Hemlock
On Saturday morning the WIP team and the SAWIP team headed off to Hemlock team building / outdoor activity centre. We were split up into different teams and went about doing different challenges in a wooded area about an hour from D.C. It was all about team building and overcoming challenges, that sort of thing. The challenges were great fun and we all helped each other out. Having the South Africans with us proved an interesting addition. Until now I hadn’t really had the time to get to know them and since we were all in an informal setting, people felt relaxed and eager to have a laugh. From there we went to the house of a great friend of the program Hugh o Hara. Hugh and all his family were great hosts and had a BBQ for us and let us use their swimming pool. As the evening closed in we got the bus back to D.C. and had some fun on the journey. We have spent over 3 weeks together now and I think we are now starting to become more comfortable in each others company and the team seems to be bonding well. The SAWIP team adds a bit of spice to the mix with their humor and their personal views. Today will definitely go down as one of the most enjoyable days so far.
Mt Lebanon Baptist Church
This morning the WIP team and the SAWIP team went to Sunday service at Mt Lebanon Baptist Church. Not your usual Sunday service. This was very different. A relatively small church but the congregation sure knew how to sing. They sang songs the whole way through the service and we joined in or clapped along to participate. Thami from SAWIP spoke very well at the end of the sermon and the congregation was really pleased with his words. Afterwards they had lunch ready for us and what a lovely lunch it was. Some of our group then sang some Irish songs and did us all proud with their musical abilities. I went with a group of the lads to the Chris Joyce and Phil Allister’s house where we watched the soccer final between Spain V Germany. Chris and Phil’s host mom Lenore made everyone feel welcome and it brought to a close a very exciting, eventful and memorable week.
