The rest of creative recycling hopfully

Ok so this is a continuation of the post below this because it wasn't letting me upload pictures earlier. Read that one first then come up here ok?



This is my work table. It is made out of an old oak front door and other scrap wood from the dumpster across the street. I did have to buy nails to build this but £5 is pretty good for a table this solid. The best part is that I don't have to worry about scraping it up or getting paint on it because its made from junk anyway. Its just nice to have place to stack things and a flat space to work on stuff.



We have a small shelf in the entry way that we put our keys on and such. We started piling the mail there two but it got messy so i made this out of two combs, cardboard, and a bit of brown paint. I don't think this one up. The design is from a book I have called Readymade.



We found advent candles in the house but no advent wreath. It took a while to source the materials for this one (wink wink) but it's a fairly simple design, just four green wine bottles tied together with string and an inverted clear bottle set amongst them.

I also made my own christmas tree cookie cutter today out of a coat hanger but I don't have a picture. This might sound a bit odd, but it has been really amazing not always having everything I need (or even know where to get something) because it has allowed me to use my brain and be creative. Building this stuff is soooooo much fun. you should all try it. Tell me your ideas.

alex

Creative recycling

Belfast is a great city to go dumpster diving in!!! There are tons of construction projects all over the city and every one is in such a hurry to finish their project and move on the next that they often throw away perfectly good building materials. I then "reappropriate" These materials and recycle them into things for our house. Its a really good way of recycling because it cuts out the cost and waste of professional collection and reproduction. So here are a few creations straight from the skips of Belfast to you:



I forgot to rotate the picture but you get the idea. This is a book shelf i made for jessica's desk from an old dresser drawer. its made of recycled wood, found nails, and leftover paint we had in the house.

Well sorry. The picture upload function on here is acting funny and won't let me do the rest. I'll try later today. Bye

Alex

Something new...

I made a discovery today. Its something I've felt for a long time but couldn't put words to. I found the words today while talking to my housemate jess. It was one of those long serpentine conversations where you talk with someone about all sorts of really important things but you wind your way through so many topics that you can't retrace how you got where you got. It just feels good after. Anyway, we've officially started celebrating Christmas here because we had a thanksgiving dinner so we watched a christmas movie, Love Actually. Its a bit sappy but its well made and I like it a bit so... For some reason afterword we started talking about sept. 11 and from there, don't ask me how, we somehow got to talking about the church and inclusivity or lack thereof. All of that to tell you about my discovery, take it for what its worth ive only started to figure it out but i feel really good about it. here goes

So many times in church we feel the need to define who is "in" and who is "out." We describe those who are "in" as people who have faith and those who are "out" as people who don't have faith or a faith different than ours. Fair enough. We like to make categories. Its always hard to make distinctions between people but we do it. So these neat and tidy lines become smeared when someone comes to the church and says, "I have faith. I am one of the "in" ones. Can I come into the church?" But we say to that person, "No you can't come in because you are______ and you have_______. You are "out." Sorry." We may not outright deny that person and say, "you have no faith" but we do place a higher value on what that person is or what they have in order to include them in our church. What I feel like that basically says is "if you fit into the church than you have a valid faith." Putting prerequisites on faith is troublesome to me because it severely limits how our collective faith can grow and be challenged. It also doesn't seem very nice. What if instead the church said to people, "your faith is valid because you are_______and you have_______and God loves you for it. Come on "in" and tell us your story. Whether we know it or not we all have a relationship with God, a bit of faith, something to give us enough hope to wake up in the morning. We as christians, because of our basic theology should know that Christ died for everyone, all inclusive, whether you believe it or not. So why do we insist on putting stipulations on being apart of the church and having faith? Why can't the only rule for those that are "in" be that they are loved by God? Wouldn't that be everybody and isn't that the point?

I decided to share this with all of you because it is the first coherent thought that has made its way all the way out of my head since i've been here and Im excited. It shows two things. 1) that I am finally becoming comfortable enough here to think about things and 2) that I am actually learning something here!!!! I hope it makes sense to all of you. Please please please pick it apart if you want. Let me know what you think. Im down for email disscussions or what not. And if ive hit on something big here possibly some email arguments...

There is hope in Belfast my internet friends, my brain still works. Maybe its because my diploma finally came in the mail. hahahahaha.

Know that I am well and think of you often
Alex

How I am doing

I never realized how hard it would be to put down here my thoughts and feelings. Part of our jobs here is to stay connected to our communities back home and interpret our experiences. In a way this has been the most difficult thing so far. My daily experiences are going to happen whether I want them to or not. I have made the decision to be here and this is what my life is right now. The experience isn't the hard thing. The hard thing is making sense of it all and harder still is the explaining that process to others. So here's mud in your eye.

