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?"