Saturday, November 18, 2006

Pictures, hopefully

I have just found more fun pictures on a computer! Yay! These will give you an idea of what Corrymeela and Ballycastle look like.
This is Coventry, and it is my home! No, it did not sink into the ground. It has always looked like this. Evidently this was 'cool' in the 70's! :) This is where I live with the 11 other long-term volunteers and two members of staff. Short-term volunteers and community members also occasionally stay for a couple nights. We have a small kitchen where we can make very tasty toasties and a large lounge where we hold Coventry house meetings, occasional trainings, and social gatherings. This building is about to be torn down and rebuilt to be wheelchair accessible and bigger, to accommodate more volunteers from all over the world. Corrymeela was recently awarded a grant to cover the cost of the new building, which is awesome!

This is the Croi (pronounced kree) where worship is held twice a day. The word is Irish for 'heart', as this building is considered the heart of the community. It is partially underground, and the inside is shaped like an ear. The building contains two rooms: the small Croi where worship is usually held, and the large Croi which is used for indoor games and talks for larger groups. The small Croi has interesting acoustics. Americans might recognize it, as one of the federal government buildings is the same, although I can't remember which it is. If I am sitting in the small Croi, which is a circular room, whoever is directly opposite me, can hear me speak, sing, or breathe as if I was right behind his/her head. So there are no secrets in the Croi!

This is a shot of 'downtown' Ballycastle. Ballycastle is not a large town, although it does have 3 different supermarkets and at least twice as many pubs. It is quaint, or as a Scotsman I know might say, it's twee. And I like it. On a nice day (meaning no rain) the walk to Ballycastle is quite nice.

It appears that three pictures is my daily limit on blogger. I'll have to add more another day.

Beyond beautiful scenery, life here is good. I've been collecting ideas for what to do for my next gap year. Sometimes you find them in the most unexpected places...