Patrick LOVES Camp Sancta Maria
A couple weeks ago I went to a camp in Gaylord, Michigan called Camp Sancta Maria. It’s a Catholic camp with cool activities like horseback riding, archery, kayaking, and epic hiking — my favorite is horseback. I also did sports, competition, and war games too.
One of the wargames is “World Needs Heroes” which is a battle between ‘alliance’ and ‘horde’. You get a rubber band as health and so does everyone else. The teams(alliance/horde) have three flags each. You need the other team’s flags for points. You “kill” people to get thier rubber band as a point for your team too.
Another war game is called “Sparta”. There are several teams that compete with each other for control of Sparta. There are also magical items that can be used for help in battles and stuff. There are four classes to choose from: power glove, dodgeball and shield, two dodgeballs, or a noodle (I chose power glove) these decide your weapons for the duration of the game.
Camp was so much fun! On the last day you get Baked Alaska and then pizza! Two weeks was not enough by far! I can’t wait to go next year.
Caritas Mission Trip is Overwhelming
Fast Tube by Casper
I recently spent another mid-summer week on a mission trip to Appalachia, Pennsylvania with high school and college students from St. William Parish in Walled Lake. Even after 7 previous trips, I can only describe the experience as “overwhelming”.
My first trip was in 2002. Living in one of the wealthiest counties in the United States and travelling to Clearfield county (then the poorest county in Pennsylvania), I found myself completely overcome with distress at the abject poverty of most of those we served. Beyond the physical poverty, I encountered a great deal of emotional poverty especially among the elderly, many of whom have stayed in Appalachia while children and family and friends have moved away to find employment as the mining and logging industry of the region contracts. In the midst of that overwhelming temporal poverty, I often find overwhelming spiritual wealth. The love of life, sense of gratitude, and deep relationship with God that many of these people possess stands in stark relief to the nearly dead economy, the dearth of material goods, and the want of relatives, friends, and close neighbors to visit with.
All of this experience and observation leaves me with a good deal to ponder and pray about at the end of the day. Returning to the mission in its rather isolated and picturesque setting and having time for quiet reflection and recreation time in addition to a simple meal helps me ‘decompress’. Night prayer with the rest of our small mission community is really the key to the whole day. It seems that my personal reflection and private prayer always fall a little short. By the time our evening prayer is complete, however, I am no longer ‘completely covered over’ by the experiences and observations of the day.
This year’s mission trip, while no less ‘overwhelming’ in this earlier understanding was ‘overwhelming’ in a completely different sense. Each year, my experience becomes deeper, richer, and more insightful than the previous one. Now I find myself increasingly overwhelmed by the love and joy which I encounter among the sisters of the Anawim Community, the people whom they (and we) serve, and among the young men and women who devote a week of their summer vacation to the call to mission. In a place and among conditions which ought to foster only sadness and despair there is joy and hope. The young women and men in our group can’t contain their joy and seem to value it so little that they take no inventory of it but are constantly taking it out and showing it around to everyone they see and invariably leave it behind with no thought of collecting it and packing it away to keep it handy for some future need. And Hope? It is so abundant among this group, that if it could be distilled and packaged, there would certainly be little commerce left to support the vast majority of counselors and psychologists now gainfully employed.
“God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (1 Jn 4:16). Of these words, Pope Benedict writes,
“We have come to believe in God’s love: in these words the Christian can express the fundamental decision of his life. Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction. To be in the midst of the joy of the gospel lived out in this way is truly overwhelming.”
And so I find myself blissfully overwhelmed and mightily encouraged by spending a week working with and for so many people who have had such a meaningful encounter with Jesus Christ that it has decisively directed their lives.
Bigger Big House is Best
On June 30, Peg and I and Maureen, Brian, Elizabeth, Zachary, Christine, & Patrick were invited to a special “by invitation only” preview of the new club and suite seating areas at the Big House. While it was possible to purchase seats & suites that evening, we were there because our friend, Suzanne Rutledge-Kilpela, was considerate enough to realize that this might be our only chance to look at the field from inside the premium seating area.
