Heather in Rome

Euro Trip

2006-07-11T21:46:00.000+02:00

If anyone is still reading the blog, here is the latest update. I'm in Paris and will be here until the 15th. After that I head to Milan and hang out with Matteo for a day, then it's off to walk between the 5 coastal villages of the Cinque Terre before leaving for Cali on July 19th. I've been to Salzburg, Austria; Altotting, Munich, and near Eisenach, Germany; and now France.

I'll have to write more later, but I wanted to throw out a proposal to anyone who is interested. For however long I am at home, I would like to start a prayer group similiar to what I did in the school. It would start with praise Emmanuel style and then have some time for prayer and then maybe it would end with sharing on how God has worked in our lives during the week. It's really simple yet it helps us see how God is working in our lives. So, everyone is welcome to think about it and let me know. Part of the process will be seeing where the Spirit leads as I adapt all I've learned into a form that fits with normal Cali life.

Got to go. The Eiffel Tower awaits me tomorrow.

Short Update

2006-06-19T21:57:00.000+02:00

Life is crazy right now. It always is this year, but with 11 days left in the school year, every moment is packed more than usual. Just some shorts points about life. Pentacost was busy with missions at St. Maria Maggiore (a major basilica in Rome) and St. Maria in Via and for the gathering of all the new communities on the vigil of Pentacost with the Pope, we were sitting on the stage close to the Pope once again. Being in the school with its connections is amazing. Since then there was the household weekend, which I think I wrote about. I succeeded in driving through Rome and did pretty well if you ask me. Yesterday we had our farewell party with all our teachers throughout the year and friends that we have made. It was in a small garden downstairs with music, lots of food, skits, and good people.
I've got to go, but please pray for the soul of my grandma, Phyllis. She died on Friday after having a stroke 8 days before that. The family is doing fine and so am I. I'm coming home as planned, after a vacation that as of yet is still not planned. I have to get on that.

Household Weekend Away

2006-06-09T14:34:00.000+02:00

This weekend is a household weekend away. The school separates into the four household groups and we attack various parts of Italy. My group of girls is going to San Giovanni Rotondo, the city where St. Padre Pio is from. It is on the east coast of Italy, more south of Rome. It's not easily accessible by train or bus, so guess what? We're driving and at least in the crazy cities it is going to be me who drives. Teresa and Siska drive on the left side of the road so in the cities they are out. Carole is the only one who has driven in the past 8 months, but her ankle is still recovering and is not ready for the gas pedal. Anna has her license but isn't comfortable driving so that leaves me. Yikes!!! Italian drivers are crazy. I haven't driven in 8 months. It's a manuel, which I can drive, but if I get stuck on a big hill it could be a little scary. And lastly, Rome streets are chaos. So keep me in mind when you are driving this weekend and maybe offer up a little prayer. I have to pull out my CA freeway driving skills.

After More than 8 Months of Pasta

2006-06-07T18:55:00.000+02:00

Well, there are only 23 days left in the school, then I have 19 days of travel around Europe, which means that I will be back in Cali in 42 days. I thought I should prepare people for at least the physical changes so people aren't shocked when I come home. I haven't posted pictures for awhile so I don't know if you have seen my new hair cut. I've had it since last month, courtesy of Marco our lovely student barber, and everyone thinks it looks really nice. Feminine, good style for my personality, etc. It's shorter, with framing around my face. Difficult to explain, but maybe I'll have pictures soon.
On the bad side, I've probably gained 6-8 pounds and lost some muscle at the same time. It's terrible. When you lose muscle, you're supposed to lose weight too. Not when I'm eating 2 courses a meal, with pasta counting as one of them, and not exercising as much as I used to. My cardiovascular fitness has dropped too. Augghh. I need a gym when I get home and a physical hockey game. How I miss hockey sometimes when I'm here. I didn't miss it a lot last year, I guess because I was doing other athletic activities, but now I do.

St. Maria Maggiore Mission

2006-05-25T20:22:00.000+02:00

Last weekend, the school had a two day mission at St. Maria Maggiore, one of the four major basilicas in Rome, and it was wonderful. I am constantly amazed by what happens when we go on mission.

Friday I met a 5 year old girl and her mom. The girl started hitting the bongo drum and strumming the guitar with me. It turns out that the grandma takes the little girl to church (she's evangelical pentacostal), but the mom is afraid of religion because her mom used to have exorcisms performed on her when she was little, stuff like that. I kept the little girl occupied while other missionaries talked to the mom. This little girl, Aida, was so cute. She knew the story of Jesus' birth and when I asked her if she wanted to repeat the Hail Mary after me, she said no but that she wanted to make one up herself. I don't remember what exactly she said, but the prayer was profound for a 5 year old who probably doesn't hear about the importance of Mary from her grandma.

Saturday an older man went before the Blessed Sacrament and put his prayer intention in the box and when he picked a scripture passage out of the basket, I could see it struck him. He went to the side of the chapel and started crying. Another young guy finally came into the church to pray for work after Jean-François and I spoke with him for awhile. For a guy who didn't seem interested in praying, he sure spent a lot of time in front of the Blessed Sacrament and later in front of the relic of the crib of Jesus. It is great to see.

A Franciscan Pilgrimage

2006-05-18T20:35:00.000+02:00

Ahhhh, time spent in the great outdoors; how I love it. Last week we were told that the school would spend two days this week following the footprints of St. Francis by walking to four sanctuaries where Francis spent time during his life. My ears perked up immediately. This would be my type of trip. I knew some in the school wouldn't feel the same excitement about walking 4-6 hours per day through the Umbria countryside, but I was loving the idea.

Let me tell you, it was exactly what I needed. Before going, I was stressed about the future, wondering what I will do for a job when I get home and if I made the wrong decision about Camp Gray. I love being in nature and after spending time in it during the silent retreat, I was questioning why I chose to deny a job that would let me be in it. The doubt was occupying my mind quite a bit, but after talking with my spiritual companion on Monday night and doing the walk on Tuesday and Wednesday, I have peace with the unknown future. Something about hiking and praying at Franciscan sanctuaries (after all, he was a great preacher of peace) combined to soothe the soul.

I realized why I like hiking so much. Besides the visual beauty that can be taken in at the pace of a walk, there is time to think and time not to think at the same time. I guess it depends on what mood you are in. For example, when I'm stressed about the future there is time to think about what is really important to me in a job, what will bring me fulfillment and allow me to contribute to the common good at the same time, etc. These are important things to think about and while walking there is a lot of time to mull over them. At the same time, though, time stands still when I'm hiking. The focus is on that day and how long you have to walk and how your feet feel and are you drinking enough water. You really live in the moment so your mind is not concerned as much with what will happen a month later. It fits with the message of Matthew 6:34: "So do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." That's one of the reasons why I like hiking. Ah, heaven.

Before I sign off, a week or two ago the school got to visit the Congregation on Divine Liturgy. Who is the head of this congregation? Cardinal Arinze, the African who was one of the front runners for Pope during the last conclave. He was amazing. He joked with us, told the truth as it is, yet said it in a friendly way. It was great to get some answers on Liturgy from the top guy himself.

Good Friday

2006-05-08T20:21:00.000+02:00

<-----Yves preparing to play Jesus

I was the narrator for each station. I had to yell as loud as I could to make sure I was heard by all. ----->

<----- Pontius Pilate condemning Jesus to die

Jesus picks up His cross ----->

<----- Walking from one station location to the next. This is all happening in St. Peter's Square.

Jesus meets His mother ----->

<----- Veronica wipes Jesus' face

One of the guards with his mean face ----->

<----- Jesus is stripped of His clothing

The crucifixion ----->

Pictures

2006-05-08T14:07:00.000+02:00

I've added pictures to the recent entries, going back as far as the middle of March. I think that's when that entry was written. You can check them out. It should make what is written more interesting. And the next large chunk of time I have, I plan to put pictures from the Stations of the Cross that we did on St. Peter's Square on Good Friday. There are a lot.

Easter Triduum, Vacation, Silent Retreat

2006-05-04T22:14:00.001+02:00

A lot has gone on since April 12th, when I packed my bags, moved out of my room in the Domus, and headed off for the Triduum retreat, located near the Pantheon in the center of Rome. After that there was one short morning/lunch at the Domus with just enough time to pack a new bag and head off for Easter vacation. I checked Venice, Padua, Florence, and Siena off my places to see in Italy and came back to the Domus for one night and the next morning/lunch, again to wash clothes and pack a new bag to leave for the week-long silent retreat. Finally, we came home yesterday for good (at least for the remainder of the school year, sigh...) and it's time to unpack the bedroom again. What a busy 3 weeks and each so different from the other. Unfortunately, because there is so much to write about, I'll only give the abreviated description of what I did.
So, the Easter retreat. Let's see if I remember. The guys and the girls stayed in separate locations and had their teachings (talks) in separate places and we came together for the Masses and other Liturgy celebrations. Holy Thursday: Chrism Mass with the Pope in St. Peter's in the morning, Mass of the Last Supper at the French Seminary where the guys were staying in the evening. Good Friday: we reenacted the Stations of the Cross on St. Peter's Square, the only group to have permission to do it on Good Friday. I was the narrator for each station, Yves was Jesus and he really felt the part with the heavy cross and the sun beating down on him, and other characters from the school. It was powerful. I have it on video. The Liturgy that day was at the French seminary. Watched The Passion that night. Saturday: Easter Vigil, starting at 9:30 pm at the French seminary. The choir was good, the songs were good. They really helped to feel the excitement of this night when Jesus rises from the tomb. There was one song with a bongo and horn and it was like the Israelites were marching to victory after crossing the Red Sea, amazing! After the vigil, we praised with Alleluia songs from 12:15 am to almost 1 am, then we had to run to where we girls were staying. Sunday: Easter Mass with the Pope in St. Peter's Square, festive meals with the guys. Monday: time to leave.

