Okay first things first... apologies. I am aware that this is not the most well maintained webblog in the history of the world or indeed WIP. I guess this proves that all the past WIPpers are right when they declare that a summer on the Program will be the busiest summer of your life (unless you're on Management Team and then it gets even more hectic). Anyway I hope to update you on what's been going on in my Washington World over the last few weeks and pledge to start adding more entries and stop making so many excuses.
So I am now 21 and life has just got a lot easier as the bouncers in DC bars are now a lot friendlier towards me. Sometimes they still wish me a happy birthday even though it was two weeks ago, which definitely didn't happen when I turned 18 at home. This may have something to do with the fact that - in my keenness at being legitimately allowed to be there - I'm practically throwing my passport at them. My 21st birthday in DC was the highlight of my second week and will probably be one of my fondest memories of the whole eight weeks (even though my cake wasn't the biggest in the world). This was the first birthday I've ever spent away from home and my host family (including the Bamford), coworkers and fellow WIPpers really rose to the occasion and again I'd just like to say: Thank You. We had ice cream, cocktails and literally took over a dancefloor in Bethesda, which resulted in some very bemused locals. The Class of 2008 and (certain members of the Management Team 2008) can really dance!
There are two moments in my third week in DC that really stood out for me. Firstly, on Thursday 26th June my placement supervisor Michael took me to the Basilica of the Shrine to the Immaculate Conception, which has chapels containing statues of the Virgin Mary from different countries around the world such as Africa, Poland, Ireland, India, Austria and Vietnam. Secondly, on Saturday 28th June we went to Hemlock for outdoor team building exercises, which, although I am definitely not an outdoorsy type, I really enjoyed. It may seem that these two places could not be more different (for instance, I walked around the Basilica on my own and in Hemlock I was part of a ten-person dream team) but when I was reviewing the week I was struck by the fact that I enjoyed both these experiences immensely for basically the same reason.
Whilst I walked around the Basilica I was not only struck by its beauty but by the fact that the Catholic faith is something that manages to link people across the world who have very different experiences of life. I have always felt that community is a very important part of being a Catholic but being in the Basilica made me realise in stark visual terms (as Mary was portrayed as being of every race imaginable) that this community is much, much bigger than I can easily comprehend. It does not stop outside the parish of Seapatrick or the chaplaincy at UCD and I think that’s an important lesson to learn.
Likewise, one of the main reasons I really enjoyed Saturday at Hemlock was that it gave me an opportunity to hang out with some people on the Program that I haven’t spent as much time with, such as those WIPpers outside my Management Team and the South African SAWIP students. Sometimes as we attempted to formulate a plan of how to complete a task it became clear that we all have different ways of doing things but that we could harness our different skills to work more effectively as a team. I know it has been said before in much more eloquent ways but Saturday made me realize that although we are a group of very different individuals WIP is a community also.
As I get older and wiser (I am 21 now after all) I think I’m being to realize the importance of being willing to take an active role in the communities you are a part of and last week really emphasized this point to me.
