The long road home

Wow! I can't believe I've been home in Minnesota for 3 days. Quite a whirlwind.

My mom and I didn't have internet the last couple days of our trip, but it wouldn't have mattered much anyway since we packed our days full of exploring.

After we left Bunratty on Tuesday, we drove through Cashel, visited the "Rock of Cashel", and eventually ended up in the town of Kilkenny. Kilkenny is, in my opinion, a perfect sized town to visit and/or live in or close to. It was small enough to become familiar with quickly, but large enough to be able to find new quirks about it. Twas the right size town where you may walk out on the streets and know a few faces, or you may not happen to run into anyone that day. During our stay, we visited the Kilkenny castle, which was strange as it was COMPLETELY finished and decorated with similar pieces to what would have been there in its day. I suppose the only castles I've toured in Ireland are ruins, so I wasn't really expecting something so grand. Anyway, as my mother said it was interesting to think that people had such luxurious living environments on the East side of the island after seeing so many wee thatched roof cottages and ancient famine villages in the west. Yay England.

We stayed at a nice hotel in the heart of Kilkenny called the "Pembroke Hotel". 72 Euro a night for a gorgeous, modern, clean, room with breakfast included. We decided we'd definitely stay there again if the opportunity presented itself. The rest of the time, we walked around town, explored, and eventually settled down for a lovely dinner at an Italian restaurant. The night in Kilkenny ended with the absolute loveliest Irish coffees either of us have ever had.

Our last day of the "roadtrip", we took a scenic drive from Kilkenny through the Wicklow Mountains. Thanks to our best friend the GPS, we navigated our way through the quaint town of Avoca, spent loads of time in the famous woolen mill there, visited the ancient glacial valley and medieval monastic city of Glendalough, which means "glen of two lakes".





and at last were in awe of the ruggedness of the Sally Gap. Mom enjoyed it quite a bit, I daresay:



We THOUGHT we were just a few minutes from the hotel for our last night when we exited the Sally Gap to see Dublin sprawled beneath us, but we're going to go ahead and blame Conor Mcgrath for typing in "Swords Street" into the GPS rather than "Swords Road". You'd think we would have learned by the end to double check where Ms. Brit Posh was taking us, but we didn't this time. Hence, we spent about three hours winding our way through Dublin, getting frustrated, almost getting into accidents, and wanting to cry when we arrived at Swords Street and realized how far away from our hotel we actually were. At least it's funny now...it wasn't so much at the time. Despite that blip, it turned out to be one of my favourite days of the trip. Also aided by the fact a wee Irish lad who we were a bit frustrated by earlier in the day drove down to Dublin from Newry unannounced for a final goodbye :)



Our flight home could not have been smoother. We were a little anxious as Mr. Volcano has been having a few more mood swings, but everything went perfectly on time and I was asleep in my bed in Maple Grove by 11:00 PM on Thursday evening. We didn't realize how lucky we really were until I got word from another American friend in Ireland who was supposed to depart Saturday that the soonest she can leave is now Tuesday. Gosh, Eyjafjallajokull! Enough already.

All in all, it's great to be home. I have a couple weeks off before I start work again and I plan on relaxing, sleeping, reuniting with friends, and doing a few projects I've conjured up in my mind...ta ha


Ta!! Cheers
Karen

O'Loughlins

Mom and I had a great day yesterday exploring County Clare, which is on the western coast of Ireland. My aunt Sheila was able to trace our family's roots back to a small town called Kilfenora which is just a few miles inland in Clare. Even more amazingly, my aunt was also able to locate the place where a few of our ancestors are buried. Thanks to our posh British GPS woman, we found the cemetery and paid a visit to Peadar and Padraig O'loughlin...




We also made a wee stop at a Megalithic tomb:


Explored Ailwee Cave:


Weren't sure which way to go in this town:


All in all, a jam packed but fun filled day! We're up early this morning and headed for Kilkenny.

<3 Karen

mom's arrival

Hello!

My time is wrapping up here too fast! My mother arrived on Friday morning and we've been at full speed ever since. Literally... we rented a car and I've learned to dominate the left hand side of the road. Ba ha ha. We drove from Dublin to Ballycastle on Friday, spent the night at Corrymeela and got all my final goodbyes finished, drove to Derry and Donegal town on Saturday, and drove to Galway and Clare this afternoon. We've been almost all the way around the country in 3 days!