Vacation... I stayed with some nice people. In Venice I stayed with Annalisa, a member of the Emmanuel Community who is a school teacher and lives with her sister and 83-year-old mom, who is the typical Italian grandma: picking herbs from the side of the road to cook with, telling you to mangia (eat) all the time, feeding this little dog that is way too fat from table food. It was hilarious. Venice was nice. I don't know if it lived up to my expectations, but I wasn't disappointed. To be on the water reminded me summer vacations with the family and the boat. Padua was great for the prayer. Relaxing, putting my hand against the tomb of St. Anthony. Then Florence, an art lover's town. Which isn't the best for me because I don't know enough about art to appreciate everything, but I visited where Fra Angelico lived and saw his frescos. While there I stayed with a wonderful lady from the community, Graziella, who is so generous. She spoiled Yvonne and I. We checked out a sunset from Piazzelle Michaelangelo, which is on a hill, walked all over the city, and then rode out to Siena for the day. there was the Eucharistic miracle, which I will have to look for information on. I have some on paper, but I bet there is information on the internet.
Silent retreat. Augghh, I need to go to bed. What can I say about the retreat? Someone from the school said, "It is wonderful and awful." I agree. Some days were good and I really got into the Bible, which we were reading 3 times a day; other days were miserable and I couldn't wait for the retreat to be over. But these feelings are normal from what we were told. The location was beautiful, just outside the city of Rome but feeling like miles away. There were paths to walk on lined with wild flowers, a garden, an adventure course like something you would find on Survivor. It was so fun, but a major distraction for me because I was thinking about competing and dreaming fantasies of Survivor. I'm such an adventure junkie! While walking, one also had to watch out for the dogs that weren't leased and likely to attack. Crazy Italian dogs and their nonchalant owners! On the bad side, the first few days it rained and the building was damp and so cold. Most of the time it was wicked cold, which made it hard to fully enjoy the retreat. As to why it was both good and bad, I was distracted about the future, wondering if I made the wrong decision about Camp Gray. Strange because I made the decision almost 2 months ago so I think it was probably the devil trying to distract me. Sometimes it worked. I think it was more that the school year is rapidly coming to an end and I don't have a job lined up and that makes me nervous. I don't want to move back in with the parents for the long term or have to get a boring job when I could have been teaching kids about the environment. So I was very stressed at times. The good thing is that when the retreat ended and I was talking about this with some of the students, Anna said she had a thought about me during the retreat and how God has something better planned for me than Camp Gray. Okay, good, because I said no to them.
So, there is everything. One of the cool quotes from the retreat: "This is the will of God, your holiness.." 1 Thessalonians 4:3. Time for bed.

Vacation Life

2006-04-26T14:35:00.000+02:00

Vacation was fun, prayerful, touristy. I leave in an hour for a week-long Bible retreat, which means a week spent in silence focusing on the Word of God, so I don't have time now to describe what I did. The retreat sounds crazy I bet, but I'm looking forward to it. We will be in the countryside outside of Rome and there will be time to walk and run in nature. Yea!
Anyway, I spent good time in Padua and Siena, managing to keep the spirituality of the year even when on vacation. A lot of the churches charge to enter, but I would go for Mass and get in for free. Took a boat along the Grand Canal in the morning, saw where gondolas are made. Got to pray in front of a Eucharistic miracle. I'll write more later.

Easter Preparation

2006-04-11T09:46:00.000+02:00

(John Paul II's anniversary of death Mass. Carole and I were sitting so close because of the wheelchair. ----->)
It is good to be in the heart of the Church before and during Easter. I haven't experienced the "during Easter" phase yet, but the before is very cool. Two days ago was Palm Sunday and I doubt I'll ever experience the way we did this year. My community, along with 80 other people, got to carry palms in a procession before the Pope during the Mass. We walked into the Square and the crowd was pressed against the barriers and taking pictures of us lucky young people who somehow managed to be involved in this special Mass. We walked 4 across and ended up circling the obelisk and then the Pope walked to a platform at the base of the obelisk and a short Bible passage was read. After that the palm line processed to the front of St. Peter's, up the steps to arrive at the top of the outdoor stage, and then to the seats on the left. I would guess we were 2 lightposts away from the altar.

I want to write more, but it is time to leave for the Triduum retreat. I had more written earlier to explain it, but the computer shut down. The gist is 5 days in Rome, students from the ESM plus Emmanuel seminarians plus outside visitors who have come for the retreat, many triduum liturgies that are supposed to be amazing, the school leading the Stations of the Cross on St. Peter's Square on Good Friday morning (with me announcing each station and reading the Bible passages), Mass with the Pope twice.

The retreat ends on Monday, then I head to Venice and Florence for a week's vacation, and then when we come back it is time for a week long silent retreat. I won't be back in my room for 3 weeks. Sorry to be short, but it's time to go. Keep all these events in your prayers, if you please. HAPPY EASTER! Congrats to Jason and Lauren who got married last weekend. Happy birthday to my brother, which is Easter Sunday.

End of Mission

2006-04-08T16:20:00.000+02:00

(<-----Marco's hair treatment)The rest of the mission was great. We didn't get into many classes at the one school we were allowed to visit, but we were present for 3 days there. By the third day, students were coming up to us in the hallways and asking to where a certain missionary was to talk with him or her so there was a lot of discussion and even prayer the last day. I saw 2 missionaries praying with a young punk guy who wore black clothing, a spike bracelet, had long hair. Not to stereotype, but this was not the guy you would expect to see praying with 2 guys who are considering the priesthood. It was great.
There were some great evening events towards the end of the week. There was a youth concert on Thursday that had lots of people there. There was a soccer player from a professional team that came so he was a big draw. I'm telling you, the organizers were brilliant in getting him to come. There was also a really good Catholic band that played modern Christian music and two friars from the Bronx. Same group as Fr. Stan Fortuna, the rapping friar of the renewal. These 2 friars with long beards and short hair got all these kids to sit down and listen to their testimonies for probably close to 45 minutes. It was long, sometimes too long, but for the most part the kids were quiet and listened. Pretty impressive for kids who have no concept of God. The event ended with one of the friars asking who was going to go to confession that night, almost like an auction. "Who's going to be the first to go, who's going?" It was pretty radical and amazingly people started to go. There were 6 priests in the room and people started going to confession. It was so amazing because it had probably been a long time since most of them went and all they needed was an available priest and a push. Wow! It was a shocking night, especially for the super tolerant, don't-push-me, we've-been-hurt-by-the-Church Dutch people, yet in my mind it worked, it was a success.
Then we had the famous Mercy Night on Friday. Mercy Nights are the climax of any mission and we used it in Portugal and Ireland. All you need is Adoration, good prayerful music, priests for confession, candles to leave at the altar along with paper to write prayer intentions on, and people to come into the church. It's beautiful. The night went from 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm and the church had a good number of people in it the whole time. Some missionaries were in front of the church getting passerbys to stop in for a quick prayer, others were inside to accompany people if they wanted during the night. So many people went to confession! (Confession is such a powerful sacrament, especially if you've been away for awhile, so it's exciting to see people go.) It was so great to see the response of the people in the town and how they turned out for the event. We had been hearing a lot of bad things about the Netherlands and how no one is religious (which is close to accurate), but it's just because, at least with the young generation, they don't know God. Their parents abandoned the faith and the whole country has abandoned the faith, so the new generation is clueless. And when we started to talk about Jesus and His love with them, they were hungry to hear more and investigate this God we were talking about.
I think the presence of 30 young missionaries (we had the help of 4 French guys discerning the priesthood and a group of Dutch people) helped spark something in the people we met. It's part of the dynamism and great witness of the school, the fact that there are 19 young people who will give a year to learn more about God and witness to His presence in our lives. It really strikes people and causes them to think about their own faith journey, or lack of it. My host family was really touched by us, by what we said, by what we are doing. There's power in this year, this experience.
Well, that's all for now. Holy Week is upon us and tomorrow the school is part of 100 people who will wave palms for the Palm Sunday Mass with the Pope. Oh yeah, the school has connections. And Monday, for the anniversary Mass of JP II's death, I was with Carole and because of her broken ankle and going to St. Peter's in a wheelchair, we got to sit just below the steps that the Pope walks up. Only the priests who distribute communion get to be closer. It was cool, just wish we didn't have a reason to be there. Keep praying for her. Peace out!

Middle of the Mission

2006-03-29T21:11:00.000+02:00

It's Wednesday, smack dab in the middle of the mission. No mission is the same and this one is so different than Ireland or Portugal. In Portugal we had an hour and a half bus ride each way on the way to and from our host families to the city center. Those were days of early risings and late nights, often going to bed around 1 am. Then there was Ireland, where the days were equally busy, but the long bus ride was taken out and replaced by a 20 minute walk. Much better and more sleeper friendly. Now there is this mission in the Netherlands, which is so laid back and not busy. It's strange to have so much time.
There are a few reasons why we have less to do this time around. All the open houses (where we go to people's homes at night and talk with a group they have invited) are being conducted in Dutch so we are no help there. Then, while in Ireland there were 4 high schools and more elementary schools to visit, this time there is only 1 Catholic school that agreed to have us visit. And even there, the classes we visit have to have the permission of the teacher (as opposed to the principal) so there are many times when we are on the school grounds but not going into a classroom. During this open time we go to the lounge where students hang out when their teachers are absent (instead of using substitutes, the class is canceled) and try to strike up conversations with them. Some times it works, but so far the conversations I've had in the lounge haven't gone deep. Still, it's good to be present and to show that Catholic Christians are normal people.
The rest of the time we have been in Geldrop we walk around the small town and talk to people in the streets. There is a carousel for the mission and it attracts the kids and parents with small children. We hand out free tickets for the carousel and then talk to the parents while their kids ride 1, 2, 3 times. On Sunday there was a special treat when we went to a city 40 minutes away (Den boss?) where Anne-Marie is from and visited St. John's Cathedral. It was huge, old, with beautiful stain glass windows. The group of us went for a walk of the city, with A-M as tour guide. Before that, 3 of us ate lunch in the park with flowers covering the grass like a carpet. It was great. It's rare to have time to see the country when on mission so it was a special time and very unusual.
Yeah, I don't want to spend all of my free evening on the computer so I'm going to go. I'll write more after the mission, whenever I can fight my way onto a computer at the Domus. I can't say I'll try too hard right after returning home though. I hope everyone is having a rich Lent. Fasting, almsgiving, and something else...

2006-03-21T19:02:00.000+01:00

The last long mission of the year is just around the corner. We leave on Friday for the Netherlands, a very secular and "free thinking" country that will bring unique challenges to the mission. It's good though. The Netherlands (also known as Holland) used to send the most missionaries to other countries in all of Europe and so it's time we help the culture turn back that way. It will be the first mission in the country in 50 years.

Everyone, especially young people, should check out the following link: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/youth/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20060222_youth_en.html It's the message of the Holy Father to the youth of the world on the occasion of the 21st World Youth Day, which is April 9, 2006. It's really good, inspiring, calling us to a greater knowledge and love of Sacred Scripture.

It's getting close to the end of the 6th month in the school. I can't believe there's only 3 months left. It's going too fast. Time needs to slow down.

