Categories: uncategorized
Date: 15 January 2006 06:54:08
Eating has featured rather prominently this weekend. Always good.
Paddington is another interesting Sydney suburb. Like Newtown, it was once very working class, but has since undergone gentrification. Now boutique and chain fashion stores, as well as many cafés and restaurants line the roads. There are also a number of beautiful Victorian terrace houses which have undergone renovation and restoration.
The day started at the 10am Mass at St Francis', where a friend from Ship of Fools was cantor (the choir is, like many others, in break over January). A beautiful service, as always, there. The parish is in the care of the Franciscans, and has benn since 1879. It is a beautiful parish visually, though they are having problems with white ants unfortunately.
After Mass I met two other shipmates who were at the back of the parish (one, the Curate of Wibsite fame, and the other a parishoner at St Francis). We got to meet various other parishioners and the Director of Music. After that the Curate, the cantor and I went to have coffee.
We then had a lunch Ship Meet at the wondrous Paddington Inn. Six people from the Ship were in attendance, including an Australian who is living in the Solomon Islands and is a deacon in the Anglican Church there. We also got to meet a new person who braved her fears of meeting weird people from the Internet and came along. It was a wonderful meet, with plenty of laughter, discussion, more laughter, more discussion, and general all round good fun. It was also interesting to learn a few things about life in Honiara: priests in the local language are Mama; deacon are referred to as "Deacon": you lose your name in the eyes of the community; and people are called by their profession, e.g. once you become a mother you are referred to as mother. Very interesting.
The food is great there, and I had a very delicious fish and chips while we talked.
Another very pleasant day.