All Pictures, All the Time

I've come up with a new strategy for sharing my pictures from my Sydney adventure.

You can find all the pictures I have taken so far, complete with captions, at http://picasaweb.google.com.au/106888816273721551152/ASmithFellowshipSummerInSydney#

As I take more pictures, I'll upload them there, so you check back for updates!

On occasion, I'll still post pictures to this blog, but this web album will allow me to share a lot more!

Enjoy!

Technology

Hello everyone!

On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday this week, a great deal of my time (and Beth's) was spent producing a booklet about the World Youth Day Scholarship Program being offered by the Catholic chaplaincies at USyd, UTS, Macquarie University, and the University of New South Wales (UNSW). It's a really great opportunity - you volunteer for 156 hours at your home chaplaincy, and in return, they give you half your fare to WYD 2011 in Madrid on a 19 day pilgrimage that includes a trip to the Holy Land, led by Sydney's own Cardinal Pell. Each uni will have 2 student volunteers. Its a pretty lengthy application, but so worth it!

A similar program is being offered in a number of parishes looking for help with youth ministry, and Beth was given the task of adapting the information booklet they used to fit the chaplaincy programs. In addition to figuring out how the program would work, she also had to edit/adapt a booklet created in InDesign without actually having a copy of the software herself. Thus began a messy cycle of 30 day free trials, learning to use a new program, formatting issues, printing issues, and a new copy machine with a few kinks left to work out. At one point this week, Daniel Hill put a little sign up over the copier that said, "Printer: 1 Beth: 0," and on Thursday, Sr. Mary Barbara was prompted to bless the copier with holy water after some particularly unpredictable behavior. At long last, however, we triumphed and the project is done!

Today, Katherine from Macquarie came to pick up their application packets and I got a little bit of an insight into their chaplaincy. They have a much smaller space than the JPII center, so there is not much space for students to gather/hang out. In addition, she said their relationship with the university has been deteriorating, making it really difficult for them to advertise or book space for their event. For example, she said that Bishop Porteous, the auxiliary bishop of Sydney, is going to speak at Macquarie next week but, as of today, there is still no place for him to give his talk! I think hearing that made everyone thankful for the resources we do have at the JPII center and the relatively smooth relationship that the chaplaincy has with the university, even if interaction with its students can get a little rocky sometimes.

On Wednesday evening, I started auditing a Christology course with Jessica, Lauren, and Srs. Maria Cecilia and Mary Barbara. It was mostly introductory material and a short lecture on Christ in the Old Testament, but the professor seemed very passionate and knowledgeable, so I think it should be a very worthwhile addition to my time here. I found the bit of Christology that we covered in my Intro to Aquinas course this past semester quite fascinating, so I'm interested to learn more, even though I won't be able to get the benefit of the whole course. The sisters and I have been collaborating in our efforts to learn Australian lingo; on Wednesday, we learned that "revising" is actually code for reviewing. Knowing this makes the following sentence make a lot more sense: "During the last lecture, we will probably spend most of the time revising what we've been learning all term."

Things are very quiet at the chaplaincy on Fridays, so I left early today and explored a little bit of the city. First, I walked to Chinatown (which is quite close to the university area) to see what that was like. There is a main pedestrian market area that is all done up with Chinese decor, but a quick look around was all I needed. Afterward, I walked to the Powerhouse Museum, where I spent the rest of the afternoon.

On my original list of places to visit in Sydney, the Powerhouse Museum hadn't made the cut, but since I go by it twice every day on the bus, I decided that I needed to see what it had inside. Basically, the Powerhouse Museum is all about technology and innovation, and I was quite happy that I went.

I saw a number of exhibits: Australian inventions past and present, several planes, the first train to arrive in New South Wales, a number of different steam powered machines (water heaters, manufacturing equipment, a carousel), the oldest surviving steam engine with a moving well from a textile mill in England, an exhibit on the advances made in computers over the years, and an exhibit about shopping in Australia, focusing on a general store run by English immigrants around the turn of the century.

I also enjoyed an exhibit on various decorative arts movements including quite a bit of arts and crafts era and contemporary and modern pieces that included furniture, jewelry, clothing, and other decorations. I particularly enjoyed seeing these as a result of the projects we did on the various decorative arts movements in my Dimensions of Art class with Dr. Grace last fall.

There was also a photo gallery called "Trainspotting" with the finalists from an international train-related photo competition sponsored by the museum. There were some really great photos; captured in the right ways, trains can be absolutely beautiful. There was photo that I particularly liked taken by man named Martin from Bratislava, Slovakia. I couldn't help wondering if this was the same Martin who was our tour guide in Bratislava last March, because he seemed like the type of person who would a) take great photos and b) enter a competition like this. Even though I'll probably never know for sure, I'm going to pretend it was him.

The main exhibit right now is called "The 80s are Back!" Now, even though I was only alive for the last 9 months of the 1980s, it is still a bit weird to see an exhibit in a museum about the decade in which you were born. I'm not that old! The exhibit was pretty neat though - lots of funky clothing and posters, old computers, and SO MUCH PACMAN. I won't lie, I spent a few minutes playing at one of the little table top games they had set up.

I love museums. My only real complaint about the Powerhouse Museum was that the gift shop didn't have any cool pens. I was really in the mood for a cool pen, and the gift shop had lots of cool gadgets (LIKE MASSIVE PINK ERASERS), but it had no pens. Honestly. Nevertheless, it was a great afternoon, made even sweeter by my triumph over the WYD project in the morning.

Once I got home, I helped Jessica and Lauren make dinner. It was a pasta and shrimp creation similar to what we made for the sisters last week, except this time Jessica added huge chunks of fresh feta, which was fine by me!

Avoca

The beach at Avoca

The biggest waves my New England eyes have ever seen!

(They were, perhaps, a bit more impressive in person)

The beach at Terrigal (just farther along the coast) at dusk

In commemoration of my opportunity to wear sandals during the Australian winter.

Also, the sand in Australia is a lot more orange/yellow than it is in RI.

I just found that interesting. It's excellent for building castles.

Routine

Now that the semester has started, I already feel like I am settling into a bit of a routine at the Sydney Uni chaplaincy. I will basically have a normal work schedule there; it's open from 9-5 and I try to get there as close to 9 as I can (sometimes the buses can be little unpredictable) and leave around 4:30 so that I can make it home before it gets really dark.

I'm going to be auditing a Christology course at Notre Dame for the next four weeks, which meets on Wednesdays from 4:30-7:30, so that starts tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to that. School is a bit more fun when you aren't actually being graded...