Short Update

2006-03-16T15:23:00.000+01:00

I've been bad about writing lately and I'm going to be bad for a little bit longer because I only have 7 minutes until class starts. This weekend I'll try to get around to the blog, add some pictures, things like that.
Some updates on what I last wrote. I decided not to go to Camp Gray. It's difficult to explain why because even I don't understand it all the way, but in the end it came down to the fact that I was struggling so much with the decision and every time I thought about going, I didn't find any peace. I would decide to go and then the next day I would question the decision. So in the end I had to listen to my gut telling me that there is something else waiting for me out there. Now, just like last year, I have to find it.
Now to Carole. She came home on Monday afternoon and each day she gets stronger, able to do more things by herself. Obviously she is still in need of prayers if you want to offer one up for her. Another student, Anne-Marie, is a physical therapist and she said once the cast comes off in 2 months, it will still be awhile before Carole can walk normally. It will be a really long process and one that isn't always easy.
The whole situation has taught me a lot about suffering, compassion, not being in control of our lives, how life can change in an instant, etc. It's been really interesting and gives me a lot to reflect on. This week we have 3 days worth of classes on compassion and our teacher said that compassion is the sharing of passion in its two forms: great love and great suffering. The injury has been an opportunity to share in both, especially last week. Yeah, I don't understandy why it happened, but God is still good.
Well, I'd better be going. Time to enjoy a little break before class.

Prayer Requests

2006-03-07T22:13:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone,
Things are being shaken up in Rome. Two prayer requests. Today the school was playing soccer and Carole got injured. We thought it was a bad sprain, but it turns out she broke her ankle in 3 places. Right now she is in the hospital waiting for a consulation (tomorrow) and they will probably do surgery in a few days so she is looking at a significant hospital stay. So please pray for her. Rome is not an easy city to get around in when you are on crutches and we have the Netherlands mission at the end of this month and Easter vacation in 6 weeks.
Second request: even though I was supposed to decide on the Camp Gray position last Friday, I asked for an extension and have to decide by this Friday. I'm troubled about the decision, unable to see clearly whether it would be a good or bad step after this year. So yeah, thanks for keeping everything in your prayers.

Acting like a Monkey

2006-02-25T18:50:00.000+01:00

Remember back in October when it was the first Girls' Day and I described climbing up the wall into a tree to retrieve the Frisbee? Here, months later, is the picture to show it. To give you an idea of scale, the girl in the pic, Alejandra, is 6' tall. Great fun!

Paray-le-Monial

2006-02-21T18:39:00.000+01:00

I have now been to the Emmanuel-famous pilgrimage site in France called Paray-le-Monial. It is a small town where Jesus appeared to St. Margaret Mary in the 1600's and focused on the image of His Sacred Heart that loved the world so much. I've been hearing about it for 4 1/2 months now so to finally experience this place with the school was a treat. The first two days were a retreat for the four Emmanuel schools and the last two days were part of a youth forum where 700 young people from France and other places came together to praise and learn more about the faith.

It was a good experience. I was hoping for a big encounter with God, but He chose a more subtle path, leading me to deeper prayer in the St. Claude Chapel and a bigger desire than normal to praise. Odds are, when there are 800 people singing the same song, even if it is in French, it is probably going to be easier to get into the praise than normal. So that was good, celebratory. We had a great time of praise, testimony, and adoration on Saturday night and I got to help lead the prayer during that night, which I liked. In the early evening on Saturday, I gave a little testimony, on how this year has transformed us so far in the school, to present the ESM. Other schools sang, danced, or gave a testimony too. It was fun because I would talk and then Carole would translate and people laughed at the funny parts, even before Carole translated. And I'm probably known as the girl from CA: when I said that I was from there people started cheering and then later at meals, people would say, "Are you the girl from CA?" You got to love being a California girl, the Beach Boys made us famous.

The rides to and from Paray were actually quite fun. On the way there, it was a 15 1/2 hour bus ride and on the way back it was only 13 1/2 hours. You would think I got to read a lot or sleep a lot, but actually not. Instead the group talked a lot, played a movie trivia game, prayed the Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet, sang praise. It was great. I got to talk to people I don't talk to very much during the average school day. Best of all, there seems to be a greater sense of unity between everyone. It's amazing what 29 hours on a bus and 4 days in Paray can do for a community.

Now I'm back in Rome. Sick again. I feel like I've been sick in one way or another since I got back from Christmas vacation. My theory is that not only do I live in very close quarters with 18 people, but my pillow is rock hard so I sleep poorly most of the time. So my body is not getting uninterrupted sleep each night and that makes me more susceptible to the germs that go through the school. I did manage to avoid the stomach flu that went through here a week and a half ago and hit about 7 people. Ughhh, I just want to be better, healthy.

On a happy note, Camp Gray accepted me (www.campgray.com). Now I have to pray about it and let them know by March 3rd. I'll probably say yes, but I want to make sure to think it over. No matter what I do, it won't be easy transitioning out of the ESM.

Prayer Request

2006-02-13T20:36:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone,
I haven't heard from the environmental camp I interviewed with 2 weeks ago, but I should find out if they offer me a position in a week. It sounds made for me, but I would still like your prayers for my decision if they offer me a position. Just because it sounds really good doesn't mean it is automatically for me.
On the second subject, we head for Paray-Le-Monial in France on Wednesday. When there we have the option of joining the Emmanuel Community if we feel called to do so. I wasn't thinking about it much, even though I really like the community, but then Fr. Thierry talked with me about it. He said I seem to fit in with everything we do here and don't have large qualms about anything so I might be a good fit. I don't have time to explain what joining means, but if you could pray for my discernment of this important spiritual matter.
Now before I sign off, I would like to relay something that was said by Blessed Charles de Foucauld. "Father, I put myself in your hands, Father, I abandon myself to you, I entrust myself to you. Father, do with me as it pleases you. Whatever you do with me, I will thank you for it. Giving thanks for anything, I am ready for anything, I accept all things, give thanks for everything. As long as your will, my God, is done in me, as long as your will is done in all your creatures, in all your children, in all those your heart loves, I ask for nothing else. O God, I put my soul into your hands. I give it to you, O God, with all the love of my heart, because I love you, and because my love requires me to give myself. I put myself unreservedly in your hands. I put myself in your hands with infinite confidence, because you are my Father."

Ireland Mission

2006-02-10T21:56:00.000+01:00

Now to the Ireland mission. What an intense 10 days! Sometimes I was so tired that by the last weekend I was less agreeable with some changes in the schedule than I would usually be. But even though I was tired, it was a good 10 days.

We spent the first weekend (arrived on a Friday) going door-to-door in teams. Some of you may wonder why we were acting like Mormons or Jehovah Witnesses and at times I did to. It was uncomfortable and challenging, but our purpose was to reach out to those who may be far from God or the Church and make them feel welcome to join any of the mission events. For the most part we were received well. Some people would engage us in conversation about their opinions of the Church and others would take the information and say thank you. Others didn't want the flyers and one lady didn't even open the door. Oh well.

During the week we were in the 4 local Catholic schools. Newbridge is a town of 30,000 people so that's a lot of Catholic schools. I'm not even sure if there is a public school in the area. Most of the time we were in the schools for the whole school day. We would move from class to class at each period. Some sessions were 40 minutes, others were 80. We met all the ages, from kindergarden to the 17/18 year olds. For the little ones we would teach them a song about Jesus that has actions to go along with the words and for the older students one of the team members (there were 4 of us in my team) would give his/her testimony about meeting Jesus and then we would open up the rest of the time for questions about the faith, doctrine, life, etc. It's hard to say how effective the sessions were as far as changing their lives and helping them to accept Jesus in faith. I know the testimonies were very powerful and gave a more personal version of the faith. The questions helped clarify some of the popular misconceptions about Church teaching and gave us the opportunity to talk about God's rules as ways of protecting us from harm and showing us his love.

After the school day and dinner with the host family, we would go back out into the town, either to the pub for pub ministry or to people's home where they would host a get-together with their neighbors and invite us to lead a similar program as in the schools: testimony and discussion. I only did 2 of these so-called Open Houses. One was with a group of young married moms and the other was with 3 high school aged kids. It was intimidating in a way because it is a small group that you don't know and we would be expected to lead the gathering and find a way to have the conversation go deep. It was tough so we prayed a lot to the Holy Spirit for guidance.

The pub ministry was fun. Students from the Newman Center may be surprised because I came across as very much against alcohol last year, but with the school it is used differently. Anyway, 2 times I found myself in a pub for ministry. Basically, with alcoholic beverage in hand, I would approach people and ask if they've heard about the mission. Sometimes we worked in pairs, usually one-on-one, but always in the vicinity of the others. I ended up talking with 3 college guys who varied in faith one night and one guy who has been far from the Church for awhile after a death in the family the other night. That guy was amazing to talk to. Yvonne and I spoke with him for 2 hours and shared about all sorts of things relate to life and faith. It was intense.

The end of the mission was so much fun. The parish hosted a going away party for us missionaries and it resembled a wedding reception, complete with DJ, dance floor, and happy-go-lucky atmosphere. It was great because these people that I live with have become an extended family of brothers and sisters (which is always good and sometimes frustrating) and as we near the half way point in the year, we realize that once we leave the school, it could be a long time before we see each other again. So just like how all the family comes together for a wedding and has a blast (at least in my family), the party was our opportunity to have a rocking reception while we are together.

Ah, I guess that's enough about the mission. I met lots of people, helped plant a lot of seeds that will grow into strong faith with time (at least that is what I believe and pray for). There are more stories, but I'll keep them for when I get home so I have something to share. On a side note, I interviewed last night with a Catholic retreat center/environmental camp in Wisconsin for a volunteer stipend position. I think the interview went well and the place seems to be right up my alley, blending my two passions in life. I should find out around Feb. 20 if they offer me a position. Something to pray about. God's will be done. He hasn't done me wrong yet.

(As a disclaimer: I posted this picture of the Guinness pints almost against my better judgment and probably to the chagrin of my mom, but what is a story of Ireland without Guinness. I just had to include it. If I have scandalized my program, let me say that while alcohol was frequently present during the mission due to wine-drinking host families and pub ministry nights, for the most part it was consumed responsibly and in moderation.)

Christmas Photos

2006-02-04T15:39:00.000+01:00

I realized that I didn't say much about Christmas yet. It was amazing. Midnight Mass at St. Peter's sitting behind the altar, many celebrations with good food (courtesy of me and the rest of the cooking team plus some helpers), every Christmas liturgy (there are 4 of them: 8 pm Sat., Midnight, 6 am Sunday, and 10 am Sunday), and more. Since I don't have Newbridge pictures yet, I thought I would appease you with some from Christmas. Hope you like them.
Making Christmas cookies a week before Christmas. We made American, French, German and Polish sweets. I'm improvising with a bar of white chocolate because I didn't find any chips around. Italy can be a difficult place to find the necessary ingredients.