The club and suite areas are nothing short of spectacular. This rich woods on the interior gathering area and in the suites, the maize and blue accent lighting, the wings etched in the showcase glass, the leather seating…. no detail or point of comfort has been overlooked! The views from all 3 club level lounges are inspiring as floor-to-ceiling windows give way to a panoramic view of the entire athletic campus and central campus, the hill and beyond. I have been looking forward to the completion of this project because I think it will hold more noise in the stadium and provides an opportunity to enhance the venue for all of us in the cheaper seats. I must say, though, that I would dearly love to take in the game from the club level–the atmosphere and amenities are that good. Iam looking forward to numbering myself among the 109,901 fans in the Big House when the Wolverines take the field this fall. Go Blue!
Good Friends Are No Trivial Matter
Last night we managed to gather all the kids – Patrick just back from 2 weeks at Camp Sancta Maria, Maureen and Brian 1 day from leaving on their honeymoon, Elizabeth and Zachary from East Lansing and Christine who was busy with friend on UofM’s campus – to Connor O’Neils in A2 for their Trivia night. The prospect of getting together with the the Englishes – Dan & Donna and Matthew (Nate was on vacation) – provided a significant incentive to the three girls.
Trivia night was fun though we did not come close to placing in spite of the fact that Matthew was able to provide nearly as many answers as the rest of our team combined. (Or perhaps it was because the rest of us combined could barely muster as many answers as Matthew provided.) We are looking forward to another get-together soon; perhaps with an activity at which we can be more successful.
An Open Letter to Senator Debbie Stabenow
I wrote the following quick e-mail to Sen. Stabenow on August 25, 2009 after learning of her plan to travel to Alaska:
Dear Senator Stabenow:
It is beyond my comprehension why Sen. Mark Begich would host three other democratic senators and an independent on a “climate change” tour this weekend in Alaska. To say that I am disappointed in your choosing to attend this trip would be a gross understatement. If your stated position was that global warming does not exist, I might apprehend your need for convincing evidence that global warming might exist–but you are on record to the contrary. I can only reach several logical conclusions:
- You are blatantly deceitful and do not believe that global warming is or even may be real. If you did, you certainly would not waste your time and taxpayer money on a trip that will add many tons of CO2 emissions to an already struggling environment thereby compounding ‘global warming’.
- You believe that receding glaciers, drying wetlands, and forests damaged by invasive species which have been documented in reports and on film by government, academic, and independent studies are a vast conspiracy backed by Hollywood film-makers much like the bogus Apollo moon landing which we all know was filmed in Hawaii.
- You are an insufferable leach bleeding the hardworking taxpayers of the United States to death under the pretense of a cure as you head off on a boondoggle to Alaska.
I prefer to believe that the last of these is true. That would make you only incredibly unethical while either of the other choices would compound that offense with stupidity. Senator Begich is a fellow Democrat. I should hope that his testimony and a large body of scientific evidence would be enough proof of global warming (or its possibility) and of evidence of other environmental concerns to keep you from uselessly creating tons of greenhouse gases on a trip to the glacial shelf and from wasting time better spent forging policies which protect the environment.
STAY HOME!
Beer, Lederhosen, The Pope, Bavaria, and more Beer
Yes my friends this post is about the one and only Munich or as we German speakers like to say München.
For my internship I am supposed to work 5 days a week and most people get the weekends off so they know that every Friday they finish work and don’t have to be back in the office till Monday, well my internship is a bit different and my days off are generally random and since I took off an extra day 2 weeks in a row my days off are seldom. BUT last Friday I didn’t have to work and Thurs I finished around1, so on Tuesday I decided I would go visit the wonderful Bavarian city of München and visit my friend Joe who is doing an internship there. I basically fell in love with the town!