Today I spent a bit of the morning cleaning and rearranging furniture at the JPII center with Rita and Beth. Almost everything they have there is second hand, but it seems like they get a pretty steady stream of donations, so little by little they are getting together a good set up. Tomorrow there is going to be a great filing cabinet re-organization product because some new ones got dropped off today.

Rita Azzi is probably the one that keeps things going at the chaplaincy. She's on top of everything and has been working there the longest, so she knows what needs to get done. She's really kind, and the students just love her.

Beth McNamara just graduated from Notre Dame last year and began working full time at the chaplaincy at the beginning of this year. She seems really good at putting together projects and having new ideas. Because she's the same age as many of the students, she has a good eye for the types of programs from which students will benefit the most.

I spent a while today working on a promotional booklet for the World Youth Day Scholarship program that the chaplaincy is going to be offering starting next semester. They will "hire" two students to volunteer for four hours a week at the chaplaincy, and in return, each student will receive $2,500 toward a ticket to World Youth Day. Many parishes are offering similar sponsorships, and I was modifying the parish literature to meet the needs of the chaplaincy program. The booklet had been created on Adobe InDesign, a program with which I am not particularly familiar, but I muddled my way through with the help of Sr. Mary Barbara. Beth has been working on this for several days already, and she had already spent most of the time figuring out the frustrating parts of the program. Sr. Mary Barbara and I just worked out the final kinks, but boy was Beth happy to see that project done.

I also got to spend a lot of time getting to know some of the students. There is this one boy named Lawrence with a head of curly red hair who is just hilarious. In the afternoon, I went to a meeting of the Catholic Society of St. Peter (CSSP), the official Catholic student society on campus. They were planning some of their semester events, several of which should take place while I am still here. CSSP sponsors "Max and Edith Days," named for Maximilian Kolbe and Edith Stein (a Carmelite nun who was killed at Auschwitz), which are basically separate day events for male and female bonding. The men are going to play paintball, but the women were still a bit up in the air about their activity. There was a lot of talk about having high tea in a park and following it with some sport (like ultimate frisbee!), which I thought sounded pretty fun. I didn't hear exactly what the purpose/origin of these days are besides the bonding, but I'm sure I will hear more as they approach.

Dinner with Dominicans and other Tales

What have I been doing for the last several days? Well, let's see:

On Thursday, I spent most of the day at the University of Notre Dame because it was "O-Day" for semester 2. This is basically a day when new students can come in, buy books, get free food and meet people/sign up for all the different student clubs and organizations. I worked at the stall for Viva! Unfortunately, since it was second semester, not that many students came, so it was a pretty slow day. The upside was that I did get to spend a lot of time talking to the students who did come about the various events that Viva! puts on, which was nice. I met a new ND student who just graduated from an American high school in Bangkok who had friends that were going back to the US to go to Providence College! At the chaplaincy table, which was next to ours, Fr. Vincent's assistant, Alison, was promoting Helping Hand, a program that she runs that connects ND students with volunteer opportunities; its the social justice arm of the chaplaincy. She had a priest from Jesuit Refugee Services with her, and during a short conversation with him I was amazed to find out that although he has lived in Australia for many years now, he grew up in Rhode Island! O-Day was a great chance to meet some ND students, but unfortunate it was just not that busy.

On Friday, I spent the morning at the JPII Center and worked out my schedule with Daniel Hill, the "convenor" of the chaplaincy - basically, the boss. We also had a good conversation about the merits of a residential campus, and I finally met someone in this country who thinks that the commuter culture here detracts from the university experience. Daniel was telling me that the general attitude towards university degrees in Australia is very different than it is in the United States. He confirmed what I had sort of suspected: Australians choose universities based on proximity to their house rather than quality of the university because apparently, for most degrees, it matters very little where the degree comes from as long as you have it. While I can see how this could open up opportunities for some people, Daniel was saying that he doesn't think its a very good thing because it makes degrees here - everything from a bachelor's degree to a doctorate - simply another commodity to be purchased, taking a toll on levels of scholarship. Daniel himself lived in a residential college at Sydney Uni while he was an undergrad because he came from a part of New South Wales where there were no universities nearby, so he didn't have a choice, and he loves to tell people that living at college was one of the best things he's ever done, but not many people really think its that important/hesitate at the expense. I also learned that the government funds about three quarters of your tuition, regardless of the university that you go to, so everyone here is really paying just a fraction of what their degree actually costs. I find this whole situation fascinating because it is so different than it is in the United States.

I met up with Lauren for the 12:35 Mass at St. Benedict's and then we went grocery shopping since we were having the four Dominican sisters over for a welcome dinner for the newly arrived Srs. Mary Barbara and Maria Cecilia. Lauren, Jessica, and I spent the afternoon cooking and cleaning up a storm. We made appetizers, salad, pasta with shrimp and kalamata olives (WHICH I LOVE), and mini cupcakes for dessert (I was in charge of all the baking). Dinner came out pretty fabulously, if I do say so myself. We had lots of great conversations at dinner, and I also got to meet Sr. Mary Rachel and Sr. Cecilia Joseph, the other two sisters in Sydney, who both teach at a Marist high school outside of the city.

The sisters had brought Sr. Cecilia Joseph's laptop with them, so after dinner they showed us pictures at movies from the Congregation of St. Cecilia's 15oth Jubilee, which took place at the end of June. They had lots of great stories to share about some of the other sisters and their families. A lot of the sisters have brothers who are priests or seminarians who were able to go down to Nashville to take part in the festivities. My favorite picture was of three Sisters who are also sisters(!) and their fourth sibling, a brother with 10 children, some of whom now have children of their own. It was such a big, happy family! Perhaps the most impressive thing they had was a chapel for the main mass set up inside a 3000 person tent. The sanctuary was adorned with a plaster copy of the statue uncorrupted body of St. Cecilia that is at St. Cecilia Church in Trastevere, Rome, MADE BY TWO OF THE SISTERS! It was so good. I also learned from their pictures that there is a copy of the McGlynn St. Dominic that I love so much on the grounds of their convent in Nashville; I'd know that pointing finger anywhere! We also played a quite lively game of pool and sang compline before the sisters decided to call it a night. It was so much fun!

