Misshaps and Adventures around Gaming + a few extra

One more catch up, my goal is to write about the last 10-day trip before I leave for the next 10-day (that would be this Friday.) Before Friday I have major journaling to catch up on, a 20 page summary paper, a 10 page paper, and a dialogue paper for Philosophy. I also need to find my philosophy notebook that's been missing for about 2 weeks. hmmm....so I'm going to start my to do list with a break...the paper's can wait

The weekend after Poland (Sept. 25ish?....im not sure how accurate my timeline is), I was planning on going to Munich on Saturday with some friends, and then meeting up with the school group in Oberammergau, Germany. But come Saturday morning I didn't feel good so I ended up staying back on Saturday, which worked out perfectly. Instead of Oktoberfest in Munich, I ended up having homemade breakfast (a luxury around here), and then hiked to the waterfall. It was a bit of a drizzling day, so on the hike to the waterfall we saw lots of salamanders on the paths, at one point you turn a corner and the waterfall is just there. Kinda like in Tuck Everlasting. It was gorgeous and beautiful and we walked around and one of us may have slipped in a little and got really cold. Love the waterfall, Love Gaming. I've found the weekends I stay back and don't travel are some of the best I've had.

Side story that is mostly unrelated: So, one of the RD's (Katie) was hiking to the waterfall and saw a salamander. She thought it would be funny to scare one of the ra's with it, so she picked it up and put it in her pocket. By the time she got back to the office and she was going to scare someone, she realized the salamander was not in her pocket anymore. What can you do, but hope the little guy fell out outside. Turns out the salamander made it inside before making his grand escape, and made his way into a guys room. The guys are still wondering how a salamander got into their room....Katie can't figure it out either   ;) haha

Later Saturday night, we were supposed to leave at 3:45am to go to Oberammergau, so Becca and I decided to just stay up till it was time to go and then we would be able to sleep on the bus. This was a very pathetic attempt on our part. After being up early, and an afternoon hike, we were in no state of mind to stay up. We made it till about 2am till we pathetically flopped on our beds to get an hour and a half of sleep. At 3:45 am we were "up" and had relocated out butts from bed to the bus.

When we got to Oberammergau, it was way colder than I thought it would be, and was glad my roommate made me bring an extra coat and blanket. We were in Oberammergau for the passion play they put on every ten years.
               http://www.passionplay-oberammergau.com/index.php?id=59
We bounced around to all the shops, oberammergau is famous for it's wood carvings, and got goulash soup before the play started. The whole town is part of the play. No one can cut their hair for over a year before the play to give it time to grow out, and each person is associated with who they have played in their lifetime. Our server at dinner told us his grandfather had been Jesus, and someone told us their mother had been Mary Magdalene. Everything is put on hold for 5 months, every10 years for this play. The choir was amazing, they had live animals, and just when you thought the stage was crowded, more people would come on. We all had translation guides, so I would read about 10 pages, and then just watch, and then read ahead really fast because every time you looked down you missed something. Each scene began with the choir singing, and a still life image of an Old Testament story that reflected the New Testament. I didn't even recognize each image though, so we had to have people fill us in later. After about three hours into the play, there was a two and a half hour break for dinner, and then about two and a half hours more of the play. A lot of people fell asleep but I managed to stay awake for the whole play. We left at about 11pm and got back to campus around 5am.

The next weekend was a two day weekend, so I stayed back again. And I regret nothing. Friday night, I was stargazing with two friends. On our way back down the mountain, we heard some cowbells, and decided to run over to them. (it was late...we were tired...who knows) Anyways, there was an electric fence that I shocked myself on, not once, but twice. We got about 10 feet from the cow when we turned the flashlight on and saw the glowing eyes and ran away. We snuck back one more time, and this time we noticed the horns...and we ran away and rolled under the electric fence James Bond style.

Saturday = epic dance party...which was surprising because FUS in not known for putting on good dance parties or havig good music. Fortunately there was good beer and good music, all leading to a good night.

