Nollaig

Christmas

Housemates (left to right) Laura, Sarah, Catherine, and Claire at our Secret Santa pre-Christmas party-- complete with Christmas crackers!

More of the Secret Santa festivities, featuring our mini Christmas tree, a Christmas stocking, our Christmas cracker crowns, and my reindeer slippers (one of my graduation presents from my work colleagues).

This was my first Christmas in years not preceded by exams! To top it off, the normal Irish winter of rain and rain and more rain gave way to a proper Minnesotan winter of snow and snow and freezing weather. I loved it, the snow that is. I like my white Christmases!

Remember Lord Kelvin? The Botanic Gardens became a Winter Wonderland.

Unfortunately, Irish plumbing is not equipped to handle sub-zero temperatures, and I think there were a few nights where Belfast might have even hit Fahrenheit zero! As a result of non-insulated pipes and no preparation whatsoever, Belfast's main water reservoir was completely drained by the flooding that ensued. Some of my friends reported having over 30 burst pipes in their house alone! While I was lucky that none of my house's pipes burst and that my heating continued to work, in the end I went without running water for eight days, beginning the Tuesday before Christmas and continuing until the Wednesday after it.

My friends Katie and Cameron were with me over Christmas, so my experience of water scarcity was shared with them. We made the most of our time together, however, and didn't let our situation get us down.

Our Christmas safe-haven where we spent much of our time chatting, eating tins of sweets, avoiding the bathroom, and watching "Madagascar" at least one and a half times!

Thankfully, there were a few people that were kind enough to let us use their showers and toilets from time to time--although one such friend had her entire apartment complex flood the day after we were over at her place. Also, although most shops ran out of bottled water by Christmas, we were able to find and buy enough for the three of us. Belfast City Council set up collection points where people could get water free of charge, but we never had to avail of them; it would have been extremely difficult for us to do so since we had no car. Over the course of the holidays, there were also a number of sports and leisure centers that opened their doors to anybody who needed to use their toilet and shower facilities. (You can see for yourselves: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-12094518)

As Minnesotans, the three of us couldn't quite comprehend how severe the situation was! To be honest, Irish people were not appreciative of our remarks: "But why would you not insulate your pipes? Why would you put your pipes underneath the sidewalk? Why would you put your pipes into a hole where water collects, can't drain, and then freezes?"

Despite the odds stacked against us, we had a terrific Christmas feast! I can't really claim credit for any of it seeing as I woke up at noon and the turkey was already in the oven when I rolled out of bed, but I can claim credit for the turkey itself! At my workplace, a pharmacy in North Belfast, one elderly customer took a shine to me, and when he discovered that I was not going to be home for Christmas, he made me a promise: "Tell you what, I'll buy you your Christmas turkey! How big do you need it?" He made good on his word, and the 10.5lb turkey was a fabulous centerpiece to our Christmas feast.

We made do without a dining table: turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, corn, peas, potatoes, and a platter of assorted sausages from the Christmas market accompanied by red and white wine.

A snack later on: pita bread, apricot cheese, more sausage, and humus.

The night before, on Christmas Eve, we attended midnight Mass at St. Peter's Cathedral, the same place I went last year. Again, the boys choir, the Schola Cantorum, was in attendance. They sang Mozart's Coronation Mass, and it was fantastic. The Bishop of Down and Connor presided, and after the Mass, when we were shaking hands with one of the many priests who concelebrated, Katie and Cameron explained that they were studying in Rome--whereupon the priest shouted across to the Bishop, interrupting his chat with some elderly ladies: "Roma! Roma! Roma!" And the bishop hurried over, and everyone said hello, and the priest was ecstatic, and the bishop was confused, and all in all it was hilarious and we enjoyed every minute of it.

Our gift exchange took place late Christmas day, and not only did I receive presents from Katie and Cameron (who I'm sure exceeded the spending budget we decided upon!) but I was also blessed to receive a number of Christmas packages from friends and family back in the States. Organising presents internationally can be somewhat chaotic, as I myself know. Half of my presents that I sent back home were given to the wrong people, but it's the thought that counts, right?!

My Christmas present to Cameron kept us all occupied for a good few hours

300 miniature pieces and the final result!

In a bid to escape our waterless abode for awhile, we spent one night in Jury's Inn and enjoyed all the comforts that civilisation normally gives us. (The night after we stayed there, they ran out of water!) We also treated ourselves to tapas at a restaurant in Belfast's city center. It was my first experience with tapas, and it was fabulous.

Mmm... So much food. And sangria. Do not forget the sangria.

The next day, we hopped onto a bus to Armagh in order to visit the two cathedrals there, the Roman Catholic one and the Church of Ireland one, both named for St. Patrick. We weren't surprised when the bus broke down on the way there or that, once we'd arrived, we discovered that the entire city's water was off. We figured that this was the norm for us by this point.

Mr. and Mrs. Thompson in front of the Catholic cathedral

I don't know where our photos of the Church of Ireland cathedral went (Brian Boru's burial place is there, apparently), but here is the Freemason's church. Enjoy! It is now a gospel hall, and it is positively tiny. Compare it to the lamp post there. See? Tiny.

For lunch, we were in luck. We discovered what must have been the only hotel to have running water, and we ate lunch in its restaurant, a tiny pub-like place that was playing some Charles Dickens movie on the TV. We spent the entire time guessing what it was and failed. Our failure may have been due in part to the interruption of what must have been all the people from the upstair's funeral reception, who rushed the bar at one point, all grimly dressed, all gaily chattering, all intent on alcohol... And that was our experience of Armagh.

On the day Katie and Cameron left, the water in my house started running. Of course! I spent the entire day cleaning the house and doing laundry, afraid it was too good to last....

It was a fantastically memorable Christmas, though. I hope it was the same for all of you.

Happy 2011!