What a busy but fun week!!! I had a few days with my mom in town which was so nice, and then hiked it up to Belfast for the SCL: Thanksgiving edition! It was so nice to see everyone again and pick up where we left off. We shared stories, laughs, food, and drinks. What you need to know about Ireland is that Thanksgiving is not celebrated here at all. They’ve more recently adopted Black Friday within the last few years, but no holiday celebration of any sort. Basically, Christmas decorations are put up right after Halloween! So for Sport Changes Life to organize something for us was really great. I loved hanging out with everyone again!
We volunteered at a homeless shelter on Thursday which was so meaningful. I love doing community service and we all had such a fun time together. The issue of homelessness was fresh in my mind as well since I had attended a guest speaker at DCU named Peter McVerry, who is a social activist for homeless people in Ireland. It is such a tough topic, but homelessness is out of control—in Ireland and in the United States. I make it a point every day to be appreciative for everything I have been blessed with, and this Thanksgiving was no exception. I was thankful we were there helping the shelter, I was thankful that the shelter existed, and I was thankful for all that I have. We went on through the day sorting loads and loads of donated clothes, shoes, and miscellaneous items into designated bags. It was definitely interesting to see the type of things people donated (haha). We even had time for a quick Mannequin Challenge amidst bags and bags of clothes!