Goofing around at Centro San Lorenzo during our Christmas Eve celebration. There were about 50 of us total who came together for the Vigil Mass and a party. We sang Christmas songs in our native languages and had a great time.

I wasn't quite this close to the Pope at the end of Midnight Mass, but my friends Carole and Alejandra were because they got to read at the Mass. I got a good shot of him on my video camera. The whole time I was at Mass, I just kept thinking, "Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be at Midnight Mass at the Vatican." And I could really concentrate when I was praying too, so that was good.

Imagine this: 2-3:30 am, Christmas Day. We come back from Mass and have cookies and hot chocolate. People start playing guitar and singing songs. Others sit around and tell stories. I later call home and am up until 4 am. The Sunrise Mass in the hotel is in 2 1/2 hours. I was a zombie through most of it.

Making Christmas dinner. Chicken parmiggiano, pasta, and more. Yum, yum. I was ready to get out of the kitchen, though, after preparing meals for 30 people for 3 days.

A Christmas skit during our night celebration, featuring Ramzi as a modern Angel Gabriel. He got to drive a Ferrari and talk to God the Father (a take on the Godfather because the mafia has been a reoccuring theme in some of our skits).

Even Santa made an apperance. That's Reggie from San Diego in the suit and Chris from NY as his sidekick.

Leaving for Ireland

2006-01-19T13:01:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone. I still need to write about the last part of my trip and what Christmas was like here (let me just say it was AMAZING!) and what it was like to return to the Domus Aurelia. Unfortunately, I don't have time to get to that becuase we leave tomorrow for Ireland for a 10 day mission. So I write to ask for prayers. We got the schedule yesterday and it will be an intense 10 days, going full steam the entire time. So the 19 of us and our 4 staff members and all the parishioners in Newbridge, Ireland, could use your prayers.

We'll be spending a lot of time in classes in Catholic schools, giving testimonies, performing skits, and leading discussions. You'd think this would be easy, Catholic schools and all, but from what we've been hearing, most of the kids don't know anything about the Catholic Church or God. So it could be a challenge. Besides schools, we will spend time in pubs, people's homes, a shopping center, and in the street going door-to-door. Please pray for us. Thanks!

3 1/2 Days in Grenobe/Noyarey

2006-01-14T19:08:00.000+01:00

After leaving Lourdes, I jumped on an overnight train at 9:30 pm and headed towards Grenoble in the southeast of France. I changed trains around 5:30 in the morning in Valence and managed to sleep for the 2 hour train ride to Grenoble. I was excited to see Carole and to hear about the Emmanuel retreat that was held in Paray-Le-Monial, France while I was in Barcelona and Lourdes. I found her in the station and we headed off to Noyarey, the small town where her family lives.

That day was a lazy day. We stopped by a bakery on the way home and got croissants. Later when her dad came home from work for lunch, he brought croissants for me and us too. Yum, yum. If I haven't already said it, French bread is really good. That day we went for a bike ride along the river near her house. It was overcast and the air was brisk, but I could see the Alps and the conversation was fun, talking about when we were children. Back at the house we showed my videotape of the past three months to Carole's family, which was fun for us too because it was the first time we were seeing it. Ah, memories. Later on at dessert we had a traditional French Epiphany cake called the King Cake. I think New Orleans does the same for Mardi Gras. It's a cake that has a ceramic figurine, very small, in the middle and whoever gets the object is the king or queen for the night. It's really fun because the youngest person at the table has to get under the table and name off who gets what slice of cake. This way they don't see who is getting the slice with the figure. Carole's youngest bro got under the table and once the cake was distributed and we started eating, both Carole and I had things in our slices. So we were both queens for the night and shared a crown.

The next day we went into Grenoble, about 30 minutes away, and walked through downtown. We happened to catch a Mass at a church there; it was perfect timing. I shopped a little, picked up a sweater for the colder European weather. That afternoon Carole's two brothers and the two of us played cards. I taught them Spoons, if any of you know it. It's a favorite slumber party card game. That night we went their grandma's house, which was next door, for appetizers. She had been to CA 14 years ago and brought out all the flyers from the amusement parks and Monterey. I could show exactly where I live on a postcard map of CA. It was CA pride night and it was nice to be able to share about my home. For dessert I provided a traditional American sweet courtesy of a Spanish supermarket, Oreos!!! Everyone laughed. Later on we drove into Grenoble again for an Emmanuel prayer group, which was interesting to experience. I thought it was pretty short compared to what we do in the school: praise, a short time of silent prayer, and then a prayer to end the night. I thought, "That's it?" It was so short.

The next day we went to Mass at the local parish because the priest only goes there for Mass every 40 days. The area is so small that he rotates between church buildings. After Mass we went home and got ready to go to the Alps for snowboarding with C.'s two friends from high school. Actually, I was the only snowboarder and I had a pretty lousy performance in my opinion, but I hadn't really gone in two years so what did I expect? Nah, I did okay, but it was obvious that these people had spent a lot of time growing up on the slopes and I hadn't. Towards the end of the afternoon it started snowing. A nice touch. After 4 hours on the slopes, we headed back to the house. This dinner was great because we made crepes. There was an electric griddle that had 6 round indents for the crepes. We all sat around the table and Vincent, Carole's dad, would pour batter onto the griddle and we each were in charge of flipping our crepe and putting cheese and ham or bacon on it. After lots of these, the cheese and meat were put away and the sweet stuff was brought out: Nutella, jelly, coconut, maple syrup. We had lots of those too. It was so good.

The next day was a day to sleep in, pack, and take me to the airport around noon so I could go to London. Looking back over the three and a half days, I know I've left out a lot of the details, special moments, that were there. I thought I could end with some thoughts on the experience. Lots of conversations focused on our different cultures, on trying to learn new words or talking about different customs. It was great to learn, but sometimes I didn't want our nationalities to be the main subject of our interactions. It creates a barrier I think, or maybe it was the language that did it. But that's how it is, I'm noticing, everywhere I go. Our cultures make us different (which is good and special), but sometimes can't we not think about the differences and instead think of each other as humans on the same planet Earth?

Other thoughts. It can be really hard to not understand a language. It's really isolating to be in the midst of people who are talking and to not understand what is being said. It's like you're not there. It was mentally rough sometimes and still is in Rome as more French is being heard in the classroom and dining room. Please pray for this sudden sensitivity I have to this. I don't know if I'm being too sensitive or reasonable. I think reasonable.

Well, I hear everyone having fun in the other room so I think I will go and head out there. Peace all!

3 Days in Lourdes

2006-01-07T17:54:00.000+01:00

On the morning of the 30th I caught a bus to Toulouse, France. The ride was 6 1/2 hours and I spent the first part talking to a girl who was traveling home with her boyfriend to visit her family. She was interesting. Definitely the hippy/alternative lifestyle type who had an American father and French mother and spoke lots of languages, including Esperanto (a language created to unite the world that would have no irregulars and be phonetically correct). She was nice and our conversation occupied at least an hour of the trip.

When we arrived in Toulouse, I had to catch a train to Lourdes. Train stations are different than airports in that you can arrive 3 minutes before the train is scheduled to leave and still catch the train. I didn't realize this and ended up missing the train I had a ticket for. I actually wanted to catch the second train anyway to be on time with the woman picking me up in Lourdes so it wasn't a problem. When I arrived in Lourdes, the woman was waiting for me and she took me to St. Therese House, a lodging house for pilgrims run by the Emmanuel Community. I got there in time for dinner and after the dinner was over, the head lady looked at me and asked if I would like to sing a song to end the meal (the EC is big on singing before and after meals. It's really nice). I was the only one who didn't speak French so I started singing the only EC song I know in French. I expected others to join in with me, but only 1 or 2 did. Yikes! I was singing in front of everyone in a language that is not my own. I was initiated into the group right away.

It would be boring to write down my schedule for each day because it was a lot of praying at the basilica, hanging out at the house, and learning some French words. There were many special moments though. The first full day I was there was the 31st and I tagged along with a group of Boston seminarians that were at the Emmanuel house. We went to the basilica and grotto together and the priest said Mass in English in the crypt level of the basilica. I was glad to have English speakers who knew home and they might have been glad to have a female presence for a bit of time. In the afternoon I helped a married couple (Gilles and Christine) set up the dining room for the New Year's Eve festivities and then we moved into the kitchen to prepare dinner. It was so much fun. I learned some words and so did they and we would be talking and then say, "Hold on," and run to the translating dictionary to understand what we were saying to each other. It may sound frustrating, but everyone knew enough English that we could have basic conversations and learn about each other's cultures.

That night there was a big party. Dinner consisted of toasted bread squares topped with cheese or creamed fish (sound gross maybe but it was yummy), followed by salad (prosciutto ham, melon, onion, asparagus, tomato, and lettuce), followed by meat and vegetables (although I can't remember what). After the main course, following the French way, cheese cubes were brought out. I had wondered why more bread was put on the table, not realizing that of course cheese would be next. The key to eating cheese, I was told, is to chew it and right before swallowing, drink some wine. I kept forgetting to drink before swallowing, but when I finally did it, I almost choked. Not my style. After cheese (I was thinking that was the dessert), we had dessert, but I can't remember what that was either. What a meal! It was so great not only because of the French dining experience, but also because I sat next to a couple from Spain and got to speak Spanish with them and also talk more with the French couple from earlier. The environment felt like a family with everyone talking, laughing, and joking with each other.

After the dinner, close to midnight, a bunch of people from the house loaded into cars and went to the Grotto (where Mary appeared to St. Bernadette) for Mass at midnight. I was there and didn't understand a word, what with the language and the rain making noise on umbrellas. Because I didn't understand what was being said, I had an hour to pray and reflect on the past year and the many blessings I was given. All I have to say is God is good. Never did I expect to be where I am in life and it is amazing. I told God He better take me some place cool after staying in Riverside a year longer than planned, but I never thought it would be Rome, Portugal, Spain, France, England, the Netherlands, Ireland, etc. What a reward for trusting His call!
After the Mass we all went back to the house and drank hot chocolate and people started dancing. It was crazy in a good way. All the kids were up and celebrating and I could see the love the families shared. It was wonderful to see.

As far as the Shrine goes, it is beautiful. The outside of the basilica has got to be my favorite of all the churches I've seen in my life. I have a postcard of that so I can scan it in a couple days and post it. It is undescribeable. Every time I would walk by I would sigh at the beauty of the church. And it's such a holy place too. For a recap of the story of the appirition, Mary appeared to Bernadette when she was a teenager and told her to wash her face and drink the water in that place. There was no spring so Bernadette started digging and drinking the muddy water that surfaced. Soon a real spring bubbled to life and people are healed when they bath in the waters at Lourdes. There is more to the story, but that is a quick summary. It's a powerful place spiritually.

