"Sara's Blog"

What I have done in the last three weeks which you would not know about because I haven't told you...

2006-11-19T11:36:00.000-08:00

*Achem* We shall begin prior to my last installment about Wales because this was cool and I forgot to write about it. Then we will continue with the events that have transpired since Nov began...

1. We visited Ely cathedral and walked around the town of Ely for the afternoon- great little book stores and a beautiful cathedral, what more could you want! http://www.cathedral.ely.anglican.org/

2. I was crucifer for the Special Eucharist for the commemoration of Benefactors, which was weird because Westcott does not actually have any benefactors... So since there are no official benefactors, Angela Tilby declared us all benefactors, and so it was. An alum of Westcott, Alma Servant, preached a lovely sermon on the saying from the two staple Westcott items: the bell on which it is written in greek 1 Thess 5:24: "the one who calls is faithful" and the icon of Jesus in the Chapel: "You did not choose me but I chose you." It was a lovely service after which we had our first formal hall of the year! I got a lot of really lovely feedback about my serving and was even told I looked "angelic up there", which was lovely.

3. I turned in my first (and only so far) paper of the term- A Feminist Biblical interpretation of Judges 4 and 5- Deborah: Woman of flames!

4. We had a lovely high mass in All Saints Church on All Saints Day. The Gospel Choir made their debut performance and blew everyone away with the opening song led by Ian Gallagher "Oh, Happy Day!". It was fab! The service was lovely. Anna Rowlands, a Catholic Lay woman and tutor at Westcott, preached, Angela Tilby presided, and the choir sang a lovely Anthem. The GC led the procession down Jesus Lane and back to the courtyard singing "See-ya-hambÂ eh-koo-ka-nyen-kwen-khos".

5. The next night our tutor group was in charge of community night soup. I got about halfway through my first onion (we had over 30 to chop!) and I had to leave the room for tears were squirting out of my eyes. I crushed garlic in the other room, so I still left that afternoon with a pungentaromaaattachedd to my skin and clothes that even a shower didn't get off. Everyone loved our tomato, leek and onion soup :).

6. John, Angela and I went to Norwich and went to the shrine of Julian who bears the same name. We visited the chapel, St. Julian's Church and the room built next to it where she lived and wrote "Therevelationss of Divine" love.
http://www.julianofnorwich.org/index.shtml We took some time to pray and meditate in her cell which was verymeaningfull. Indeed, all shall be well, all manner of things shall be well. We went to Evensong at thecathedrall, which, turns out is Anglican- sorry Angela. Nevertheless, we all enjoyed the service. http://www.cathedral.org.uk/pages/html/building.html

7. Beingg the crazy American travelers that we are, on Friday the 10th we got up at 4am and took the bus to the airport and then flew to DUBLIN!! What do you do in Dublin at 11am before the pubs are open to serveGuinnesss? You go visit the book of Kells, of course!! We made our way to Trinity college and visited the book of Kells and the Long Room which is the coolest room ever!!!! http://skippyshamrock.tripod.com/longroom.jpg Then we took a much needed nap and watched some much desired telly. Then it was off to Temple Bar to taste theGuinnesss for ourselves! Much to John'schagrinn, the ladies called it an early night. The next day we took the train to thecoastall village of Howth, had some fresh caught (and then deep fried) sea food, and hiked up to the summit for the gorgeous views and gail force winds! That night it was down to the local pub for a plate ofspaghettii being enough for us all to fly back to England in, and the best brother and sister act playing amazing traditional Irish tunes. We sang and drank the night away... !! The next day the main event was going to the Guinness factory. http://www.guinness.com/gb_en/ What an event! Then up to the top floor bar for our free Guinness and the best views of the city!

8. Some of us international students went to a Taize service at Westminster Abbey last night with Brother Alois and other brothers from the Taize community, part of their pilgrimage of trust on earth which is taking them all over the world to hold Taize services for people who want to experience Taize worship/community but can't make it to France. http://www.taize.fr/en_article3632.html Guess who else was there to speak and to pray with us: Rowan Williams! And guess who went up to him after the service and introduced herself and talked to him about Yale and Westcott... that's right! Moi! So cool!! http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/

9. The latest update: The Americans have taken the liberty of planning a Thanksgiving Extravaganza for Westcott House to take place this Wednesday (Thursday is soup night and The Greater Silence- meager portions and silence- neither is conducive for a proper American Thanksgiving Meal). The meal is being done as a Formal Hall, thus it is now Formal Thanksgiving!!!!! Tonight, lead by creative andtalentedd Angela Batie, she Ian and I made "turkey hand placemats" for all 64 of our dinner guests. It was incredibly fun and funny.

Well that, my dearies, is all the updates I have for you now. As I head into the last two weeks of class and three weeks of my time living in England, my days will be full of Aquinas andAristotlee, Feminist Biblical Interpretation and Jewish Christian relations. The goal is to write my essays before I leave. But, more importantly really, is that I enjoy the time I have left and my Westcott family before I return home to my much loved and much missed Yale family and then my fam fam in MD. As my placemat says 'Live is short. Thank hard!'