Wooo!



My mom decided it would be a good idea to get a GPS, which I fully support. The default setting we received was one with an American narrator which I had to immediately shut off. It sounded too funny in an American accent the words "carriageway" and "roundabout", etc. We now have a posh sounding British woman giving us directions.

My favourite part of our journey thus far was lunch in Derry (one of my favourite cities in Ireland), and the discovery of two of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. The first is a beach called Silver Strand. It's in SW Donegal and is surrounded by dramatic green cliffs with sheep roaming around. The second is the cliffs of Slieve Lieg, which is one of the highest seaside cliffs in all of Europe. On the horizon we could see the Iceland volcano's ash cloud slowly moving across the sky as well as a rainbow coming from it. Slightly eerie, and beautiful.

We are staying in the Bunratty Castle Hotel the next two nights, which I'm happy to say has internet :) Yay!

Also snaps for figuring out the timer on the camera :) :)


Cheers,
K

the first farewell

Conor and I stopped in Magherafelt this weekend to say goodbye to my friend, Tom Mullin. He's become quite a good friend throughout my time here in 'norn iron and it was sad to bid the first farewell :(

By the time we left Magherafelt to head back to Newry, it was about 11:30 p.m. I was a little knackered and fell asleep about five minutes into the car journey. I must have been EXTREMELY tired, because it was only when we arrived back in Newry an hour and a half later was I informed by Conor that we had gone through two police checks. Apparently, police in Northern Ireland are starting to have checkpoints again at night to make sure there isn't any funny business going on (i.e. bombs being transported across the country). Supposedly they had flashlights, asked where he was going and who the sleeping girl in the passenger seat was, checked the backseat, and checked the trunk. This happened twice, and I slept through the entire thing. I'm completely oblivious.

4 days until my mom arrives :)
1 week and 3 days until I depart for home!

Cheers,
Karen

mayo mayhem

Well, the day has arrived. My final day at Corrymeela! It's quite strange as I feel like the time absolutely flew by and that I arrived last week, but at the same time it feels like home at the moment. Naturally once I've gotten used to community living and daily meal times once again (thank you, AOII), it's time to return home and become independent again. I feel like I can't remember what I like to cook for myself at home and what time I like to eat at...sad.

My last couple days were quite an amusing way to end. I worked with a teenage boys group from County Mayo (btw: they have exactly the stereotypical Irish accents that Americans think of-precious!!) for two days and had quite a shocking experience. I was somewhat excited to work with boys as it's not typical we get all boy groups up here. Also, in my opinion activities are easier to plan for males (just make a football appear and you're set for 2 hours). HOWEVER. These boys were slightly rambunctious. Slightly nightmarish. Slightly racist and maschovanist. The other volunteers and I had to bite our tounges so many times over the course of their stay and ended up just trying to make it through until the end with no one snapping rather than excecuting the great programme we had set up for them. It was a little tragic. Nice note to end on!

I have a rough idea of what I'll be doing in the next week before my mother arrives, but have a lot open for spontaneity. I'll be in Maghera tonight, Magharafelt tomorrow night, exploring the Sperrins on Sunday, then hopping around between Newry and Belfast until Thursday when I catch a train to Dublin. Great craic!

I'm departing Corrymeela in the next hour or so. Packing wasn't too hard as I don't have any luggage with me (my mother is bringing it), so I'm storing most of my stuff here and picking it up on the 7th of May. It's strange to see my bed bare and all the paintings, drawings, and notes off my wall. On the flip side, quite amusing bringing all the arts & crafts supplies I stole from the store room back up to the main house in a big bag this morning. Mwa ha ha. I'll definitely miss having a fully stocked arts and crafts building 30 feet from my bedroom.