On Saturday and Sunday, Jessica, Lauren, and their friend Nat(alie) took me on a trip up the coast to the north to the beach at Avoca, a popular tourist destination. I got to see a lot of the Australian coastline and some truly beautiful beaches. And for the first time, I saw people surfing. The Langrells are all big surfers, so although Lauren and Jessica went out for a bit, I didn't get a chance to try it because they didn't have an extra wetsuit, and without that it would be been unbelievably cold. I did go into the water for a (very cold) little while, and it was so strange to be at the beach and in the water in the "winter." It was MUCH warmer than I would expect during the dead of winter in Rhode Island. On Saturday night, we all went to see Inception, which, I must say, lived up to all the hype.

The best, most unexpected part of the weekend was when we went church on Saturday night. We went to the 6pm Mass at St. Mary Star of the Sea (I had to keep reminding myself that I was near the beach in Terrigal, not in Narragansett!). The priest gave an absolutely phenomenal homily, the basic message of which was "God is always on call" - even when you don't have friends or family around to help you out, you can always count on God because He is always with you, so just ask for help when you need it. In the midst of living so far away from home, this was exactly what I needed to hear. Afterwards, the parish youth group was sponsoring a family curry night in the church hall, so we decided to stay on, and I had my first curry experience, which somehow I've not had before now. I was pretty big fan! The priest even came over to say hello to us, having noticed that we weren't usuals. The whole experience was so utterly pleasant and, as I said, so unexpected, that I just couldn't get over it.

On Sunday night, we went over the Gallagher's house for dinner (Sophia, Jack, and Austin's house), which was a lot of fun. On Sunday night, there was a big live debate between the two main candidates for Prime Minister in Australia, Tony Abbott and Julia Gillard. Julia Gillard became prime minister about a month ago after some sort of dodgy business in which she and the other party leadership ousted the former prime minister, putting her into office. I don't know much about her, but what I've heard hasn't made me much of a fan, and it sounded like the debate went well for Abbott, so I was happy about that.

Today, I spent the day at the JPII Center, with the exception of a lunchtime lecture at Notre Dame on the Theology of the Body, which I found rather interesting. I head back again tomorrow!

This Day in History: July 25th

Greetings from Sydney!

Today's an important day for a few special people back home, so I thought I would note them here:

• Hollis Dunlop, still doing good Smith Fellowship work in Nicaragua, turns 20 today!
• Rob Sica and Rob Murphy leave for St. Gertrude's Parish in Cincinnati, OH today to enter the novitiate for the Dominican Province of St. Joseph along with 19 other fine young men, so please keep them in your prayers!
• And, last but not least, Erik Gravel turns 21 today. Watch out, world.

I've had an exciting last few days, which I will write about soon, but for now I must head to bed because tomorrow morning I start my volunteering at the Sydney chaplaincy as Australian university students begin their second semester!

Scenes from Sydney 2.0

The CFR Band - Br. John Bosco, Br. David, and Fr. Lewis

Look at all those people!

The Sydney Slavin

What I thought was a rather sassy looking Dionysius

The Main Quadrangle

The library. Uh, notice anything similar? Apparently this one won an alleged award for the architecture, too.

That door on the left leads upstairs to the JPII Center on the second floor!

A tree that grew around the fence! Its on the way back to the Langrells from the bus stop, and Austin, Jack, and Sophia (the little cousins) showed it to me a few days ago.

The University of Sydney

Wednesday:

Today, I went on a bit of adventure. I took the bus in and out of the city by myself to visit the JPII Center! I've never been much of a user of public transport, and I'm in an unfamiliar place, so when I got back home around 4:45 this afternoon without getting lost, I was feeling pretty pleased with myself.

Public transportation, while certainly more of a hassle than driving, is really quite a good way to get around in Sydney. The bus network is pretty extensive and the busses come frequently, and so far I've been able to get the student rate for all my fares even though I technically don't qualify for it because I'm not enrolled at any of the universities. This makes the buses convenient, affordable, and the walking involved just made me feel like I was getting myself places in a more independent way than a car. It's hard to describe. Plus, you don't have to find parking, and its better for the environment. Win-win, really. I wish using RIPTA was more of a feasible option back home in RI. Alas.

I spent most of the morning talking to Beth and Rita who work at the chaplaincy about their programs and telling them a bit about the programs we have back at PC. At USyd, their main programs are bible studies (a few times a week), a barbeque (free, weekly), daily Mass, and the weekly lunchtime forum, which is the thing I'm going to be speaking at during week 3. Thursday is "UTS day" - there is Mass and a bible study there. When Sr. Mary Madeline was here, she ran a program at USyd called "Mere Catholicism" and and a similar program at UTS. Rita wasn't sure if the new sisters would continue it.

During our conversation, I became even more aware of a cultural difference between the US and Australia that I already noticed - the lack of residential students. The University of Sydney has some residential colleges, but Notre Dame has none, and the situation at other Aussie unis is the same - most students commute. This means that students pop in to campus for class but don't hang around; usually they have a long commute and are also trying to balance a job. For campuses right in the city like USyd, Notre Dame, and UTS, the lure to go off campus when you don't have class is even stronger. This means that most of the programming that the chaplaincies do has to be during the lunch hour or sometimes in the early afternoon; otherwise, no one will come to anything. This rather limits their opportunities for outreach. Another big problem is the postering battle. They devote a pretty significant amount of time every day to putting up posters because people sometimes cover them up or take them down within in minutes! Sometimes its out of opposition, but other times its just for want of the advertising space. Beth was telling me that a lot of USyd Catholics go through four years of university without ever knowing that there even is a Catholic chaplaincy. Part of the reason is that the JPII center isn't actually on campus; its across the street in a store front. It's not officially recognized by the university as something students can be involved with because its technically run by the archdiocese. There is a Catholic students society that is officially affiliated with the university, and they work closely with the chaplaincy, so that helps. At orientation, the chaplaincy gets a little stall in the corner of the an activities fair, so its hard to get the word out. A few times a week, they set up an "evangelization stall" somewhere on campus where they advertise in person for events and talk to students. Another problem is that when they do have events on campus, they don't have any consistent location, so it can be students who want to go to find daily Mass, etc.