Radical Wales

2006-10-31T04:04:00.000-08:00

http://www.radicalwales.com/HTML2/RTG-GB-337.aspx

We left Cambridge at an ungodly 5am, taking a cab to the train station, a train to London and then the tub to Victoria Station where after wandering around looking for the yellow bus, we finally found the tour getting ready to board. Angela and I travel very well together. Without even needing to communicate, I hoped on the bus and grabbed us the two front seats with the best view and most importantly, with the extra leg room for the longleged creature that I am, and Angela dashed into the office to register us. Our tour guides name was, unbelievable, again, Dougie and from Scotland. How many Dougies are there in the UK?? This Dougie was more laid back and less into telling us lots of historical facts and local legend. He preferred to chat with us about what he had eaten that day and stories that came to his mind, usually involving a 'psycho' he had dated. We did find out that he had a five year old son and had just gotten married four weeks ago. It was hysterical sitting up in the front and catching all the things he would say when the mic was not on.

After leaving the hustle and bustle and crazy traffic in London, we drove over the Severn bridge to stop at our first castle of the tour, Chepstow Caste bye the river Wye and stand with one foot in England and one foot in Wales. Then back on the bus to Tintern Abbey, or Tinter Nabby as we like like to call it for a look around the Abbey and a hike up to the top of the hill for a better view and a look at the ruins of a really cool old Church that was now covered inside and outside with vines and flowers that we named, Nymph Church, were the fairies get married.

Next we stopped in Caerphilly so see the magnificent castle with the leaning tower (leaning more than the tower of Pisa!), grab a meet pasty (soft "a", not hard "a" like what you put on your nipples) and have a walk about the town. We then drove through Brecon Beacons and stopped to skip, or if you could not skip ( much harder than skipping oyster shells!!) throw stones in the lake- just for fun! Further up the road we took a walk in the woods where Angela and I got quite silly (look at the pictures!!). The rest of the day was spent driving to Abergavenny where we spent the night in a hostel that surrounded a bar. In case you did not know ( I didn't) the official drink of Wales is a beer called Brains. It is quite nice, light and goes down smooth. I really enjoyed it- but I every other place we went the rest of the weekend did not have it!! So much for the official drink. We spent the evening playing golf in the bar (it's a card game), eating chips and lasagna and waiting a bit of the Rugby match on the t.v. Then it was off to bed, for we were nackered!

Up and at'em early the next morning and headed up north through the farmlands and country side. Our first stop was Hay-on-Wye- an entire town full of books stores!! Oh the joy!! Books for only one pound! I don't know how we controlled ourselves. I went in to smell a few of the books and have a look around, but managed not to make to any purchases. The best part, for me, was walking into a store to buy some souvenirs and being greeted by the cutest little ruby colored King Charles Spaniel named Jasper! I had been missing my KC Charlie so much, it was good to have a doggie snuggle. We had a good ten minutes of puppy lovin' before I had to tear myself away... Back on the bus we drove up to and through Snowdonia National Park where we tried to see Wales' highest mountain, Snowden... but the weather was so atmospheric, we didn't quite see it. Still the drive was amazing and you can't beat a chauffeured tour!! We stopped at the site were princes Llywelyn was beheaded by the English in 1282 and saw the well they washed his head off in. We walked up to the Clarewen Resevoir that Queen Elizabeth dedicated as one of her first acts as Queen. We stopped in another small town to eat lunch out of a bag. We stopped at the ruins of the Welsh (apparently some of the castles in Wales are not Welsh, but English) castle Castel-y-Bere. Only one person tumbled down the hill in the mud and rain, so that was a success. Legend has it if you spend the night in the castle ruins from dusk til dawn, you will either wake up a poet or a madman. I can see it... That night we stayed in an awesome hostel within the walled town Caernorfon in the shadow of one of the most spectacular castles in Britain. That night we went out for a cheap dinner, in search of Brains we did not find and decided to end our anti-social streak for the trip and eat with about 12 other people from the trip. Then we hit up the Witherspoon, a cool pub right outside the castle, had some drinks and some laughs, played some pool and darts, had an all around good time.

Sunday morning we headed over into the Isle of Anglesey, home of the famous Ã?LlanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogochÃ?, the longest place name in Europe! Pretty much all we did is stop, get out of the coach, take a picture of the name on the train station and leave. Dougie told us that the name was totally gimmickck so people would come to the town for tourism. He said it is not even the longest name place in the world! There is a place with a longer name in Australia that some of the Aussies on the bus tried to teach us... yeah, I can't say either name. We went back to the mainland Llangollen and I saw my first aquaduct! It was in a place called Trevor (now that is a Welsh name I can say). After that we kept driving through North Wales tShakespeare's's hometown, Stratford-upon-Avon and had about 45 minutes to look around. Luckily I had been there before, so it was nice to visit the church where he iburieded again and walk past where he was born and where he died (on the same day!... well, several years later, but you get it..)

We were meant to get back to London at 5:30. Traffic wahorrendousus and we didn't pull up at the Haggis office until 8:00.Maneuveringng our way through tube lines that were closed and train routes that were down for maintenance, plus a bus ride to get back into Cambridge, we didn't get back til 11pm. This would not have been so bad if we didn't have papers due the next day. But in true American grad student fashion, we had thewrittenen and ready to present by the next morning. So those were our adventures in Wales.

Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold Preaches in London

2006-10-31T03:35:00.000-08:00

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_79053_ENG_HTM.htm

Still I Rise

2006-10-31T03:20:00.000-08:00

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my souful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefullness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

- Maya Angelou

she is amazing beyond words.

Rabshakeh-lama-lama-ding-dong

2006-10-25T08:43:00.000-07:00

Angela and I are going on a tour of Wales this weekend, leaving Friday morning from London at 7:15am. I was on the house rota to read at Evening Prayer Friday evening, but I switched with a friend to be able to reading on Thursday morning instead. Now I get to read 2 Kings 19: 1-19. There are worse passages in the Bible, but good luck to me pronouncing these names at 7:40am...

Hezekiah (ok, start off with an easy one)
Eliakim
Shebna
Amoz
Rabshakeh
Libnah
Lachish
Tirhakah
Gozan
Haran
Rezeph
Telassar
Hamath
Arpad
Sepharvaim
Hena
Ivvah
Sennacherib

Fun. Fun times.

Allegiance

2006-10-24T15:41:00.000-07:00

Since coming to Westcott House at the end of an eleven week internship as a hospital chaplain and the beginning of some serious self reflection about why I am called to be an ordained priest and not just a Christian minister, I have really begun to feel like, as the Brits would say, an ordinand. I am training to be ordained in the Episcopal Church. This sense of identity has really come home for me being surrounded by ordinands in the C of E and the only one of my fellow Yalies to be Anglican let alone training for the priesthood. There is something about that word- "priesthood"- that still makes me think of men. I feel like I don't have the right to claim that identity, which I should, thirty years of history says so. I think it is the idea of the priesthood that is subsumed in the 2,000 years of history (which I am reading about a lot lately) in which this word, this vocation, this calling refers only to something that men did. 2,000 compared to 30. No wonder it is hard. Not that we haven't made a fantastic start. Being here, where women's ordination is only twelve years old, and being in the presence of some amazing women who were among the FIRST to be ordained in this country and Church, is amazing. I am in awe of their courage and their conviction in their callings to go into the uncharted territory of what being a woman priest would even look like, not to mention fighting past the men and women who were trying to block their way. Unexpectedly there are a number of young women (my age) starting their training this year. This is so encouraging! Women of all ages are going into this life of service. My time here so far has really been helpful in me settling into this feeling of rightness and goodness that I believe my own calling is. I am in the right place. I am on the right path. This is the right step in my journey. Yes, it is scary not to know exactly what lies ahead and what it will "look like". But women have gone before me. And their witness will be my guide.

2006-10-09T15:59:00.000-07:00

Since arriving at Westcott and "settling in" and I am no longer gallivanting around Eastern Europe and the UK, anything I could think about blogging seems rather boring at the moment. Not that it is boring, just comparatively speaking... but I do suppose an update is in order. You should know, and being the honest person that I am, I will tell you, that as I am typing this I am "thinking" in a British accent. It is scary, really. They really have a whole other language over here. It is just like that old saying, America and Britain are two countries separated by the Atlantic Ocean. It's true. No, the saying is, two countries separated by a common language. I hope I don't annoy the hell out of everyone if I get back and have Madonna's accent.

I have had a total of three, count 'em, three days of class so far. This would be very exciting if I did not discover today that two of the classes I had singed up for actually overlap. Apparently when the timetable says NT goes until 11:55 you are really meant to understand that it actually goes until 1pm, or 13:00 as they would say. So, I had to do some "last minute" finageling today with the dear, dear Vicky Raymer and now I will be taking, for credit, the following three classes: Feminist Biblical Interpretations, or FBI as I like to refer to it, with Andrew Mein the OT tutor and another professor, Janet Tollington. Jewish/ Christian Relations by Margie Tolstoy, and yes she is an authentic Tolstoy, not to mention a fab lady. And lastly an Independent Learning Module with Angela Tilby on Medieval Theology. Fun stuff. Oh, and I will of course whilst I am here be taking advantage of the lectures at the Cambridge Divinity Faculty (although Yale will not give us any credit for them...) As I am able I will be auditing Graham Stanton's Jesus in the Gospel Tradition, Anna William's Augustine and Aquinas, and David Ford's Who is Jesus Christ. All should be very good.

I know we only have eight weeks of lecture and study and then only one essay to write for each course for credit, but I have to say, I have been doing just as much reading here as I would be at Yale. It really does seem to be you put in as much as you want/can for us exchange students, and because I have the time I am doing a lot of interesting reading. Well... some of it is interesting. Some of the Medieval stuff is a bit tough going, but soon hopefully I will get into focusing on my essay question. Really, the assessment here is very focus- most of the time you get a specific question from your tutor or professor and you are graded based on how well you answer that question, and nothing else. We were warned at the International Students briefing that American students tend to find this way of being assessed difficult. Hopefully I will get the hang of it fairly quickly.

