The Friday before last, I participated, on Catriona’s invitation, in the World Day of Prayer. Catriona had been asked to bring a couple students who could read during the service. So she, Colleen (a student) and I dutifully participated, representing Catholics and youth (we were by far the youngest participants!) The event was held at St. Ninian’s Free United Church, about a half hour walk from our house. I had never been to the church, and inevitably got lost on the way there. I had the good fortune, however, of stopping a lady on the street who was actually headed to the same event! When I asked her for directions, she said I could just follow her to the door. The service went well and Liam behaved perfectly (if only he would stay so quiet at Mass on Sundays – we are told every week that he should join the choir!). He was doted over afterwards by many an admiring lady, and lapped up the attention with characteristic charm.
Once all the admirers had cleared out, Catriona, Colleen, Liam and I pilled into the car and went to lunch, stopping to pick up Christy on the way. We had a lovely time at The River House, a new discovery for me – I hope to return with Brendan one of these days.
The next evening we went to a birthday party for Paola, German’s girlfriend (German is in Brendan’s program and was his roommate before I came to Stirling). They made traditional Columbian food: arrepas and chicharrones and other things of which I now forget the names – all delicious! We also made some new friends – a Venezuelan couple living in Glasgow. The three South American women at the party terrorized me by telling stories of all the crazy things that bad guys on motorcycles do in their countries. My desire to see that part of the world wavered slightly, but they did assure me that if we ever wanted to visit, they would be more than happy to look after us. German also offered a word of comfort, saying that he has lived in Columbia his whole life and never once been killed! Paola then showed me all kinds of photos of a beautiful national park in Columbia she and Germane had recently visited. We may make it there yet…
Sunday, March 6th was Liam’s half birthday. I really can’t believe our little guy is already half a year old! It sounds cliché to say that (people are always not-believing-how-quickly-time-flies) but it’s true: I just can’t believe it! My newborn can play with toys and eat vegetables and sit on his own… how is this possible?! A few days after Liam was born, Patrick (my 6-year-old brother) asked Brendan if Liam could “go on his bum” (i.e. sit). Brendan said no. “Well, does he play?” No. “Does he talk?” No. “Then… what does he do?” “He does lots of things!” replied Brendan. “He can sleep or not sleep; he can poop or not poop; he can cry or not cry. And he can do combinations too. He can sleep and not cry, or he can not sleep and cry, or he can not sleep and not cry.” Patrick seemed only mildly impressed. But things have changed, Uncle P! Now Liam has nailed playing and going on his bum. Not quite at the talking stage yet, but that will come (although he does try – I think he’ll take after his dad in that department)!
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| My dad's reaction to this photo: "Look at those skinny legs!" |
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| Liam on his bum! |
The next day, we went with a few members of the Catholic Society to Durham, a small city in Northern England. Peter Cardinal Turkson (President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace) was giving a talk there on the social doctrine of the Church, and Fr. Kenneth had gotten tickets for a group of 10 to attend. The drive to Durham and back was long, but I think we all enjoyed the day. Durham is a lovely city, similar to Stirling. It boasts a beautiful cathedral, a castle, and a university. It also has quite a nice downtown area, which we enjoyed walking through before dinner. The talk was at 7:30pm, so we didn’t make it home until very late.
Friday was a quiet day. In the evening we shared dinner with our friends Johanna & Alex, and their little girl, Zoia.
On Saturday we had an Italian night at the presbytery. On Brendan’s request, Fr. Kenneth taught us how to make supplì and a couple other Italian dishes. Brendan was pumped about the supplì. He had eaten loads of it when he lived in Rome but had not tasted it since. “I’ve been trying to learn how to make supplì for eight years!” he said with classic Brendan enthusiasm – as though his chief concern for the past eight years has been to learn to make deep fried risotto balls stuffed with mozzarella! The quest is over: Brendan now knows how to make supplì. After gorging ourselves with these little handfuls of deliciousness, we enjoyed pasta and wine and a good old fashioned dance party (Fr. Kenneth kicking off the latter part of the evening with We Will Rock You – of course).
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| Carlos polishing off the Penne alla Vodka |
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| Brendan insisted I put this picture in the blog: The First Miracle, Cana Wedding Wine (with a cheesy picture of Jesus on it - apparently it actually came from Cana!) |
Yesterday was quite ordinary (except that I went to bed at 7:30pm, which I consider an extraordinary accomplishment!). And that brings us to today. Which is also quite ordinary. Update complete!
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