Sunday, for a break from studying for midterms. I went on a hike up Book Mountain with Angela, Grace, and Sr. Monica. The hike up was great, it was beautiful and nice weather, and we all like to go slow and take lots of breaks. The way down was another story. We ended up on the wrong trail (sister's fault) and decided to leave the trail and hike across the side of the mountain to get to the right trail (again, I think this was Sr. Monica's and Angela's decision...I had no part in this). The trail we were headed down was too steep to go back up and we mostly slid down to where we were, so hiking across seemed the best option. There was no trail, and the grass was slippery, and the dirt gave way, and we all pretty much slid down the side of the mountain on our butts. Grace slid and wiped me out at one point, and at another point I slid and wiped Sr. Monica out. We climbed under a log, and held onto roots and grass as we fell down to prevent much sliding. Ankles were twisted, prayers were said (wrong...lead all souls to purgatory is not how it goes...but we tried). We finally saw a road that we thought would take us back up to the trail, but this included a 15 foot drop to the road. Lucky for us there were three trees growing out the side of the "cliff", and so we pretty much slid from side to side to the trees until we were close enough to jump. And we all made it back to campus, alive and in mostly one piece...some of our clothes however were not in as good condition.

I had one midterm on Monday (it went awesome...gotta love a test based entirely on a study guide); two midterms on Wednesday, and one on Thursday. After my last midterm, I babysat, packed, and then headed off to Paris for the start of 10-day break =)

10 day plans = Paris, Nevers, Lourdes, and Lisieux (Tour de Sacrifice 2010, as Maddie calls it)

Fall is in the air in Gaming...we're all hoping it still looks like this when we get back

 

Polska

It’s been awhile, I just got back from 10 day break, but I’m going to catch up on the last month before I write about that.

               On September 16^th we left for Poland, we spent all night on the bus (I always claim a sleeping spot in the aisle) before arriving in Częstochowa a little before 6am on Friday. As soon as the buses parked, we saw people from the other buses jump out and go flying around the corner; I thought they all just had to go to the bathroom really bad. But no, they were running to the shrine of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa  for the unveiling they do every morning at 6am. Once my bus realized this we sprinted after them and ran down the street, up a little hill and around to the entrance and up to the basilica. This was about 10 minutes total of running/wogging (a combination of walking and jogging), and after being cramped on a bus for a whole night, our leg muscles were not happy with us. It was all worth it though, cause we got to the basilica about 2 minutes before the unveiling, and even though it was crowded we managed to shove our way in. At 6am, trumpets begin blaring and everyone drops to their knees and watched the shield that guards the image of the Black Madonna be lifted. The Black Madonna was painted by St. Luke on the tabletop of the holy family.

here’s more information on the Black Madonna  http://www.marypages.com/Czestochowa.htm

 To the right of the image is a gold rose from Pope John Paul II and to the left is the stole that JPII was wearing when he was shot. 

            There’s a pathway around the image that goes behind the altar that people take on their knees. You start on the left wall, and crawl your way towards the altar, and follow the path behind the altar where you stop and can pray directly behind the image. The marble floors were dented the whole way from years and years of people crawling on their knees.

           Upstairs there were Stations of the Cross, in which the plight of the Polish people was depicted alongside Jesus. When He fell, there were images of those who fell along the way to the concentration camps. Where He was raised on the cross, JPII, St. Faustina, St. Maximilian Kolbe and others were at the foot of the cross right next to Mary.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxxxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

           After Częstochowa we headed to Auschwitz. The red bricks and climbing ivy almost looked like a school building, but the place was dead. No one talked. Door 10 leads to the rooms where Mengele experimented on twins, door  11 leads to cell 18 where St. Maximilian Kolbe died. Walking from one building to another, you get a sense of what Hannah Arendt used to refer to as the “banality of evil”. There’s the room full of suitcases, big ones, small ones. The next room looks like it has a collection of wooden doll parts, but they are actually wooden arms, legs, hands, prosthetics, and back braces of those who carried the suitcases. Another room is full of hair, from the huge pile you can see little braids of brown hair sticking out. In the next room you notice a little blue baby shoe sitting askew a mound of thousands of other shoes. Walking out of one of the buildings the tour guide pointed out the pictures on the walls, she told us to read the names, and then to read the dates (the dates of their arrival and death) and told us to see how long they had to suffer.  We walked through the gas chambers with the words of Prof. Cassidy in mind, “remember you get to leave, your brothers did not.” Thousands of prayers were said that day. The only way to walk through the camp was with prayers for the owner of that shoe, the girl who wore that dress, for those who fell here, and for all those who didn’t get to leave. Later in the week someone shared this verse with a group of us from Wisdom 3:1-7

But the souls of the just are in the hand of God,
and no torment shall touch them.
They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead;
and their passing away was thought an affliction
and their going forth from us, utter destruction.
But they are in peace.
For if before men, indeed, they be punished,
yet is their hope full of immortality;
Chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed,
because God tried them
and found them worthy of himself.
As gold in the furnace, he proved them,
and as sacrificial offerings he took them to himself.

