Hot Chocolate, Toast, and Good Company

March 10, 2014

Rolling green hills, clear blue water, and rock piles jutting out of the ocean. And all of this just outside of your door.

Today was the first day where I really got a chance to take in the beauty of Northern Ireland! Walking out my door this morning was such a change from the urban, semi-chlostrophobic setting of Belfast yesterday. As I walked through Corrymeela's campus today I felt like I was in an entirely new country. Not only have we moved to the coast so the setting is geographically different, but we also had incredible weather today. I spent most of the day in a short sleeved shirt, sometimes with a coat or scarf,  and sunglasses.

The day started with porridge and a short worship time. Then our group did some fun team building exercises: dodgeball, obstacle courses, and other fun bonding games. It was such a great way to get out in the beautiful nature and enjoy the group!

the whole gang! 

After tea time (which is a beautiful, beautiful thing that I'm definitely bringing back to the states), our group got together with our Corrymeela leaders and spent some time reviewing the politics of Northern Ireland and discussing conflict; what conflict means to us, how we deal with conflict, different words and ideas that pertain to conflict... It was just a time to try and define conflict and express the different ways to approach it. I'll say it again: this is such a thoughtful group. I love the way that the conversation flows so easily with this gang!

Next we all had lunch together and then had some free time. I used my free time to "go for a wander" (another phrase I'm stealing from the folks here!) down to the beach.

The beach. Is. Breathtaking.
The walk down takes you down a winding road through green hills with tall grass, the water is clear and blue, and there isn't any sand-- just huge slabs of rocks. It is the cleanest, most quiet, most peaceful beach I've ever been on. Climbing on the rocks and looking out at the water (seeing Scotland in the distance!) was the highlight of my trip thus far.

I wandered back up to Corrymeela and had a few moments to relax before our group art class! Corrymeela has an arts and crafts room where we were guided in creating projects as a group and abstract self-portraits. I loved seeing the way that the people at Corrymeela, specifically our guide, Johnny, used art as a way to help aid in reconciliation. No one in our group is a trained artist, but each person's project really told a story and was an expression of that person's values/self-image.

After our art session and dinner we watched a really interesting documentary called We Carried Your Secrets. I strongly recommend that you look it up right now; I believe it's on Vimeo. It's a really interesting documentary about "Theatre of Witness", a project that interviews people in Northern Ireland and takes their stories, scripts them, and works with them to produce an actual play where they are telling their own stories. I loved this! I am such a believer in the power of storytelling. I loved getting to see that power in such a tangible way in this movie.

Our group took some time to debrief after the day, and then we had supper... Hot chocolate and toast, once again! I love this whole supper thing. I am now convinced that there is no better way to end a day than with hot chocolate, toast, and good company.