Angela really has put me to shame with this blogging stuff, so if you are not satisfied with my updates you can always check out her's, for we are doing quite a lot of the same things (angelabatie.blogspot.com). This past Saturday, since we decided not to take an adventurous trip out of the UK, or Cambridge really, we did manage to get ourselves out on a very nice and long walk to a little village about 4 miles away called Granchester. The walk there really was lovely; by the River Cam through lovely fields and pastures. When we arrived we had a spot of tea in the garden of one of the local restaurants and took in the English countryside. It was a seven mile walk round trip, which was good for walking off some of the puddings they give us at Westcott. It is great not to have to worry about cooking our own food, but I was hoping to come back a few pounds lighter not a whole stone heavier!!! Better keep to the walking!!

Much more exciting things to tell, but for now I will share with you one more British Treasure I have been entrusted with before we part. This is.... the Mighty Boosh. It sounds like something dirty, but it is actually a British sketch TV show, kind of like Monty Python but only with two guys and done in the last few years. Definitely an acquired taste, but I would recommend you give it a go.

A Week At Westcott

2006-10-02T14:49:00.000-07:00

We pray a lot. A whole lot. It's great. I absolutely love praying the office everyday. I don't know if Episcopal priests have to promise to pray the daily office everyday when they take their ordination vows like the C of E clergy do, but it would not be a bad idea. Now, I am not a morning person. I would pretty much rather do anything than get up before the sun. Turns out I would rather pray more than sleep. Although I still like sleep... a lot. Naps. Naps are good.

At YDS they are almost getting ready for Fall Break. We haven't even started class yet (we start Thursday). And we end two weeks before they do. Who do you think got the better end of the deal? Not to mention we are studying in Cambridge. I get to take NT with John Proctor (not that NT with Diana Swancutt or Harry Attridge aren't fab). Angela Tilby is my tutor (look her up... she is pretty big stuff). I only have to take three classes which means I have time to sit in on some like "Life and Service" where I get to learn everything I ever wanted to know about being a Vicar in the Church of England (you know, for good measure).

BTW the weather is so sporadic here. Yesterday it went from blue skies to torrential down pour, to clear skies, to HAIL, to blue skies in a matter of about two hours. Crazy. Speaking of random things about Britain... what is with the sinks that have two faucets??? One for hot and one for cold? What about warm? What if you have to wash your face? You have to put your hands under the freezing cold water and then swipe them over to the scalding without loosing the water in your cupped hands and create a little pool of normal temperature water. Someone suggested to Angela that you plug the sink and fill it up with "warm" water. But what if you are in public? You don't know what is in that sink. Do you really want to put that on your face?

We have also noticed an interesting English form of greeting. This would be said, say, if you were passing someone in the street that you knew. You would say "Ya'llright?" In other words "you all right?" Now, if someone asks you "Are you all right?" in America, you think "yes, of course I am alright, why? Do I look like something is wrong? Do I not look well? Why do you ask? What are you trying to say!???!! But here in England, "ya'll right?" simply means "how are you?". I am still not sure how to casually answer this question though. I have taken to saying, "yeah, I'm good. How are you?" I haven't yet been able to train myself to say "ya'll right" to random people I pass... not yet. Oh, and btw, it is not a southern "ya'll", it is more like "yu-all", in a British accent.

Oh, and don't even get me started on Marmite. :) Brown salty spread? For breakfast?

I'm just teasing. I really love it here. I love the tea. I love Sunday lunch. I hate how freaking expensive everything is. I might as well have taken a vow of poverty while I am here. (ok, that is a bit extreme- but it is 2 to 1 pounds to dollars!!)

We have basically spent the last week getting "orientated" to Westcott. I'm not sure how much more orientation any of us can take! Luckily classes start on Thursday. I already have "assigned" reading from Angela Tilby for this independent module learning about Medieval stuff, which in the end I have to write an essay for. I am going to be reading til my eyeballs fall out...

I still haven't written about Scotland but I promise to get around to it. I am in the process of uploading pictures to my facebook page, but it is taking forever and a day. Check those out when they are up; they're fun.

Peace out homies.

Iona

2006-09-26T14:28:00.000-07:00

I have to be on one of the slowest computers in Cambridge, but I know my public is dying to hear from me, so here it is- my first blog is over a week!! fyi : we are here at Westcott, everything is going brilliantly so far, I'm psyched!

Much has happen since then. We went to Scotland for goodness sakes! After our 32 hour journey from Medjugorjie, Bosnia and Hersikovina to Edninburgh which involved one bus, one train, one plane, another train, a tub ride, and another train we settled in one of the crappiest hostels in the country. Brodies, and Idon't mind saying their name, were recomended in one of our guidebooks as a great hostel and being the trusting lot that we are, we tried it out. Three of the four shower's were without curtians and two of the doors were off their hindges (soon to be three) two of the three toiltets were "bung" and did not flush (this problem was not taken care of by the time we returned a week later...) some of the guests think there were bedbugs and there was this strange snoring/humming noise comming from the walls every five to eight seconds. It was a right lovely place. But after 32 hours, we didn't care- we were dead to the world, until of course the next morning when we had to change rooms.

Since us mere mortals are and never should be left to our own devices to plan our futres, of course fate stepped in and changed all of our plans for the next ten days. We ended up dropping everything to leave THE NEXT DAY for Iona because we despirately wanted to go there and going the next day was the only way we could manage to do that and still catch as Hagis tour, which we also wanted to do. Thirteen phone calls later to thirteen (and probably all of) the differnt B&B type places to stay on the tiny island of Iona, we had an en suite room for 27 quid a night, which was just fine with us.