We went down to St. Benedict's for 12:35pm Mass, and this was great because it was the first time that I've been to Mass in this country and not been freezing. Small things make life a lot better. After lunch, we got sandwiches at Subway and went back to the chaplaincy to eat, which was followed by more tea! Justin, the president of the Catholic Society of St. Peter joined us for lunch (we met up with him at St. Ben's) and we spent a while talking. He is doing an Honors year at USyd (In Australia, an honors year is a year of special study that you do after your bachelor's degree, including a 20,000 word "mini-thesis" - the goal is to make yourself look more appealing to graduate schools, a feeling that I'm sure is rather familiar to a few of my friends back home) in some sort of criminal/legal sociology in preparation for law school, which will hopefully also be at USyd. He took me over to campus and pointed out a few buildings of interest, including the library, the student union, and the main building/quadrangle, which looks like the colleges at a few of the universities with which I am aesthetically smitten (Oxford, Yale, etc.). The university is an old one with a proud history and a good reputation - founded in the 1800s - and so there's quite an interesting mix of architecture.

One delightful surprise that I found when I was exploring the main building was a little museum named for a former vice-chancellor (I think that's like a president) of the uni, Charles Nicholson. Nicholson apparently did a lot of Eyptian exploration and came back with a lot of treasures. There was a room of mummies and sarcophaguses (it was called "Travels with Herodotus," who several readers will remember is just my favorite historian ever), and a featured exhibit called "Beauty and Betrayal: Classical and Neo-classical Jewelry". There was a lot beautiful gold, a display on the sort of jewelry Helen of Troy would have worn, several statues, a lot of Greek red figure and black figure pottery, and some displays about the revival of classical architecture. It reminded me a lot of the collection (although smaller) at the British Museum, which I saw when I went to London freshman year. I appreciated Civ (read: Dr. Drogula!) once again this afternoon since I knew enough about Greek and Roman art and architecture to enjoy this exhibit with more than just a passing appreciation. Oh, I can't wait to go to Greece in March. What a life!

Work at UNDA

Tuesday:

I spent almost the entire day on Tuesday at Notre Dame with Jessica doing work for the chaplaincy. My major contribution was making a combined calendar for all of the chaplaincy and Viva! (her student group) activities, which made me feel pretty productive. For a small operation, they have a lot going on! They have some sort of an event, even if its as small as a rosary, every Monday - Thursday for the whole semester. (Friday's not a very popular day to be around ND)

We took a midday break for Mass at St. Benedict's (where we ran into Srs. Maria Cecelia and Mary Barbara again), and lunch and tea up the road at the JPII Resource Center, which is the home of the Sydney/UTS chaplaincy. Much like the campus ministry center at PC, this is a place where they drink a lot of tea, and I love it.

I spent a while in the late afternoon talking to Gary, the other student employee of the ND chaplaincy (besides Jessica), about the Catholic climate in Australia. Gary recently came back to the faith after a pretty long period of indifference - Jessica said that he described it as "finally meeting some nice Catholics." I didn't know what to make of Gary at first because he's a little intimidating, but, as happens so frequently, I was rewarded for postponing quick judgment because he's really, really nice. Gary said that, in general, faith of any kind just isn't a big part of any Australian's life - the culture is very secular. If people do have faith of some kind, he said they are very likely to keep it in a sort of "box" - separated from everything else. He and Jessica both said that since World Youth Day, Catholics have been a lot more willing to integrate their faith more completely into their lives/be more public about it, but it still entirely common, which is probably pretty similar to the way it is in the United States. But progress is progress.

Theology on Tap

I write from Drummoyne (the suburb of Sydney where I live) this Wednesday evening with a mid-week update:

Monday:

Monday was a "TOT day" in the House of Langrell; in other words, there was Theology on Tap on Monday evening, so most of the day was spent preparing for that. In the morning, I helped with some organizing and packing the car, and then we all went into the city for a little while because Jess and Lauren both had lunch dates. I took advantage of this time to explore the most historic area of Sydney - The Rocks and Circular Quay, which is the area around the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. I visited:

• Cadman's Cottage, one of Sydney's oldest surviving buildings. Built in 1816 to lodge the Government Coxswain (officer responsible for government boats), it later housed the Sydney Water Police and served as a home for sailors. Objectively, its interesting factor is derived entirely from its age; there's almost nothing inside it. This reminded me very much of my trip to Mozarthaus in Vienna over spring break; yes, it was one of the 14 houses that Mozart lived in while in Vienna, but, no, it did not have very much in it that actually belonged to Mozart. I chuckled.
• An aboriginal art gallery. Paintings by aboriginal artists are simple, geometric designs made of hundreds of tiny paint dots on a solid backgrounds. They are really cool looking, but rather pricy as well.
• A store that sold only products made out of honey. With free samples :)
• The Garrison Church, which was the first Anglican church in Australia. It's small and lovely inside - lots of rough stone, scrubbed wood, and simple stained glass. To get there, I had to walk under the Harbour Bridge - really cool stone tunnel! I couldn't figure out at first what was so special about this church, because there weren't any signs anywhere noting the significance of the building. I had gone to search it out after seeing it mentioned in a free Sydney guide book I got in the airport the day I arrived (such a great find!). Upon leaving, I went out a different gate, I finally saw a plaque that said Prima in terra Australis. Good thing they put that in Latin, right?
• Generally explored and enjoyed looking in all the stores, cafes, old buildings and narrow staircases, checked out lots of signs about the significance of buildings, etc. ALL of the tourist-y stores sell more Ugg products than I've ever seen in one place. The funny thing is that I've learned from my hosts that its a bit of a fashion faux pas in Australia to wear Ugg boots out of the house. For them, its like going out in your slippers. Ooops... I'm glad I didn't bring mine with me, because this cold weather would really tempt me to wear them.
• The Customs House, which used to be exactly that, but now houses a branch of the Sydney public library. It's a beautiful old building on the outside, but its quite redone and modern on the inside. On the ground level, they have this area where they have probably about 150 newspapers for public reading. They have these wooden spines on them so that you can't take them out of the building. I poked around the rest of the library for a bit and was quite overjoyed to find The Illustrated Maths Dictionary, which was just great, with really clear explanations and diagrams, and aimed at middle/high school students.

You might wonder if you'll see any pictures from this trip. No, because I very frustratingly left my memory card in my computer!