When I first got there Joe met me at the Hauptbahnhof (for you English speakers out there that would be the main train station). The first thing I noticed was that the city is HUGE! It’s only a bit smaller than Berlin so I shouldn’t have been so surprised, but after living in the tiny city of Heidelberg for 5 weeks it was a bit shocking. We went to the main part of town Marienplatz. Here is where you can see the Alt Rathaus and more centrally the Neu Rathaus (old and new town halls). The Neu Rathaus has a Glockenspiel (like in Frankenmuth!) and it goes off 3 times a day. But Joe took me to a few churches instead of waiting to see the clock ring it’s bells and doing it’s show. The first church we saw was Frauenkirche and this is where Pope Benedict was the Cardinal in München! It had a plaque for him and also one in honor of PJPII and it was of course beautiful! We were about to climb the tour but we literally JUST missed it because the lady let 2 people go and then as we turned to go she said it was closed for the night (lamsies). So we continued on our walk through the city and we walked to Odienplatz which is where the old kings used to reside and there is an amazingly beautiful church there! seriously, breathtaking! But they were praying the rosenkreisbeten (rosary) so we felt rude looking through it and left. We basically just wandered around for an hour and he pointed out different things to me and then we headed to dinner. He took me to the Hofbräuhaus, home of the
Buongiorno Principessa!
Well I am at work right now on the 2:30pm-11pm shift and there is nothing to do so I thought it was about time I told you all about Rome (I mean I know my thousands of readers sit at home just WAITING for me to post about my overly exciting travels!)
So here goes!
My traveling to Rome went much more smoothly than for London (thank God!) and I got to Rome in the early afternoon and navigated my way to my hostel (without a map or knowledge of the language… yeah I basically rock) and it was a cute hostel in a pretty good location. I had to wait for my friend Amy to get there though otherwise I would have to pay for everyone up front and that just wasn’t going to happen. Luckily, however, she arrived about 10 minutes after me so it wasn’t too bad. We got to our room which we shared with 6 other people. The first night there were 3 Canadians (1 boy 2 girls) and this girl from like Oklahoma or something and the second night we had a girl and boy from Texas a guy from some middle eastern country I think (okay I really don’t remember) the same girl from Oklahoma and some guy who I only ever saw sleeping. It was interesting to talk with other people and hear about their travels. Most of the people were just spending the summer backpacking, which made me want to do it and want to do it very soon… but I need to graduate first and maybe get some dollars because it is EXPENSIVE! any-who so after we checked in we changed and relaxed for a bit then headed out to explore Rome!
Amy had a friend who lived in Rome for about 6 months so she told us everywhere we had to go and then we grabbed a map and started walking. We saw so much and the city is beyond beautiful! And the weather… LOVE IT! So warm and sunny, unlike lovely rainy cold Germany (but I love Germany). The first thing we did was eat. Right across from our hostel was a little restaurant with a deal on pizza and a beer for 5 Euro… that’s a sweeet deal! Then we started walking toward the Spanish Steps (Piazza di Spagna) and when we first got there we didn’t even realize we were there, then we looked down the steps and noticed and they were beautiful and packed with people. Then we kept on our journey and saw the Trevi Fountain (Fontona di Trevi) which was also beautiful and something cool about Rome that they do NOT have in Germany (okay that’s a lie they had it in München but that was like amazing) are fountains with fresh water throughout the town and they aren’t like typical American water fountains they are beautiful and match the architecture of the city so it’s awesome because Rome is HOT and you are always thirsty. So yeah we filled up at the fountain, took in our surroundings and continued on our way. We were heading toward the Pantheon and we found it (well Amy said we did) but it wasn’t the Pantheon it was like some financial building. We were glad it wasn’t the Pantheon because that would been quite the let down, it was pretty pathetic. So we kept walking and found the Pantheon. It was cool but we didn’t go inside (I don’t know why…) and then we headed toward the Colosseum (Colosseo). On our way there we passed the Piazza Venezia and some ruins. The Colosseum was really pretty but totally creepy to think of what went down there. We were there later in the evening too so it was nice to see it while the sun was going down. All around the Colosseum are also garden type things and patches of grass so it’s a pretty site. We got to see a ton of the city from walking everywhere and I think my fav place was the Colosseum because the other places were incredibly packed with people and the Colosseum was much calmer. Also at the Colosseum were a few couples taking their wedding pics, how cool is that! And another cool thing throughout Rome are obelisks.. like everywhere! I found out that Rome stole them from Egypt or something like that. We then walked through some ruins and then a park but German parks are much greener. I guess that is something you have to forfeit when you have so much sun because Germany is MUCH greener than Rome. Then we found a restaurant and sat down for dinner around 9 ( I guess that’s normal for Rome…. weird) I got penne pasta but it was called something cool. We got home and were in bed by midnight so we could have an early start to our Saturdays.