Looking at Iona from the shores of the neighboring island of Mull does not look that impressive or exciting. But as you near the island during the 10 minute ferry ride accross you can sense that it is a special place. Very few loggings, three restaurants, one miny mart, no ATM- the main focus of the island is the Abbey. We were lucky enough to go to a service of welcome that night, since we arrived on a Sunday evening when most people arrive to stay the week. It was a bit reminicent of the eccumentical style of Marquand Chapel at YDS which I have come to love. Pilgrims from all over the world come there to pray and to worship and just the chance to be apart of the community, even in a small way, was very meaningful for me. Amoung the most memorable moments I will take away from my three days on Iona would be the time I spent hiking accross the island (which is 3 by 1) over the hills and rocky cliffs, the green pastures (unfortuantely you had to watch your step for sheep droppings and millions of tiny snails!) and down to the white sand beaches covered in rocks and shells. My hikes were wonderful and very spiritually refershing. It was great to be away from the cities (though I love them) and in a place basically untouched and unscared by human hands. I felt God present in the wind and the waves, calling out to me in the tall grass and the earth as I tread over it. It was a blessed communion.

We stayed an extra day, but we had to leave sometime- Tuesday to be exact so we could catch our Hagis tour. Find out if this was an actual tour around the countryside of Scotland were we were forced to try the local hagis at each point of destination or if it really was Scotlands "sexiest tour", next time.

Medjugorje

2006-09-18T06:50:00.000-07:00

My experience started on the bus. I was listening to my ipod and the soundtrack from the movie Crash, which if you have seen the movie, is an instrumental soundtrack and very moving, in my opinion. For those of you who don't know, I spent this summer doing CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) as a part of my MDiv degree at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. This experience cannot be summed up, but if I had to describe it in one word, I would say "intense". This summer was intense. This program was intense. The relationships I formed were intense. My experiences were intense. Each day was intence. My spiritual life during this time was intense. You get the picture.

After coming off this intense time, one of the first major opportunities I had had in professional ministry and after a few meetings with my COM subgroup and a meeting with the Bishop- I wasn't completely sure what I was feeling. Tired. Thrilled. Scared. Excited. Unsure. As one of the people in my subcommittee said, it seems I was sure that I was going to Cambridge this term, but I was not sure about much else after that. I am on the ordination track in the Episcopal Church. I began discerning that call almost three years ago; although my discernment process has been a bit unorthodox, it has worked for me I think. I have asked myself this question before, but not it was time to get serious about it- Am I really called to be a priest? Why am I called to be a priest? What kind of priest am I being called to be? These are the question I felt on my heart as I began this trip and as I was riding to Medjugorje.

I can't really explain it, as it is with mystical experiences of the Divine, but on that bus ride I felt things being stirred up within me. It has started a bit earlier on the trip- remember things and people I hadn't thought about awhile, thinking about things people said to me this summer, etc. I felt like in me there was being lifted up out of my deep pain and shame and hurt that I had pushed way down daily in order to go on, to survive. I was seeing these things under new light, healthier light, fresh light, and they were different. It was time to let some things go.

That is what I had heard. That I would think about things in my life and after I thought about them, I should leave them in Medjugorje.

The weather was perfect. We went to Mass. We met lots of new people from all over the world. We walked up Apparition Hill. In silence and in prayer, we navigated the jagged and sharp stones that stuck out of the hill that felt more like a mountain as we climbed. At the top was a statue of Mary and of Jesus on the cross. I sat in prayer on the rocks as other pilgrims came and went and prayed. I had heard that some people do the walk bear foot; I could not really see how! I took my shoes off and carefully placed my feet with each step. Two minutes in I stubbed my toe badly; just like me to do, but I kept going on that way for a good bit until I realized that I was never going to finish the stations of the cross in a timely manner this way, so I put my shoes back on and prayerfully kept walking.

We all have our innocence taken away at some point. Everyone's spirit and heart get broken, more than once in their lives. And then there comes a time, hopefully, when we can see and believe that our shame is not ours to carry. It is ok to put it down. It is ok to leave the past behind. It is ok to be made whole again.

As I came down the mountain I did feel lighter, but I had something new with me, too. People might not understand the presence of Mary, I am not sure I understand it either. But when I think of Mary, I remember to pray, I remember the cloud of witnesses. And I remember the young girl who was asked to give birth to God and she said, 'here I am Lord. Behold your servant.' I hope I can say the same.

2006-09-18T06:30:00.000-07:00

We will have to move quickly along with the story telling, or we will never get up to speed. Now, let's see. The day after our lovely beach day at Brac we parted ways with our new Sweedish friends- oh wait! I must mention our lovely dinner of local food at Fife where we sat with a charming couple (simply for lack of any other place to sit!) who we found out had just gotten married the day before! Sue and Conrad were lovely and told us all about how they met and since Conrad is from Poland, all about where we should go if we ever make it to Poland. They drank and we ate fish and meat and potatoes and gulash and wine and bread and it was delish!

