What I've been up to

I haven't been much in the mood to make blog posts lately or in general do much communication with the non-Iona world...this is due to a combination of being busy, traveling, feeling tired, and still very much searching for my own rhythm in the new life I have here. Today, I thought I would catch you all up on what I have been busy with these past few weeks.

1) A trip to Tobermory has definitely been a highlight of my time on Iona so far! A group of us went to this little town on the far side of the Isle of Mull (Iona's neighbouring island). The day was filled with treats from the local chocolate shop, tea, and a delicious lunch out. It was also pretty exciting to go to the co-op (a 'large' grocery store) to stock up on favorite food items.

 Perhaps the best part of the day was just enjoying the beautiful scenery on the drive there...

And of course our sighting of a sea eagle was another exciting moment:

2) I also celebrated my birthday last month... marking the occasion with loved ones far away over the phone and internet and also spending time with new friends in the resident group.

Here is a sampling of some of the special gifts and cards I received. I felt very loved and appreciated- thank you everyone!

On the day of my birthday, the14th, the resident group headed to Camas, an Iona Community centre on the Isle of Mull. Camas is housed in old stone fishing/mining cottages tucked in a sheltered bay. Electricity is limited at Camas, so we shared a lovely candlelit supper together and gathered in front of the fire chatting and dramatically reading Winnie the Pooh.

3) We also went to Glasgow for 10 days of staff training. I brought my camera along, but never took it out of my suitcase so there are no pictures :(. But it was a really wonderful to be in the city again with the chance to enjoy many different types of food, buildings, people, and places. I ate Italian three times, fajitas twice, and a good amount of carrot cake. After 10 days though, I was really ready to go 'home' to Iona, to have my own little space, a sort of routine, and be once again amoung the sheep and the sea!

A Little Tour

I thought I would give you all a little tour of where I am living.

Here is the building I live in. My room is on the corner of the second floor (or, if you are from europe the first floor). My window is just peeking out above the cross which is farther away from the front of the photograph.

Welcome!

Up the spiral staircase to my room:

My room:

My awesome slit window!

My closet, mirror, and handy little shelf:

My best friend....the electric heater!

Through the doors to the cloister:

The Refectory, where we eat our meals. And in the middle of the room, another good friend, the gas heater!

And into the Abbey:

Abbot's House where we do our laundry and where my office is:

Sour Cream

Imagine if you will a plate of cheddar cheese and bacon perogies, a taco, nachos, or a quesadilla. Did you automatically picture the sour white delight alongside?

If you're like me, I suppose you're salivating right now. Sour cream is incredible!

Now imagine, if you will, a year without sour cream...sound nightmarish? I've lived it before when in spain/switzerland and now once again, it seems it is to be the condition of living in a foreign country. Knowing my past experiences with missing sour cream I had even prepared myself for that before leaving Canada. At one point my friend Jodi and I spoke about creating a going away party which was sour cream themed.

Yet, I did not expect my longing to come so quickly or intensly.

The lack of Iona sour cream became aparant to me on Monday after having made Russian beet borscht and then again last night upon trying to eat enchilladas. My longing for that cold, gelatinous, creamy sour dairy product was very intense. As in the past, cream cheese came into both meals as a very temporary substitute. But I will not rest with that...my sister has provided for me a homemade sour cream recipe and its making will be my next highly prioritized goal.

What is going on

For those who may not have been told or who forget...I offer here a brief account of where I am and what I am doing.

Just five days ago I moved to the small island of Iona, Scotland (And i really mean small: 3 km long, 1.5 km wide) where I am working with the Iona Community, an ecumenical Christian intentional community. If you click on the map below and then room in, you will see that i've drawn a little arrow to show where Iona is located.

The community has several different centres as well as many members and projects spread around the world. In brief simplicity, I am living and working in the centres on the Island of Iona as part of the hospitality team. This team is responsible for the housekeeping, cooking, and generally just looking after the guests who come to stay with us on the island. 

People come to Iona as guests of the community or to visit the Abbey and island for many reasons. Some come as part of a spiritual pilgrimage, others find themselves here to visit what has now become known as one of the oldest centres of Christianity in Europe. Others come for the experience of living in community, enjoying workshops, or just appreciating the natural beauty of this little island. 

I came here to live and work for most of those reasons combined, but especially for the experience of integrating my studies, my daily life, and my work with my spirituality.

I live in the Warren, which is part of the Abbey Centre. Here is a picture of the Abbey Centre:

And now, the sheep infused view:

 

On Windows

Here on Iona, the wind can become quite ferocious as it is a small, treeless island on the sea. To give you an idea of its strength, for the second night in a row now, I have been woken up from my sleep in the middle of the night by the wind. It probably is particularly noisy because i have a very very old window which sounds sometimes as if it will just collapse in from all of the air pressure. This is what the wind sounds like (although my camera mic doesn't quite do it justice):

I was thinking the other day how it would be nice to open my window for fresh air and then i realized that was silly cause there was always fresh air coming in (again, the wonders of living in an old abbey on a windy island). Its the window that is open without being open! Still, it has some lovely views: