how it is. Let's just pray, and pray that we would pray more, because I probably will be thinking about it tonight, but it won't be on the radio again tomorrow to remind us.

I'm finally accepted.....

So these are apparently the type of students I will be joining at SOTON (I guess that's some sort of short hand for the University of Southampton...don't ask me). Today I got an email from UCAS to say that my offer and requirements have been officially confirmed, which means I technically and officially and in spirit have a place in Medicine at SOTON this Autumn. Although I knew that I would meet the requirements of the offer, they couldn't confirm my place until they had done a criminal background check (don't know how I passed that) and declared me physically fit (i.e. most importantly I don't have the dreaded hepatitis B). So today they were able finally to confirm this. So I'm going. Now all I have to do is go, study, pass some exams and ....oh yeah, pay for it all...... sounds pretty "easy" right?

In other news my cousin Liz is leaving early tomorrow (thursday) morning to go back to America and figure out what she's going to do with her life. This finally ends a summer of non-stop travel accross most of western Europe. Pray for her that God will let her know what it is that God has for her in this life. Stuff much more complicated when you haven't a clue what you want/are supposed to do.

My Life right now? Glad you asked...

A few random shorts:

-work is good, so far I’ve only had to clean up on really nasty toilet….that will be etched in my memory for a long time to come….although funny enough I’m getting a lot better about that type of stuff, I don’t know if it’s a good thing.

-I’ve become absolutely paranoid about washing my hands and arms and anything else I can in the tiny sink.

-Now that I’ve gotten to know my co-workers a bit better, I’ve found that most of them are really sound people. Sure we argue about who has to take down the slop bucket, or deliver that extra-pot of coffee to that irritating patient (or do both at the same time….). But all in all sometimes they’ll get an extra cup of milk for you, or even take down the mop heads to be washed…. isn’t life good.

-By the way, I know you’ve all been thinking about asking it but didn’t want to sound stupid. Yes, my job is just like the janitor in Scrubs, and yes there is a newly qualified doctor who I torment (but he just doesn’t know it yet).

-We’ve been doing a course in food hygiene practices over the past few weeks and my boss came and told my that I did really well in the exam….one of my good pre-med friends from Wheaton, Chika, spent last week in Med. School learn

ing and practicing putting in I.V.’s…

-It’s strange the reactions I get when I tell people th

at I studied Anthropology in college. The most common response is usually a blank look, or a statement like “so what type of jobs can that get you?” On occasion I get the random person who when they hear “Anthropology” say “OH! That’s Fantastic!” which sort of catches me off guard, the sad thing is that all the Anthropology stuff that they actually like and know I haven’t a clue about, so I sort of nod and smile when they mention all these names of people and theories that they love and that I’ve never heard of….

-I got paid for the first time last week, that’s a great part of the job. It’s especially nice cause I don’t really have any expenses at the moment.

-This is the biggest picture of my workplace that I could find. Notice the contrasting architecture from the old country house/1900s convent/60's mixup periods...


....by the way I really do like my job, but it's just easy to make fun of.......

-We had a Fire Extinguisher class today. It’s really fun, I can’t believe that I was actually getting paid for an hour of a man lighting stuff on fire and having us put it out.

-Last but not least, on September 1^st, there is rumour there will be a Benjamin Washam appearance, here in Dublin. For those of you who don’t know, Benjamin is my 1^st and 2^nd year roommate and one of my best friends…. he’ll be staying for 2 weeks, get excited!.

She's finally here...

So I was up at 6:00 o'clock yesterday morning, getting ready for work, and I have to admit I got a sick pleasure when the phone rang, so that my parents had to get up as well. Of course the only person who would call at this time would be a pregnant family member. Hailey was in labour and they were heading into the hospital and needed someone to come get Eoin. Only a little over an hour later at 7:45 Moia Jaelle Kingsley (pronounced Moya) was born to us at 8lbs 4 ounces. I was able to go in and visit my niece after work last night and then again today. Hailey looks really well, and should be going home tomorrow if all Moia's blood tests are okay. It was really peaceful in the hospital. Moia is so small, delicate and everything else you'd expect from a new born. I wasn't able to be there for Eoin's birth so this is a new and cool experience for me.