 

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxo

 Saturday we toured Krakow and ate perogies (really really good perogies) before we went to the Divine Mercy Shrine. We got there in time to pray the Divine Mercy chaplet in the chapel where St. Faustina’s relic is and where she had some of her visions. It was prayed in three languages. 

Outside the basilica of Divine Mercy

Back in Krakow a group of us headed back to our favorite little perogie place, and then got drinking chocolate. Drinking chocolate is better than hot chocolate. It’s basically a melted chocolate bar and you can add something to it like cointreau or milk. Katie got the gingerbread drinking chocolate and it tasted like Christmas in your mouth. We were all in heaven.

Saturday we meandered around Krakow before getting perogies one last time for lunch with Sr. Monica and Sr. Mary.     
Sr. Monica is allergic to gluten, but she loves perogies. Sr. Mary told us she saw Sr. Monica praying that she wouldn’t feel too sick before we went to lunch. =) hmmmm…

We also found a little bakery and got some pope cakes before we loaded the buses and headed to Wadowice, which is the birth place of JPII. We walked around the church where he was baptized and served as an altar boy. Kelsey and I got dinner food (a loaf of bread and gross chips) for the bus ride back, before going with Angela to get more pope cakes (pope cakes are JPII’s favorite dessert)

On the bus, Michelle accidentally sat on Maddie’s pope cakes, thus making the first papal pancakes =)



These feet are becoming well traveled



The Adventures of Braun Hilda

Most important fact learned this week:  Sr. Carrie Ann is a brown belt in karate and could totally kick our ass.

Moving on: we only had a two day weekend so a lot of people decided to stay back in Gaming. Friday night a group of us made dinner (we did not want to eat pork in the mensa again.) After dinner, we watched Roman Holiday before we got ice cream and headed up the hill to go stargazing.  It was a little cloudy, but we still saw a few shooting stars, and we only headed in because we had started to lose feeling in our fingers and toes.

Saturday we had made plans to go hike Book Mountain (at the top is a book that everyone who makes it all the way up signs.) Becca had some grand plan to get up by 8:30 to eat breakfast; needless to say this did not happen. We got up only because there was a knock on our door asking if we still wanted to go hiking. We did, so we rolled out of bed and headed to the creek to jump in and wake ourselves up courtesy of the freezing cold water.  A family saw us heading into the creek, and stopped on the bridge to watch us, so I took a bow for them. Sr. Joan Paul came over and watched us jump, and then we took a third jump just for good measure.  Now that our senses were shocked awake, we got ready for the hike and rounded up people to go. Of course we had to stop at spar to get some brie and bread, and milka for lunch at the top, but after that we were on our way.

 This mountain is way steep. I was under the impression that it went back and forth between steepness and flatness…nope it is pretty much straight up. We made it to the first cross after about 20 minutes, and took a photo break, before realizing this was not the top and we needed to keep going.  The rest of the way took about an hour and a half of grueling work up steepness that was not made for my hobbit legs. But we made it =) and just to get a little higher, we climbed the radio tower-

                 (Which is completely illegal and which they tell us not to climb,

but I'm sure practically  everyone does.

Hopefully I don’t ruin any future political career by posting this, 

but since mom is probably one of the few reading this, I think I’m safe)

-from the top of the radio tower, you could see all the surrounding towns, and mountains. I would have stayed up there longer had it not been so cold that high up and had the tower not been shaking in the wind.