So for the three days I was there, I walked to the Shrine to pray, took a dip in the cold spring water, hung out with Gilles and Christine and their family at the house, walked through the small town which was pretty shut down for the holidays, and just relaxed. I slept in, went to bed early, ate lots of delicious French bread. I did get tired of the rain though. It rained every single day so my daily outfit included a big snowboarding jacket, poncho, beanie, gloves, and scarf. I don't want to wear that jacket the whole 11 days I'm back in Rome before leaving for Ireland. I've had to wear it too much while on vacation.

I might take a typing break, but Grenoble and hanging with Carole and her family is next.

3 Days in Barcelona

2006-01-07T16:58:00.000+01:00

I'm at the end of my 11th day of vacation and using an American keyboard to type (courtesy of my friend Neil from the Newman Center who is studying abroad in Canterbury) so hopefully my vacation summary thus far won't take a long time to write. It will probably be a long time before I get my pictures from vacation (the disadvantage of using film) so sorry that you won't have visuals to go along with my adventures.

I left on the 27th of December for Barcelona. I decided to go there because it was a relatively cheap ticket from Rome and one of the closest destinations of Ryan Air to Lourdes, France. I didn't know anything about Barcelona, but one of the girls from school said I would love it. So I went. All moms will panic, but I went by myself. I traveled solo until the 3rd of January. I wasn't nervous when I planned everything, but the day before leaving I felt very unprepared and nervous. Once I got going though, and started getting to places, I settled into the travel rhythm and got the hang of it.

Barcelona ended up being a wonderful city. It's very Catholic and is full of small brick-laden streets, hidden courtyards, and life. I stayed in the Gothic Quarter near Las Ramblas, the street with a walk mall in the middle, complete with bird and hamster and flower vendors, artists, and lots of people. There's an outdoor market (St. Joseph's) that sells produce, bread, and meat that is always alive with activity. The Cathedral front is covered with scaffolding as it is renovated, but the inside is beautiful. Dark chapels, high ceiling, Mass daily at 7 pm in the front St. Joseph Chapel. The language of the region is Catalan, which is a mixture of Spanish and Italian with some French thrown in, so I didn't understand a lot of the homily most times, but I managed to figure out 5 of the 6 readings for 3 Masses. That was nice because when I went to France, I was clueless.

Besides wandering around the Gothic Quarter, discovering new places tucked away, and going to the cathedral, I visited La Sagrada Familia (the Holy Family Church) and Montserrat. La Sagrada Familia was started by Gaudi in 1882 and still isn't finished. Construction continues and is expected to go for another 50-80 years. The church looks strange from far away, but up close the facades are so complex and detailed with images from Jesus' life. One facade shows image from His life and the opposite facade shows His passion and death. The outside is wonderful and hopefully the inside lives up to the outside when it is completed.

Montserrat is a popular pilgrimage place for the region and it is a Benedictine monastery about an hour train ride out of the city. It is 4000 feet up from the ocean and the vegetation and rock formations look very similar to So Cal on the way to Mtn. High. I went to Mass at the monastery and then walked on a path with statues and paintings of the mysteries of the Rosary to a small chapel. There were few people on this walk so it was good prayer time. I was in the chapel by myself for 20 good minutes, which was a blessing. I also rode a tram to the top of the mountain and walked in the sunshine and back down to the monastery. It was a good day, tiring and cold but peaceful.

So that's Barcelona. Beautiful city, glad I went. Now I look to France, where I went on the 30th of December.

2005-12-23T20:48:00.000+01:00

Merry Christmas!

I pray that your Christmas celebrations are joyful and full of family and friends,

as we celebrate Jesus' coming into the world 2000 years ago.

May He come anew into our hearts!

Roman Graces

2005-12-11T12:47:00.000+01:00

When I started the year here, the staff said there would be events that are special to our year. Each group has a different experience of the school because of the special events that can happen in Rome or elsewhere. Like last year when JPII died or this year when all the new ecclesial communities gather in Rome for Pentacost. Already there have been events unique to this year and to this place that I have been able to experience and since I have a few minutes to spare, I wanted to write about them.

For example, a week ago on Sunday, four of us from the school played music at a private Mass for the royal family of Belgium. It was the 50th birthday of Prince Lawrence and his wife surprised him with a Mass in his honor at Centro San Lorenzo, St. Lawrence's Center. The King and Queen, Princes and Princesses, everybody was there. It's funny because when I found out we would be playing for the royal family, my only reaction was, "I better not play badly." No real excitement about the royals, I didn't know them from Adam. After the Mass it was more exciting because we could come back to the Domus and tell everyone else about who we had just met and they were excited for us. The family was really nice, totally down-to-earth. They spoke French so I joked around with Carole that she should meet the prince closest to our age and marry him so she could be a real princess. She wasn't very excited about that idea.

Other Roman graces. On Saturday the school visited the tomb of Pope John Paul II and St. Peter in the crypt level of St. Peter's. We had Mass in a small chapel down there. In the afternooon we visited the Redemptoris Mater Chapel inside the Vatican. It is a chapel commissioned by Pope John Paul II in honor of our Mother of the Redeemer. All the walls are mosaic pictures portraying Jesus' baptism, ascension, second coming in glory, etc. The images were so strong and bold in color. At the end of the visit the priest who was explaining everything asked us if we wanted to sing a song before we left. A priest from the Emmanuel Community has written a song on Totus Tuus, JPII's motto, so we sang that. It was so beautiful and perfect for the place. I'm sure JPII was proud.

Sunday we went to the Angelus with the Pope (I dreamt about him the night before too). At night some of us went to a Christmas concert in St. John Laterine Basilica . I hadn't been there before, even though it's one of the four major basilicas in Rome (going made it 3 of the 4 basilicas visited in 3 days: St. Paul outside the Walls, St. Peter's, and St. John Laterine). It was the first official church building, commissioned by Constantine I believe. After four days with the Milano school and having the missions at the Spanish Steps and Piazza Navona, I easily could have stayed home and rested, but I decided to expand my horizons by going to a classical concert. In the end, I was so glad I went. Now it feels like the Christmas season. I knew at least 2/3 of the songs because they were sung either in English or in another language but the tune was recognizable. O Holy Night, I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, the Little drummer boy, and more. We haven't been singing any Christmas songs here and Rome isn't big on decorating the city with lights, so the feeling of the Christmas/Advent season is harder to pick up. But the concert put me in the mood. The baby Jesus is coming!

That's all for now. I don't know if I've put in here yet what I'm doing for Christmas. As a school we'll be going to 4 Masses on the Eve and day of Christmas: 8 pm and midnight, 6 am and 10 am. Craziness! On the 27th I fly to Barcelona and stay until the morning of the 30th. Then I take a bus and train to Lourdes and will be there until the night of the 2nd (that means I hope to celebrate the ball drop on the 31st in the basilica in Lourdes). then I take an overnight train to the east side of France to Grenoble, where the family of a friend from here lives. I'll hang out with Carole and her family from the 3rd to the 6th, then I fly to London and visit Canterbury where Neil from the Newman Center is studying abroad. On the 9th I fly home. Plane tickets are dirt cheap compared to the States, but the train costs more than I expected. Got to go. Happy Advent!

Feast of the Immaculate Conception

2005-12-09T15:32:00.000+01:00

Ciao! Yesterday was the Feast of the Immaculate Conception ( a holy day of obligation so all you Catholics should have gone to Mass) and the school hosted a mission at Piazza de Spagna, aka the Spanish Steps. It's a big tourist site, although I don't know why. It's not very impressive, just a bunch of wide steps that lead up to a French church, la Chiesa Trinita dei Monti. Anyway, every year the Pope goes there to lead the people in prayer at the first statue in Rome to the Immaculate Conception (which is the dogma of Mary preserved from the stain of original sin from the moment of her conception). Lots of people show up and wait for an hour or more and once they see the Pope, most leave.

We were there to talk to people while they waited, pass out flyers for the night's events, etc. We were supposed to perform skits, but that never came about. I had a really good view of the Pope when he came down the street and captured it with my video camera. maybe I'll get creative and make a little video with my software to send out in an email.

After the Pope was finished praying, we went into the church and had one and a half hours to pray and bring our intentions to Mary. My mission team played music during this time and led everyone in prayer. Afterwards there was Mass and after that there was Adoration and the opportunity to go to confession or receive a blessing. Sometimes I was playing music for that, other times I was in front of the church telling tourists about what was happening in the church, then a group of us went on the steps and performed a dance routine while singing "Come magnify the Lord with me" in English, Italian, and French. I have the chorus down in all three languages so I'm very proud of myself.

Speaking of languages, there is a part time mission school from Milan with us for the weekend and some of the students don't speak much English so I've been practicing. I can't say much, but they say I speak Italian very well considering I haven't taken any classes in it. Rock on! My ear is getting better too and I pick up phrases in Italian and French even. In no way will I come back fluent though, at least I don't think so.

It was a good mission with many people coming to the church to pray (the rain helped drive them in). Tomorrow we got to Piazza Navona and just talk to people about the faith I guess. That's always harder (at least for me) because you don't have anything to advertise, like the event yesterday.

Special Events

2005-12-01T14:26:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone, I've been on a tw-day silent retreat and we just finished at lunch. We didn't go away to a retreat center, but stayed at the Domus Aurelia. This way we can learn to take times of quiet in the midst of ordinary life (that is, when we return to ordinary life. We're so very sheltered here in our Catholic bubble).

We have had some great celebrations in the last week. One week ago was Thanksgiving and all of us Americans brought Turkey Day to Italy. So while most of you probably have been sad for me, thinking I was missing out, I didn't miss out at all. In fact, it was a very special Thanksgiving, full of blessing and things to be thankful for. We set the room for 50 people, the students and staff and the families of the people who work in the hotel. The tables were done very nicely with Pilgrim and Turkey placemats, fall leaves, orange napkins, etc. Dinner was the norms: turkey, stuffing, potatoes and gravy, sweet potato casserole, green beans, broccoli, dinner rolls, pumpkin and apple pie. It was yummy and we ate it the next day too. At the beginning of dinner I was called over to a table that didn't have any Americans sitting at it and so I got to explain our Thanksgiving foods to Belgians, French, and Canadians. We opened dinner by singing the Star Spangled Banner and ended it with America the Beautiful. Before dessert, we Americans put on a skit about the history of Thanksgiving, complete with pious Pilgrims, Indians, and a turkey hunt. For additional fun, we threw in stereotypical French, Irish, Italian, and German narrators. Man, it was so much fun. We even played "Hot Potato" with oranges for some reason. No Thanksgiving tradition there, it was just something fun to do.