Here's a picture or two:

Discover?

So the past few weeks I've joined the Discovery Gospel Choir. What is it? Let me tell you. When I was back in Ireland for Christmas after coming back from Cambodia, I went to a special youth oriented Christmas service in Christchurch Cathedral (the oldest and biggest Cathedral in Dublin...I think). There was a small gospel choir there called "Discovery Gospel Choir." It was an integrated gospel choir about 60% african and 40% Irish from appearances. And ages we were told ranged from 7 years old to mid 80s. The music was good, not spectacular, but respectable- the thing that caught me about the choir though wasn't their sound, it was the what their leader, Philip said, to introduce them, he mentioned words like "gospel" "Christ's Kingdom" and "Racial Reconciliation" all in the same breath. After having been back from HNGR for a month already these words hit me like cold water on parched lips. It was like blowing oxygen on a burning ember, the flame started to burn again. Till this point, I didn't know of any "kingdom, or Shalom" oriented Christian expression in Ireland till that point, who understood these terms in ways that I had come to fall in love with. Philip was the first other Irish Christian who by his vocab seemed to understand.

Before I came back for this summer I searched the internet found a few email addresses and finally got put in touch with the choir. I first spent a day with the choir on an outing day where they were just taking a fun day trip down country. It was great just to sit, sing, and talk about God's heart for this land. I joined the choir and last week we sang in the Point Depot. The Point is a really famous concert venue, it's where all the West-end shows come when they're on tour and where most of the big bands come to play when they're in Dublin. We weren't there for some big concert or choir fest but for something better. It was the annual gathering of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG). The RCCG is a denomination that began in Nigeria in the 1950s and is now one of the world's largest African denominations. This is the first time they had such a gathering in Ireland. People from all overh the world were there and a choir of 80+ people was there from the UK leading some great gospel worship. I've never been surrounded by so many Nigerians in my life, it was a great thing, and makes me want to visit Nigeria. It was the largest gathering of Africans ever in Irish history, with over 6,000 people there.

We were asked to perform and Philip was asked to give a short message. He did a great job. He tried to encourage the Nigerians living in Ireland to see themselves as missionaries here, as sent by God to revitalize the Irish church and reach out to those who do not know Christ. And as like any good missionaries he encouraged them to love the people and their culture. He encouraged them to be involved with life here, to read the newspaper, to learn the Irish language to start thinking of here as home, and then he also encouraged the irish people in attendance to WELCOME people to make them feel more at home. It's a two way street. He was really well received and it set up well for our choir to sing, as we're trying to be an expression of that diversity, with Irish and African (mainly Nigerian) coming together in community and worship. Our first song, which was written by the members of the choir is called discovery, and it is half in English and half in Yoruba (a Nigerian language). When Solomon, our musical director broke into the first Yoruba solo, you should have seen the house shake, people cheered and I was overwhelmed it was amazing. I wasn't singing that night as I was put on playing piano for the group. Thankfully everything seemed to go well.

On a side note, it's kind of nice being back in the music thing. When I was at Wheaton, where everyone is seemingly extremely talented with everything, my piano playing and singing didn't really set me apart, everyone could do that, but now being back here music is becoming a lot more of my identity again, and I think I like that. I got to play one of my own songs at an open mic session and was asked to do a song at a creative church service the other night. It's just nice to have a side of me re-opened that had been closed for so long.

This picture is of the choir when they sang for Desmond Tutu.

So about the new job...