I think one of the most difficult things to come to terms with here has been the juxtaposition of abject brokeness and a general sense that everything's fine. Belfast is a modern city. If I look hard enough I can get any comfort from home I want. Many things here are nicer than at home. They have recently built a huge ferris wheel in the city centre next to city hall to attract tourism. "Developing communities" don't do things like that and Belfast isn't developing in that sense. But for me it is really hard to understand why there is a big wheel that costs 6 pounds to ride (that's about $12) or why the health care here is free, yet when I ask my young friend Dylan how his day was an emotional wall shoots up and he says "fine" defensively like I am trying to hurt him some how. I can't fit the pieces together in which there are far fewer homeless people here yet kids here, right around me, feel like they have to take drugs and drink to get on with there lives. How does a place that seems so familiar to me on surface levels create an enviornment where 16 and 17 year olds feel like suicide is the only option. These things don't make sense to me and they probably never will. This is my home now and my home doesn't make sense.

But, never fear, I won't leave you on that note. Things don't make sense, this is true, but this is the kind of thing I have been praying for. I have begged God these past few years to profoundly confuse me. Give me something to gnaw on. How else am I supposed to mull over what is worth doing in this life on this earth. The case may be right now that I'm choking a wee bit on a bite too big, but if i remain persistent then there is no reason why I won't be able to swallow all this someday. Know that I am well and that I think of you all often.

Alex

Sorry to neglect you my internet buddies but there is so much going on here in Belfast. As a treat Im gonna throw up a bunch of pictures here and now. Most are from a recent weekend getaway to Dublin. Enjoy.



This is a picture of all of the PCUSA Volunteers in Belfast with me. From left to right it is: Me, Maureen (standing), Jessica (kneeling), Bethany (standing), Sarah, and Melissa. Maureen, Jessica, and Melissa all live in the house with me and Bethany and Sarah live on the other side of town. This picture was taken at the Ulster Folk Museum. Its this Historical Village where they have taken historical buildings from their original locations and rebuilt them in one place for Folks to go see. This was the photography studio so we are doing our best non-smiling victorian picture. Note the amazing way I am holding my hat and the overpowering angle of Sarah's neck!



These are two of the neighborhood boys. Chris is climbing on my back and Daniel is the upside-down one. They are good kids mostly, except for the part where daniel kicked me right after This picture was taken. They are way excited that there is a boy in the house this year because last year was all girls who didn't enjoy being kicked apparently.



Trip to Dublin. Guiness Factory. Hand motions say it all.



Do you think i could ever possibly be as rakish as Oscar Wilde?



The River Liffey at night.



Also at night in an alley.

Well there you go friends. I know it looks like all fun and games but the truth is I only take pictures when things are fun so that's why things seem that way. Know that I am well and think of you all often.

Alex

The 174 Trust

It has been so long since I last post that I have decided to stop saying when I will put up another post because I don't always know when I will have the time. In this post I am going to tell you about one of my jobs here in Belfast. The 174, which is just down the street from our house on Thorndale Ave, is a cross-community center. Their building is an old church. The offices of the Trust are in the old manse and the classrooms have been turned into a preschool and an afterschool center. They also house various other organizations which rent space. These other organizations all have a positive influence on the community around here. I can't remember all of them. There is a boxing club for youths and offices for a homeless organization. I help out three organizations there.

My main responsiblity is two football (remember that means soccer) clubs. We play indoor football in the Trust's hall monday tuesday and thursday afternoons and monday nights we take the older boys 14-22 to play 5 a side outdoor football. Some tuesday nights we take the younger boys out for swimming or outdoor football. We don't take the younger boys out as much because we have to get parental permission. I guess you would say these are "at risk youth" but I don't really like that term. They are kids from the neighborhood around the Trust. The neighborhood is called New Lodge and is predominantly Catholic. I would use the term "rough and tumble" to describe these boys. They are pretty hard to manage sometimes but in general they are starting to listen to me because they know I can take the ball away and send them home if they muck about. They are starting to not look at me with utter disgust all the time which is a big step. My football skills are also improving quite a bit so that helps too.