 

We ate lunch and talked for a long while, during which an Austrian woman came bounding up (yes bounding, not huffing and puffing and stretching little legs like we were), signed the book and immediately turned and ran back down. We tried to decipher her name from the book, but we couldn’t so I named her Braun Hilda, (Braun Hilda the beast who climbs Everest with not even a walking stick.) When we finally headed down, we ran almost the whole way in true Braun Hilda fashion; this included humming the Indiana Jones theme song. Twice I nearly slid down the mountain when the edge of the trail gave way, but besides that we all got down just fine and in record Braun Hilda time.

After the hike we had decided to walk to the Kebab stand a little while down the road, unfortunately when we got there it was closed-what luck. We ended up eating in the mensa (sad reality compared to the kebabs.)

Quote of the week is from Fr. Ron. “I hope you get all A+s  in your classes, and that you smile all day long, and I hope you get dessert.” Just for him, I ate dessert at every meal =)

Leaving Thursday night for Poland!

The Hills are Alive ♫ ♫ ♫ Salzburg, Munich, and Mondsee

Salzburg
Saturday Morning we were up early and on the bus to Salzburg, Austria. I don't remember much of the ride, so I must have been asleep (I think we watched Gattica though). Once we got to Salzburg, we went to mass at a Franciscan Church; though, I missed part of mass because I thought we had been told 45 minutes to mass, when in fact we had been told 4 to 5 minutes...a very easy mistake, and the line for the WC was pretty long.
            p.s. I think it should be illegal to charge people to use the bathroom...really people, it is a basic necessity of life, and sometimes we just don't have time after a 3 hour bus ride and a water bottle and a coke to rummage through out wallets for .50. Just let us in already.

Right after we finished mass, there was a wedding about to start, boy to Europeans know how to dress for weddings. All the ladies had hats, big hats...Audrey Hepburn hats (MAK- some even had feathers!) and all the men were in coattails. I decided this attire will be required at my wedding. Anyways, after mass we headed to lunch (which was a 4 course meal) and then off to a tour. Our tour guide was one of the professor's dads, I hear what he said was very interesting, but all of us more than a foot away from him could hear nothing. Americans seem to be the best country in terms of projection. We saw the Do-Re-Mi- steps from The Sound Of Music, and the fountain they danced on. We had the afternoon free, so Katie, Martha, Rachel and I went walking around. We went to Mozart's house (the front and the back side), and then wandered around streets -shopping (I got a scarf) and listening to music from the guy with the electric violin- until we met up with Fr. Brad for some Vietnamese Pho. Afterwards we headed of to the Augustiner Brau. Fr. Brad took us on a roundabout way, showing us the smallest house in Salzburg, giving the history of the fountains, and talking to people along the way. The Augustiner was great (Fr. Brad had built up the roasted chicken, so lots of us got that...and it was as good as he promised), at the Augustiner, you ceremoniously chill your mug before getting your beer... it was not as exciting as they made it sound (you hold the mug under a fountain for a few seconds.)

Munich
Sunday morning Katie, Becca and I were going to meet some people in front of the hostel at about 5:30 am to watch the sunrise from the castle. Shame we overslept...oops. We had mass that morning -in German, and with a full choir and orchestra- and then loaded the buses for Munich. I was with Katie, Becca, and Anna for the day. We took a subway to the university where Sophie Scholl and her brother, Hans, were arrested...here's a link about them (http://www.raoulwallenberg.net/?en/holocaust/articles/sophie-scholl-white-rose.2786.htm). We didn't take into account the fact that it was Sunday and the building would probably be closed, which it was. But we looked through the window into the atrium where she stood anyways. Next we went to see the remains of the old Nazi headquarters, and saw the site of the 1933 book burning at Munich's Konigplatz.

At this point in the day a bathroom stop was necessary, and so began our hunt for a bathroom. We came to the conclusion that Europeans do not pee, hence they don't need bathrooms anywhere. (we ended up sneaking into a museum bathroom.) After a gelato break, we went to the Haufbrauhaus. I think I like the Pittsburgh version of the Haufbrauhaus, where dancing on tables and loud singing is allowed...but the beer here is better (lushes, we toasted to you.) We had a difficult time ordering, but I ended up with a bratwurst, which was just fine for me. Oh, and Katie got hit on by an old drunk German guy, it was awkward and hilarious all at once. The best part was we made about 40 euro there...when we paid the waitress for dinner -30 euro for all 4 of us- she only took 10 and gave us a 20 back. We didn't argue =)

Second gelato stop of the day, we ate them on the steps waiting for everyone else to get back. (there can never be too many gelato stops in a day)

Maddie and I at the HaufbrauhausAnna's converse

Salzburg (again)

Katie and I got up to watch the sunrise from the castle (high on the hill, overlooking Salzburg). We didn't know how to get up to the castle, but we found a road and some stairs that led us up pretty far. We watched the sunrise which was beautiful, and right as we were going numb in our toes we headed back.

