I'm not in Ireland yet. I have been accepted, I've booked a one-way ticket to Dublin, and I'm working on getting a visa. But I am still in Ohio.
Come July 12 I will be working and staying at the Corrymeela Community in Ballycastle, Northern Ireland (
http://www.corrymeela.org/). What will I be doing? Good question. I could be working a reception desk, peeling potatoes, making beds, or conducting evaluations on their intervention programs. It's all up in the air, and most likely I will be doing all of that at some point in time. I'm going to approach it with an open mind and few expectations. Whatever I will be doing, it will benefit the community and the mission it strives for--peace. If I remember that, even the dirtiest and most menial work will seem worthwhile. And I'm looking forward to some manual labor after seventeen years of school!
I have created this blog with the hopes that I will have semi-regular access to a computer in Ireland so that I can post updates for all to read. I would love to send out daily emails to all of my friends and family, but I doubt I will be given free reign of the computers to spend that much time. So while this may be less personal, it will probably be more regular. But please still send me emails! I want to know what's going on here in the states or wherever you are. I will reply. Just give me time.
My posts should fill you in on what I am actually doing and what I think of it all. Hopefully I will be able to post pictures so you can catch a glimpse of the beautiful place I will be living. (I'll try to post some before I leave.) I will also give accounts of the side trips that I hope to take. At some point friends will be in France, Cork (Ireland), Bangladesh, India, Spain, and Jerusalem, and hopefully we will see each other.