So, Monday we took the early bus at 8:30 to Dubrovnik. Our fool proof plan was to get to Dubrovnik that afternoon, spend the night there and leave on the first bus to Medjugorje in the morning. Well, our plans were foiled when we arrived and discovered that there was only ONE bus to Medjugorje a day, and that left at 5:15 in the evening! Panic! Ok, new plan, new plan. The new plan was actually much better than the old plan, thank you very much Mother Mary (I am becoming so Catholic lol). We decided to stay in Dubrovnik that night and then take the 5:15 bus the next day. That actually gave us more time in Dub which was really very nice; it is a wonderful city, quite stunning. (I keep saying everything is stunning, I realize this- but it is!!) The town is built on a cliff and the house we stayed at (even more people offering us accommodations when we got of the bus here!!) was at the very very top of the city. Not a problem walking down, but we did take a taxi back up. Dubrovnik is actually a walled city so we explored and climbed and took lots of picturesque photographs (that is how they say it here- search me). We had a lovely dinner, made friends with a stay cat who we of course named Pigeon and ate delicious gelato that rivals anything I ever had in Italy while watching people try to jump up onto a stone that was jutting out of the church, balance and stay there long enough to make it wish. It was quite humorous. Neither Angela nor I tried... in front of all those people, are you kidding?

Thank goodness for our change of plans- we got to spend the next day at the beach! With a picnic of bread, ham, cheese, grapes and peaches we sat on the beach and soaked up some more Croatian rays before grabbing all our stuff and getting on the bus to Medjugorje.

I am sure that everyone telling me how profound their experiences had been at this holy place were definitely influencing me as we rode there. I had no idea what to expect, or what was expecting me.

A Day at the Beach....

2006-09-18T06:15:00.000-07:00

I had seen this beach in books (yes, I have books just on beaches, that is how much I love them) at it always looked absolutely stunning. In our Croatia guidebooks it said that this beach has been ranked the number six beach in the world (don't ask me what the criteria are, but still, that is pretty cool). Zlatini Rat, on the island of Brac just past the village of Bol. It was quite and event to get there. A ferry, a bus and a water taxi all to take us to this bit of sand, well stone really, that jets out into the sea. The shape of the beach actually changes shape through the year because it has water on both sides. The atmosphere was just gorgeous as we walked over the stones and found a place to lay our towels down. Sofie and I ran to the water and Angela and Eilelen set up camp. The water was a beautiful clear green and you could see to the bottom as your feet were massaged by the white stones. Ten feet out the bottom disappeared beneath us and the sea turned a deep blue. We swam out past everyone else and then back in as the currants pushed us past the tip and around the island. This was my first European beach experiences and I loved it! Luckily I had done me research so I was not thrown by some of the women where were sunbathing topless. There were young people, old people, families, and everyone just seemed relaxed as is if they had let themselves become totally one with the waves and the beach. It was so much less frenzied then Americans on their American beaches. It wasn't just their approach to relaxation and vacation, it was their approach to life.

We spent the day, a wonderful day, bronzing ourselves on the beach and cooling off in the water. Even the jam packed bus ride that had sold about 20 more tickets then there were seats on the bus (we all made it on, just barely. Angela sacrificed her seat for my long legs and sat on the stoop in front of me. About 20 0thers stood) couldn't ruin that day. It was lovely.

2006-09-18T05:40:00.000-07:00

Now, before you get started, let me explain. I have very good explanation for why I have not 'blogged' in the last nine days. I actually did sit myself down to tell you all about our adventures in Split, Brach and Dubrovnik eight days ago, but for some reason unbenonced to me, the Holy Spirit decided to evaporate my entry. Ok, maybe it wasn't the HS, maybe it was just because computers in Croatia are freaking confusing. In fact, my computer now is doing this weird blinking thing at me, so hopefully I will get to make this post.

Let us go back to Split, shall we? We had just gotten off the train, the night train to be exact, at 7am and a lovely young man and his cousin offered us a place to stay. This is what happens in Croatia- you get off the train or the bus or the ferry and there are little old ladies and young girls and the like holding laminated signs that say "Sobe Room Zimmer" and then commence to tell you (if they speak English) all about the place they have, how far it is from the beach, how far it is from the town, how far it is from the bus station. If they don't speak english they just wave the sign at you and say "Sobe? Room? Zimmer?"

We gratefully agreed to stay at their apartment which had beds for all of us, a shower, a kitchenette, and a dining room. The walk there seemed longer than the promised 10 minutes, but we finally arrived and plunked ourselves down. They graciously offered us coffee as we waited for the young men who were in our room to wake up and drag themselves out so it could be cleaned. The cousin's daughter, Daniella, was lovely and she talked with us about what to see in Split, where to eat, what local dishes to try, and which islands were the best to go to. We noticed her bracelet was made of wood beads that had pictures of Mary, a church, crosses and a crucifix on them. She told us she got it on her last trip to Medjugorje. Angela and I just looked at each other. Months ago when we first talked about where we wanted to go during our two weeks of traveling, both of us mentioned Medjugorje. Angela of course is Catholic, but the only reason I had ever heard of it is my friend Matt from CPE this summer spoke of how amazing his time there had been and how if I ever got the chance I should go. Well this was our chance. However, because we were not sure we would have enough time, we had put those plans on the back burner. We took Daniella's testimony and the pigeons in the coop as a sign that we should make sure to fit a trip to Medjugorje into our plans. (pigeons have become a sign for us of good things to come- yes, we realize that pigeons tend to be, well, all over, but still... good signs for us nonetheless. We have hence dubbed ourselves Pigeon Tours. Look for our website and the chance to book your trip with us soon)

