Mail me pictures?? :)

I can't believe how long it's been since I've last had time to post... Life's been busy! Soon I hope to describe the wonderful Thanksgiving experience I had last week, my recent Myers Briggs Personality Assessment experience, and some more about what my life is like here. However, dinner cooking time starts in about 15 minutes, so it might not be today...

I do have time for a little request though... If you're bored or thinking, "how can I make Erika's day overseas?" I would LOVE to have some pictures of you lovely people... because I really like you... and I only brought 2 pictures with me (thanks in large part to Ariell...). :) The catch is, I don't have a printer here, so it would be EXTRA wonderful if you snail-mailed a picture or two... but email pictures are grand too! (Saying "grand" was very Northern-Irish of me just now...) 

Being Real... and Newcastle!

So, to be fair, here are some minor struggles I've experienced in the last few days...

• I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm homesick, but I did get to a point of missing being around people who really know me. I'm feeling better now though.
• I caught some germs... I have a little cough and a sore throat. Moderately lame... but I found a health store in Newcastle yesterday and bought some echinacea drops and I've been putting them in my tea! Mmmmmmm....
• I put the wrong Skype name on my prayer cards. If you have a postcard with my face on it (that's lying to you) and want to Skype me, try erikarjohnson. 

Here are some pictures from yesterday's Saturday adventure to Newcastle. :) 

Sea of Ireland!!

 With Mountains Too!

By the way, I LOVE this raincoat! Thanks, G&G!

I don't know this guy but he really wanted to take a picture with us... 

He'd had some choice beverages I think... It was 10 AM. 

Family, don't be alarmed. Isolated incident...

We had fish and chips, thinking it was the thing to do. 

We later found out that we should have gotten it in a different town...

These are my friends.

Here's me with my fish and chips. 

No, I couldn't finish all of that.

Yes, the grease really upset my stomach. 

Sure, it was kind of tasty. Nothing to write home about though... except I guess that's what I'm doing. 

Lecture Week 1: The Father Heart of God

Last week's lectures were all about God's character, especially His Father heart. It was wonderful. I learned so much about His love!

I was struck each day by how blessed I am to have an earthly father who has always shown me what a true father heart looks like. It's amazing how God made dads able to point their kids to Him. I love you, Daddy! :)

Similarities Between Northern Ireland and the UP

They use the plural you, "yous," here like they do in the UP! I love it. 

There is a food here called a pastie, and people (at least Americans and Canadians) seem so pronounce it wrong all the time... It's different from a UP pasty though. These pasties are a mixture of ground up potatoes, cheese, and spices (and sometimes ground meat?) mashed into a patty and deep fried. They're eaten on buns - "pasty baps!" 

It's really pretty here. :) 

Lectures have begun!!!

This week we're having actual lectures. Our speaker for the week is a pastor from South Africa, and he's been teaching us about the nature of God and His love. It's wonderful. Here are some big points that have really struck me.

• True freedom is the ability to do that which you know is right.
• True humility is the willingness to be known for who you really are. Consequently, thinking too little of yourself is not really humility, but pride. Thinking too lowly of ourselves says that our Creator didn't do a good job. 
• Conviction is specific; condemnation is vague. Welcome the Holy Spirit's conviction, and don't let the Enemy condemn you. 

On a lighter note, I realized that I'm sort of regressing in some ways... (Regressing isn't the best word... I think it reflects negatively on younger people... Don't take it that way please.) Being here is sort of like being back in college, with lectures, assignments, and community living, and many of my fellow trainees are "college-aged." It's so strange being back in this lifestyle, but kind of fun. I'm really enjoying the freedom to wear jeans and hooded sweatshirts whenever I want to. Yesterday I wore pigtails and I think this might become a habit here... I'm not always trying so hard to make my appearance scream, "I'm a grown-up!" in this atmosphere. (That's not to say that I'm not a grown-up here... oy... you get the picture.)

On an even lighter note, I had a bacon bap for lunch today. And, did you know that what we call "fruit juice" back home is called "squash" here? Now you know.

More Pictures

Here are some more pictures, so that you can all see the pretty things. 

Water under the bridge on the way into town. I think it's pretty.

Did I mention there's OCEAN outside? 

Another tree. This one's in a park. 

(Have you noticed a trend here?)

My roomies and me by the Cloughmore Stone.

A bunch of us hiked up to it on Saturday.

Panorama from near the Cloughmore Stone. 

Me!

Beautiful. (I took this one while we were climbing/hiking up to the stone.)

Pictures!!!

I finally found some time to upload some pictures so that the visual people among you can understand my life a little better. Enjoy!

This is An Cuan, the lovely estate where I live.

This is posted on the entryway to Au Cuan. 

(You maybe could call it a gate...?)

This is the first toilet I used at An Cuan. I believe it is an antique.

Please notice the flusher hanging in the top right corner. 

Don't worry, family, all of the other toilets here are modern, but this one STILL WORKS!

Be impressed. (Also, please note that the generally used term for "bathroom" here is "toilet.")

This is the cafe at An Cuan. 

Melissa (and friends), please notice the bunting.

This is a big pretty tree nearby with one of my friends standing under it.

(It's kind of hard to see her...)

Night sky panorama!!! I took this at a park down the street.

This was one of the first places I got to visit after I got off the plane. 

It's a lovely tropical greenhouse in Belfast.

(We had to stay in Belfast to pick up a student on a later flight the day I arrived.)

This is another tree I liked that is down the street from where I live.

Oh! That land on the right, on the other side of the water, is the Republic

of Ireland.