We were on the road to Paramatta for Theology on Tap, which is probably the biggest city over from Sydney (they just made it its own diocese, I think), by a bit after 4 for a 7:30 start. There's a lot of traffic in that direction at that time of day, and there's a lot to do before hand with regard to setting up, etc. TOT is held at P.J. Gallagher's Irish Pub, one of the few pubs owned by some of the Langrell's family. This makes relations with the venue a cinch! When Jessica's brother Pat first started TOT, he had it at the P.J. Gallagher's in Drummoyne, but they moved it out to Paramatta in part because the Drummoyne pub just couldn't hold everyone. The Paramatta pub is huge, beautiful, fun, and just a great place to spend an evening. I am convinced that the atmosphere there is one of the reasons that the event is so popular. In addition, Paramatta is apparently a place where there are a lot of young adults, so the event takes place where the interest is. When I tell you TOT was packed, I am not exaggerating. There was barely anywhere to stand, and apparently the crowd was a little smaller than usual because this was the second TOT of the month (usually there is only one). The Franciscan Friars of the Renewal (who I've mentioned on here a few times already) were the guests - their last event before heading back to the States. They played some music, talked about their experiences, and answered questions. Probably the two best things I heard were Fr. Lewis's conversion story and Br. David's description of their ministry on the streets of the Bronx.

Fr. Lewis was a millionaire in Manhattan and successful body builder by the age of 32 and was basically living what can only be described as a life of dissolution until, to appease his mother, he went on a retreat in the small Bosnian village of Medjugorje, a place where the Blessed Mother has been reported to have made several appearances since the 1980s. He had a powerful conversion experience there, gave up all his positions, and soon entered the CFRs with nothing but his toothbrush and his saxophone, which is what he plays along with the bongo drums in their band. His testimony was quite compelling.

Br. David spoke a bit about begging for food (part of the community's charism) in the Bronx and some of the experiences he's had with people he has met while walking around in a Franciscan habit, including a story about a prostitute who got into his car by mistake one rainy day but who he was ultimately able to help escape from that lifestyle.

I also had a chance to spend a little more time talking to Fr. Gabriel, who is not in the band, but is the vocations director for the CFRs and was on hand to participate in the Q&A panel. He has such a gentleness of spirit about him that really appeals to me.

Another exciting thing about Theology on Tap was that I got to meet the new Dominican sisters, who just arrived in Sydney from Nashville on Saturday! Sr. Mary Barbara and Sr. Maria Cecilia will both be working at the Sydney Uni/UTS (USyd shares with University of Technology, Sydney) chaplaincy with me and taking classes at Notre Dame towards masters degrees. I also met Sr. Mary Rachel, their superior, who teaches at a high school outside the city along with another sister who was not there. I sat next to Sr. Mary Barbara, so we talked for a while before the talk started. Rather unsurprisingly, we know a few of the same people. All of the sisters are going to be coming over for dinner on Friday evening, so that should be a great opportunity to get to know them better.

We didn't get home until almost midnight, and, boy, was I tired. I can only imagine how Jessica must have felt.

I ran into these famous Sydney sights last evening:

The Harbour Bridge

The Sydney Opera House

Both of these pictures were taken from Circular Quay, which is both the end of a bus route and a popular area for restaurants and stuff. I've seen them during the day, but they are really lovely in the evening!

Living in Oz

I thought I'd post with a few interesting things I've learned so far about Australia:

1. The people my age around here love "Mackers." Seriously, they get hamburgers like people in Rhode Island get Dunkin' Donuts iced coffees.
2. University is college, college is high school, and school stops being called school after high school. Got it? And universities are just called unis.
3. There are very few universities where you can actually live on campus. Everyone commutes, and if a university isn't close to you, you just don't go to it. This means universities don't have much programming or sports teams, etc. Weird?
4. You're never on a street; you're always in it. I like that one.
5. Enroll is spelled with only one L
6. Everyone here knows a lot about America, which makes me feel silly because I don't know that much about Australia. Apparently, its because almost all the movies here are American - Australian movies are pretty rare. The same is true for music, actually - I recognize almost all the songs on the radio. A lot of the television is American, too, although its not familiar.
7. Take out is take away, and they use the phrase a lot more frequently than we do in America. Even if you stop in a coffee shop on the way to work in the morning, you say you're getting take away coffee.
8. When you have a serious, deep conversation, its called a D&M - for deep and meaningful.
9. Everyone eats their meat well done. :(

I'll think of more as I notice them! Learning how other people live is so interesting.

Oh, and driving on the other side of the road - and walking on the other side of the sidewalk - is an experience in itself!

"Whatever, your mum works at Mackers"

This past Friday was the last day of SCENE. I went in the morning to the cathedral with Lauren, where the catechesis session was given by Fr. Mitch Pacwa, an American Jesuit who I'm told appears quite frequently on EWTN. His talk was quite good, especially regarding some points about the seriousness of sin and the power of the resurrection, and he was even better during the question and answer period. The catechesis was followed by Mass (cold) and then we went to a nearby mall/shopping center type place for lunch - I had a delicious mango and raspberry smoothie. Delicious. Afterward, I explored the Australian Hyde Park for a bit and then took a free tour of St. Mary's Cathedral, which I greatly enjoyed, because I love tours. I learned a bit about the missionary priests who first brought Catholicism to Australia and got to take a closer look at some of the architecture. One of the best known features of this cathedral is the floor of the crypt, which is a mosaic showing the different stages of creation. It was quite beautiful. The church is made entirely of sandstone, which crumbles quite easily apparently, and they have to spend about $2million each year just to maintain it!

In the afternoon, I went to a workshop for SCENE that Jessica was participating in about Sydney's 40 Days for Life campaign this past Lent, which was quite successful. From Ash Wednesday until Palm Sunday, volunteers prayed in front of an abortion clinic in central Sydney. During the evenings, they moved from the street to an adoration chapel that had been set up ina flat above the clinic that just happened to be rented by a 40 Days for Life volunteer. The city responded very positively to the campaign, and the business at this clinic has been significantly reduced since then. The stories that Jessica and the leader of the campaign shared were really inspiring. I hope I can learn more about this before next Lent, especially since it was started in the United States.

In the evening, I went out for a quick dinner at a local restaurant (delicious gnocchi) and then to a talk that the aforementioned Fr. Mitch Pacwa was giving at a nearby church about the Freemasons. This talk was really interesting, especially because I knew very little about them beforehand.

Saturday and Sunday were sort of restful lazy days around here - we've all had a long week. On Saturday, Jessica and Lauren took me on a walk to a half indoor-half outdoor shopping mall in the afternoon. In the evening, we went to 6pm Mass and then Catholic Underground at the cathedral, an event that was started in the US, I think by the CFRs. The first part of it was almost exactly like Prayer and Praise at PC - adoration in the cathedral accompanied by music provided by the friars' band, which was nice. As usual, both were freezing. The second part was a concert in the gym of Cathedral College, the high school attached to the cathedral (literally). Unfortunately, the music here was not exactly stellar, but it was still interesting to attend. I spent a bit of time chatting with some Jessica and Lauren's friends who I have come to know relatively well, as well as Fr. Vincent, which was entertaining to say the least. Fr. Vincent, inexplicably, was using his cappa to pretend to be a vampire, I learned that the awkward turtle is an international phenomenon, and I learned an Australian put down - "Whatever, your mum works at Mackers." This is accompanied by making alternating M's and W's with your fingers. (Mackers is what they call McDonalds) Somehow, I don't think I'll be making that one a regular part of my vocabulary.