I also work at the afterschool program twice a week. They call it the afterschools here. I go in twice a week and work for a couple hours so that the employees have time to take breaks and plan other things without having to deal with the kids. We play games and run about and color and do homework. Its pretty fun. The kids are good and very cute. I played battleship with a 4 year old girl named shauna (pronounced show- na, Ive been corrected several times) who doesn't entirely know her alphabet yet. She would guess things like "A-E" to which I would say, "Shauna you have to pick a letter and a number." "ok A um B"

My other job is working with the youth and junior PHAB clubs. PHAB which actually just changed its name to FACE is an organization that hosts outings and get togethers for children with all sorts of different special needs as well as there siblings. It is very fun and the kids are so joyful it is very nice to go there once a week. One of the most eye opening things I have done here is drive with Pat, the facilities manager at the Trust, to drop the kids after the meetings. We drop them off in some of the rougher neighborhoods as night falls. I have seen some very interesting things and been pretty scared a few times. But I am glad I have seen these things. They have stretched me so that I can learn more. These kids live in situations that are way intense yet when the come play with us they are always so happy. it gives me hope

Hopefully I will post some pictures of the Trust and Fortwilliam & Macrory Chruch the other place I work. Cheers till then

Alex

Cheers

Well here I am finally. My apologies for taking so long telling you all what things are like here. But there's a lot in this post so hopefully we can make up for some lost time. So here we go!!!!

This is our house on Thorndale ave in North Belfast. We live in a predominantly catholic neighborhood that is lined on both sides by protestant areas. As you can see its that common UK row style housing with common walls shared by neighbors. Its a pretty nice house. Funnily enough its a bit nicer than UCSC on campus housing. Actually a lot nicer.




This is the view either way on our street. More row houses and dreary weather. Its good that overcast santa cruz days cured me of any seasonal affect disorder. Its going to be a dark winter. The spire at the end of the road is the 174 Trust. It used to be a church but now it is an cross community center that I work at. They have tons of programs but I mostly play football with some of the neighborhood kids. Ill give you a more detailed post about my work later in the week.


I realize that I look incredibly goofy in this picture but I was trying to show you how low the door frames are here. I hit my head almost every morning before I am totally awake. The standard door here is lik 6'4"! BOOOO

There will be more posts more frequently now that I have a routine going. Im gonna get pictures of the places/ people I work with in the up coming. Know that I am well even if I am still a bit thrown for a loop about what i am doing here and things such as this. Feel free to email me and let me know how all of you are out there in the blog-o-sphere

Stay tuned...

Hello folks, Just thought I'd throw something up right quick and let you know that in the next few days I will be putting up a big post with lots of photos of where l like and where I work. Soooo stay tuned.

ALEX

PS my flatmates make fun of me because I'm picking up the accent so look forward to that when i get home!

Belfast

I've been in Belfast for a few days now and I have to say that things are so overwhelming I bearly know what to post. I live with 3 other volunteers in a house in North Belfast between a majority Catholic/Nationalist area and a mixed area. It is an amazing house, traditional red brick row housing. It is very much an urban setting. There is something that I precieve as very strange about the area that I can't quite put words to yet. Overall I am well but generally dumbfounded as to what I am taking in and seeing. Dispite the recent news of progress in the peace process here these divisions are very very deep. The word I have been thinking about most as I see the city is stark. The more I type the more mixed up I feel. I can't really articulate anything yet. Just know that I am well and covet your prayers.

ALEX

Chicago

I am in Chicago now after a long day of traveling. We've started orientation and I have met with all of the people going to Belfast with me and it seems like a really good group. It is fairly gloomy here in Chicago. Rainy and Hot at the same time. Quite a change from Sunny SoCal! I was thinking it would be cool if you all that read this could post replies to the message so I can see who my audience is. Unless of course your anonymity is important to you for some reason. Like if you want to be my mysterious wealthy benefactor. Are there any Ms. Havishams out there? (that was a Great Expectations reference for those Non-DIckens fans out there. Time to go learn some more stuff.

ALEX

Go Ride a Bike

Just got back few days form a bike tour. Ryan (college roomate) and I rode our bikes along the sonoma coast for 6days. It was insanely gratifying to ride all day and camp in the afternoons. Such a simple life compared to the everyday. I recomend it to anyone with even remote biking ability. Most of the people we saw riding were either my age or 45+. One couple must have been in their mid to late 50s and they were riding from seattle to LA averaging like 50 mi a day. We did about thirty.

I finally got my passport (I applied for it in April) and finished all the paper work to go to Belfast. Now I only need a few more things and to raise some more money. Things are finally falling into line though. Phew!

ok bye

Hello Everyone

Welcome to Alex Wirth. Completely updated. This is the most up to date place to see that I am not wasting my time in Belfast. Its new right now and there isn't a lot here because I haven't left yet! Stay tuned for exciting adventures