Saturday morning we got to the Vatican around 10. We left around 8:30 and walked all the way there and it was a beautiful and warm walk. We got to see some more of the city and saw the beautiful river that runs through it and we were hungry so what better way to start the day than with some gelatti? We saw the castle that is before you get to the Vatican (not too exciting after all the German castles I’ve seen) and THEN the Vatican! it was sooooooooooooooooooooo cool! As soon as we got there we were getting in a good place to take a pic and this guy came up to us asking if we wanted a tour and we did want one but we weren’t sure if he was offereing us the best deal… we felt a bit pressured and weren’t sure if we should do it, but we ended up doing because the tour was leaving RIGHT then and we figured we might not getting a better opportunity. It was definitly the right decision because we had an awesome tour guide and got to get started right away. Our tour guide was from New York but had been living in Rome for a while and was some kind of history nerd but that was good because he really knew his stuff. We didn’t wait in any lines and got to start right away. The first part of the tour was the Vatican museum and we ended up at the Sistine Chapel and got direct entrance to St. Peters Basilica (without waiting in lines again! sweeeet) but he didn’t give us a tour of the Basilica. In the Sistine Chapel they can’t actually give tours inside so in the first courtyard in the Vatican Museum (The pincone court) they have all these bulletin board type things set up for tour guides to explain the Sistine Chapel. The Vatican Museum was full of the most beautiful pieces of art you could possible imagine, and having a guide was so nice because I actually would learn what the stuff was and why it was there. The Vatican Museum is also the biggest museum in the world so yeah I’ve been there 
. So at the end of the Museum tour our guide told us we could go into the chapel, but no pictures were allowed and he couldn’t give us a tour inside because there was supposed to be a reverent silence…. this was very disappointing for me because it was exactly the opposite! When we walked in the Sistine Chapel was PACKED full of people and there are no bunches in the chapel, but people were sitting all over the place chatting and shoving through people to try to get the best picture. I was really dissapointed because I did’t get to enjoy it at all. Amy and I tried to take it in best we could but we didn’t stay long because it was so frusterating. Then our guide walked us over to the Basilica and we parted our ways. St. Peters was phenomenal! It also had a lot of people snapping pictures, but it was a lot quieter and you could feel the reverence in there so I was much happier. We went into one of the rooms where they had adoration for a while and it was a nice way to unwind after the busy morning. Then we payed 5 Euros to climb the Dom, SO COOL! 555 steps or something like that, a great workout. Anyway they have a gift shop about half way up and we bought our souveneirs there (way cooler than at the bottom level gift shop) I bought a beautiful crucifix and a rosary (I have so many rosarys).
After the most wonderful morning (oh yeah and in a NEW country!) we had to head back to the hotel because we were supposed to meet Amy’s friend hours before but Amy forgot her phone. Well turns out their phones weren’t working anyway so we were relieved that her friend wasn’t sitting around waiting for us and head spent the day exploring on her own. We got changed (I mean it was a hot day I needed some fresh clothes) than went out searching for this restaurant that Amys other friend had told us we just had to eat at! It was a bit confusing to locat, BUT we eventually did and it was delic! We all got the same thing, the pasta trio with gnochi ravioli and some spicy pasta. Also he asked us if we wanted water and we said yes and he brought us out bread before our meal. Well in the US you would think “score free bread” and you wouldn’t think anything of the water… but in Italy they do this and then charge you! I did not order bread and I would not have ordered water… that was a bit annoying, but when in Rome. After dinner we walked back to the Vatican and enjoyed it’s beauty at night and then adventured back to our hostel. Amy’s friend left to the airport (she had an early flight so she slept there) and Amy and I got to bed around 12 again.
