Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Potatoes?

I realize I haven't updated in a long time, which is odd considering that this week I had more free time than last. But this week I chose to use my free time for napping!
This week I was on kitchen duty, hence the title. No, John, I did not spend all my time peeling potatoes--they come already peeled! I did spend an entire morning dicing a two gallon bowl of potatoes! They made great potato leek soup. Working in the kitchen was nice because I was off after dinner, giving me some free time. While in the kitchen I was also able to space out sometimes while doing some mindless chopping or washing. Every now and then you need a little mindless activity to keep you sane. The kids this week were also a little challenging, I think. It's hard to stay mad for too long, though, when you think about where they come from and the trials they'd be dealing with if they weren't here for the week.
And now for some photo updates....

Thursdays (the end of our programme week) are when all the volunteers head over to the Central pub in Ballycastle and enjoy some adult beverages together and sing some karaoke. Here a "friend" and I make a toast to Ireland (names withheld to protect the guilty ;)).

A group of international volunteers singing along to some karaoke. Fun times. Marian sang her first karaoke song that evening. History was made with "Like a Prayer"!

More singing. I can't name them all, but all in the picture are pretty much volunteers at Corrymeela. We were just engaging in some healthy community building. Good (and safe) times were had by all. TTFN!

Thursday, July 20, 2006

First week done!

Look! It's me! And if you look closely, you can see the Club Orange in my hands (with real bits of orange!) and the ferry in the background. This was taken (by Voite) in Ballycastle when we walked to town to explore. During our first visit, we all kinda fell in love with Club Orange. This was my first Club Orange since my return. I was hoping to have one on the plane, but they had Fanta instead. Check out the gorgeous weather and the sunburn on my arms. That's right. Sunburn in Ireland. I didn't even bring suncream with me.

Some things are surprisingly similar here, and some things are remarkably different. Like sinks. Some are normal-sized, but look at this one! Tiny, and the water temperatures are ALWAYS separate.

Here's some scary news for my mother (who's already worried about me returning to the states). I have been told that the long-term volunteers have a tendency to couple off while they are here. During one year, four couples met at Corrymeela and ended up getting married! Crazy! Let it be known that Marian is not here to meet her future husband. Done.

Today the groups left. We've cleaned the house and evaluated our week. Now we're off until Saturday. We'll make ourselves dinner tonight, have a pint or two at the pub, and get some good sleep.

I'm having a great time. I'm learning a lot about Irish culture, how it's different from my American upbringing, and how I can adjust to fit in but still be true to myself. I have completely exhausted myself, but I feel good. Comment, email...I'd love to hear from you! Email is mlhoman02@yahoo.com for now.

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

"Work"

In Ireland, work isn't quite work. I am here to volunteer for a year, but before I can even get to September, I'll be taking three weeks of holiday! I'll work for two weeks, then take a week off, work for two weeks, then take two weeks off! This may make me sound lazy, but it's actually quite necessary. When we are working, we are working hard, even if that means playing hard.

Before I left for Ireland, most of you asked me what I would be doing while I was here. My answer was, "whatever they tell me to do!" That is still true, but now I can give you a better idea of what that means. This week I have been assigned to the rec team. This means that Iulia, Christian, Voite and I plan activities for the two different groups who are here to do. This week we have a group of kids who have moderate to severe asthma, alergies, or skin problems. They come here with volunteer nurses from the UK so that they and their parents get a break. The other group is a group of mums and their kids from Belfast. Half of the mums are Catholic and half are Protestant. They live on opposite sides of the "peace wall" in Belfast which separates the two communities. They meet regularly to help form links between the two communities. Both groups are here for a holiday, which means I feel a bit like a summer resort worker. The center director and I had a wee bit of a talk about this. It's true, in the summer this place is a place for holiday. But the groups we host do great work throughout the year. And in some cases, it may be hard to find a place for an integrated group to get away. It's helpful that Corrymeela welcomes these groups with open arms year after year.

So the rec team helped to set up a huge treasure hunt for the Belfast group. It took them two hours to find all the clues and do all the activities to earn their puzzle pieces of the map that led them to the beach where they found their treasure--ice cream! There's another huge cultural difference. It's summer here, and actually gets fairly warm--80 degrees F--but the water is not much above 5 degrees C. That's above freezing, but not by much! The kids love going to the beach and into the water. I don't get it. It's freezing! I put my feet in, and it HURT! It wasn't just cold, it was painful. So I don't go in the water. Tonight we are having a special dinner with all of the volunteers, then I might be going camping. That could be interesting.

I'm learning alot about Northern Ireland, working with people from Northern Ireland, and about myself. Don't fear--it isn't all work and it isn't all play. Keep the comments coming! I miss you all!

Friday, July 14, 2006

I'm here!

No more can my posts begin or end with "but I'm still in Ohio" cause I'm in Northern Ireland! It honestly didn't really hit me that I was leaving the States for an entire year and going to Ireland until I got on a bus in Dublin to go up to Belfast. You'd think it would have hit when I was buying a plane ticket or packing for Irish weather or, I don't know, getting on a plane with Irish flight attendants! But no, it didn't really hit. Of course, when I got on the plane I was more worried about my upset stomach than the destination of the plane. Bummer, yes.
But now I am here and well. My host family picked me up in Belfast and took great care of me. They live in east Belfast practically out of the city. The picture here shows the view from their porch.
I met several of their friends and their two daughters. The father, David, works with the agricultural businesses in Northern Ireland, which meant that he and I could talk farming. He was very interested to learn that I grew up on a dairy farm. Some of their friends run an open farm and were also interested. My host family was very considerate to let me take a "bit of a sleep" in the afternoon and to let me "lie in" the next morning since I was still "shattered." This morning David cleaned out his "boot" so all of my "cases" would fit and we left to drive to Corrymeela. We stopped to have a picnic lunch by the beach before ending up at the Center. (As you can see, I'm learning a bit of Northern Irish lingo!)
Since arriving here I have been mauled by an OWU chaplain, taken a bit of a tour, met a million people whose names I won't remember, and taken a walk to take pictures of what has changed since I was here over a year ago. My Ireland teammates may recognize some of these shots.

This photo shows the view of the city of Ballycastle from behind the building I am currently staying in. What a horrible view to wake up to every morning, huh? ;)

This photo is a view into the "Golden Garden" which my teammates and I worked on in May 2005. We tore out giant bushes to chop into firewood. This shot should look especially familiar to Adrienne.


Here's a shot of the campsite area that we stacked firewood in last year. Anyone remember the special "site of reconciliation?"

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Ohmigosh ohmigosh

I am almost to the point of panic, but not yet. I have eight days to prepare for my departure. Within these eight days I will:
Celebrate the 4th of July with friends
Possibly take the GRE
Help put together binders for a university program
Play Dr. Smith in racquetball
Select grad schools with Dr. Leavy
Attend a "farewell" dinner for me at a Mexican restaurant
Attend a private farewell dinner at a Spanish restaurant
Say good-bye to all my friends in Delaware! *tear*
Pack up my room in Bashford and move home
Attend my friends Eric and Maria's wedding (and read during the ceremony)
Attend my nephew's baptism in Cincinnati
Hopefully receive my new laptop, and then program it and transfer files
Cancel my cell phone
Buy a Eurorail pass
Exchange dollars for Euros and British pounds
Buy traveler's cheques
Pack up all of the worldy possessions I will need for an entire year
Totally doable, right? We'll see. It may very well be that the next time I post, I will be in Ireland!