Sunday was another relaxing day. We went for a drive to North Sydney (I finally got to see the Opera House and go over the Harbour Bridge on the way) to go to Jessica's soccer game. The field was on the water and it was sunny and warm; it would have been an idyllic afternoon if her team hadn't lost on a questionable goal scored off a handball, but I digress. In the evening, I ventured out to see Knight and Day with Lauren, as Jessica had to attend a going away party for a friend; it was quite amusing. We were forced to pay extra to see this movie on "X-treme Screen" which I thought was rather outrageous until I learned that X-treme screen involved seats that were rather like small LaZBoy recliners. So worth it.

The week ahead should be rather busy - there's Theology on Tap tomorrow night, Orientation at Notre Dame, and I'll be heading into the Sydney Uni chaplaincy for the first time!

Dinner with the CFRs

On Thursday evening, SCENE came to my house! After a dinner of kangaroo with their host, "the cardinal" (Cardinal Pell's influence around here has apparently made his name unnecessary), the four Franciscan Friars of the Renewal who are visiting from the Bronx for several of the Catholic events happening during the winter holidays here came over to my hosts' for a low-key evening of fun with several of Jessica's friends.

From what I've gathered, the Langrells met these friars, along with many of the other religious they know well, when they came out to Sydney for World Youth Day in 2008 and have stayed in contact. In addition, Jessica and Lauren's brother Patrick, who is the coordinator of Young Adult Ministry for the Archdiocese of New York, does a lot of work with them back in the US. Apparently, the friars also work closely with the Sisters of Life, Patrick's supervisors in NY and more good friends of the Langrells.

As a side note on the Catholic scene (no caps) around here, I have to say that there is a lot for young adults to do. I was talking to Tom (Jessica's younger brother - 16) about this earlier in the week, and he was telling me that there have been a huge number of new initiatives in Sydney since WYD in order to reinvigorate the Church here and the great thing is that basically all of them have been wildly successful. Although there might not be something to do every single week, it seems that a young Catholic in Sydney can easily find some activity to do centered around his or her faith at least once a month. If he/she is a university student, there is even more available. The great thing is that these events don't just draw 50 or 60 people - they draw hundreds.

Of course, this is not to say that events do not have their struggles. Apparently SCENE had a bit of trouble attracting paid registrants - Jessica and her friends mentioned that their was a lack of direction in the way it was advertised. It was not targeted at a specific age group and advertised at major Catholic events, rather than at parishes.

Anyway, to the evening. I got to meet a lot of Jessica and Lauren's friends, who are quite lovely. I heard their takes on issues in the local and universal churches and life in general; it was interesting to hear people here are talking about many of the same issues that I've discussed with my own friends back home.

The friars were also great. In addition to their work to serve the poor of the Bronx, they also have what I hear is a great band. They'll be performing at a special extra July Theology on Tap this coming Monday and at an event called Catholic Underground on Saturday (I'll tell you about that once I find out exactly what it is). My favorite was Fr. Gabriel, who is from Florida originally. Our first conversation went like this:

Fr. Gabriel: Hi, I don't think I've met you before.

Lia: Hi, I'm Lia. It's nice to meet you, Father.

Fr. Gabriel: (processes my accent and sees the sweatshirt I'm wearing, which says Friars): Oh, you go to Providence College!

I was so dumbfounded by his quick deduction that I didn't even know what to say! The next few sentences of our conversation were even more surprising, and confirmation that the world is indeed, a very small place. It turns out that he recently went on a pilgrimage in Italy with Elizabeth Weber and her sister, knew of their Providence connection, and wanted to know if I knew them, too! What are the chances that Fr. Gabriel and I, both so far away from home, would find each other and discover that we have a mutual friend? At first, I was thinking the answer was "probably about as low as possible" but further reflection led me to remember what a source of familiarity the Catholic Church has been for me while I am here. The culture here is not that different from America, but it is different, but in spending my first week doing things that have been very Church-y, I've found that I've basically been on even footing with my new acquaintances because of the faith we share.

Scenes from Sydney

Here are a few pictures for your enjoyment:

Jessica giving her part of Monday night's pub talk - "Worth the Wait"

The outside of St. Mary's Cathedral, the coldest building on earth. It is redeemed by its beauty.

Okay, maybe I lied. I did sneak one picture of the inside.

My bedroom at the House of Langrell.

The courtyard at the University of Notre Dame's Broadway campus. That's St. Benedict's, a diocesan church. To the right, you can see one part of the main academic building, most of which is behind me in this picture.

What kind of bird is this? I found him in the courtyard at Notre Dame.

Sydney's Hyde Park. I've been to the original, too!

I seem to find these guys on every continent. I love them.

During a game in which two people stood on the swings and tried to avoid getting hit by a soccer ball being shot rapidly at the swingset by the third participant. I lost.

Comforting Habits

I am starting to learn to navigate a little better in Sydney. Sydney is basically the Australian equivalent of New York, and that’s about the furtherest thing (geography excepted) from my usual stomping grounds. I’m learning where a few things are, and where I need to go to catch busses in and out of the city. Yesterday, I had my first bus experience when I took the bus in with Lauren for the morning session of SCENE. I don’t think they will be difficult to handle once I figure out which busses go to which places.

After the morning Catechesis session, I explored the cathedral for a little while heeded the No Photo! signs (unusual behavior for me, sadly), and met up with Jessica. We headed over to Notre Dame where she had a meeting with Fr. Vincent, the chaplain, and I spent a little while outside reading in the sunny Notre Dame courtyard. The Broadway campus of Notre Dame (the main one) is the biggest of its three (the other two have nursing and medical schools, respectively, and Broadway has everything else), but its still tiny compared to PC. Its comprised of St. Benedict's Church, a rather large main building with classrooms, the library, etc. and a couple of smaller buildings with offices. Its a beautiful little oasis in the middle of the city.

