Merry Christmas!

I think I have passed the test. If a person can survive being away from home during Christmas without breaking down into a blob of mashed potatoes with gravy tears, then he/she can survive anything. I mean, vernicious kernits don't even sound scary anymore--BRING EM ON!
I spent my holiday with a few other Corrymeela volunteers. Once I return to Corrymeela, I can post pictures off my new digital camera (yay!) and explain a little more of what we did and where we were. But basically, we did a whole lot of nothing, which was everything I wanted and needed. I caught up on some journalling and thinking, got to cook for myself (with the others), and eat absolutely no fried potatoes for awhile.
I know that the comments link isn't working on here, and I'm working on making it work. That's why the background changed. That was just one of many failed attempts. If anyone knows how to fix such a problem, please email me! And if you've got something to say that's not about my blog, please email me! Or facebook. :) (Just kidding, I think it's fixed! yay!)
I hope your holidays were healthy and happy! Merry Christmas!

Wet, cold, and happy

That title describes the group I worked with for the past two days. They were happy enough to be doing an adventure learning game involving water out in the cold and the rain with few complaints. This group of 13-15 year olds was really awesome. Working with them was exhausting, especially because one of the volunteers who was meant to work with them was sick and couldn't help. But it was so much fun!
We ran a disco (dance) and they loved it! Of course, at the beginning they all just sorta stood around and maybe tapped their foot or bobbed their head in time to the music. No way would they actually dance out in the middle of the dance floor! And with the opposite gender? Don't be silly! But eventually, we wore them down. It might have helped that we four volunteers were out there making fools of ourselves. My motto was, "you've gotta be a better dancer than me!" And of course, they were! But that's ok. I did manage to hurt myself dancing though, that's how bad I am! I pulled a muscle a few weeks ago, (playing soccer, see picture) and as it was getting much better, I strained it again dancing. Brilliant, I am.

By the way, the sheep had nothing to do with me getting hurt. I slipped on some mud defending my team's goal. In case you wondered, yes, I blocked the shot. And my team ended up winning.

P.S. Sources tell me that I will soon have a new camera, so this might be the last paint picture!

My Team

I have been given permission to post a picture of my teammates and tell you a little bit about each of them. So here they are--the people that I live and work with every day!

This is eleven of the twelve of us. Christian, who is from El Savador, wasn't here yet when this photo was taken. He worked as a journalist in El Savador, and I think he's having fun working on his English here. The accent here certainly adds to the challenge.

Starting from the left, we have...

Hanna...is from Sweden and is one of the youngest volunteers. Someday she will make us Swedish meatballs, which are very yummy. Hanna is quite athletic and enjoys taking long walks.

Helen...is from Belfast here in Northern Ireland. She, like me, studied psychology at university. Poor Helen gets picked on by one of the cooks for being from Belfast, but I don't care what he says--I like Helen.

Janete...is also from El Savador. She worked for a non-profit back home, and is considering going back to that when she goes home. She has been here since January, and will sadly be leaving us in a couple weeks! Janete is quite outgoing and loves to dance!

Niki...is one of our two volunteers from Canada. And don't call Canada the 51st state in the U.S. She has worked at camps before, and just finished a 3-year degree in Canada before coming to Corrymeela.

Ochanya...is the volunteer formerly known as Jane. She hails from Nigeria, and is my roommate! When she first arrived, she went by her English name, Jane, but then decided she would prefer to be called by her tribal name, Ochanya. She also loves to dance.

ME!

Alan...is also from Belfast, but a different part than Helen. He is also known as Big Al, as he is quite tall. Alan is another one of the babies, and is interested in getting involved in youth work. He's no stranger to Corrymeela, as he's been coming here as a participant and a volunteer for a couple years now.

Rina...is also known as Katharina. But no one can pronouce it the way a true German does, so she goes by Rina. In case you didn't guess, she is from Germany. She's fights the title of being our artistic one. We are all creative, as she likes to say. Her creative work just looks better than ours. Rina is also a huge Audrey Hepburn fan.

Daniel...is our third Northern Irish volunteer. He's no big city boy, though. Daniel is the most talented Mafia player I have ever encountered. He has worked in France teaching English and went to university for computer studies.

Robbie...is squatting in the photo, and is from England, although he was born in Northern Ireland. He, like Janete, has been here since January and will be leaving us in December. However, we won't be saying good-bye for long. Robbie plans on staying in Belfast to go to university for youth work, so I'm sure we'll be seeing him again.

Jason...is the second volunteer from Canada and is Niki's husband. He is the quieter half of the Canadian couple. Jason has also worked at camps before, enjoys the outdoors, and is a very talented photographer. And he, like me, naturally walks faster than the average Joe.

The photo was taken on a little island on the far side of a rope bridge on the northern coast. This is one of the attractions on the Antrim coast, which was recently voted the 5th most beautiful place in the world! Not too shabby.