Soooo far behind....sorry!

So I'm just gonna go with what I learned at 2 years old to try and catch up: take it one step at a time.

Sunday June 10th

Mass at the St. Mary's Cathedral in Sydney was an odd mixture of relief, shivering, traditionalism, and beauty.  Relief because we made it on time even after sitting in traffic for about thirty minutes.  Shivering because its getting on in Winter here and the Cathedral was freezing (I could definitely see my breath at one point!)  Traditional because I felt transported back in time to before Vatican II with the copious amounts of incense, the numerous priests, the latin hyms, and most significantly the celebrant having his back to the congregation for the consecration.  Finally, the Cathedral itself was beautiful and I made sure to have a look around after the end of mass.  Adding to the physical beauty was the amazing singing from the choir.  Most of it was in latin which I thought was a little unfortunate because it made it nearly impossible to join in but it was absolutely magnificent all the same.

Later in the afternoon, Em and I went with Laura and Rachel to a backyard gig highlighted by an up and coming local band.  It was a rather wet afternoon which is a bit of an understatement but the music was really good and it was a nice kinda chillaxing afternoon.  After some down time and dinner back at the Vaccari's, Sim, Gulian, Laura and I braved the torrents of rain to go see The Way at a local cinema.  Really good movie, if you get the chance, I would highly recommend it. El camino de Santiago... hmmm maybe another trip coming up?  just kidding mom...and Natalie ;-)   Martin Sheen's character learns to take the words of his late son to heart when he says, "You don't choose a life, you live one."


Here's to living life.

Day: no idea I lost count

Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Laundry list style:
Thursday: Shadow Dr. Gordian Fulde at St. Vincent Hospital Emergency Department
                Attend Louise Pow's 18th birthday Party
Friday:     Visit Edmund Rice Centre
               Check out the Vivid Festival in Sydney
Saturday: Sightsee in the City
               Go out for drinks and to watch the Australia versus Wales Rugby Match

The Details:
Compared to United States Emergency rooms the Emergency department at St. Vincent's was not as loud and not as chaotic.  Maybe it was the time of day or day of the week but I actually got to witness a patient be brought in from an ambulance and while very fast paced and tense, everything seemed to work smoothly and the doctor never raised his voice.  To me this is just another example of their laid back style which is one of my favorite characteristics of this country.  Dr. Fulde was such a great person to shadow.  Having been at St. Vincent's for over 30 years, he knew everything about the hospital, graciously sharing tidbits with me as he took me on a tour.  I hope someday that I can emulate his friendly nature with his patients and staff exemplified when he would take a seat with the patient on his bed in order to chat.  Also, Dr. Fulde brought me along to visit a couple of patients that had come through on his shift the day before that were now in other parts of the hospital, something he is not required to do.  His compassion and care was such an inspiration to me.

At Louise's party, I heard the loudest "Happy Birthday" I have ever heard sung by over 60 high school girls.  I hung out with Emily, Sarah Vaccari, Laura Vaccari, Rachel Pow, and Sarah Pow.  Sarah Pow was manning the bar and probably the best part of the night was when a couple girls mistakenly took shots of water instead of tequila but showed no sign that they realized the mix up!  (I may or may not have had something to do with that)

Edmund Rice Centre works to help refugees, aboriginal people, and victims of climate change through social outreach, advocacy, and awareness programs.  Em, Sr. Rosemary, and I met with the climate change committee who explained how the rising sea level threatens to swallow up many small pacific islands sitting only meters above sea level and the centre tries to raise awareness to the world about the necessity of reversing climate change.  After that we sat in on a staff meeting which gave us a sense of what everyone at the centre does.  Later, we met with an aboriginal woman who explained some of the issues facing her people.  The center was amazing in the scope of people that they help and projects that they complete.

The vivid festival is in the city and it involves art through lights and images projected onto the city buildings surrounding the harbor, including the opera house.  We had some drinks at the opera bar, watched the show, walked around, had a bite to eat at an italian joint and ended up at Cargo Bar.  A whirlwind of a night but an enjoyable one.

Em and I took the train across the Harbour Bridge and then walked back over to take in the amazing views from the bridge of the opera house and the City.  Finally, saturday brought some sunny weather after almost two weeks of rain.  We wandered down to the Royal Botanical Gardens and saw some rather exotic looking plants which I'm sure look even more colorful and stunning in the summer.  Following our trek through the gardens, we took a quick shopping trip to Paddy's Market where we picked up a few souvenirs and saw the bustling Australian economy in action. 



Saturday night started with a Jack and Coke at the casino's sports bar while watching Australia take down Wales 27-19.  After watching the match I think I still like Rugby union better than league, but I am going to the State of origin game on Wednesday, which is like Rugby League's all star game so we will see if I can be swayed.  The nightcap was another Jack and Coke and some dancing at a nightclub on the harbor.

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday coming real soon.

Community Matters

In my 9 days in Australia I have noticed one thing more than any other: Community is key.  After noticing this I realized that wherever I look in my own life I see loving communities.  Starting with my immediate family, to my extended families, from the LOG community in Catonsville, to the PC community, now to my adopted family, the Vaccaris, I realize i have been genuinely blessed in my life.  In the past three days especially, this idea has been in full view for me.