When I looked around the room that night, I saw the spirit of America. We had people from Canada, Belgium, France, Ireland, Slovakia, Germany, Slovenia, Scotland, Italy and more singing songs celebrating America, the land of the free. We are a country of immigrants, where all cultures mix to form American culture, and that is so amazing and unique. So I really didn't miss home much on this special day because it was special here too. I could look around at people that I have known for only two months who have become close friends, family really, and share an American holiday with them. There is much to be thankful for.

So that was Thanksgiving. Four days later was my birthday. Again, celebrating special events in community is so great because any celebration is 10 times bigger because there are so many people attentive to the fact that it's your special day. The night before my birthday, Therese kept telling me, "One more sleep, birthday girl." Then the group tells me to arrive for breakfast at 7:15 so I know there's a breakfast planned. So it's funny because the celebration is supposed to be secret, but you know something is going down.

Monday morning, Carole comes to my room to get me. There's a Happy Bithday sign taped to my door. It was another girl's birthday too, Janelle, so we stood outside the door to the table room until we were told we could enter. We walk in and all the drapes are drawn so the room is dark and there are candles lit on the tables. I could see everyone crouched behind the tables and then they jumped up and yelled, "Happy Birthday" like a surpise party. It was so funny and great because a lot of people were there. Usually, the household of the birthday person is the only group that participates in the morning event, but this time almost the whole community was there. For breakfast we had crepe pancakes (in the fact that they were too thin to be called pancakes and the French said they were too thick to be crepes) with Nutella (Italy's finest food creation), scrambled eggs, and more. It was so good. Janelle and I each got crowns woven from ivy vines so I felt like a forest fairy princess. I wore the crown all day, even to Mass at the youth center near the Vatican.

For lunch we had birthday cake/pie and everyone sang Happy Birthday. Then some of us girls and Alvin went to the bar downstairs and had cappuccinos, hot chocolates, leftover cake. For dinner I walked into the dining room and people were decorating, blowing up balloons, stuff like that. I laughed and walked out. That's sort of how it was here, I would catch hints of what was coming later and just laugh. So many times I saw the group passing our birthday cards arond the classroom. But you have to love it. It makes you feel special having everyone put so much effort into your special day. So back to dinner. We ended up having dinner by candle light and there were balloons and streamers hanging from the walls. The tables were decorated very nice again. We had ice cream for dessert.

After the dinner, some of the girls wanted to pray over us in the chapel, but that didn't end up happening because it was study time and the director cracked down on following the schedule. But they wanted to, which is what counts. When it was time for bed, people wished me a happy birthday again. At every turn there was someone remembering the birthday. Wow, it was so great. So much love. And I got birthday cards and emails from home. But I must go. There is a line waiting for the computer. I'll attach pictures when I get them.

My Encounters during the Mission

2005-11-24T15:01:00.000+01:00

I think the thing that I will remember most about the mission is the people I had a chance to talk to. In particular, there were 2 guys who I talked with over multiple days that struck me.

The first man, M. for privacy, I met on Monday. He was listening in on a conversation in French and I walked up to him and struck up a conversation. He looked very sad, hardly showing any happiness during our conversations. He would hold his head in a bent forward position so he wouldn't look you straight in the face very often.

We were taught before going to Lisbon that the best way to converse with people is to let them talk and we listen. Once I walked up to M., he didn't need any encouragement to start talking. He told me about St. Augustine and the ideas that he wrote that M. liked. He told me about school and how he cries when he goes to church. This was a long conversation, mind you. When he left, he said he would come back.

He did come back the next day and the day after Fatima. Each time I got to know him more, but why he looked so sad is still a mystery. As he walked to the Cathedral to pray in front of the relics of St. Therese of Lisieux with us, I asked him why he always looked so sad and he said something about humans longing for heaven so we are sad here on earth. But I think there was something deeper.

That was the extent of my interaction with M. He hung out with us for 3 days and I pray that by having someone to listen to him, he felt happier. He could use prayers for his happiness because no Christian who has the good news of Jesus should be that down all the time. There should always be at least a small amount of internal joy.

First guy. The second guy was even more powerful for me because it helped me to see that even the most impossible-seeming situation can bring about good results that we don't see right away. On Thursday I was paired up with a young Portugese girl and I saw a 20-something guy sitting in the food court across from our prayer tent. He kept looking at the tent so we approached him with information on what was happening. My partner did the talking and it was obvious, without understanding what was said, that he did not want the material and was very against what we were talking about. We walked away, but later I saw one of our guys, Yves, in conversation with him. We're supposed to approach people in pairs so one can talk while the other prays, but I saw that Yves was all alone. I knew this guy would be difficult to talk to from the hostility I saw earlier so I sat a few tables away and started praying for the conversation. At some point the guy glanced over and saw me. After first looking away, I gave a big wave and smile and made a gesture to show that I was praying. The guy called me over so I joined him and Yves.

The conversation stayed on casual things: what he did for a job (street racer), the clothes he wears (always suits), etc. I could see that he was concerned with things of the world: nice cars and clothes, cigarettes and alcohol, making lots of money in an illegal way. Something happened and before I knew it, I was going for a walk with this guy by myself and really hoping that Yves was somewhere nearby watching out. I won't go into the conversation that followed, but soon we parted and I was left with a bad feeling about the whole situation. After praying in the tent and not being able to shake the feeling, I realized that I must have been in the presence of true darkness, evil if you will, and the feeling of it haunted my thoughts. It was a disturbed evening and maybe I shouldn't be going into details so much about it, but it will make what happened later all the more meaningful.

The next day, the last day in Vasco de Gama, we did our skit and then I went into the tent to pray. I prayed that the Holy Spirit would give me the words I need to talk to people whenever the opportunity arrives. I prayed for M. and for the conversion of the atheist guy, P. I still didn't like thinking about my encounter with him the previous day, but I was still going to pray for him.

When I walked out of the tent, a girl approached me and asked if I knew who Heather was. I told that was me and she said that someone was waiting for me. She led me around the tent and P. was standing there. Weird, sort of didn't want to go over there, but what was I going to do, run away? I walked over, asked him what brought him back, and we started talking. There was so much that was said in the 45 minutes that we talked, but I'll try to write only the key parts.

We talked about what purpose his life will have had if it is all about girls and cars and nice suits and nothing more, about life after death, about happiness. I asked him if he was happy and he said, "Of course, I have houses and girls and cars and nice clothes." I told him that I was happy too without all that and that everything I have could be taken away and I would still have joy because I would have God. This was a crucial part of the conversation because at some point when I asked why he was there, he said that he wanted to know who I was, that there was something internal in me that he wanted to understand. He was seeing my joy (because by the end of the mission we were so happy, on fire and full of joy about spreading the good news) and I told him it was because of Jesus. At another point he said that he and I were very different, he being into the material things and me believing in God and wearing an ugly conference sweatshirt and scarf. (He didn't say the last part, but he gestured to my clothing). I said, "Yep, we are very different, but we are the same in at least one way, Jesus loves us both." Boo-yah, a point for Jesus and his love. And I told him that he better watch out because from now on I would be praying for him to meet God and that for now I could believe for both of us, but when I die I hope he is waiting in heaven to greet me. All he could say was, "I don't know."

Man, it was so powerful. The whole experience. The Holy Spirit was using my mouth to say some amazing things that were straight and to the point and I could see that something was going on inside of him. He was presented with a new way of life in me and it shook up his way of thinking, gave him something else to think about. I hope our second encounter haunts him, not in a negative way, but in a way that won't let him get what I said out of his mind. I believe that a seed of doubt in his current lifesytle was planted those days and that the seed of God will grow in him until it is a big mustard tree. It will take time, perhaps many years, but I feel in my heart that I will see him in heaven and he will tell me the rest of the story from where we left off.

It's difficult to capture in words what is in my soul about these situations. I now believe that meeting someone for 30 minutes in a train station can change their lives. Seeds of faith can be planted every day and it is only when we die that we will have the full picture of the effect our lives have had on the lives of others. Hopefully there are more positives than negatives at that point. OK, time for me to go. I hope to have pictures soon.

PS: today my household (group of 5 girls) made a Costa Rican meal of black beans and rice, cabbage salad (Fr. Cassian's favorite, hehe), and Portugese flan for dessert. Everyone loved it, which made all the kitchen time worth it. Makes you feel good, making a good meal.

Storming Lisbon

2005-11-14T23:25:00.000+01:00

From Nov.5-13, the Emmanuel School of Mission-Rome joined the other three Emmanuel Schools and approx. 1700 other people from around the world in Lisbon, Portugal for the International Congress of the New Evanglization. Every morning we would gather in St. Jeronimos Basilica, which was very beautiful and large, for 2-3 testimonies, a speaker, and Mass. After Mass, our school would jump on the bus or subway and ride to Vasco de Gama Center, which is a combination of train station, bus depot, and shopping center. We would be there from 2:30-6 pm, performing skits, talking to the people passing by, inviting them to enter our small tent for Eucharistic Adoration/prayer. In the evenings we would hold prayer nights in the parish we were based at or in other churches at the center of the city.

One day we visited Fatima, a site where Mary appeared to 3 children at the beginning of the 20th century. I felt like a tourist at Fatima, running from place to place to see everything because there wasn't enough time, so I didn't like that. One day I'll have to go back. The day before we left there was a procession of the Fatima statue through the streets of Lisbon with 1 million people walking for 2-3 hours, sometimes in the rain. We sang, prayed the Rosary, all that good stuff. And on the way back to our host families, we stopped to eat the pastries of Belém, a famous dessert in Portugal that is even listed in guidebooks.

There is a lot that could be said about the mission week, but rather than boring you, I'll try to consolidate the week into a few good stories or reflections. The first thing that I noticed was how open and willing to look foolish we have become in only 5 weeks. I was singing on buses and the subway, doing hand motions and dances to the songs, talking to any poor guy who made the mistake of making eye contact with me. Sort of kidding on that last point, but I did start talking to a guy on the bus who was looking at the silly scarfs we were wearing and telling him about the congress and the school we are a part of. Not only were we being bold on the public transportation, but we were performing skits in front of people at the train station. And then talking with them after they stopped to watch. It was difficult and no way would I have imagined myself doing it 2 months ago, but there I was. It was great.

In my next entry, I want to recount my encounters with 2 separate guys during the mission. My experience with them formed a missionary heart in me because I saw how one or two encounters with someone can make a difference in their lives, perhaps give them something to think about that will bring conversion later on. So I hope to get to complete that entry soon because the experiences were so powerful for me.

