So, term has ended (actually it ended on the 14th) and I'm officially done with my classes here at York. Holy cow this year is going fast. I'm mostly not a fan. I have just my dissertation (yes, just).
This past week/10 days has/have been my favorite so far, and probably will be. The Thursday of week 10 was a celebration for the Catholic chaplain's 25-year priest-aversary. (Future reference: Tony.) The prayer service was lovely, but the real highlight was the ceilidh after. For all you who have no idea what this "ceilidh" business is, it's Scottish/Irish social dance and is pronounced kay-lee (yes, I know, the i's and d's and h's are confusing). Basically, it's the most fun social dance out there. Take any American social dance--your barn raising's, your polka's, your square-dancing and add 10x the amount of awesomeness. Really. My Scottish friend was very excited for about a month prior to this gathering. I was not convinced. Now I am. My new definition of happiness is a good cup of coffee in the morning, a good cup of tea in the afternoon, and a good ceilidh at night. (I have been told that this means I've acclimated and that it is a very good definition.) Enough of ceilidhing for now.
On Saturday (March 15), I left with the university chaplains for the Easter Pilgrimage. There are four chaplains and there were 7 students (1 graduated last year, 2 MA students, and 4 undergrads). Right from the start I could tell it was going to be a good group. I packed the lightest. We stopped at the Peterborough travel stop for lunch then continued to the Aylesford Priory--roughly a 4-hour drive, the same as home to Augie. Aylesford is in Kent and is where the first Carmelites settled in this country. (Clarification: the Catholic chaplaincy is run by Carmelite friars--Tony and Ged; the two other chaplains are Anglican--Rowan-- and Methodist--Rory.)
Our group got to stay in the gatehouse that was added when the priory was in private ownership after the Dissolution of the Monasteries. I shared a room (the best room, it was en suite) with my Scottish friend. For the first afternoon, we played hide-and-seek and sardines to get to know the house/each other. We also had an impromptu Bible study/game and then attended evening prayer. After dinner, we had a meeting about our schedule for the week and where we were as individuals starting out. And because no meeting like that would be complete without it, we had to share something people there would not know. Mine was that I constantly forget my sister is adopted. I only had that one ready because I think I confused one of the chaplains on the drive down and probably a couple of the others there by that point in the night by saying my sister is shorter than me, and other things to that effect. I seriously forget--I confused one of my other friends for a while. Anyway, moving on.
Sunday we attended Mass, said by Tony. Later in the afternoon we went to Faversham where we met the current prior provincial of the British Carmelites (Tony was recently elected for the upcoming term) and saw a shrine to St. Jude. After Faversham we went to Canterbury where we had dinner at Pizza Express and then took a candlelight tour of the Cathedral. The tour was absolutely amazing. It was definitely more special than being there during the day with a ton of other tourists. We saw the place Thomas Becket was killed, the space behind the high alter, and the crypt. It is high up there for best bit of the trip.
Monday we ventured into London to Wesley's Chapel and Lambeth Palace. Wesley's Chapel was cool. It was interesting to see the "place" Methodism started after learning a bit about it last year in my Religion in American Life class--although, the entire trip was a learning experience for me in terms of Anglicanism and Methodism. There was some awesome stained glass. We also looked at the museum in the basement and Wesley's house. In the museum, they had mock drawings on a couple walls for future exhibits. Exhibit planning! Woohoo! After a picnic lunch, we went to Lambeth Palace, the "house" for the Archbishop of Canterbury. We had a tour, that we couldn't take pictures during, and then chatted with a Catholic woman living in prayerful community there. Both were interesting for different reasons. After riding back to where our cars were, we managed to escape London during rush hour with a moderate amount of difficulty, but we made it back to Aylesford in time for dinner.
Tuesday we didn't have anything planned so we went to the beach. The first time in 10 years for me, which surprised my island-dwelling friends. As a complete aside, to illustrate my point that the ocean is far away from central MN, here are some distances: St. Cloud to: Palm Beach, FL-1,775 miles; St. Augustine Beach, FL-1,570 miles; Ogunquit, ME-1,527 miles; La Jolla Cove, CA- 1,943 miles; Santa Barbara, CA-1,970 miles. You get the point.
Back to the beach. It was absolutely beautiful. We had pretty much perfect weather--even for March. We had fish and chips; I ran in the ocean (so did some others, who would be quick to say it wasn't technically the ocean); I had rock, courtesy of Rory, because I've never had any, and it is very good. (Rock is candy similar to the candy used to make the big spiral lollypops in the States.) We were glared at by monstrous sea gulls. Basically, we enjoyed the sun and peace. When the clouds rolled in, we went to a beach front restaurant for coffee/hot chocolate and pastries.
Wednesday we took a tour of the priory, guided by Tony. All of the art is really good and it was interesting to hear the history of the place. That afternoon we attended an ordination for one of the friars who became a deacon. I'd never been to an ordination so it was entertaining although we were in the front row. It was conducted by the archbishop of Southwark. Here's the YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaEhDpfQ278. Fun fact: I'm in the pink sweater in the front on the left. After that we had afternoon tea and that evening we went to the local pub.
Thursday we had a leisurely morning and returned to York in the afternoon. The drive was longer this time--literally and metaphorically. A few of us in the group were invited to a friend's house for dinner when we got back, so we had a bit more time to decompress.
This is getting a bit long, so just a few observations before pictures. Some of my favorite parts of the trip were when we played CatchPhrase. It was a chance to get to know how others thought and how we interacted with each other. Plus it was time to simply have fun and enjoy ourselves. There was a bit of competition, but mostly it was amazingly fun. Second, I knew I'd have a good time, but I'm a little surprised how much I enjoyed myself. Generally, I find people trying at best when I'm with them for a long time. The past week, I actually got energy from them. I didn't want days to end. It was pretty neat for an introvert. I can't operate like that for the long-term, but I think a week every now and then is a good idea. Lastly, I've used a lot of words, and I will use some pictures, to sum up the past week-ish and tried to convey what I did and experienced. But I'm not sure that it'll be adequate. I know it's sufficient. But, to all of you who read this (especially those I was with), I want you to know it was so much more: everything was more. Not a specific adjective after more. Just more.
And now the pictures, in no particular order.
The high alter at Aylesford. It is outside and has a statue of Mary above it. The special kind of art/sculpture/whatever behind the alter has names of Mary written in Latin on it.
Various people from our group at the alter in the chapel dedicated to Joseph, whose feast day happened to be that day (March 19th). The ceramic work depicts elements of Joseph's story.
The ceramics above the door to the Joseph chapel depicting elements of Revelations.
More beach!
The ocean! It got a bit cloudy.
The gate to the cathedral in Canterbury.
I hope you enjoyed learning what I was up to and seeing a bit more of England. I know I did!