First, on Monday, Emily and I took the train to St. Lucy's School which started as a school for the visually impaired but now enrolls over 160 students with disabilities.  After having morning tea with the Principal, I was brought to the matisse class taught by Ed Hayes and pretty much just thrown right in.  I quickly got to know the kids in the class and how they relied on their unique community.  For example, Paddy Busch showed me around the playground and then made a beeline for his best friend Luca who was waiting for him sitting on a bench.  Luca, a blind student, was so excited to have Paddy there and they gave each other a big hug.  That and all the other interactions I witnessed made me understand how important playing and learning together is for the community at St. Lucy's.

Second, on Tuesday, I took a trip to Blacktowne to visit an Aged care facility run by Dominican sisters from Malta.  There I got to see how the sisters did everything in their power to make the 50 residents feel at home.  Sister Georgina pointed out to me a library that was for the retired priest living there to arrange his books, and the raised gardens for the ladies that wanted to grow a few vegetables, and the sewing machine that was in the common room for one of the residents to use even though it wouldn't fit in her room.  These extra allowances and thoughtful actions are what showed me what a loving community the residents are in at St. Dominic's Hostel.  The icing on the cake was when Sister and I talked to Norma, the longest tenured resident at 21 years. I listened as Sister asked Norma to tell one of her librarian stories.  It seems like a little thing but the fact that Sister knew about Norma's life before the hostel and wanted to hear about it meant the world to Norma.  Then, as we are chatting an elderly gentleman comes up and starts talking to Norma and he kinda flirts with her and she explains that they are good friends.  It was just heart warming to see the community that all the residents get to experience.

Third, today I went to the John Paul II institute at the University of Sydney.  It is basically just a place where students can come and take a break from their studies and hang out with each other in a place that celebrates their faith.  It was really cool to see everyone hanging out, talking about classes, the church, politics, etc, or just playing pool together.  There was such a funloving and welcoming attitude that I felt completely comfortable even though I had just met basically everyone there.  I realized from this visit that a community should build you up through challenging you in conversation, encouraging right action, and giving unconditional love.

That's a little more of what I've been up to.  Thanks for putting up with my musings.  I'd also like to give a very heartfelt than you to everyone who is a part of one of my communities, know that I cherish everything you bring and everything you do to make those communities what they are.  

Weekend Mayhem

Right so the difference between Rugby union and Rugby league.  Union: 5 points for a try 3 for a goal 2 for a conversion.  League: 4 for a try 1 for a goal and 2 for a conversion.  League has no rucks and on the 6th tackle the possession is turned over.  No line outs in league and while union basically has continual play, league stops and starts.  All in all, league has a lot of similarities to American Football.  But let me back up and tell about the rest of friday.  So Laura (21 yrs old), Sim, Gulian, and I left early to go to dinner in Manly first.  On the way we got rearended, (no worries mom it was barely more than a tap), unfortunately, when Gulian went to start the car nothing happened. We finally got a jump and made it to a restaurant right near the oval (stadium).  Dinner went well until Gulian came back with coffee for Sim and him, unfortunately he never made it to the table and the coffee ended up all over mine and Sim's pants.  My baptism into the family I suppose.  We made it to the game without anymore accidents and i got to enjoy my first ever rugby league game.  Manly took down St. George 20 to 8 in a closer game than the score indicated.  After the game, we went out to a coffee shop for dessert.  Even with all the mishaps, I had a really great night.  I was thinking while we were eating dessert that I really feel comfortable with the Vaccaris and i am reminded of my family with all the carrying on and loving teasing that goes on. 

Saturday, Elizabeth took Emily, Sarah P., Rachel, and I to Featherdale Zoo to see some Australian animals.  It was pretty cool because the kangaroos were allowed to hop around anywhere they wished so we were able to get some really good pictures.  The girls were teasing me when i got back because i took over 200 hundred pictures!  The afternoon was spent perusing Olympic Park and Bicentennial Park even with the rain still coming down. Later, Rachel and Sarah Pow took Emily and I out to "Cookies" to celebrate my birthday and meet more of their friends.  It was an enjoyable night, as the girls bought me some drinks and even had me "skull" one of them.  There was a live band that seemed to be Irish, and we all enjoyed good food and company. 

Sunday we went to morning mass and then went into the city.  Forced inside once again by the rain, we took a very interesting and informative tour of the Opera house.  They hold over 2500 events there every year!  Though the tour was very interesting, I also enjoyed the sword fighting with the umbrellas and how Sarah Pow's umbrella ended up in two pieces.  (I may have had something to do with that)  Sunday afternoon was spent sitting next to the fire and watching rugby league on TV.  Before dinner, I went with Sim to watch Sarah V's water polo match which they unfortunately lost by one point.  All in all, I very enjoyable weekend in spite of the rain. 

The new vocab: jumper, sloppy joe, flat battery, boot, slack, trackies, reckon, footpath, lollies, oval