Reach Weekend away...

Escaped from Blue Coat on Friday afternoon just in enough time to get changed, grab my stuff and meet up with our Laura Piekos to journey onwards to the Reach Weekend away.

I've been going to Reach / Vine Life Manchester for about 7ish months now I think. I needed to get away from conventional Church life, where I'd end up playing on doodle jump half way through the service. It's not like I wasn't interested, but.. I wasn't captivated either. I love both my old churches' but I don't know... I guess I needed a brake.

Even though I started going to Reach because I needed a brake from my old church and a fresh start with God, It was more of a challenge than anything, all the people were really nice, but not being a student, not living in central Manchester and starting in the summer before that academic year meant that people were preparing for the freshers and conversation struggled after "im still at college, yeah im gna do a gap year, dont know what I'm gna do though." I usually don't struggle with talking to people, but I really wanted them to like me, so I was really careful, and maybe that wasn't for the best.


Either way, the weekend just gone I went on the Reach weekend away at Cefn (f)Lea, It was good. It was what I needed, long over due but I think there was a reason for that. I've been going through something with God, I don't really think my blog is the best place to describe it.. but it was something I needed, there were definitely talks from out guest speaker Santino Hamberis that bits of me needed to hear, didn't necessarily want to here, but needed to all the same.

And, though nothing Spiritual has come of the weekend. It definitely gave me a lot to think about, and I've come away knowing more people, and knowing them better. That's probably the biggest thing for me, It's given me an opportunity to get to know people, not just meet new people but to actually get the know the people I already talk to better. That's something I'm really grateful for.

DO! Check out the Reach Podcasts and here are my favourite pictures from the weekend away:

Secret Car Party..

Steph, Piekos and Me looking down on Cefn (f)Lea

Holy Doors. 

You were talkin' so brave and so sweet.

I need you, I don't need you.

I don't care much for Valentines day, I never have... I think Dwight Shrutes idea of valentines day is much more to my ideal "My perfect valentines day? I'm sat at home with 3 mobile phones in front of me fielding desperate calls from people who want to buy one of the 50 restaurant I reservations I made 6 months ago.." I don't think its because I'm "single" per-se, because I don't really feel single, its just with S being in Birmingham for the last.. forever its just, unusual. 

All in all, the end of January and February haven't been quite as sad as it might appear from the outside, stressful, what with all the goings on in Egypt and the worry about my brother and Andrea, and there has been another February death to add to the list.. but actually, It hasn't felt so bad. I've had a couple of really good weekends celebrating friends 18ths and got to see Hamlet at the Lowery with my mint Eng Lit class. There have of course been more problems 

with the past month, but I think that if we've learnt anything from that, it is don't blog about it. 

It's the reach weekend away this weekend, and that worries me a little.. I'm all up for it I think, but I'm nervous. I'm usually ok at making friends, once I feel comfortable and I'm not the new person. Like when I first went to Blue Coat, as soon as I became comfortable I made friends with ease but that wasn't until I'd been there a year. 

Then next week is half term, and so the girls meal out is taking place I think? - Sushi again because we haven't done that in a while, and then my Manchester University interview on Weds which Sam Shaw is coming down for.. I'm excited to see Sam, and half excited for the interview. Having mega fears that one of us will get in and the other won't. I hope we both get in though because we're both mint and deserve it. 

s'pretty much it.

don't wanna be getting all personal an stuff. 

gna go listen to The Streets new album, as reviewed by Julez. It's sounding good so far. 

God Bless L x

Rad Pitt.

As most of you are aware, the past week has been stressful for my family to say the least. Tom (aka, @Tom_el_rumi as he his seemingly more widely known) my oldy brother has been stuck in Cairo during the protests. I say stuck, rather he was reluctant to leave, as any journalist would be when the country they report on so frequently is mid revolution.

I don't have much opinion on the problems in Egypt at the moment (or more, the problems with Egypts government.) Me, my mum and dad have sat up endlessly for nights watching Al Jazeera England with brakes only to watch neighbours. I have spent hours when I should have been doing work at college trying to get in touch with Tom and checking twitter for the latest news in Cairo. More recently, spending my time reading up on what my brothers, and the press have written on it. The one conclusion any sane human could make is that its so shocking Mubarak is holding it out, watching his 'motivational' speech last night made me want to punch him in the face, and today when the pro-Mubarak supporters road into Tahrir square on camels and horses injuring many of their fellow Egyptians, that made me want to kick him in the face. After blocking out the whole internet in Egypt (which, to record has never been done to the scale of this size) there is once again a struggle to get the sufficient information out, but seemingly, Egypt will not stop.

"Mubarak had convinced many with his bravura performance that democracy was coming, the revolution was over and -- with food and fuel running short -- it was time to get back to normal. 

In what appeared to be a coordinated plan, immediately after the speech was broadcast, thugs began to tussle with protesters in Alexandria and other cities.  

State television blasted patriotic songs and images of Mubarak superimposed over a map of Egypt. Groups of pro-Mubarak youth appeared on some roads around Tahrir."

http://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFTRE7117HA20110202

I think it's hard to read that and not be angry.

However, on a much more pleasing note, both Tom and his girlfriend Andrea have both made it out of Cairo and are waiting it out in Istanbul, and as my grandpa put it "What luck to be there as an eyewitness!!!" Let's just hope Mubarak hasn't won, the people of Egypt have stood strong, and the way they have formed a united front is something I fear England would never be capable of. 

Do check out my brothers blog about the Egyptian Protests and his photo stream from the past week at:
Www.experimenthol.com 

Like I said, I don't really have much to say about it, except its about time Mubarak left. Check out the links I've put up.

Keep Egypt in your prayers, God Bless, L x

#Jan25