Seattle and Chicago had a baby... and it was called Dublin

Greetings!

Today was an interesting day. That rather Scottish weather is seemingly making its way to the Emerald Isle. My day at work was pretty boring. I've counted up the number of pages I've done thus far, and so far it 20 plus two little ads. That sounds like a lot, but it's pretty boring in my office, I must say. I keep myself entertained, either by funny e-mails from my co-worker Helen about how much she dislikes Nelly Furtado, or just by seeing my other co-intern Fiach who had one eyebrow and his hair shaved off this week while "asleep."

Anyhow, based on the great recommendations surrounding Rob Bell, Kelly and I decided that we should join Duncan and try to go see him speak (he's a Christian author/speaker that wrote Velvet Elvis). So, Kelly and I agreed to meet up after work.

Now, the weather has been very amicable up until this week for the most part, but when it rains, it pours.. well, not really. Here it is a constant light rain that makes you feel stupid to have out your umbrella, but you end up getting remarkably wet while walking if you don't hover under its protection. Then there's the problem of your pants getting soaked because they are a tad too long (note to self, make sure all the pants you pack for the next trip are properly hemmed before leaving).

Kelly and I perused a store on Grafton Street for a deal, but nothing really turned up. So then we headed for food. We decided that Subway would satisfy both the stomach and the wallet. Sadly, after we walked into the store we noticed that there was no room to sit and eat.

Remember that constant rain?

So we huddled under a little awning and scarfed down the subs.

Ah, city life.

So then we had to find our way to the church where Rob Bell was speaking. Now, we had both studied Google Maps for a good long while before we left on this journey, but we had both neglected to write down any directions.

That was a problem.

So about ten blocks later, we kind-of, sort-of knew where we were, but we had no idea where that was in relation to the church. We called Duncan (who was already there) and asked for some assistance. He handed the phone to a nice Irish lady who said, "Okay, with such and such landmark behind you, take a right, then a left, then a right." Okay, no road names is very dangerous. So after a few turns down empty streets, I thought-- why not call someone with a computer? So I called Mom. Of course, my phone wouldn't work for about 5 tries, but eventually we got in touch. Unfortunately, I don't think Mom is quite as acquainted with Google Maps as I am, plus Google Maps is not as acquainted with Ireland as it is with home. So, Kelly and I decided to head back the direction we came from and to maybe hail a taxi. That would get us to where we needed to go AND get us out of the miserable weather that had not only dampened both our clothing and our spirits, but had broken both our umbrellas. Don't you love it when the wind pops your umbrella inside out? It's especially wonderful when you are lost and need to be somewhere.

With another call to Duncan, and a rescue effort by him and his pal from work, Kelly and I eventually made it to the church that was only a few blocks away (Mom likened it to when our cat got lost behind our neighbor's house).

As to Rob Bell, he was a very engaging and intellectual speaker. His main points of the talk were: too many Christians are obsessed with getting to Heaven instead of trying to bring Heaven to Earth (he pointed out that all of God's efforts have been towards us HERE, on Earth), Jesus preached equality and creative/nonviolent resistance, and that small portions of our resources could solve a lot of the world's problems (like the money spent on ice cream in the UK could provide clean water for the whole world).

Then Duncan, Kelly and I made the trek back home in the continuing nasty mist of a rain and tyrannical wind. We barely made it to our bus, but we did.

And it was on our walk from the bus stop to the apartments that we realized how mutilated Kelly's umbrella was, which was very entertaining to Duncan and me. To prove so, enjoy today's pictures!

Much Love,
Whitney

Kelly's Hilariously, Irreparable Umbrella (that was supposed to be wind resistant)



My only slightly broken (though with a sharp and wily object sticking out) umbrella