WIP moment #6:
This was the moment I think I fell in love! On my third Sunday in DC, I took a trip out to Chevy Chase to a fundraiser for an independent cinema, which was being held in the lovely McManuses’. On our way back, myself, Neal and Laura swung by Bethesda with the aim of attending the elusive “Soccer Sundays”. It being cancelled, we roped a few more WIPers into the ranks and hit the local Starbucks to avoid the approaching thunderstorm. I don’t believe that Baristas often share the burden Bartenders bear in emptying their respective watering-holes, however it was made pretty clear to us that we didn’t have to go home, but we couldn’t stay there. So, we faced back into the open-elements, which had, by now, settled. I took leave of the rest, and made for the metro. It was about nine thirty on a Sunday evening. The traffic was light, the sky was sketched in a post-conflict auburn, and the air clung to a fresh balminess. The wide, tidy street of Bethesda was glistening after the rain, reflecting the streetlights and the setting sun, and everything, myself included, just felt in its proper place. It was at that moment that I think I fell in love with Washington.
WIP moment #7:
“I have faith in the spirits of my continent” – Rosalind Elphick, SAWIP Class of ’08.
I hope Ros doesn’t mind being quoted here, and I’m not even sure if she remembers saying these words, but I remember them well. Faith, and the act of finding it, has been a constant, mainly silent, theme which has played on my mind for much of my time in DC this far. I have been brought up a Catholic, and I’m very content with my religious beliefs. I have faith in God. It is finding faith elsewhere that troubles me. This is why, when Ros, after telling us of all the major problems facing South Africa, and the African continent as a whole, was still able to speak of an innate faith in her continent, and its ability to heal itself, it was all I could do to hear her. Faith manifests itself in many different forms on the WIP team, whether that be in God, in politics, in the judicial system, or in humanity. I have struggled, and I dare say still struggle, to find a resilient faith in any of these things, solid enough to snub out the flame of fear that burns for my countries future. I believe that the Irish society is standing upon a precipice. Already, there are fissures that are literally causing the ground beneath our feet to crumble. Suicide, road traffic accidents, gang-violence, these things are destroying my generation. The threads that once bound communities together, and contributed to the strength of our social fabric, have come loose. Our economy is facing a recession, and we are told we must diversify, become a knowledge economy, keep ahead. We are already running to stand still, and if we cannot find a solid footing among the rough terrain we face, then we will never be able to project ourselves forward. We must address the core issues of what shape our society is going to take on, cement the foundations upon which we will build a future. The biggest fear I face right now is how we will achieve that. But, it has been said to me before that the only thing stronger than fear is faith. Faith breeds hope, and so I am going to invest my faith in my fellow WIPers. Sen. Obama is renowned for his “Yes, we can” attitude. He puts his faith in the American people, all 300 million of them or so. I am not investing in quite as many shares, there are only 26 of us, but then again, I’m not asking for the White House as my dividend, all I ask for is faith.
