In
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| Group picture at Corrymeela |
After lunch, Terry Boyle joined us and spoke about J.M. Synge's play Riders to the Sea. This is a short work about a family on the Aran Islands in which all the sons have drowned in the ocean. It's a very powerful work, and Terry helped us explore its finer points. He also spent time answering political questions and playing soccer with those interested. The free evening gave the different political groups time to prepare for the exam.
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| Political Science Assembly |
After being assigned to specific political parties and paramilitary organizations, we were told to research our respective roles and prepare to participate in a negotiation with the other members of the Assembly. Because of the gravity of the subject matter, we all felt a heavy responsibility to carry out the role-play in an informed and educated way. Being involved in the political process and the current issues in such a hands-on way gave us an experiential feel for the classroom material we have been covering. The political parties' agendas became our own as we fell into their roles. We felt the weight of attaining their goals and the difficulty of compromising in light of the external pressures, i.e. the paramilitaries.
Overall the experience taught us three things.
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| Waterfall in Glenariffe Forest |
--Megan Rayborn
In the afternoon, after a cooling-down period following the exam, we went to Glenariff Forest Park. There are nine Glens of
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| Rok busts a move |
The park contains beautiful scenery, and the main scenic path goes through thick trees and past three waterfalls. We followed this path, only taking one wrong turn, and enjoyed walking beside the rushing river, taking many photos as we went. We came to the bottom of the gorge and met the bus. At the time to leave, two students weren't on the bus, so one brave soul was dispatched to find them. Those two reappeared and we set off for Ballycastle (Corrymeela), about 20 minutes away. Notice I said "those two reappeared"... yes, it finally happened. After all the weeks of counting heads and shouting "Is everyone here?", we left someone behind. He kept his head, however, and went into a nearby house to ring Corrymeela and let them know he was on his way back. The man whose phone he used was just getting ready to bring him all the way over to Corrymeela when we pulled back into the car park, having realized we'd forgotten him.
Adding insult to injury, we stopped in Ballycastle to pick up some snacks... as we pulled away from the shop, someone yelled out "What about... ?" (Names have been left out to protect the abandoned). This time we'd almost left one of the women behind. Needless to say, we now count and yell for confirmation every time we travel!
This was a free day, leading into a free weekend. Unfortunately, Corrymeela had made a mistake and double-booked our lodging, so we had to move into the Marine Hotel Apartments in Ballycastle until Sunday night. They did provide storage space for some of our bags, however, which made the move much easier.
Saturday, October 20/Sunday, October 21, 2001
The weekend was spent relaxing; it rained most of the time. It was pleasant to be in town for a couple of days, and many enjoyed having a TV in their rooms. Some took advantage of being near the sea to walk on the beach. Several of the guys took the bus back over to Derry to visit their host families there, and one person went over to Edinburgh, Scotland, for the free time. Sunday evening felt a little bit like returning home as we settled back into our rooms again.
Well, we've been here at Corrymeela for a week now. I'm pretty sure I speak for everyone when I say how nice it is to be stationary.
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| Anne, Drew, and Mandi play Taboo |
--Lorin Bagwell
This week has afforded our group a change of scenery as we've volunteered our time and energy here at Corrymeela. Being split into four different areas has given us yet another chance to work together, have a good time, and expand our knowledge of each other. We've also gotten a taste of the ever-changing weather of Northern Ireland as it goes from a cool, misty morning to a freezing downpour, to a warm, sunny afternoon, and then a considerably cooler evening
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| Moving a wigwam |
One group was working in the Croi (pronounced "Cree"), where daily worship is held. They were scraping wallpaper off the walls to prepare a room for a new look. Another group is stationed at Cedar Haven, a third at the compound, and the largest group is clearing a bunch of bushes and trees to turn into mulch. At the end of the day there are plenty of sore bodies and tired minds, so we usually just relax with some movies. This evening, a volunteer here at Corrymeela led a session with us on massages and aromatherapy. That was definitely a good way to relax and it was beneficial learning massage techniques to use on others and ourselves.
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| Scraping the walls in the Croi |
With all this work, all twenty-nine of us are really wanting to do laundry, but with only one washer and dryer, it takes quite a while. Thank goodness for Adam, who can't use his left hand very well yet, because he's kept the laundry going the whole time for the rest of us.
I don't know how others in the group feel about the work we're doing
here, but I'm glad we're able to be out in the fresh air, working hard.
It's good to know that we're helping the people here at Corrymeela who
try to provide a peaceful setting for others who might be experiencing
turmoil or conflict.
--Megan Popp
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| Clearing some brush |
In the evening, the long-awaited variety show took place. There was a gift of flowers for Anne and Gloria, brought in by an interestingly clothed (half-clothed, at least) Asian man, followed by four very different acts. The first was Jon Hewes, Phil Blount, Eloy Rodriguez and Rok Keopangna doing the old summer camp act of two people pretending to be one person while putting on makeup, brushing hair, etc. (Of
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| Rok and Phil get feminine |
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| Dressed for the occasion |
Next Anne, Gloria and Clay Showalter made a brave attempt to whistle Greensleeves in three-part harmony... this is harder than it sounds when you keep laughing!
The third act was a talk show, staged by Joel Daly and Rok Keopangna, called Morning Glory. It was an "alternative" morning news program... hilarious, to say the least.
The final group was a comedy improv bunch, consisting of Gloria, Derek King, Matt Clemmer, Mandi Dagen, Joel Daly and Erica Passmore. Sketches included props ("I can't beam her up, Scotty, not enough power!"), the alphabet game ("Pauvre de moi!"), style movies ("Forsooth, how long shall thy hair be?"... Shakespeare at the barber) and the dating game ("I'd take her to the 7-11, man... get some munchies!"). These quotes may not mean much to you, but they were hilarious at the time! We decided that none of us should quit our day jobs, but the evening was a lot of fun.
