On Iona there are two primary centers for Iona Community, the MacLeod Centre and the Abbey. Both are residential for guests and both provide programming although the Mac is typically geared toward a younger audience and the Abbey to a more mature adult group. As volunteers we are either Mac attached or Abbey attached; simply meaning where you work or where you will dine. Each house has a kitchen staff and housekeeping staff made up of volunteers. There are people assigned to maintenance and the gift shop, but they will be assigned to either the Mac or the Abbey for dining.
Beyond that the volunteers are assigned to residences at either the MacLeod Centre or Cul Shuna as a residence. The Mac is located a few yards northwest of the Abbey and Cul Shuna is in the village. Both houses about 15 volunteers or vollies. So you can live in the Mac and be Abbey attached. I am Abbey attached and am living at Cul Shuna.
I have two jobs here, one providing childcare for the Abbey cook’s daughter and the second is helping in the kitchen. Because of the vacation schedule of the cook, I have been working in the kitchen full time. It’s a little like cooking for VBS; you have 60 – 70 people for a meal. The only difference is we bake bread, scones and shortbread depending on the day of the week. Because of the volume of food being prepared you are often working on a meal that will be consumed the next day. Today for example, I had the 7 a.m. shift and we cooked ham, potatoes, carrots, peas and dessert pies. We did that before going to worship, and returned to make pineapple salsa, and started the soup for the evening meal and began pulling stuff out for tomorrow. We ate lunch with the guests at one and then cleaned up. My shift was over at 2:30 p.m. and that was me finished for the day.
We also have chores at our residence, although we clean the house on Tuesday evenings. So I won’t know my chores until then. But they can range from cleaning the bathroom to getting kitchen supplies.
No comments:
Post a Comment