I'm planning on saying more of a "see you later" to everyone rather than a goodbye. I know I'm returning to Corrymeela on the night of the 7th with my mom to pick up my things and I'll see most again, but my time as a volunteer is over and the relationships I know with the other volunteers here is coming to an end. I didn't realize it until the last day or so, but I'm quite heartbroken to think about the possibility of not seeing some of my friends ever again. That's the beautiful but tragic thing about this place...When else am I going to live in the same hallway as my friends from Germany, Myanmar, N. Ireland, Florida, England, Rhode Island, and Scotland? It's a wonderful thing, but it's rare and over too fast. Throughout the next few months, we'll all be back where we came from. Hopefully more enriched and satisfied with life.

Corrymeela begins when you leave...and that is rapidly approaching

Sorry for the lack of updates!

I spent the midweek relaxing in Newry with Conor, made brilliant stir-fry, visited the seaside town of Newcastle, and overall had a bit of craic. 'Twas lovely :)
On the drive back up to Ballycastle Thursday afternoon, we decided to stop at No.8, which is the office I worked at in Belfast for two months last year. I wasn't sure if the lovely women there would remember me, but alas :) they did, and it was great to catch up and see familiar faces.

We arrived back at Corrymeela Thursday night and began preparing for "Community Weekend". As a peace and reconciliation centre, the "Corrymeela Community" is a network of folks who support the work of the organisation by donating, volunteering, working, or just have a genuine interest in the visions of the organisation. Twice a year the Centre hosts a community weekend where members come to spend two nights socializing, learning about recent events at the Centre, and planning. It was a bit crazy with about 200 people at the Centre, but it was fun talking to so many new people.

I can't believe it's my last week here!! Three other volunteers had their last day on Monday, and it got me thinking more about mine. It's crazy how new people and friends come in and out of your life so fast... I hate to think about how many I've met here I'll most likely never cross paths with again.

I get to work on a High School boys group this Wednesday and Thursday, which should be interesting for several reasons. 1)High School aged Irish boys=hilarious. 2)Conor is the facilitator, meaning he's running all of their sessions and planning their program. 3)There are two schools coming together for the programme, one from the South of Ireland and one from a particularly posh district of Belfast...

I'm attempting to plan out where I'll be this Friday-the following Friday when my mother arrives :) After brainstorming last night and weighing out options and possible couches to crash on, I have a rough idea that I'll be bopping around from Kilrea to Newry to Belfast and eventually Dublin. Should be two great final weeks on the wee island! My mom and I are planning on visiting Donegal, Clare, Limerick, Kilkenny, Dublin, and wherever the road takes us. As long as I can navigate on the left side of it, that is.

Karen

Dear Iceland,

It's been quite an interesting couple of days due to an unnamed volcano deciding to start spewing over in Iceland. Actually it does have a name, but I wouldn't dare try to pronounce it: Eyjafjallajokull. Honestly... Apparently part of the problem is that Eyjafjallajokull is sitting on a glacier, so aside from shooting scorching lava into the air there's also deadly ice chunks the size of houses being shot into the sky. The past few days have been quite hazy, and we're told to be on the lookout for ash clouds....is this real?

One of the Corrymeela volunteers is stuck alone in France, one is stuck at home in England, one has had her trip to Sweden cancelled for Monday, and two more are waiting to hear if their flights are cancelled for Thursday. We're told it isn't safe to go outside if it begins to rain, and some parts of the UK people are being told to wear masks to protect their lungs.

It would help if certain news reports stopped overexaggerating and saying things like "Volcanoes can erupt for up to periods of six months" and "There's a larger volcano next to this one, and volcanoes are known to affect each other's eruption patterns", blah blah blah. I'm banking on things being sorted in four weeks time. I'd like to see my mother and although I'm loving it here, I'm not quite ready to prepare for a Northern Irish summer. Things to do at home!

Anyway, the group that was coming to stay at Corrymeela for a week had to cancel their trip due to the natural disaster issues, so all of a sudden all the volunteers (who are here anyway) get the weekend off. At least there's one instance of a positive situation in the whole horrible volcano plague!

Ta,
Karen

internet

FINALLY internet is back on!!!

It's only natural it would go out across a 3-day window in which I need to register for my college courses...

Camping

Despite being extremely ill last week, I naturally decided this weekend would be the most appropriate time to explore the outdoors of Northern Ireland and take advantage of the glorious (by Ireland standards, of course) weather.