Hey All, I guess i should post about stuff that isn't italy. Again, I don't know what's wrong with me I don't have a lot of deep thoughts to publish about issues that I'm pondering at the moment. I know I do, but now I'm working I think I come home too tired to locate my thoughts and put them down. I of course have loads of feelings about the middle east situation at the moment, but again, it almost seems pointless saying anything except for that it is a travesty that Lebanon and the Lebanese population are being targeted so much. Lebanon had made some great moves towards greater freedom and democracy, separation from Syria and just a better situation all round, now Israel is effectively destroying a stabalizing state and future potential friend, it's just a tradgic decision. What's worse is the countless lives that have been displaced, and also the 140 something Lebanese civilians that had been killed as of yesterday (by a regime that supposedly doesn't target civilians) and the 20 something Israeli civilians that had been killed (by Hizbollah terrorists). Anyway, I have no answers, we all want peace, we all disagree on how to get there, I'm idealistic but I don't believe peace is most effectively (if ever) achieved through repaying violence with violence.

So now about the job... On the overpriced bus into brussels (21euro return) from the Airport, I got a text from my dad, saying that Loughlinstown Hospital had called saying they had work for me. I'd applied there at the begining of the summer, they gave me the whole line saying that I was top of the list but that at the moment there was no current work available. After getting laid off from Amnesty, I phoned back and left a message saying I was still available for work. So on getting that text, I immediatley called dad and got the woman's number. I phoned her and was told to come into work Thursday morning, and that they were perfectly fine with the fact that i'm leaving in the end of September. God couldn't have scheduled things in any better time. I had a day to recover from my trip then was straight into work. I seriously knew nothing about my job, I hadn't a clue what I'd be doing or how much I'd get paid, but when I went in I found out quickly enough that I was going to be a "ward assistant" which means that half of my time is devoted to cleaning rooms and things (i.e. counters, sinks everything except people really -thank God-). The rest of my time is devoted to getting food from the kitchen and serving it to patients during meal times. I also do different things during that time, like get things for patients (serve LOADS of cups of tea), help move some patients around and just whatever else people ask me to do. It's a good job. It's great experience of a hospital, it's sort of lowest on the pecking order of the great big hospital hierarchy, so that's invaluable experience for me, it'll help me a lot rather than starting in close to the top as a doctor.

It's local and I even walk to work (it takes a half hour each way). Again it's great pay, it's the same as my Amnesty job, with double that rate on Sundays. And with a lot more hours (8:00 - 5:30) than I'd been working at Amnesty I'll be making a good bit more. I've been working in Accident and Emergency over the past two days and really love it. I just like being around the hospital environment and seeing how differnet doctors, nurses, workers do things differently. Anyway, that's the job. We'll see how it goes and I'll post more if anything changes. Peace.

A couple of more pictures...

The famous Ponte Vechio in Florence (i won't even begin to defend my italian spelling...sorry danny).
The big Duomo in Florence, the outside is spectacular as you can see, but the inside isn't anything incredibly special.


So let's just be thankful no one decided to invade Italy during the World Cup final, although it probably would have been the best time to do so.....

Back from Italy..

Finally, a picture of the three of us. We WERE ACTUALLY all there at one time. We're here at the Trevi Fountain.

The Circus Massimus during the 1st half of the Final.

Alyssa and myself at the Colloseum. Liz is also there, taking the picture.

So after Siena, we went to Rome. We arrived sunday afternoon, just in time for all the festivities surrounding the World Cup final. We walked all around the Roman Forum and the Colloseum, and then went to the Circus Maximus where they were busy setting up for the thousands of people who would come to watch the match that night. We found a great pizza place to eat at, who speedily rushed us through our meal so they could close down to watch the game. We saw the first half in the circus maximus with the huge crowds, but then decided to watch the second half in the comfort of our own hotel, as who knew what the crowd would do if the won or lost....and especially since we were all a bit wrecked from walking non-stop the previous 3 days we didn't wait around to find out. We watched the second half and extra-time with our hotel's receptionist who I think was happy for the company. The second Italy won (in penaltys at the end) the streets outside started going crazy. Fireworks went off just a few feet from our 3rd floor window, and the restaurant outside was busy opening champagne bottles and giving sips (and bottles!) to random pedestrians passing by. Didn't get much sleep that night, but we were all a bit caught up in the moment, and having fun with them, yelling Italia! out the window and stuff like that.....the next day was the Vatican....a slight change in mood.