Off to Portugal

2005-11-05T09:33:00.000+01:00

It's 12:30 am here and I still have a lot of packing to do. Everytime we leave for an extended period of time, we have to move everything out of our rooms so they can be rented. It keeps the tuition affordable.

I wanted to ask for your prayers for our mission in Portugal, especially our testimonies and skits, which we have been spending a lot of time working on. We leave later on today and get back on Nov. 13. Once I get back and catch up on all the sleep I will be missing out on, I'll write a lot to tell you about the experience.

Oh yeah, my birthday is Nov. 28, if anyone wants to send me a letter. Getting mail is always exciting and it doesn't happen nearly enough. Domus Aurelia, Via Aurelia 218, 00165 Roma, Italia. Hint, hint.

Service and Taking Time to Relax

2005-10-31T02:54:00.000+01:00

The last few days have been really nice to rejuvinate the soul, but before I get to that, I wanted to write about the service project I did a week ago. Yvonne, Reggie, Fr. Thierry, and I went to the Brothers of Charity (the male branch of Mother Teresa's group) and helped out in the afternoon. Yvonne and I peeled fruit and cut it up to make a fruit salad. It was good to have 1 on 1 time with her because we haven't had the opportunity to find out much about each other. Yvonne is from East Germany and we talked about the fall of the Berlin Wall and how that affected her life. It was only a week ago that I made the connection from her life to the events we read about in history books. Something that is far removed history for the young people of America is living history for Yvonne and part of her story.

Besides getting to know Yvonne better, the best part of the afternoon is when we served the 15 homeless men who live there. There was one guy who looked so sad. He didn't even acknowledge me or look up when I took his plate to fill it. Later the man in charge said Yvonne and I could eat if we wanted so we got our plates and started looking for a place to sit. Yvonne led us to the sad man and we sat with him. He started smiling and calling Yvonne beautiful and telling her all the words he knew in German. It was moving for me because something as simple as sitting with him lifted his spirits and made him happy for a night. We have been hearing that whenever we do something for the poor, we do it for Jesus (Mt 25:37-40) so we made Jesus smile.

Now to relaxation time. Thursday the group split by sexes and we ladies went to the Schoenstatt Sanctuary, a shrine basically that had flowers and grass and a small chapel that would be perfect in a German village. We talked a bit about womanhood and the models in our lives. It was good girl bonding time and of course there was chocolate.

Oh, yeah, let me comment on breakfast. After a month of straw-berry jelly spread on white bread with hard crust for breakfast, what we had for breakfast was heavenly. Cornettos (smaller sweetened croussiants), chocolate cream (like nutella) spread inside of it, bananas, hot chocolate. Ah, it was soooooo good.

After the breakfast and lunch with chocolate, we left in the afternoon to Pamphili Park for a little toss of the frisbee. Twice it was thrown into a pond/fountain and two of our girls hiked up their skirts and waded up to their thighs in the water to get the frisbee. As if that wasn't funny enough, the frisbee got thrown into a tree that was behind a 9-10 foot high wall. Before I knew it, two girls had their hands clasped for me to put my feet in to lift me up the wall. With their hands at their waists, I was barely reaching the top of the wall, but with the foliage and the vines from ivy, I couldn't get a handhold. So I started grabbing branches, vines, anything I could to pull myself up. After about a minute maybe of me pulling and them pushing and laughing and my shoving my face into the plants, I finally got to the top and rescued the frisbee. Everyone was laughing and Italians passing by stopped to see what was causing all the commotion. People took pictures so I'll update this post when I get them.

Now today, two days later, is a free day. Those don't come around often so I'm enjoying it. I slept in until 9 am (hard to believe that that counts as sleeping in considering that was my normal time to get up last year) and took my time at breakfast to chat with the ladies. Then I ran to Pamphili Park (it's becoming my favorite free time place) and once I got there, I strolled through the park. It's so big so everytime I go I head somewhere new. I found a path that reminded me of the San Bernardino mountains, trees lining both sides and shading the leaf-covered path. It was wonderful. I get all dreamy eyed just thinking about it. I sat down against a tree off the trail and wrote a letter. Then I walked around some more and sat on a bench near old timers playing bocce ball and wrote a postcard to the sounds of happy children at a play ground. Man, let me tell you. Sometimes the citiness of Rome gets to me, the graffeti, the loud street we're on, the exhaust from the cars, but all I have to do is walk in Pamphili and I find refuge, my haven of peace. My soul is joyful and content.

Many Pope sightings

2005-10-24T04:10:00.000+02:00

Hi everyone! What a week. It has been a challenging one emotionally and mentally (for reasons that will probably never get written about in this blog), but it has been a good one for Catholic pride and excitement. Wednesday the ESM group left our hotel at 7:30 am to walk to the Vatican to get a good seat for the Wednesday general audience, also known as the Wed. address. The Pope gives a short teaching repeated by him in many languages and an assistant reads out to the Pope the names of groups that are pilgriming in Rome at that time. The square is always full of people for the audience and it looks quite impressive when it is full.

Anyway, the Pope talked about Ps. 130 and about how the mercy and forgiveness of God is neverending. It can reach and heal even the worst sin. Comforting to know. When it came time for him to speak in English, the assistant announced that the Emmanuel School of Mission was present, we cheered loudly, and the Pope waved at us. It was so exciting!

Then yesterday was the end of the Synod (gathering) of Bishops on the end of the year of the Eucharist. They have been meeting for 3 weeks and today was a huge Mass in the square to tie into the end of the synod, but mainly to canonize 5 new saints. The square had even more people than it did on Wed. and tons of flags from the countries where the saints were from. Half of Chile must have been present. I even saw a group of Americans sporting small flags, which is a first in the 26 days I've been here. I've been commenting that even though the rest of the world is not found of us Americans, I should be able to represent my nationality with pride. I'm Catholic and American, that's right. So I was glad to see the USA represented finally.

Anyway again, we left even earlier today (7 am) and the Latin Mass started at 9:30. It was beautiful. It's been raining most of this week and we had perfect weather today; the choir was complete with young boys singing the high parts (no priest jokes); the Pope presided over the Mass. It's been a week of Pope sightings.

That's all for now. From Nov. 5-13 we will be in Portugal on a mission so we are preparing for that. Keep that adventure in your prayers please. And if you could, pray for new beginnings, a fresh start to jump into this year and really focus on what I came here for, to get closer to God. And for healing. Not only for me, but for everyone here who may need it. This year may cut deep at times, but growth comes out of it. Peace all! You're in my prayers, especially the Newman Center and the success of its mission.

The Group Makeup and a Vespa Ride!

2005-10-14T23:40:00.000+02:00

I've been meaning to outline the group that I am living with. There are 20 students and 4 full-time staff members. First, there are 7 Americans: Reggie, 25, San Diego, engineer; Janelle, 25, Seattle, law firm secretary; Marco, ~27, Boston, barber; Michelle, 23, New York, theatre; Chris, 26, New York, Franciscan volunteer youth worker; Monty, 23, Riverside, music student; and myself. Then there are 3 French: Carole, 22, engineering graduate; Jean-Francois, 30, management accountant; and Yves (sounds like Eve, he's a guy), 23, nursing graduate. Two from Indonesia: Alvin, 25, engineering graduate and Fransiska, ~25, secretary and English tutor. Two from Australia: Teresa, 26, Sydney, NET volunteer and WYD worker and Therese, 25, Melbourne, public relations. The rest: Paul, 32, Ireland, engineer; Yvonne, 26, Germany, WYD worker and human resources graduate; Ramzi, 34, Lebanon, technical sales; Matteo, 23, Italy, communications graduate; Anne Marie, 22, Netherlands/Holland, phyiscal therapist graduate; and Anna, 29, Slovakia, child care.
So that's the group. Everyone is very different, but we have a common desire to grow in the faith and that unites us.

More related to daily life. I'm getting up between 7 and 7:30 am every day and it is rough sometimes. I've been getting to bed earlier than at home so I'm getting close to 8 hours of sleep each night, but not always. We started classes this week so we've practiced Italian a few times, listened to lectures on living in a community and how to follow Jesus and how to present one's faith story in a way that gets to the heart of the matter. Overall, the classes have been very good and entertaining. This week the relics of St. Margaret Mary, who is the person Jesus revealed the image of His Sacred Heart to, were in Rome so we went to Mass at St. Peter's (wow!) with them there and then invited people in the Square to visit the relics and pray in front of Jesus at the youth center.

Let me take a side note to talk about St. Peter's. We were only there for 2 hours maybe, but it was amazing. We are going back today and I am looking forward to it. I think I could wander in there for hours, staring at the magnificance of it all. It blows my mind to ponder how a church that large and beautiful was created hundreds of years ago without cranes and other machinery. And Michaelango's Pieta took him 2 years to create. Two years spent working on one piece! Such dedication.

Well, I'd better wrap this up. One final thing, yesterday I got to ride on the back of a Vespa. When I got here in Rome I figured I would have to ride one to complete my year in Rome, and I've already gotten to. It was so crazy! Passing cars, riding people's bumpers. It was wild. I would not want to drive here. But the good thing about the drivers getting to do whatever they want is that the pedestrians get to do the same. Jaywalk to your heart's content, cross on the red. Don't worry though, Mom, I'm being safe. Hehe.

Six Days in Assisi

2005-10-10T06:35:00.000+02:00

From Oct. 1 to Oct. 6 we were in Assisi. It was the official beginning of the school year and we were there for an openning retreat. Oct. 4 is the Feast of St. Francis and being in his home town, we celebrated that special occassion with the rest of the pilgrims. By the way, I heard a definition of "pilgrim" that is really good. A pilgrim is someone who leaves her home to seek out God. This is definitely a pilgrim year.

Anyway, let me describe Assisi. The retreat center where we were sits overlooking the valley below and a grove of olive trees were immediately below our buildings. Some days we would gather among the olive trees to pray, sing, or walk around. The retreat center is outside the city walls, for Assisi is a walled city to protect it from the enemies of old. Once inside the city walls the streets are narrow and some are made of brick or cobblestone. The buildings are 2 or 3 stories tall, the windows have open shutters, and flower boxes hang from balconies or windows. There is a castle at the top of the mountain/hill and there is a great view of the city from there. Everything feels very old, but in a good way. It feels like stepping back in history, perhaps all the way to St. Francis' time of 1200.