The plan was to get to the Vatican in time for 10:30 mass…. that did not happen. We got there late and then got very confused because St. Peters has like 6 alters. We finally figured out where the 12:15 mass would be held and stood by that entrance until they let us take our seats. Well I have been having trouble understand German mass and I understood NONE of this one. But I knew exactly what was going on of course and it was such a beautiful experience. All these people were here worshiping together from all different countries with all different languages. Gosh I love being Catholic! After mass we made our way back to the train stop to head to the airport but on the way we ate some food (I had an Italian Doner of course) and got some more gelati (duhsies) then we stopped in places on the way back. Saw the Trevi again and saw a women get pushed in and then the police escort her out. Saw the Pantheon again, and this time went inside (super beaufitul) and some more obelisks.
All in all it was an amazing experience and just what I needed. I felt like I was in a rut before I went because things were getting repetetive here in Heidelberg and my one friend here had finished her internship and headed home. But God is awesome and I came home refreshed and excited for my last 3 weeks here and more motivated to get the best of it!
okay that’s all for now, more about my life soon!!
Love,
Your Favorite Spartan
A Day in the Life of Me
For one of my school assignments I had to write a day in the life of my blog, so I thought I’d share with all of you!
I will be blogging about Rome soon, also I went to Munich the other day and a lot has happened with my roommates so more news to come! I’ll be home in 2 weeks and I can’t wait!
Love you all!
It’s 5:00 already? In my sleepy haze I stumble out of bed and get ready for another early shift at work. I go through my morning routine; make my bed, get dressed, brush teeth, fill water bottle, then say a short prayer to focus my day. I make it out to my street train by 5:40 and head to work. My shift starts at 6 am, but I am about 5 minutes late because it’s either that or a 45 minute walk thanks to the street train schedule. Luckily my boss is more than accommodating with this. On the way to work I listen to my iPod and take in my surroundings. I live in Eppelheim, but work in Heidelberg so as I ride into work I am able to see the sun rising over the mountains. Even after 5 weeks of this I am still left in awe of how beautiful this country is. We have 3 different shifts at work; S1 (service), R1(reception early shift) and R2 (reception late shift). Generally I work one of the morning shifts and this week I have been on breakfast duty all week (S1) . Although it’s an early morning I generally like waking up and getting a start on my day.
Upon arriving at I work I say hi to Meltem, the girl working reception for the day, and walk downstairs to the kitchen to help prepare breakfast. Today there were three of us scheduled in the kitchen and I got to work with Marjory, also a foreigner doing an internship. She is married to a German and has lived here for 2 years already so working with her is refreshing because she understands where I’m coming from and is reassuring when I make a mistake or mess the language up. Today I prepared the hot food. Since we are a hotel that hosts many foreign business people we have a wide variety of breakfast including scrambled eggs, soft boiled eggs, sausage, bacon, and ham, which you typically wouldn’t find at a German breakfast table. I turn the stove on and start cooking. Marjory helps me get the food ready while Angela sets up the breakfast room. We have to make sure all the tables are set, all the cold food (rolls, pastries, cereal, fruit salad, yogurt, toast, cheeses and lunch meats), the drinks are set out and the room is in order for guests to arrive. Although I enjoy breakfast it can be a bit tedious after a full week of working it. So I have started switching up which area I work in and cooking the food today may seem like a small change from preparing the breakfast room, but it was something new and made the start to my day that much better.
At 7am guests start arriving. Marjory takes the job of washing dishes and Angela decides to switch between preparing food and helping me out in the breakfast room. My job is to make sure the guests are happy and have everything they need. At 7:05 our first guest comes, he is a frequent visitor to our hotel so I know him well and anticipate his desire for a strong cup of coffee by bringing it to his table before he has to ask me. I wish him a good meal and go back to my post at the bar out of view of the guests. Then for the rest of my shift guests come non stop. This may seem stressful, but it was perfect and kept me constantly busy. When a guest comes I greet them, ask them how they slept, offer them tea or coffee, and ask them for their room number. Most guests speak German so my days are mainly in German, but on occasion I get a taste of home with an American and they are generally impressed with how well I speak English which in turn starts a conversation about why I’m in Heidelberg. At first interacting with non English speaking guests was stressful, but I am enjoying it more and more everyday. We had about 25 guests for breakfast today and I spent my shift bringing them tea or coffee, clearing dirty dishes, re-setting places, and keeping the buffet fully stocked. Breakfast ends at 10am, but today we had a few guests come at five to ten. Marjory, Angela and I had nothing left to clean so we stood by the bar (our of sight of course) and talked a bit until the guests left and we could finally eat the delicious food that we spent all morning making and serving.