I finished my shift Friday, and after reflecting upon my well being (fair to quite fair, I determined) I deemed it a good idea to join Eamonn and Chris in their swimming adventure. We grabbed wetsuits from the Recreation Store room and headed towards the sea. The beach was absolutely packed with families due to the warm weather, but probably for good reason there was no one in the ocean. After several minutes of persuasion on Eamonn's part, the three of us were about 30 feet out and body surfing in the freezing water. It really was only horrible for the first five minutes, and then once everything went numb the experience was quite enjoyable. The best part may have been the shocked onlookers on the beach...
Naturally my Raynauds disease took over (LOVE that I have a name for this) and we determined our 15 minute sea jaunt should come to a close. Soaking wet, we headed back up the cliff and opted for hot showers and tea in the living room.

On Saturday, Eamonn and I were feeling quite restless and wanted to get out of Corrymeela for a while. Without much planning, we packed up backpacks, a tent, sleeping bags, some sustenance, and began walking towards Fairhead. I've never been proper camping before, so it was quite an adventure. We walked around and up Fairhead for about three hours, and then began the journey towards Murlough Bay, which is in my opinion one of the most beautiful places in the area. After:
-4 hours hiking
-Many, many stops for "the view!"
-Eamonn yelling at me for eating all the marshmallows on the walk
-Grumpiness
-Return to happiness
-Scaling a cliff and pitching a tent in a forest by the sea
-Making a bonfire
-Realizing we forgot a tin opener and bashing open the tin of baked beans with natural materials

We enjoyed a lovely supper of toast, baked beans, and roasted peppers on the open fire. It was quite glorious, if I do say so myself. Sleeping in a tent wasn't exactly the lap of luxury, but there is something special about waking up uncomfortable and a little cold, but being able to hear the ocean waves, rustling of trees, and "MEEEEHHH"ing of wee sheep across the cliffside.

There are some moments I feel like I never ever want to leave this place, and I think freezing my bum off and being uncomfortable with a sore back in a tent on Murlough Bay at midnight was definitely one of them...

Raynauds

So for the past few years when I get really cold, strange things have happened to my fingers. I used to think nothing of it until my EMT roommate at Corrymeela, Kristin, informed me that I was indeed not normal. So the story goes: Kristin did a little research, and stumbled upon my diagnosis!!! Ta da...Raynauds Disease. Pretty non-serious, but everyone loves a diagnosis.
Naturally since we figured it out, it hasn't been happening. However, last evening when I was relaxing outside on the patio in the semi-cool Northern Irish evening, one of my fingers began to tingle and I whipped out my camera for proof.




Neat, huh? Why do I always get strange medical problems...

Easter

Merr I hope I'm not getting sick. My throats been hurting for the past day and my glands are swollen. Ahh!

Easter Weekend here at the center was quite busy with two youth groups in from Friday to Sunday. Since I'd worked with groups my last two shifts, this weekend I was on kitchen and got the lovely task of making baked goods for all the volunteers and guests at the center for the weekend. Enter: 60 decorated cupcakes, a lamb-shaped cake, chocolate nests, and buttercream cake. My kind of weekend! Amazin' like.

This week I'm working with a group called Cedar Foundation, which is an organisation in Northern Ireland that works with physically disabled teenagers in the sense of creating opportunities for them to meet friends, engage in fun activities, and help them plan for their future. They arrived yesterday afternoon and are such lovely folks. Unfortunately it's pouring today and they won't get to go see the Giant's Causeway as planned, but instead they are going bowling. It's really amazing how much people in wheelchairs are able to participate in and do today...

One of my favorite fellow volunteers, Chris, a High School English teacher from New York, had his last day today. That's one of the hard things about this place is the constant coming and going of people. Other people have said you get to a point where you just don't want to form new relationships with anyone here because you're constantly forced to have sad goodbyes. Thats sort of a sad mindset, but I'm starting to understand it to some level. I think I meet at least 25 new people here per week.

Quick naptime, then off to finish my day with Cedar Haven. Ta for now!