The churches are full of history. The most meaningful for me was San Damiano, the run down church where St. Francis heard Jesus speak to him from the cross. Jesus told him, "Rebuild my church." St. Francis thought He meant that actual church, but it was later that we realize St. Francis had a call to rebuild the entire Church. We also visited the Basilica of St. Francis where his body is buried, the Basilica of St. Clare where her incorrupt body is displayed, and the Basilica of St. Maria delgi Angeli which protects the Porziuncola, the small church where St. Francis and his Friars lived and where St. Francis died.

We spent one rain-free day hiking 3.5 miles up to Eremo delle Carceri, now the site of a hermitage, but it once was where St. Francis and his friends would go to pray. It is near the top of the mountain in a beautifully wooded area and it is very peaceful. While hiking up we were asked to mediate on Jesus walking to Jerusalem, to his death. The hike was steep and sweaty and I thought it and the imagery were very appropriate to begin the year. This year will likely be a death to self, a death to my will to open myself up to God's will like St. Francis did. For it is only after suffering with Christ on his way to Calvary that we can experience the joy of the resurrection, the joy of new life. This year will have its difficult times, its sufferings, but I look forward to the new life that will be formed in me. I will still be me, but I will be a fuller, more joyful version of me. I will be closer to the person God wants me to be.

Well, there are some thoughts on what Assisi was like. I really like St. Francis after growing up in a Franciscan-led parish and it was wonderful to experience the city. He really lived a radical lifestyle, complete trust in God to provide for his needs. Wow!

First impressions

2005-09-29T20:20:00.000+02:00

I am here. Life is good. I made it safely to the ESM last night, went running this morning to St. Peter's Square and back, not suffering from any jet lag.
That last point is pretty nice. So far there are four Americans who have arrived. Janelle from Seattle, Chris from MA, and Monty and I. As far as I know, the rest of them are still in bed even though it's 11 am here. I managed to sleep at the beginning of my flight and that helped me adjust to Italian time. I went to bed last night at 11 pm, woke up at 8 am, ate and went for the run I mentioned. So no jet lag. Yea!!!
Let's see, first impressions from the trip. British Airways is a nice airline. Meals, little travel kits to make the flight better, complete with eyecovers and a toothbrush with paste. Good movies too, but I only saw The Interpreter because I was trying to sleep. Monty, on the other hand, couldn't sleep, watched 3 movies, and is especially tired.
Speaking of Monty, it was nice to have a travel buddy. We made it onto the express train into the heart of Rome easily. (When we were in the station at the airport I was attacked by mosquitos. It's really weird because I have about 10 bites located only near my knees and those bites have grown into large bumps. I seem to have a more than normal allergic reactions to mosquito bites.) Once we got off the train, we wandered for a long distance through the train station to get to the buses. We would leave our stuff with one person while the other ran around trying to find out where to buy the bus tickets and where we were supposed to go. I have a rolling suitcase, but Monty has the old school kind that doesn't roll straight so he had a rough time carrying it through the station. We definitely looked like tourists who overpacked, but we're going to be out here for a long time and needed a larger selection of clothing than the average visitor.
Once we made it to the bus with the help of free luggage carts (thank you God for the luggage carts) I needed Monty's muscles to get my almost 70 lb. suitcase into the bus. I would reverse into the bus, Monty would pass his pack to me and then the suitcases, and then he would climb on. We did that three times, on the bus to St. Peter's, then back on that bus after we had gotten off and realized we didn't get off at the right stop, and then onto bus 46 to the school. Once we got off the bus we had to walk 150 ft or so to the school. We landed at the airport at 5:30 pm and arrived at the school at 9 pm. I had to laugh at how silly we must have looked.
Now to the school. We are in a hotel owned by the Emmanuel Community so it's interesting. There are tourists in the rooms across from us. Not really a place I can feel comfortable walking around in my pajamas or barefoot. At least so far. The floor is tile, the bathroom is smll with a bathtub that is deep and small without a curtain so I had to sit down to use it so I wouldn't spray water everywhere. The community floor has a kitchen, cateferia style eating room, small circle of couches to hang out. It is in need of some coziness. We can see the top of the dome of St. Peter's from the balcony off the main room.
We head for Assisi on the 1st and will be there for the Feast of St. Francis. When we get back we are assigned rooms. Five people arrive today I believe. It turns out that there are 7 Americans, people from Indonesia, Australia, Germany, France, Italy, Denmark?. I don't remember anybody else.
Well, off I go to practice Italian. After trying to get around the city and people having to talk to me in English, I am determined to pick up the language. Peace all!

Almost there...Plus my contact info

2005-09-27T08:08:00.000+02:00

I leave for Rome in less than 19 hours. It's so close! I should be in bed, getting a good night's rest, but there is still so much to do. Return an adaptor that I found for a cheaper price elsewhere, contact the bank so my parents can access my bank account while I'm gone, remember not to forget my hair or toothbrush and then try to find a place for them in the luggage. They may be small, but the luggage is pretty darn full.

I sewed a bag for my backpacking pack because I hear baggage handlers can really do a number on a pack, tearing straps off or tearing holes. No way am I checking my bag unprotected. Speaking of my pack, it weighs a lot. I put it on to weigh it and now my lower back hurts. I didn't use the hip belt, which takes a lot of the weight off your back. And my pack is the lighter of the two. Good thing I'm not shouldering my suitcase. It is almost 70 pounds, the max for international flight. A lot of the weight is from books. Travel books, learn to speak Italian books, a Bible and Catechism. All that paper adds up fast. I just hope I don't have to lift it very much when getting on the train and bus. Oh no, the bus. Getting the suitcase on the bus with a pack on is not going to be easy.

Anyway, here is my contact information for the year. Address: Domus Aurelia, Via Aurelia 218, 00165 Roma Italia. Phone number: 0039 06 39 36 59 52. You can call between 2-3:30 pm and 8:30-10:30 pm. Italy is 9 hours ahead of CA I think.

Alright, I've got to get off this machine. Time is awastin'.

17 Days till Departure

2005-09-10T23:01:00.000+02:00

I leave in 17 days for Rome. It's exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time. Exciting because a whole new world awaits me in Rome, filled with people to meet, cultures to experience, a language to learn. Not to mention the most important thing, a vibrant Catholic community where my faith can deepen and grow in ways I can only dream of. It is sure to be a transformative year and that is exciting.

The nerve-wracking part comes with the newness of this experience. I've never been to Europe, needed to get a visa, tried to pack 10 months worth of clothing into two checked bags, been away from my family that long. It's interesting because I've never had a problem taking off in the summers for 3 months at a time and leaving the family behind. But this time it's a long time, close to 300 days. No holidays together, birthdays, a family wedding. I guess with my dad getting sick last year I've come to appreciate my family more and the fact that something could happen and they could be taken from me while I'm off cavorting around the world. So there will be sadness, but I'm sure the excitement of being in Europe will cover that soon enough.

As far as stepping into the unknown is concerned, while it can be nerve-wracking tracking all the details and paperwork, that is what I live for. To do new things, to test oneself by getting out of the comfort zone. That is where life is lived and the greatest growth gained. So I look forward to it.

On the practical note of what I'm up to, my visa application is in but there could be problem with getting a study visa when I'm supposed to get a religious activities visa. The American based consulates aren't very cooperative from what I'm hearing. I'm still raising money slowly. Financial matters always bring about stress and I'm trying somewhat unsuccessfully not to worry about it. I know God will provide. Sometimes it just takes longer than we plan on. I'm going to start packing things today, seeing how much space various items will take up. And in a few days I'll start up cleaning the garage again so there is room for the stuff I'm leaving behind. So much to do in 17 days!

2005-08-18T21:40:00.000+02:00

St. Peter's Basilica and Square. The largest church in the world. I can't believe I will be here in less than two months!

ESM address and updates

2005-08-12T22:52:00.000+02:00

The address where I will be staying is Domus Aurelia; Via Aurelia, 218; 00165 Roma. It is a hotel and the ESM participants live on the top three floors. One floor is the communial living area, another the bedrooms (we each get our own room!), and the last is the chapel. I'm not sure if the Emmanuel Community owns the whole hotel and rents rooms to visiting missionaries or if they only rent the floors we occupy.

If you want to get an idea of where it is located in relation to St. Peter's, mapquest.com will place it on a map. The hotel is pretty close to the edge of Vatican City, but on the opposite end as St. Peter's. It turns out that on Fridays, the group will be having Mass somewhere either in or near St. Peter's and then we will go out into the Square and strike up conversations with people. Every Friday walking around the Square. Amazing!

On a separate topic, my friend Monty (trumpet player from the 9 am Mass) got into the ESM too. He found out today. We're planning on flying over together, which will be nice since it's such a long flight and we have to get from the airport to the hotel by ourselves. Once I get a plane ticket, I can get started on the VISA process, which looks complicated to me. I've never needed a VISA for any of my travels and the application form is asking for information that I haven't worked out yet, like which country will I be departing from when I travel back to the US, how many entries to Italy do I want, do I have an entry permit to my final country of destination. I didn't realize I needed one with the EU set up and everything. So there are lots of small details that I have to figure out, when I would much prefer to go with the flow and have the flexibility to change my plans for next summer as the summer approaches and I can judge my income and desires. Oh well. I'm going to visit the Italian Consulate next week to ask them lots of questions about what I need before I can get a VISA.

The First Entry

2005-08-08T09:47:00.000+02:00

I'm not much of a blogger. Actually, I'm not one at all. But I figured this would be a good way of letting anyone interested know what I'm up to when I'm over in Rome.

As of right now, I still have to buy my plane ticket, get the visa (at least I now have the letter explaining why I should be allowed to be in Italy for a year), and purchase health insurance for while I'm over there. My friend Monty probably will be going to Rome for the same program so I'm waiting to buy the plane ticket so we can fly together. If he doesn't get in, it could be a long, boring flight. Is there a "Learn Italian in 14 hours while flying to the country" CD set?

Actually, I have CDs and a book from the library and when I was housesitting, I was doing really well with the studying. Since moving back home, I've been less disciplined. As much as I hate to admit it, I've been partly sucked in by the TV and computer. That, and trying to organize/clean my bedroom since moving back into my parents' home. My room was taken over by my family when I moved out a year ago (think treadmill, exercise bike, fooseball table, etc.) so there is a lot less space for my possessions, even after donating items to charity and recycling tons of school paper. Oh well. Soon I'll be finding a way to transport 9 months worth of living supplies in a suitcase and backpacking pack. Talk about simplification.

For not being a blogger, I sure have written a lot. It must be because I have a topic to write about that I'm excited about. Stay tuned for future progress towards my trip.

To my sponsors, thanks so much for supporting me in this endeavor. We're not related so there is no familial expectation for you to open your pocketbooks for my program, and yet you still do. That is amazing to me and humbling for me all at the same time. Thank you.