it was great, we had a good time going through St. Peter's and the museums and Sistine Chapel, it was cool to see all the paintings I'd just studied in my senior semester Gen Ed. Intro to Art. Of course we found one of the best gelato places in rome, just beside the Vatican, it was gorgeous and they gave you loads....a nice combination. Walked around, had some iced baileys coffee, and then found a place to rest by the river. It was beautiful, we must have been there for over an hour, just talking, journaling, and lying down under the shade of trees from the hot beating sun. After that it was over to the pantheon, then we waited around for one of Liz's favourite restaurants to open that she had been to in May when she was in Rome before. The food was really good and worth the wait.

That night we made our way up to the Trevi Fountain (again had more gelato) and then over to the spanish steps (had to go to the traditional tourist sights, but really i just had more fun just soaking in the atmosphere). I really love the way that Italy is such a meeting of worlds, you can really tell your in the mediteranian, lots of north africans and arabs around, not to mention people from every corner of the world. I could have even sworn I saw a Cambodian woman selling scarves in the Campo Nuovo. Anyway, as I'm sure you can tell I really enjoyed it.

I left early the next morning for a plane to brussels where I had a good 6 hour lay over, for some reason I had originally thought it was longer and so decided to go into the main city centre and almost got sick on belgian waffles and chocolate, it was crazy good, but besides that there's not much to talk about there, I had a terrible time there navigating the public transport system, and so almost missed my bus back to the airport. But, it was all good in the end. I'd definitely go to Italy again, but I think I'd just spend most of it in the smaller towns and try to avoid other foreign tourists (every tourists dream...I know) but in my case the highlights weren't seeing the Michelangelo's or the Da Vinci's it was just the italian approach to life that got me to want to come back.

Ah Siena.....

We woke up early on our last morning which was a good thing since we would have been woken up anyway by the crazy loud drumming that these guys were doing. I don't know much about it but aparently Siena has loads of different sections which have their own history, colours and traditions and all compete in the big horse races that take place twice a year and draw tourists from all over. This must have been a practice or something....I don't know but they were dressed up in full garb and parading around town at around 8:00 a.m. on a sunday morning.



This is me and my cousin liz in the big town centre where they hold the big city horse races twice a year.

Hey, so if any of you plans on coming to Italy, don"t forget to see Siena. This is a beautiful city. Wow, it"s a wonder to think that so many italians ever leave this country, and that they"re not all clinially obese. The food here is really good, italian restaurants back home really don"t do it justice. Anyway, I got to go, cause i really shouldn"t be inside an internet cafe. We just stopped to book our hostel in rome. I"ll post more later.

Okay so here's some pictures of Siena above.

So guess where I am now?

So don"t ask why, but right now I"m in florence, italy waiting to meet up with my cousin Liz and her Roommate Alyssa who are arriving on a train from southern France. Florence is so beautiful! even though it"s hard to see through ll the tourists, ah well, that"s life when half a million people have the same idea all at once. So why am I here? well in light of me becoming recenlty fired, and the fact that there were cheap enough plane tickets as well as people to travel with, i thought, why not?

We"re staying here till sunday then take the train down to rome for a couple of days. I leave on tuesday to go back to real life and work at a tem agency. I might get a job as a copy typist in a hospital, not much fun, but I"ll learn medical vocab and get paid great so we"ll have to see.

I"ll update more when we get back.

New Beginings

Well I guess all good things (or bad things...depending on your point of view have to come to an end.) A few of my friends (meaning mainly Aprile), decided to christen me Wormwood because of my role with Amnesty as a "chugger" (Charity-Mugger).