We get a half hour break, but our boss never times it so some days we eat longer and some days shorter. It doesn’t really matter because we can’t leave work until all the work is done so if we wanted a 2 hour breakfast our boss wouldn’t mind (we don’t get paid by the hour). This part of the day is my favorite, I get to sit, socialize, and eat delicious FREE food! Something I learned to appreciate as a college student and cherish even more now that I am abroad is free food. My typical breakfast is scrambled eggs, with bacon, a roll, and fruit salad. After I’m done eating I go upstairs for a half hour and sit at reception while the receptionist takes her break. This can be a bit stressful, especially when the phone rings because the person calling more than likely speaks German. Today everything seemed to be running smoothly. I had to insert a reservation into our system that we received by fax, then I had to check the reservations for tomorrow to make sure what we had in the system matched the reservations. Then the phone rang, I took a deep breath grabbed a scrap paper and pen then answered “Halli Hallo Hotel Bayrischer Hof Heidelberg mein Name ist Elizabeth Convery was darf ich für Sie tun?” The man spoke Germany, but I understood everything! He wanted to make 2 reservations, so I told him the rooms we had available and the prices and put him in our system then told him I would send him a confirmation email. This was so reassuring for because I can get a bit self conscious or frustrated with my German, but after being here for 9 weeks it’s nice to know that the language is finally sinking in! Then the receptionist returned and I helped her email a few guests in English. When I went back downstairs to help clean up after breakfast they had finished everything but the garbage. In Germany they separate their food waste from the rest of their garbage and the food garbage was full of maggots so neither of the girls wanted to throw the trash away. I grabbed the bag and held my breath as I walked in the trash room (it’s literally a room full of garbage from the surrounding stores) and when I lifted the lid for the food garbage I couldn’t look inside, so I threw the bag in and left as quickly as possible. It wasn’t the best experience, but someone had to do it.
After work I generally go into town for a few hours. Today was a bit chilly so I couldn’t sit by the beautiful river and read my book, instead I went shopping. This is dangerous in Heidelberg because it’s a tourist town and has all the best shops! I reminded myself of my upcoming travel plans and the money I would need to make those happen and I only bought a few postcards to send to friends. Then I got on the street train and went back home to Eppelheim and I got home around 2.
I have a pretty similar routine at home everyday. Generally I start by checking my internet. I have terrible reception so I have to go to the kitchen often to check it, but that is nice because it gives me a chance to socialize with my house mates. Then I take a nap or read a book, today I walked around town taking pictures of my normal spots to add to this essay. Then my neighbor knocked on my door and offered to cook me dinner, score! He likes to experiment with food, so it might not have been the best food, but like I said earlier I never pass up a free meal. I had an hour before dinner so I went for my daily run around town. I’m not generally one to go for a run, in fact I hate running, but something about this country makes me take any opportunity I can to be outside! Then I showered and helped my neighbor finish the dinner. It was interesting to say the least, some sort of noodle concoction with broccoli. We had a long dinner talking and enjoying the meal and then I washed the dishes and started my paper.
After I did some more internetting I did my nightly yoga. This is a way to relax after a long day of work and exploring. Instead of going to bed around 10:30pm as I normally do, however, I joined my house mates in a grill party they were having. Someone brought out a guitar and we ate grilled chicken and enjoyed the fresh evening air. I rolled into bed around 12:30pm already dreading the sound of my alarm that was going to go off in 4.5 hours. Thus concludes another day in the life of Elizabeth Convery.
Love,
Your Favorite Spartan
