Heading Home

After just a couple of hours of sleep we packed up in the vans and headed off to the airport. We had to leave early since some of he guys had earlier flights than our group. We checked in at the airport and sat and had breakfast. After saying goodbye to the rest of the team, Casey, Mark, Clint and I headed to our gate to wait. Casey and Mark decided to stroll around the shops since we had about an hour and half before our flight left. Clint headed off to the bathroom and I happened to head an announcement over the PA. "THIS IS THE FINAL CALL FOR FLIGHT XXX TO NEWARK. THE GATES WILL BE CLOSING." I grabbed the bags and started for the gate. Clint came running out of the bathroom and we bolted to the gate. We had no idea where Casey and Mark were. I ran back to the corridor and was able to see Mark and Casey strolling along enjoying themselves. They finally caught me jumping up and down and realized something was up. I guess they board the planes an hour early here rather than 30 minutes. Whew!!!

We landed in New Jersey and was considering grabbing a taxi and heading down to Ground Zero or Times Square during our layover. Considering our close call on the last flight - and the fact you are reading this... we chose just to stay at the airport.

Winding Down

I ended my last time with the guys Friday night. We started off a bit better with a fire call just a few hours into the shift - burnt toast. That night we had a real burner...in a dumpster. Yep, that's what I did. I was fortunate to experience some of the wonderful youth population of Belfast when a fight between the two neighborhoods (Catholics/Protestants) took place outside on the main street in front of the fire station. Just a lot of yelling and throwing rocks at each other. After I went to bed - I guess they got tired of throwing the stones at each other and put one through the fire station office window.
Even before I came I was told countless times about the traditional fish and chips meals they have. I think the team went out several times during the mission but I always seem to miss it... So the guys decided to make a special trip in town to get me a sample. I did my best but there was no way I was able to finish it all - the rest of them cleaned their plates completely.

After shift we headed back to the cottages to get settled back in. Since there was guys on shift every night, there was a lot of bed shuffling going on throughout the week. The guys were all discussing which beds were empty when I - accidentally! - placed my bag on one of the beds to pull out my computer. That started a whole ordeal about me (unfairly) claiming my bed. I retreated and went to take a shower. When I returned I found all my luggage wrapped in plastic on the bed with a plate of cookies - needless to say I slept in a travel trailer outside that night.

Saturday we had our final breakfast back at the golf course - still didn't get to swing a club. At the end of the meeting one of the Ireland firefighters said he had accepted Christ earlier that week. This turned out to be one of the guys impacted 2 years ago when the team came and saw how much he needed Christ when the guys returned this year. Ian told me he was one of the guys no one thought would soften - he was blown away and very encouraged. Later that evening, we headed to a church for a worship service. I had to sit out for Pete's message with a coughing spasm - maybe it's tuberculosis. On Sunday we went to church and had a final gathering with all the people involved that night back at the Firefighters for Christ headquarters. It was a good time of sharing and saying goodbye.

John was starting to feel a bit depressed so he sought out some victims to boost his ego. We prayed for him that night - he's feeling much better now - the gal still is in therapy.


With that it all came to an end. We got back to the cottages about 11pm - had to pack up and get ready to leave at 5am. I tried for about an hour trying to get the computer to upload the video and photos but it wasn't working and I finally had to give up and head to bed.

Last Night at the Firehouse

This is the crew I worked with and a special note to my daughter, Ashlyn...

Embedded in Belfast

Besides the early fire call - we ended up without another call that night. The guys are starting to really appreciate my time with them (they are getting some good sleep). I had the choice of heading back to the cottages for the day and rest or hang out with Ian until our shift that evening. While rest sounded nice - it was nice to spend the day one on one with Ian and his family. We left shift a bit early to go pick up his wife from home and drive her to work at a bank in town. Then it was back to the house and hang out with his two kids during the day.

While life certainly has it's differences considering our two cultures - we found that work, kids, and marriage pretty much are the same. We were able to take a short drive up into the surrounding country to overlook the city.

Tiredness did creep in later in the day - Their dog had the right idea...

Jay got a chance to come by and hung out as well. Jay was with Ian two years ago when FFC was here last time. We packed up the kids and the dog (the dog just hops in the back) and went back in to town to pick up Ian's wife and then back to work for my last shift.

Let the Sun go Down in Belfast

After completing the day shifts with the guys, myself and a small group had the chance to jump back into some of the scheduled events. On Thursday, a small group got to head out into the green wonderland for a round of golf. I, on the other hand, missed the golf bus because I was eating a quick breakfast - then headed out to another event - a breakfast. I know, once I thought about it, it didn't make sense to me either. Afterwards, we headed down to Lisburn and visited their Fire Headquarters. Here we are in front of their building by a statue which looked like the firefighter's version of the Heisman Trophy. If that doesn't make since you'll have to Google it...

Of course since we were heading back to the fire station for our evening shift we were required to wear our uniform...a pattern I was unaware would continue for several days. The guys back at the station decided to delight my taste buds with a traditional Scottish meal. (one of the guys was from Scottland - and no one could decided what a traditional Irish dish was) They called it "Haugus, Nips, and Tauties" which roughly translated to Haugus, Turnips, and Potatoes. To spare you the trouble of looking up Haugus (which I don't even know if I spelled it right) it is multiple selections of meat, mixed in with a bunch of grains and "other stuff," and stuffed into a sheep's stomach and cooked... yep.

Since our station is right next to the Firefighters for Christ building we were able to run over to the scheduled evening event - a "quiz" Hmmm. It took some explaining to me to realize that this was a fun event for over here.

It did end up being quite fun - until our crew got called out on a fire call - yee haw...

Not bad huh... actually it turned out to be the same fire the shift before us had. Seems they forgot to put it all out. That's alright, it was Bob from Anahiem's shift...

We did make it back to the quiz just in time for dessert... I caught John visiting the table multiple times.

He kept saying he was holding it for Paul... That was after the "Jane's not here"
comment.

Where is everyone?

Sorry for the lapse of info. I was on shift during the night and spent the day with the firefighter I was with. That placed me without a connection to the internet... Kind of like driving a solar car without the sun. So, It may take me a bit but I hope to catch up.

Doing it....Northern Ireland style

I finally hit the days I was scheduled to be at a station. I was scheduled to work the Red Watch at the Westland station (pronounced wes-lun) in downtown Belfast. Their day shifts are 9am-6pm (9 hours) and their night shift 6pm-9am. (15 hours) They'll work 2 day shifts in a row and then two night shifts followed by two days off. I discovered the daily schedule looks something like this.... morning tea - followed by "elevenzies" (scones with tea) at 11am, lunch is 1pm (with tea) and afternoon snack (cake and custard with tea) I haven't told anyone but I don't really like tea...

My station has a single "pump" (fire engine) with 5 guys. After our first round of tea another crew showed up with a "vema" (ladder truck) and offered to take me up to look around. Not a bad view from 33 meters up (I have no idea how high that is - I just smile and nod)

They also host a type of training camp for kids who have gotten in trouble with the police. They said I looked "important," I said "I am" ( I just wanted to quote scripture to them - right?)

The guys also took me through a drive around the city and tried to explain the history... The city has a "peace wall" which helps keep the sides out of trouble...

They also had me go through some confined space training. Let's just say I got "confined"

We didn't have any scheduled activities in the evening so we headed back to the cottages to get to bed early - yippee! But we did get a treat after a storm passed through