After a little while, I got cold and went inside to join Jessica and Fr. Vincent for a normal meeting of the chaplaincy staff - which includes, in its totality, Fr. Vincent, his assistant Alison, Jessica, and another student, Gary. Fr. Vincent opened the door when I went inside, and this was the first day that I encountered him wearing a habit. I was struck as I went in by how comforting I found this greeting; even though it was a small thing, such a familiar sight reminded me very much of home. At the meeting, they discussed their plans for the semester and upcoming "O-Day" (Orientation) and solutions to old problems. They had a lot of conversations that were familiar to me, and I contributed when I could. Later, the Vice Chancellor of Notre Dame, Hayden Ramsey, came in to hear all the proposals and give his approval. From what I can tell, he is the one that gives the chaplaincy - and its main initiative for students, Viva!, the group Jessica runs - its budget, allowing it to run separately from the Student Life office, which has been trying to absorb it and secularize it as of late. Hayden is really interested in forming ND's Catholic identity, which is apparently rather lacking in some sectors and much of the student body. ND is much smaller than the other universities in Sydney, so there are small classes and lots of personal attention, and Jessica says she thinks that is what draws in most of the students; the religious affliation is almost a non-factor in attracting students.

An interesting tidbit that probably belongs in the chronicles of Francesca's fellowship, not mine: One part of Viva! is a program started by Jessica's brother Pat called "Hot UNDA the Colla." Its a weekly lunchtime program in which there is music, food for sale, and a 15 minute talk and question and answer session on some popular topic of interest by a priest or professor (usually aimed at students not that connected with their faith - one project for this coming semester, as discussed at the meeting, is meeting the needs of the more devout group). Anyway, Jessica was putting together a list of possible speakers for this semester (including, possibly, me...) and she wanted to ask Hayden to give a talk on Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion, and the New Atheism. He asked her to pick a different topic for him because he said he's decided that he will no longer speak on the New Atheism because he thinks that it is already thing of the past, and it is being kept alive by its opponents. I'm not sure whether or not I agree with him, but I thought this was a very interesting perspective, and one I'll be keeping in mind. It's funny where things like this pop up.

After the meeting, Jessica and I headed home to rest up for the evening pub talk. The talk was called "The Genius of Womanhood" and was given by Karen Doyle, a well-known speaker in Australia. Together with her husband Jonathan, she speaks about Theology of the Body, manhood and womanhood, human sexuality, and pornography; they also produce educational videos, write books, and do teacher trailings. Jessica described them as the Australian equivalent of Jason and Crystalina Evert, both of whom I like very much.

I got to spend a bit of extra time with Karen, because she stayed over night at our house! I felt kind of bad for her because she's pregnant and is not feeling well AT ALL. She was a real trooper and made it through her talk very well, though. Back at home, Jessica and I talked to her for a while about her work and the challenges of raising her family at the same time.

This morning I went back into the cathedral for the morning catechesis session which included an amazing testimony by a woman who had been crippled by a huge accident for eight and a half years and then experienced a miraculous healing at Lourdes. She can walk completely fine, now! I've never heard such a story!

The bishops talk today centered around how to live out one's faith. The bishop who spoke today reminded us that we are in a debt of love and gratitude to Christ that we can begin to repay by following him faithfully. A couple of suggestions that he gave were to: work to uphold the dignity of human life at all stages, especially in the face of relativist thought in politics and philosophy, work to keep the charitable organizations of the Church focused on Christ, ensuring that both the material and spiritual needs of those in need are fulfilled in the service we do, and increasingly our familiarity with scripture, especially by incorporating it into daily prayer. As always, the catechesis session ended with Mass.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned before how COLD it is in St. Mary's Cathedral. Honestly, its freezing. Much colder than it is outside. It's quite beautiful, but I imagine its much easier to bear in the summer, when it gets HOT here.

After Mass, I met up with Lauren and her little cousins (they are the ones whose house I went to the other night for dinner), who she was babysitting. We walked around the city for while and had some lunch before catching a bus back to Drummoyne. I went back home, but they came over shortly after and convinced me to go for a walk to the park with them, which ended up taking a few hours. It was such a great afternoon for such an adventure - warm and sunny, and adorable little kids included. I brought my camera, and thanks to the youngest, Sophia, I now have about 75 pictures (literally) of us at the playground where we stopped along the way. It was an idyllic afternoon.

In just a little while, I'm going to be on cleaning duty with Jessica around here because we are having three Franciscan Friars of the Renewal (they are visiting from New York for SCENE and a few other things) over for dinner. That will probably get a post of its own later!

An Answer to the Weather Question

The answer to the weather question is that its not very cold by New England standards - I left my RI standard issue Northface fleece and Uggs at home - but its colder than I would like it to be as a constant craver of warmth. This weather has certainly made me appreciate the recent New England heat wave!

Sursum Corda

Right now, its Tuesday night in Sydney, so I've spent two full days here.

Yesterday, it was rather awkward settling in. My host family was very welcoming, but this is not my house, so I think I was bound to feel awkward.

I went to two parts of the SCENE Congress. In the afternoon, we went to something called a "Vocations Expo," which took place in an open square in the middle of the city. There was a stage where various local bands/talent groups performed, and then there were a bunch of different booths ("stalls") where various religious orders, diocesan offices, and other Church-related offices were talking to people and giving out information. The neat thing about it was that it was completely open and in a well-trafficked part of the city so that passers-by could easily stumble in for a conversation or a cup of the cappuccino supplied by the Capuchin friars (ha ha ha). This sort of accessibility is great for meeting up with people you might not ordinarily.

Today, I went with Jessica to the morning session of SCENE, which included a witness talk by a boy who had come back to the faith after a long time away, a talk from the Archbishop of Perth, and Mass. The archbishop talked a lot about current trends in the Church, and his basic message was that based on his experience, even though there are plenty of unfavorable trends in politics and philosophy, there is a great deal of good happening with regard to the conversion of hearts among the faithful, especially in young Catholics, and lots of lay people working to encourage this further. Sursum corda!, he urged. Lift up your hearts!

We spend the afternoon in the Chaplain's office at the University of Notre Dame (Jessica's school and employer) drafting a proposal for the events that Viva!, ND's only form of campus ministry will put on this semester. The chaplain's office is basically the only space that the chaplaincy has to do any work. Jessica gets paid for her work organizing Catholic student events, but she doesn't have much space to do it, and she said she often feels like she is on top of people, which is unfortunate. One of the big events she is planning for the semester is a big festival to celebrate the canonization of the first Australian saint, Mary MacKillop, which is happing on October 17th. Its going to be a very exciting day for the Australian Church!

