Religion (and elves)

Sometimes I wish that I was Catholic. Today I went to Long Tower Church and sat on a pew, smelling the smells and looking at the crazy-beautiful altar, watching the light come in through the stained-glass windows. Several people came in and lit prayer candles; I wanted to light one, but I didn't feel quite right about it. It looks like a comforting way to pray. Just drop your 20p in the box and light the little wick, and then your prayer is no longer your problem. I took a surreptitious picture of the altar because I liked it so much.


Pretty fantastic.


I have been checking my mail every single day for the past week, and today I finally hit the mail jackpot! Not one, not two, but three (yes, three) letters. And I'm sure that no one was happier about the fact that I had mail than the man who works in the accommodation office. Here in the Duncreggan Student Village, we don't use individual mail boxes. We're much to classy for that. It works like this: every time that you want to check your mail you go into the accommodation office and ask the man who works at the desk there (who looks like he should be working in Macy's Santa Land as one of Santa's little helpers. He would be the bored elf in stripy tights and pointy, bell-toed shoes that puts the little screaming kids on Santa's lap for their annual Christmas photo) if there is any mail for you. Then you stand in suspense while he looks through all of the lovely, fat manilla envelopes and letters, looking for one that might possibly be yours. And then he will invariably say that you have nothing. But not today! No mail-rejection from the accommodation guy for me today!

Speaking of elves, I seriously contemplated skipping Irish today, but in the end I just couldn't do it. My conscience is too guilty to allow me to skip class, and I didn't want to disappoint my adorable, elven professor.