Iona, Scotland

I've been meaning to post about my plans for the end of the summer. Camp is done in the middle of August, so from August 29-Sept 10 I will be on a women's discernment pilgrimmage to the island of Iona, off the highlands of Scotland. Our Office of Campus Ministries is organizing it. There's about 18 women going, five of whom are either faculty or staff. Jennifer McKinney, my sociology prof from this past fall, is one of the faculty who's going. Bonnie Brann, the associate pastor at the church on campus is also going, along with two women from campus ministries and two other staff members. The rest of us are juniors and seniors. We meet every Thursday during the cadre hour to discuss our trip, learn more about Iona, etc. Then during the week we break into smaller groups to get to know one another and hang out a bit. We're going to keep in touch over the summer, as well. We have our itinerary and everything, which includes afternoons full of time for reflection, meditation, and solitude. We're also going to be learning more about Celtic Christianity and spirituality while we're there with the Iona Community.
The island of Iona is only about four miles around and there aren't any vehicles on the island, aside from a couple tractors. We'll be walking everywhere, including to and from the Abbey for morning and evening services. The hostel we've rented out for our group is an old white-washed farm house that sits on a cliff overlooking the sea and a sheep pasture. It actually takes 48 hours to get to the island, which in itself is an important part of the pilgrimmage and journey there. We'll be flying from Toronto to Glasgow, then taking a bus, a train, a ferry, another bus, and then another ferry to finally arrive on the small island.
I've promised to bring my flute along (not a difficult promise, seeing as it is attached to my hip) and work on some good Celtic music this summer. I've been visiting Lark in the Morning and Dusty Strings, two Celtic music stores here in Seattle, and have been talking with people there about music to use for leading worship and stuff. It's very interesting and right now is what I am the most excited about.
That's just a little about the end of my summer. There's much more, but I gotta go to bed now, so it will have to wait until another day!
Peace!