Karen

Newry

Ciao! I spent the lovely midweek in the bordertown of Newry at a fellow volunteer's home. Northern Ireland experienced "North Pole-like" (so said the local news) conditions on Tuesday night, which I found somewhat hilarious...
Certainly not the part where a large number of motorists got stranded for the night in town halls because they couldn't drive through the snow, or the part where Corrymeela lost power for about a day. Just the mere fact that in Minnesota the same conditions might be labeled a "dusting". Sigh. The world has no idea what sort of place we hail from, Minnesotans. We deserve more credit.

Besides the "blizzard", during my week in Newry I went out for a nice meal, ate a lovely stirfry dinner with the McGraths, got proposed to by Mr. Conor Mcgrath himself, watched all the power go out in the South of Ireland from across the bay in Newry, had a coffee at "Fulla Beans", took a gorgeous drive through the Mourne Mountains, and all around wished I had a little more time off. Sigh! I arrived back at Corrymeela last evening thankfully to a electronically powered site, and ready to work again this morning. Busy busy!! I can't believe I only have 4 weeks left...

Lubna

By the way...I forgot one VERY strange important coincidence.


Lubna is from Basrah, Iraq. Also the place where my cousin Sarah is stationed for the Nat'l Guard. Very strange how people everywhere in the world are connected to each other. I'm a firm believer in the 6 degrees of separation theory.

New Roommate

I was just given a new roommate yesterday, and I really am not looking forward to it...

Not to be a pessimist, but I really hate sharing bedrooms with people (Kristin was an exception because she was awesome).

Lubna, my new roommate is a 35 year old woman from Iraq. She seems super sweet and I'm sure it will be a great experience, but grrrr. Mid-day nappers don't make good roommates, and that's whats currently going on. I hate having to tip toe around at 2:00 in the afternoon when I have things that needs to be done. She also has quite a strong perfume that she wears, and my room doesn't smell like me when I walk in which I don't really like :/

Merrrr. It'll be fine. On the upside, I spent last evening in Kilrea helping celebrate Tom's 22nd birthday. He had about 15 friends over at his house, and I was the only one not born and bred in Kilrea. 'Twas good craic! Tom's little sister was shocked (and looked a little disappointed) that I was from Minnesota and didn't have the stereotypical accent. Thank goodness!

I'm with a new group this morning until tomorrow afternoon called Active Dads, which I'm really excited about. It's a group of ten fathers from East Belfast up for a night for bonding activities with their wee ones. It's great to see the dads out! Also semi amusing watching tough men from a loyalist background in their parenting mode. One already asked me if I am married. Awkward. I'm leading out an arts and crafts session for the kids tonight while the parents are in a lecture, so that hopefully will go well :)

I think my typing is disrupting Ms. Lubna's slumber, so I shall say Ta for now.

Ka

Cards

Hello!

I started a new art project a few weeks back ago: Greeting cards! Well, I suppose it spawned from the decision that my paintings were taking too long, and when I started one I'd pretty much work through the night until I finished. Doesn't bode well when you're waking up at 8:00 a.m. and trying to work with a group of Primary School children. SO, to remedy this I made a smaller painting. Then I folded over the other side of the unpainted page. Ta da! A card...

In the last couple weeks I have finished 3, and hopefully I'll have somewhat of a full set (how many different images are in a set of greeting cards, anyway?) by the time I leave.




Ta!
Ka

hi from the causeway

Katie took this video at Giant's Causeway :)




cheers!! tanx, (in a dublin accent, like) katie!
-Karen

at the weekend

It has been a busy past couple of days!

Katie, her mother, and myself played tourist on Friday and Saturday with trips to Carrick-a-rede rope bridge...


Wasn't that scary until you look down!

Eep!

We also visited the Giant's Causeway, Dunluce Castle, Portstewart, Coleraine, and Rathlin Island. It was great to get out and see some of those things again after living here for a while and having at least a little more of a native perspective :)

Katie and her mom left Saturday afternoon, and I spent the rest of the day relaxing and walking down to the beach to collect some more sea glass. I found a gorgeous royal blue piece, and a large clear piece that has the word "milk" on it. So fun! I need some good jewelry designs and proper wire asap.

