My goal for May was to treat Belfast like I’m on vacation here. Instead of planning a weekend trip to somewhere else, I allocated my travel energy and budget towards exploring as much of Belfast as I could. The second half of May was just as jam-packed with fun as the first! I sniffed blooming roses in the Botanic Gardens, swayed to jazz at the MAC on a rainy day, tried Sojourn Coffee’s famous cinnamon bun, hit the Wild Thing pose at an afternoon yoga class, sipped lavender lemonade at the Belfast Continental Market, danced to a DJ set at BABBA, and demolished some punching bags and danced in a trampoline class at Challenge Training Studio. 

I’ve also taken some day trips to nearby places! There was a Grammy-nominated choir called VOCES8 doing a concert in a tiny coastal town called Portaferry. A woman from my choir offered me a free ticket, and another woman offered to give me a ride! Our drive was sunny and breezy, sunglasses and short sleeves weather. We had to cross water to get there, so I experienced my first car ferry. I was duly impressed. Elizabeth had packed an amazing picnic spread, so we enjoyed smoked mackerel, apricot cheese, wheaten bread, cherry tomatoes on the vine, strawberries, and dark chocolate.  I’m drooling just remembering it. We sat by the seaside and talked about all sorts of things. There was a workshop before the concert where they taught us some of the methodology behind the way they sing. We practiced engaging our cores and changing our resonance. We made a pretty good choir, as an audience, but it was nothing compared to what VOCES8 could do. They had a truly angelic sound, in an almost haunting way. They sang a song I knew from my choir days in Nashville, which felt like a sweet nod to my roots and my impending return. On the way home, glasslike water reflected the pink clouds above as we sped through the rural hills. It was a beautiful day, all sponsored by the kindness and generosity of others. This is what good community looks like!

At work, we’re all very aware of my impending departure. I’m a sentimental person, so I’ve been savoring a lot of lasts: last team meeting, last time leading a Zoom workshop, last coffee in the café downstairs, last time moving the bean cubes (that one I’m not sad about–refer to my earlier blog posts if you want the lore). I’ve enjoyed some special events such as a networking lunch with Queen’s students looking for a place to do their internships next year, and a visit from some American students who are interested in peacemaking and reconciliation work. I’ve also been working on some things that I won’t be here to see come to fruition, like researching and ordering a fan for the office (which gets quite hot in the summer with no AC) and arranging an office schedule to differentiate quiet and social working hours. I keep joking that I’m planting the seeds, and they’ll enjoy the tree’s shade, or whatever that famous quote is. I don’t think it’s quite sunk in that this won’t be my workplace for much longer, that I won’t be able to have an afternoon cuppa with my colleagues or walk to the Seamus Heaney Centre for a morning workshop. I’m really sad to be going; I think a job like this is really special and rare. But I’m soaking in these last moments and feeling my gratitude wholeheartedly!