This past friday they asked 3 of the four of us new people and two of the ones who had been there longer to come into the main office for a meeting. My team leader assured me that they just like having the new people in after their first week to see how things are going and to enourage us to keep getting more members. I had just got another member before the meeting started so I was feeling pretty good. The two days before had been quite good for me as well, after the begining of the week which I was finding slow. One of the team leaders said he was going to recomend me for the job of team-leader myself because he saw how good I was doing with the job. So needless to say I was a bit shocked when our manager said "I'd usually like to give you much more notice than this, but this will be your last day working with us." Apparantely they had had to really convince the board that our group should be hired, and so they had released some cash for our positions to be put in place. We hadn't though been getting enough members to really earn our keep and normally they would keep us on another few days to see if we would improve (which I felt I was really doing) and to give us a better chance, but because funding was so bad at the moment they had to let us go right away. i'm not too angry, in reality the job is about numbers of members and I don't want to become a financial burden on Amnesty if I'm supposed to be fundraising for them. A guy I met in the pub when we went out for drinks afterwards (who himself had been fired from Amnesty the week before) said that Amnesty was starting to realize they were paying us too much money but couldn't reduce our pay untill next year when they start hiring again.

So I'm back on the job hunt. You could pray that if God wants me to get a job, so that I can earn money, that he would open the doors that need to be opened and would give me the patience, perseverence, and peace to find the right one (-do you like that alliteration there?...).

99's in Dingle

So my cousin Liz and Alyssa (her roommate) have started their two month treck across Europe. They began with a week to adjust and have fun in Ireland with me and my family. Liz and I have been close, more like siblings than cousins since we have lived with their family for 3 years of my life and many summers, so it was great to have her here. One of those summers Alyssa lived in the house as well, so we know her pretty well too.

It's been interesting playing tour guide a bit this past year, with Rachel Dorr over at Thanksgiving, Jon Knoche and David Michael here a few weeks ago and now Liz and Alyssa last week. Each seems to care about different things. Rachel cared a ton about the culture and how it was different/similar to England, Jon and David were interested in James Joyce, the history and of course the pubs, and Alyssa and Liz were really easy going, just enjoyed hanging out and whatever came their way (although we did hit both the Guinness Brewery and the Jameson Whiskey Distillery) we watched the entire 1st season of Arrested Development while they were here.

Anyway the picture is off us eating 99's in Dingle, on the West coast. 99's are basically a normal soft ice cream cone with a Cadbury's Flake stuck in it, but they were one of Liz's favourite memories from when she had been in Ireland as a kid, so we had them a few times. (Liz is in the middle).

Amnesty Debate....just an update

On the street the past few days many workers have been hearing comments where people believe that Amnesty has begun supporting abortion rights in its campaigns. This doesn't come as much of a surprise as there have been many recent media reports about such a change and my dad even mentioned a Focus on the Family Article about it, so I know many in America must know about that.

We were briefed on the situation during orientation and this is what we were told. Basically, there has been no change to Amnesty's current position, which has always been "not to have a position on Abortion." There is however a debate going on at the moment, with some advocating for the inclusion of abortion rights in the situation of rape and incest. Basically, it's a very sensitive issue, and one that Amnesty is taking very seriously, as both sides feel very strongly. It's something that could definitely split the organization completely in two, so I imagine that the position will stay the same, as in having no position. If I hear anything else though I'll keep you posted.

A job...at last!

So I've finally found a summer job. It's not glamorous and it's very tiring, but it's a job I can believe in, feel good about and really learn from. I'm working for the Irish Section of Amnesty International as a member recruiter. Basically this means that I go out with a team of people each day on the streets of Dublin and we ask people if they want to become members (which of course requires a monthly or yearly donation). It's a tiring job (even though I've only done one day so far), but I think I'll like it, especially as I get more experienced in getting people to talk to me. If you don't know much about Amnesty you can click HERE for more info.

Here's a few things briefly.

• Amnesty is the world's largest and oldest human rights organization.
• It's not a development group but instead campaigns for the adherence to international law and rights for people based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
• It's 4 main current international campaigns are 1) Combating Torture, 2) Stopping Violence Against Women, 3) Stricter Controls on the International Arms Trade, and 4) Ending the Death Penalty.

