Baking at Belvedere

Monday April 20, 2010
Dublin Day #6

Written by Johnny Carey, Marty Brown, Brendan Wright & David Paradela

We started the new week by meeting at the swimming pool at 8:45am, but only a few brave souls went in. The rest of us headed to the canteen to finish our homework (reading two stories from Dubliners by James Joyce). After the swim, we were given a presentation by teacher Ger O’Sullivan on a community service project in Lourdes, France . About 12 Belvedere students go there every year to assist sick or dying people and keep them company. It was inspiring and interesting to hear stories about the healing powers of Lourdes. After the presentation we all attended a morning class at Belvedere. The students were split up into groups in order to experience geography, physical education, and English classes. After class, we came back to the lecture hall and saw a video about teacher Simon O’Donnell’s trek to the South Pole. He went with a large international group, including a blind friend, on a brave seven week journey. It was a tough race and he almost was forced to quit because the frostbite on his hands and face was so bad. After some Q & A with Simon, Father Bruce Bradley from Clongowes’ Wood, S.J. came in to speak to us about the life and impact of James Joyce.
Fr. Bradley knew most everything about Joyce, and was clearly an expert on his life. He talked about the Jesuit connections in Joyce’s life and literature. After the lecture, we had tea and then lunch in the canteen. From there we went to the old school kitchen and refectory for a fantastic Irish cooking class with Susan McNamara.
She gave out aprons, ingredients and recipes for tea and scones. Some of the scones came out really tasty; however, others were burned. The cooking was really fun, and we kept the recipes for scones and soda bread to make for the family when we get home. She showed us the traditional way to eat these treats by putting butter, jam, and whipped cream on the scone. We ate the scones with more tea, Irish soda bread and three varieties of Irish cheese, which was delicious. In the afternoon, several B.C. High students went to the Belvedere championship rugby match against Clongowes Wood, another Jesuit boarding school up in Clane. Many players were injured in the match including Jack O’Nee’s host brother, who broke his collar bone (for the third time). Belvedere ended up losing 10-9 in a close, well-fought battle. At the end of the day, it was another fascinating experience in Dublin. Tomorrow, we are looking forward to seeing Macbeth at the Abbey Theatre. Finally, the news says that airports in Ireland, England and Scotland will be reopening tomorrow after 5 days of closures due to a huge cloud of volcanic ash in the atmosphere. Good news.