After moving into our little apartment home for the next two nights, we lay down for a quick nap since none of us had slept well on the train. Once we were some what refreshed we went out to explore Split. We walked up to the top of the hill for the photo opportunity, then down to the main strip by the water with all the little cafes on one side and the boats on the other. We walked through Diocletian's palace which was pretty extrordinary. It was like an entire walled city! Angela and I stopped in the Church, of course and then we spent a good while walking around and talking it all in; plus a few stops to buy jewelry and I got a killer purse (yes Tallen, a huge purse).

We went home to shower and make ourselves look human; not enough hot water to go around hmm. It only took us a day and a half to figure out that we needed to turn the water heater on and discover where the switch was. The four of us (Angela, myself, Eielen and Sofie) shared some local wine and listed to the three man band playing from the square singing old rock and roll favorites that we all new. Finding ourselves hungry at 10:30 we walked over to the cafe were Daniella worked and got ourselves some Croatian sendwiches - whatever those were- not bad, though.

That night we slept like babies.

2006-09-09T06:40:00.000-07:00

Really quick.... Our train arrived in Split at 7am... A young man offered us a place to stay when we were literally climbing off the train. IT IS GORGEOUS HERE!!! Still with the Sweedish girls. Staying at very lovely people's apartment. Trying to figure out how we can see everything we want to see (including doing a day in Medjugorie!) before we have to fly out of Graz on the 14th..... to all my blog fans out there: more really really soon I promise.

2006-09-08T07:06:00.000-07:00

Croatia Baby!

We are here, in Zagreb! (where the y and the z are switched on the keyboard so I apologiye for anz tzpos). Whence you last heard from me I was still in merry old England, on my way out to have a lovely afternoon in London's best shopping areas (although we didn't make it back to Oxford Street! Damn! next time...)We did however end up in Piccadilly Circus searching for food before Guys and Dolls started at 7:30. By chance we found ourselves walking past the stage door to the theatre and saw quite a large crowd gathered on the street. The actor playing Nathan in this production was none other than Johnny Castle himself. That's right, I'm talkin' Patrick Swazye. Not only did we get pictures of him as he spoke lovingly to his fans, but WE TOUCHED HIS HAND. Patrick Swazye reached out to Angela and I and held each of our hands (he looked into my eyes, but whatever) Then we had a wonderful dinner in our fast developing tradition of eating out of a bag, while sitting on the steps of the statue in the middle of the square. Whilst we were sitting there, eating our curds and weigh, along came an Italian and told us that he and his friends were planning to jump off Big Ben that night at 9pm and we should come down and watch because the news was going to film it and we would probably be on TV. He said they have gone all over the world jumping of famous buildings like the Eiffel Tower and the Tower of Pisa. (If you feel like looking them up, they said the footage of them jumping of the Eiffel Tower was on youtube.... ) We respectfully declined their invitation.

Guys and Dolls was fantastic. It is one show that I have never seen before, not even the movie, and I loved it. Patrick was pretty good, but not as good as the other leads, especially the women. It was so much fun.
We had an early night because we had to get up at 6am the next morning to catch our flight to Graz. Once there we had all of three hours to see what we could and get some food! Luckily, we could have not had a better Austrian meal: brautwurst, a roll and Bier, with mustard of course (for the brautwurst not the beer). It was kick ass. Our train to Zagreb got in at 10:30 and (don't tell my mom - sorry mom!) we had not figured out where exactly we were going to stay. Luckily, the town was still going at that time. At the ATM as luck would have it we met two other backpackers from Sweden. The four of us independent women travelers headed out and found ourselves a hostel. After unloading our bags and securing rickety beds to sleep in, and introduced ourselves to our Belgian roommates, we headed out again to see the town. We found "the street" where everyone goes out to sit outside at the pub and have drinks and smokes. Ellen and Sophie are younger than us, but lots of fun; we bonded with them over Long Island iced teas and when we got back at 1:30 am, we agreed to meet up with them for breakfast.