TODAY was quite interesting. I was on "cover", which I think I've explained before, but basically was the person on hand all day on the site in case of any issues or emergencies. I have really never dealt with anything more than making sure someone's heat is turned on in their room, overseeing various things, etc. Should've knocked on wood, because today the cover mobile rang and alerted me that a member of a group had fallen outside and most likely broken his foot. Hence, it was my responsibility to call for an ambulance and fill out all the necessary forms, etc.
Bit daunting. I'd forgotten how squeamish I get with medical emergencies as well. Poor lad's foot was double in size...


And I leave you with:

Pretty view of Ballycastle Harbour from the ferry Katie and I took to Rathlin :)

Cheers,
Karen

visits from afar!

So comes to a close a very short but sweet visit from friends and family! I thoroughly enjoyed Thursday, Friday, and Saturday afternoon with Kristen, Drew, Katie, and Katie's mother, and it is nice to finally have people who can picture in their minds where I'm living and what I'm doing. Kristen and Drew only stayed Thursday evening unfortunately, and Katie and her mother spent Friday night as well. Everyone is gone this afternoon, and alas, I am back on my own!

On Thursday I navigated and Drew drove (impressively)us to some scenic sights near Ballycastle. First, I took them to the mysterious, haunted graveyard in town. It's really Ballycastle's pride and joy ghost story, and as much as I think I don't believe in ghosts there really is something eerie about Bonamargy Friary, a friary for Franciscan monks hundreds of years ago. After the monks left, a recluse named Julia McQuillan moved in and became known as "The Black Nun". There are many different variations of the story, but the bottom line was Julia supposedly murdered a few different people, made prophecies that came true, and for years frightened the people of Ballycastle. In the end, they ended up breaking into the Friary and killing her. Nowadays, Julia haunts the old Friary and loves it when little children stick their hand through the keyhole in her gravestone, because then and only then are they marked with THE CURSE OF THE BLACK NUN. Dun dun dun...


I also took the group to (in my opinion) one of the most beautiful places I've ever been, Murlough Bay. It's near Corrymeela and I think it has one of the biggest ocean views I've ever seen. We also drove through the quaint town of Cushendun, and played around on Ballycastle Beach. After the outdoor adventures, the four of us took in a nice meal and a few pints at O'Connor's pub. THEN. I got a brilliant idea. Why not go for a wee midnight graveyard stroll? After all, I'm sure Julia much prefers to haunt people in the dark. Drew was as excited as a little boy on Christmas at the idea, and Kristen and Katie politely said they'd wait in the car...
Good thing Drew and I are persuasive, because next thing I knew the four of us were clinging to each other weaving through gravestones and checking around stone walls before continuing through. Great craic!! Too bad Drew is too curious and had to stick his hand through Julia's keyhole gravestone. He's pretty much doomed I'd say...

Here are pics of my sister and me outside Corrymeela, a cute Irish woman walking her Springers outside the Friary(They looked just like Nitro), Murlough Bay, and Ballycastle Beach/the Pier:










I was sad Kristen and Drew could only stay one night! So good to see them. On the other hand, Katie and her mom stayed until Saturday afternoon, which gave us ample time to catch up and do some more tourist activities! I shall update later describing our adventures yesterday at the Rope Bridge, Causeway, Dunluce, Portstewart, and (oops!) a little shopping in Coleraine. Ta for now!

Karen

bahh

I went for a wee dander today and for the first time really noticed and appreciated some of the great things about SPRING...the main particular one being wee lambs running around everywhere. I honestly can't get enough of them. If anyone was looking out their front window at the road this afternoon they probably would've been confused as to why a wee blade was stopping every few feet along the road to admire the little beings. I didn't bring my camera, but I wish I had!! I found this photo on the internet (The black faced lambs are my fav):



Usually the fields are filled with low, semi-frightening "BAHHH's" from the big sheep. Now in Springtime there is a nice harmony of rumbling "BAHHH'S" and little baby "bahs!" that sound a little squeaky. So incredibly adorable. There was even a lamb trying to chase a bunny! Ahh! I die.

Alright, enough with the obsessing over the lambs. My apologies.

-Karen

bit of an art frenzy

I have been doing a lot of art in my spare time! I realized I have a problem with telling people I'll make a painting or drawing for them, then becoming attached to it when making it and end up not able to part with it come time. he he.






maybe I miss my MN friends a little?!