Northern Ireland: Day 1/2

Almost everyone is asleep after a great but tiring first day in Ireland. Kathi noted what an incredible sight it was to see all the youth totally passed out on their beds after our leaders meeting was done. Truly, a sight rarely seen on a youth trip!

Today was mostly about dealing with jet lag and settling in to our home for the week. Even though it is exhausting, I always love the first day of a trip: everything is an adventure as we figure things out and experience a totally new environment. The accommodations at 174 are tight and cooking will be a little more challenging than I expected, but we'll manage.

After lunch we took a walking tour of some local neighborhoods, both to get some movement after the long flight and to begin our orientation to Belfast. We saw some incredible murals. After the tour, we had some comfort food: Dominos pizza. It was a little different from what we get back home, but pretty similar.

After dinner it was off to to the leisure centre for swimming and showers. This is how we will do showers for the week. Leisure centres are public gyms, kind of like YMCAs back home.

We didn't do much after returning home to the 174 Trust. Everyone was pretty exhausted, so we postponed our devotion and meeting until the morning. Speaking of sleep, I better go get some myself...