Afterwards, we went to the daily SCENE holy hour at St. Mary's Cathedral, and then came home. The holy hour was in the crypt church, which has a marble floor and no kneelers, so my knees were really hurting by the time it was over. Yikes. Those who were fortunate enough to travel to Washington for the March for Life with PC last January will remember just how much I love marble floors in church crypts...

In the evening, I went with Jessica and her family to her aunt's house just down the road for a birthday party for one of her other aunts. It was very full of happy people and small children, and quite fun. I got to learn a bit about Australian current events, and was a huge source of interest for Jessica's small cousins. One of them spent a bit of time just standing next to me listening to me talk because he wanted to hear my accent.

I should mention that I've got a lot of interesting reactions from people when they ask what part of the United States I am from. For the first time ever, I've had to explain that Rhode Island and Long Island are not the same, although a surprising number of people are perfectly familiar with RI because they watch Family Guy. Others have just plain never heard of it, which is understandable because its a pretty small state, and half a world away. A few of the religious I've met are familiar with Providence College, so that's exciting, too. Living abroad is certainly an interesting experience because for the first time, I need to remember to tell people that I am American, not just from Rhode Island. It's a good lesson to learn.

I'm Here

After a verrrry long day(s?) of traveling, I am finally in Sydney, in the Langrells house. I've had a shower and unpacked and saw a bit of the city on the way home from the airport. It's quite large, and probably reminds me the most of New York if I was going to compare it to NY, DC, Boston, and Providence. The Langrells live over a bridge just out side of it which is a nice distance.

Qantas was a lovely airline. Despite a 15 hour flight, there were lots of accomodations - movies, games, food, tv, clean bathrooms, blankets - that were totally non-existent on my flight from Boston to LA. The dessert at dinner was cold chocolate lava cake, which reminded me of my sister because my mother made chocolate lava cake to celebrate the end of Lent this year and my sister liked it soo much better the day after. On my flight from Boston to LA, the two other people in my row were both boys from RI who went/had gone to URI and were continuing on to Australia for some sort of school. One of them lives very close to me. Typical Rhode Island, even outside of Rhode Island!

Later on, I am going to be going to SCENE with Jessica and her younger sister, Lauren. I can't wait to see what it is like!

On the Weather

I should also mention that I am really interested to see what the weather is actually like in Sydney right now. Weather.com tells me that its been in the 60s for the last several days and that this temperature should hold for a while. For me, temperatures in the 60s sound so ideal - not too hot, and not too cold. Perfect weather for sandals!

Jessica, however, tells me that it has been "cold" since it is "winter" and that I should bring mostly winter clothes to wear.

Needless to say, this makes packing an adventure.

Ready to go!

For once, I am not being a last minute packer. Those of you who have seen or talked me on the days I am moving to and home from (especially home from) school, before Spring break, or most other trips know that I tend be somewhat of a mess on these occasions. For some reason, no matter how early I try to start packing, I seem to be rushing to finish. It seems, however, that this will not be the case this time. Both of my suitcases are almost entirely packed. Everything that isn't packed is assembled and ready to be packed. I am taking care of last minute details, and by the time it is time to leave for the airport tomorrow afternoon, I should be ready. Maybe this will be a new trend!

My first order of business upon arrival will be to attend SCENE (Sydney Congress Embracing the New Evangelization), which is put on by the Archdiocese of Sydney. On Tuesday-Thursday, the days are filled with talks and workshops. On Monday-Thursday nights, there is a choice of three different pub talks being given at pubs around the city. The Congress concludes with "Mercy Night" on Friday evening, which will include adoration and reconciliation. I'm not sure exactly which sessions I'll be going to on all the different days, but I know which Pub Talk I'll be going to on Thursday night! My host, Jessica, and Daniel Hill, the gentlemen from the University of Sydney chaplaincy with whom I've been corresponding, will both be speaking at the same one! Hard choice, right?

The Description:

Worth the wait?

Star Bar (600 George Street, Sydney)

What’s wrong with living together before marriage? Hear young people share the challenges and blessings of making the decision to wait.

Jessica Langrell, Jeremy Ambrose, Daniel & Jane Hill

Jessica (single, organiser of Theology on Tap), Jeremy (currently dating, Catechumenate Office Archdiocese of Sydney), Daniel and Jane (married couple, Daniel is responsible for the Catholic university chaplaincies in Sydney, Jane is a recent convert to Catholicism and a practicing Optician).

If you are interested in the other things going on during SCENE week, check out the Congree Program here: http://www.scene.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12&Itemid=4

This morning I learned a new Australian word: arvo. It means "afternoon," and I think its pronounced AHR-vo. I was picking up a map of Sydney at a bookstore and found it while looking through a book called Living Abroad in Australia. I had seen Jessica use it before, but I never knew what it meant. I think its a pretty great word, and even if its awkward for me to use it while I'm in Australia, maybe I'll find excuses to use it as often as possible when I am back in Rhode Island.

The next time I write, I'll probably be en route to or in Sydney. That will be pretty awesome because, among other things, Sydney time is 14 hours ahead of the east coast, so I'll be writing FROM THE FUTURE!

See you on the other side of the International Dateline!

Last Weekend at Home

Happy Fourth of July!

Having just returned from a little trip to Florida with my family, I am enjoying my last weekend at home before I depart for the big trip. It occurred to me that last weekends at home are going to become a theme because when I return, I will only have one weekend at home before moving back to PC.

I've got just about everything I need for my trip, and I am beginning to pack in earnest and take care of a few last minute details like getting a new watch battery and a dentist appointment. I sent an e-mail off to my host Jessica yesterday with a few last minute questions and to confirm some details. She's also on vacation, so hopefully I'll hear back from her soon.

Since I last wrote, I've been in contact with a few of the people who work at the Catholic Chaplaincy at the University of Sydney, especially its director, Daniel Hill, who I think might also be a doctoral student there. He asked me to speak as part of a lunch time lecture series that they have at the university. Speakers give an "outside the textbook" perspective on some topic of interest/importance/relevance. I am not yet sure of the exact content of my talk, but I am excited to work on it and plan it. It's going to be on August 11th, so I'm sure I'll talk a little bit about here it before then. I am really looking forward to this experience.

In other news, I'm the only Smith Fellow still in the States, and its making me sort of impatient to leave. I've been reading about all the great work the other ladies have been doing, and I'd like to get out there, too!