7 Million People in Ireland, 1 Photo Professor

Maybe the Irish are lucky, as the legend goes. We've definitely experienced enough of Irish luck to wonder if it's luck, or something bigger. Yesterday we drove all around the Connemara region, north of Galway. Beautiful rolling hills, rocky terrain and narrow little roads that afforded the left side of our car some close and personal time with the wildflowers lining the narrow roads. The timing of things continues to be perfect, along with the weather (blue skies,70 degrees with no humidity). With everything going so well, we were hardly surprised (yet greatly elated) to look over while driving past a wide spot in the road to see Pat Davison, my photography professor at UNC, grabbing a camera out of his rental car. We quickly pulled over and walked up to where Pat and his family were admiring the beautiful view of the Atlantic and had a wonderful half-hour reunion before we each continued on our way. Driving away, Rebecca and I were glowing and remarked how so many tiny things, like me pulling over for a 10-minute nap on the side of the road, had to happen in order for us to have noticed Pat and his family on the side of a remote road in Ireland. I knew he was going to be here, and hoped we'd run into him, but I feel so blessed to have enjoyed such a wonderful encounter. I still can hardly believe it. To add a sense of reality (I don't want all the blog readers to think this trip has been without its difficulties), Rebecca and I did miss dinner last night and ended up with a liquid diet of Guinness and pub crisps, as well as some doggy-like treats called Bacon Bites (with "real bacon taste"). The sun doesn't set until about 10:30 p.m. every night, and even after that it stays pretty light until 11 p.m. But we're trying to remember to eat at a normal time, like 6 p.m.

Our Steps are in His Hands

Our Steps are in His Hands Originally uploaded by nathanclendenin. Just like the road trip through Mexico last summer, it feels as if God has bestowed extra grace into every detail of the trip. Leaving London included a leisurely morning and a bus or taxi ride (unintentionally) past all the major sites we would have wanted to see, like Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace and St. Paul's Cathedral. Other little things that make big differences kept happening all day. We'd arrive at the train station to get a ride to the airport and the next train would be leaving in 5 minutes, the one after it not for another 40 minutes. Our flight to Dublin was delayed 20 minutes (I'm 4/4 on delayed flights so far!), but we still arrived in front of Trinity College to meet our hose Dave Freeburn (pictured) just a few minutes late. Dave ended up being the perfect host. He was quite chill, super friendly, and very funny. We spent the night at his flat next to the church where he serves as the youth leader. Another guest of his, Wes from Birmingham, AL was also there (random?!) and so we all got fish and chips down by the bay and then I experienced my first pint of Guinness in its natural environs (They say it tastes better in Ireland, and I think I agree. It's not totally different such that I'll never enjoy a pint again in the U.S.though). True to its nature, the Guinness nurtured conversation between new acquaintances that covered a range of topics from theology in the south to old 80's music and of course U2 (the reason we stayed with Dave was because we emailed random Presbyterian churches asking for lodging due to the fact that Bono and the crew are playing three concerts over the weekend and everything is booked. Wes saw them Friday night). The night ended with a jam session with me and Dave on guitar playing hits from Freebird to Smells like Teen Spirit. It was quite a welcome to Ireland. And whether things are working out with amazingly perfect timing or I've been delayed and in search of my bag, I will remember that my steps are in His hands.

30 hours of travel

barcelona airport At 3:30pm Wednesday I hopped in the car with my housemate Rachel, bound for RDU airport, fresh, excited and eager to kick off the trip. Arriving at the terminal, the automatic check-in did not have my information. A minor hiccup having something to do with United and US Air not communicating. So I boarded the plane and we were then informed that due to bad weather in Philadelphia, my connection to London, we had to wait to take off. I was supposed to take off at 6pm, and we didn't leave the ground until 7pm. The flight went ok although we went out of the way to avoid more weather. As we landed around 8:00pm , all of us stared out the window at a line of about 30 or more planes lined up to take off. The captain then informed us that because of a wind change all the planes were trying to get to the other side of the airport to take off, and it was a total disaster of a traffic jam. We sat on the plane, moving inches at a time, for over 2 hours until we finally reached the gate. By the time I got off the plane around 10pm my connecting flight to London had long left the gate(and was probably still sitting on the runway in the traffic jam). Because the delay was due to weather, I was informed that they would not provide lodging. I opted for a flight through Barcelona that night, which put me into into Barcelona at 2pm (local time). My flight was set to leave on British Airways to London at 6:30pm, but guess what? Delayed. So I hung out in the Barcelona Airport all day, not having enough time to go into town and enjoy a coffee at a cafe and I didn't leave until after 8pm. At this point I was getting worried that I wouldn't be able to catch any trains to L'abri since I would be getting in late. And I was also beginning to wonder if my checked bag would ever catch up with me. I got into Heathrow around 10pm, caught the last bus to the train station at Woking where I caught to last train that put me into Liss at 1pm. Rebecca and a l'abri mate Fiona met me at the train and we then walked the 2 miles to the Manor House in the dark. I was so glad to just finally "be" somewhere, and not waiting at an airport. (I'll let Rebecca fill in our time at English L'abri). After sleeping a few hours I woke on Friday to a beautiful day! I made some calls to US Air about my bag and they directed me to British Airways, whose number would not work. I was beginning to get worried about my bag, because we were leaving for Ireland today (saturday). So we left L'abri and headed to Gatwick airport to sort it out. I talked to a bunch of people, nobody seemed to know anything. I was about to leave and try again on Saturday (today), but the angel at the help desk, Mary, asked me, "Are you sure you've been helped enough?" I told her I didn't know what else to do but asked her for a different number for British Airways. She connected me to their office in the Airport where I got a new number to call, and I happened to ask her to check my lost baggage report. She said, "I've got your bag". I shouted and told her I'd be right there! So after much worry I had my bag and headed into London to meet a friend I know through the L'abri, Laura. I am at her place now with Rebecca and we're making plans to get to the airport and head off to Ireland! We're supposed to stay with a random Presbyterian youth leader I emailed after not finding anywhere to stay in Dublin due to the U2 concert this weekend. So stay tuned for that adventure and tales of driving on the wrong side of the road.

Gearing Up

I've been absent from the blog, since Rebecca got a head start on the summer travels. Since school let out in early May it seems like I've been working frantically to get ready to leave this summer. Now it's almost here and I am getting very excited. My room is a disaster, I haven't started packing and I've got plenty left to do, but it will all get done. I am very excited to see Rebecca, and visit her at L'abri for a day and meet the people she's been with the past few weeks. I am also very excited for some discussion over meals. I miss that most from my time at Swiss L'abri back in 2002. And speaking of, I ran into a worker who was at L'abri while I was there with Trevor. Her name is Joey and was in town for the wedding celebration of her old roommate, the bride of one of our church members, Andy Pennock. It's a small world. I wonder who else I will run into in the next two months?

Rebecca Off!

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I dropped Rebecca off at ATL International today. Surprisingly it wasn't sad because I'll be meeting her in London in less than three weeks! We both remarked at how blessed we are and how amazing this summer will be.

Rebecca Off! Originally uploaded by nathanclendenin

Summer Travels

Since we're both going to be all over the place this summer we figured this would be the best way to let everyone keep in touch with us. We will both have pretty regular Internet access most of the time so we should be able to update something every day or so. Both Rebecca and Nathan will be submitting posts, and you can see whose post is who's by the credit given at the end of each new post. Feel free to leave comments on our posts by clicking the "Comments" link. We'd love to hear what you all are up to as well, so please keep in touch with us by email! In the meantime, enjoy exploring the world vicariously!
-Nathan & Rebecca