I strongly support these 4 campaigns. There are 3 other Domestic campaigns particular to Ireland: 1) Stopping Domestic Violence 2) Ensuring the Rights of the Mentally Ill 3) Anti-Racism

It's interesting learning about the Human Rights approach to tackling these issues. I don't necessarily see myself working with Amnesty in the future, as I'd like to work with people involved in more wholistic work, but I'm learning a lot by focusing on the rights angle.

Besides what I'm learning, the hours of the job are great 11:00-6:00 monday-friday and the pay is good too, 13 euro per hour.

Thanks those of you who have been praying that I'd find a job. I really think this is one of the best things I could have found in my situation (short time period to both find and do the job). Pray now that I'll have perseverance and success in this new job and that I'd continue to learn and get to know my co-workers.

Peace

An interesting survey...and...what do I do with nationalism as a Christian?

So as I'm still in sort of culture analysis mode as I'm only back at home for 3 weeks so far. One thing that I found made me uncomfortable more than the average person when I was in America was the nationalism. I'm unsure of why it wore on me the wrong way so much, but it did. What's been making me think about this recently is a poll that an RTE programme "Prime Time" did that compared Irish attitudes in 1986 and now again in 2006.

If anyone doesn't know about the situation in modern Ireland, but life, culture, social reality.....I guess everything has changed since the 1980s. The economy has gone from having 20% unemployment when I was a child to now one of the strongest in Europe, from being seen as close to a third world country with emigration (both legal and illegal) to America and Britain extremely high, to now being one of the 10 richest in the world. Social life in Ireland has undergone huge changes too. People are becoming extremely disillusioned with the Catholic Church as sexual abuse scandals seem to appear with startling regularity. Many people have described the change in Irish culture as transforming from a pre-modern culture to a post-modern while not really experiencing the modernistic world view that has been present in other Western European cultures.

One comparison that the pole made struck me as I'm sure something like this would never happen in the US. In 1986 the poll said, "If Ireland was attacked would you be willing to fight for your country?" In 1986 50% of those responding said they would, while 30% said they would not, 20% were unsure. By 2006 however things have changed drastically. Now 50% said they would not fight for their country, 30% said they would and 20% said they didn't know.

This may seem hard to believe as if you're in Ireland people are definitely proud to be Irish and love their country. I think one difference between Ireland and America in this aspect is that the Irish pride and love for country is not rooted in the State. People, no matter who they voted for tend to distrust the government and politicians much more than their American counterparts. When the Taoiseach (the prime minister) appears in public people don't wave Irish flags, like they do for the American president. When you see the football team playing an international, or if Ireland's in the World Cup you'll see flags flying from every car and pub in the country. I don't necessarily think either type of nationalism is better or worse than the other, but I had to think about why I had a visceral reaction to the form of nationalism that I found in the US.

I'm sure there's plenty of factors that play into the difference in nationalisms (i.e. such as the age of the two societies, America being a young country that has only experienced one form of government while Ireland having a civilization for thousands of years and experiencing several different forms of state including foreign dominance has much more history under its belt and perhaps a healthy level of skepticism about the particular state and politicians that happen to be ruling).

As I'm a Wheaton grad, let me put a Christian twist on this. A few months ago during the Center for Applied Christian Ethics' annual symposium, I heard a young man named Josh Casteel, who recently received his status as a conscientious objector and was discharged from the US Army. He served as an interrogator for 6 months in a prison that has gained quite a reputation over the past while, and rightly so, Abu Ghraib. He spoke to us about many things, but one was about the place of nationalism. He discussed about how our allegiance to Christ and his order for our world (some call it his kingdom) should be our most important allegiance, much higher than country, and also before family. We should realize that we have more of a commitment to our fellow Christians around the world than our fellow citizen down the road. What does this mean? I'm not sure how to practically think out all the ramifications of that, but I know there are many. I know we may hear that a lot, but it is something we need to do more than hear. We need to listen to it. What would happen if all the Christians in the western world cared more about the fortunes of their fellow Christians, most who live in the developing world, instead of the economic gain of their own countries?