"Everyone's story is a love story"

This post's title is a quote from a guy named Damien who came to Corrymeela and did a journaling workshop with us. He's a local playwright who seriously makes his living off his writing, which is pretty awesome. His daughter volunteered here a little over the summer, too. But anyways, back to the point of using the quote--I love it here.
A top ten list of the things I love about Northern Ireland.
1. The accent. Although sometimes hard to understand, always interesting to listen to.
2. The sea. Any day I want I can go for a walk on the beach. Totally awesome.
3. The attitude. Everyone's so laid back here. No worries.
4. Lack of barriers. My boss is a normal person that I could go to the pub with. At first this was weird for me, but now I really like it. It makes everyone equal with no power struggles.
5. Guinness. It's just not the same in the states.
6. Jameson. See above.
7. More public transportation. Thanks to really strict and expensive hoops to jump through to legally drive a car, tons of people just don't! Which is nice for me!
8. The immense satisfaction I get from my work. It nice to feel like you've making a difference, however small.
9. The fabulous views everywhere you go. See very early posts when I had a digital camera.
10. The people I work with. Always interesting, always something to learn.

I will only dwell on the good today, as I have had a pretty amazing day. The last day of my week off, I ate Alpen for breakfast, walked to town to go swimming, got an ice cream, walked along the beach to eat my ice cream, sat watching the waves crash into the shore, finished walking back to Corrymeela, and ate lunch. Totally relaxing and refreshing. Everything that a week off should be.

Working 9 to 5...

...well, sort of. More like 8 to midnight. Which does include the 9 to 5 time span. Seeing as I have just finished my first official weekend of work, I thought I'd share what a day in the life of a long-term volunteer (LTV) is like. For example, here's what I did on Saturday.
7:30am Wakey wakey!
8:00am Report to the kitchen and start making porriage and toast for breakfast
8:30-9:30 Serve and clear away breakfast for 80 people
9:45am Meeting with fellow LTVs and the programme coordinator
10:30am First session with our teenagers-Adventure Learning games outside
11:30am Tea break
12:00noon Massive game of Capture the Flag with the teenagers (my team won!)
1:00pm Lunch!
2:00pm Structured games with the whole group--volleyball
3:00pm The parents take care of their own, and we get two hours off!
5:00pm Face paint and vollyball
6:00pm Tea (dinner)
7:00-9:00 Making up sketches (skits) with the teenagers and then performing them for the younger kids. (hilarity!)
9:00pm All-site worship in the Croi
9:30pm Disco (dance) for the kids
10:00pm Begin preparing supper (bedtime snack)
10:30pm Serve hot chocolate and toast for 80 people
11:00-midnight Hang out with the group
Midnight Back to Coventry (my house here) to fall into bed!
The work is exhausting, the schedule is long and full, but it is so fulfilling! The kids this week were such a blast to work with, that it didn't really feel like work. It was more like hanging out with slightly younger friends.
In other exciting news, Marian has learned to swim! Look for me in the next summer Olympics, for sure! Hehehe....after living for 22 years without knowing how to swim, I have finally learned enough to take me across the width of the Ballycastle pool. I'm working up to making it the length of the pool. But hey--I've only been able to swim for three days--give me time! I must thank my patient teacher, a fellow LTV from Northern Ireland.

Yay me!