I love breakfast in Europe- when I get to decide what it is. Some places serve salad for breakfast. Salad? I prefer some sort of light flaky pastry with chocolate in side and some of the delicious yogurt they have here. Zagreb is very pretty. We had a great morning seeing the Cathedral of St. Stephen, the Archbishop's Palace, and the Dolac Market with every kind of vegetable and fruit on the planet- like nine different kinds of grapes, seriously. The cutest thing I have ever seen in my life where the nuns and the little children walking out of the Cathedral and all genuflect and praying together before leaving. SO CUTE! We also saw the Church of St. Catherine and the Church of St. Mark with the colored roof tiles of the coats of arms of Croatia, Dalmatia, Slavonia and Zagreb on the room (in case you ever come here and want to go looking for it). At 12 noon we hiked up to the upper city and I mean hiked, and by chance we were right bellow the Tower of LotrÃščak when they fired off the canon like apparently they do everyday at 12 noon. Scared the shit out of us. TheSwedess were tired of seeing Churches (it's Europe, hello?) and didn't want to go to the museum of Naive Art like we did (I had never heard of naive art before, but it was definitely interesting) so we parted ways and agreed to meet up for dinner (they are headed to Split on the overnight train tonight too) When we left the museum it was freaking raining and cold so we dashed into a little cafe and had cafe lattes and played jin rummy and had a gay old time. Then we trudged back down the city, me with a soaking newspaper over my head and Angela being from Seattle, just getting wet. We walked and walked in the rain til we found the internet cafe we had passed this morning, which is were we are now, wet andfreezingg our tushes off cause we are in the basement and these crazy Croatians have the damn window open. We just realized that it is almost 5 and we didn't have any lunch,eatingg might be the next thing we do. Since our hostel only cost $10 last night, we might even be able to afford sitting andeatingg in a real restaurant :). Thank goodness most everyone here speaks English, I don't know how we well would be doing if they did not since Angela and I onlylearnedd how to say four words incorrectly in Croatian on the train last night and then proceeded toimmediatelyy forget them.

Next is Split and it better not rain! Pray for sun! To all my YDS peeps, I hope the first few days of class are going well. And would someone please tell me who got kicked of Project Runway last night!!! Thank God Grey's Anatomy is going to be on TV here!!! Now I can stay. :)

Peace.

2006-09-06T05:29:00.000-07:00

I'm not doing this for my health so I hope people are actually reading this.... :P
Well, it's day three of Angela and Sara's kick ass trip to London. Let's see, what did we do yesterday. We got up at 9, ran some errands- I bought a way overpriced computer cover for my laptop because I needed it and a converter with three plugs that would actually work with my computer cord (stupid target). Then we got coffee cooler drinks and chocolate croissants (mmmmm) on the go for bfast, ran back to our hotel, dragged our big ass suitcases to the cab and had a fantastically fun cab ride through the city to Kings Cross station where we caught the next train to Cambridge. After a wonderfully quick train ride (only 45 mins!!) we were there! We almost speed right past the entrance to Westcott House in our little cabby. Victoria Raymer the Dean of Studies was there to great us with open arms, usher us up to Angela's rooms where we could dump our luggage and back down to the offices for a spot of tea (our fist in Cambridge!). We had a lovely little chat with Sharon, a second year ordinand and got lots of good helpful tips from her. Then we went off exploring, had some lunch (Italian again; this is a trend with us!!) in an outdoor cafe (love it!) then caught the bus to the train and back to Kings Cross. I can't get over how easy it was to get to London from Cambridge; I will definitely be making that trip often if I can. We went directly from there in search of theater tickets for the night and finally found the theatre near Trafalagar Square where Evita was playing. The woman who everyone is talking about that is playing Evita was not performing that night, but we still saw it and it was still wonderful (the woman who was splitting the part with her performed and she was great). Then off to a late dinner cross the river at Iganas for some Latin food and Latin Drink- Buenos Aries Burgers and Mojitos in honor of Evita; very Argentinean. There was an exhibit right next to the restaurant and we went over and played in an orchestra with our fannys along with several other Brits. http://www.play.philharmonia.co.uk That was fun, although by the time our food arrived we were sooooooo sick of that one song. It was a late night but an awesome night. So glad we got rid of our big bags. Today we slept in (yay!) came to the internet cafe and now we are headed to find some grub and do some walking around- probably Leicester square, Petticoat lane, Covent Garden and catch a show tonight. We also might try to stop by and see St. Paul's and the Globe. I have to say, the more I come to London the more I love it. I would totally love to live here one day... maybe.

2006-09-04T12:55:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!!! We made it safely to London! Seriously, it was one of the easiest travel experiences I have ever had. No problems getting to the airport, checking in (except of course I had packed to much in my big suitcase and we had to do a quick redistribution of the weight!), the flight was great. The only thing was lugging our massive luggage through the tube stations and finally .5 miles to our hotel. But we did it! I actually had stayed at this hotel three years ago when I was on a study abroad trip- it really helped to know pretty much where we were going. Man, our shoulders and backs are KILLING us right now, but hey it is all good. And blessing of blessings our hotel room was ready early for us to check-in! We crashed for an hour, but then got ourselves up and headed back out there (jet lag wont get us down!). We had NO plans for the day, but we were STARVING so we headed one stop down on the tube to Notting Hill and had a lovely little early dinner of pizza and pasta at Zizzi. Then we walked around a bit, but the weather looked foreboding so we decided to hop on the buses and give ourselves a guided tour of London! Third time here must be the charm because I actually sort of know where things are now! First we headed to Oxford Street to ogle the shopping and vow to return. Then we before we knew it we were heading out to the suburbs with the commuters! So we changed buses and went past St. Paul's (I LOVE IT), Covent Garden, Camden Town, the London Bridge, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery- you get the picture, we were all over- walking and bus hoping. It was great; we rock! Now we have ended up back in Bayswater, plum tuckered out, in an internet cafe letting everyone know that are trip has successfully begun. Much love to you all!!! Read with pleasure and be sure to post comments! More soon! Cheers!