 

Mondsee

Monday morning, after sunrise and breakfast, we left for Mondsee. Mondsee is famous for their church, where Maria and Captain Von Trapp were married in the movie, and for other scenes shot there (the lake scene I think). We had mass in the church from the movie, and then lunch. After lunch some people went in the lake (the warmest lake in Austria or something like that), but it was still pretty cold. We walked around the lake and the town till it was time to leave back to Gaming.

That's the weekend in a nutshell, now I'm back in Gaming and catching up on homework and making plans for next weekend =)

Austria week 1... (exploring, jumping, and sleeping)

I got to Austria, a little late, but I got there. Tuesday morning I got picked up at the airport with 2 other stragglers. The rest of the school was touring a monastery in Melk, so that's where the driver dropped us off. Days of travel, and all we wanted was to get to the Kartause (car-taow- zuh) and sleep, but off to the tour we went. I really don't remember much of Melk. It was old, baroque style, and very old. After lunch in Melk we went to Durnstein (sp?) where we walked up a very steep hill to a castle at the top (and it was very steep, many an unprepared girls got blisters, and we were all disheartened when the professor's kids tore past us upward.) When we got back to the bottom, we rewarded ourselves with homemade ice cream, which we ate sitting on the side of the road, because we were too tired to move.

Later Tuesday night, we finally got to the Kartause, just in time for orientation meetings. woot woot. I was surprised how close the Kartause was to the town. I was expecting a big field or a long driveway winding up to it, but nope, it’s just sitting there in the middle (which is good because we are a quick walking distance to spar, the grocery store, and urs, the bar...two very important establishments)

A quick intro to some names: my roommates are Anna and Becca. Katie and Maddie (both SOL) live down the hall, and that’s all I can think of now. Also I love Fr. Ron; he's like a big teddy bear grandpa, who loves when Maddie gives him gummy bears and M&Ms.

After orientation and about 3 trips to spar (schpar), for milka and other such necessities, I jumped in the Midderbach with Maddie and Anna. Jumping in the creek is tradition for the students to do. The water is freezing! It was so cold, I forgot how to swim and had to doggy paddle to the side. I have a video of it, but it won't load, I'll try putting it up later.

Friday night, tired from traveling and unpacking, I stayed in with Katie and my roommates Becca and Anna. We had a perfect Friday night with hazole (better than nutella), liebnitz (cracker you spread the hazole on) and peach wine. yum

Saturday we were all up bright and early to go to Vienna. We saw a Hungarian parade outside St. Stephen's Cathedral. No one knew (well...no American knew) what the parade was for.

         In tradition, I did 'the Tina' (tina turner dance move) outside the cathedral (your welcome babbsy)

After a schnitzel lunch, Katie and I followed Fr. Brad and some of the sisters and a random group of students to the National Treasury. Fr. Brad insisted we get some of those phones that tell you what everything is, and he likes to listen to every single thing, so it took us a good while to get through the whole treasury. It was all worth it though, because we got to see Veronica's veil, a room full of relics of the apostles and other saints, and a crown so heavy with jewels it would have broken my neck if I wore it. After the National Treasury Fr. Brad lead us on a roundabout way (he was lost) to the rose garden (it was so full of roses, that all the air around smelled beautiful). Katie and I ran into some friends and meandered around with them till we found kebabs for dinner.

Sunday was a rainy and gloomy day, so my roommate Rebecca and I explored the Kartause. We opened every door we could, though most of them turned out to be cleaning closets (this place has a lot of cleaning closets.) We were trying to find the hidden chapel, though it ended up being a trip planning all the places we could hide for a hide and seek game. We did find the hidden chapel (across the adoration chapel, through the little wooden door, up a spiral staircase). Though we've told about 5 people about it, so we'll see how hidden it stays.

Tuesday = first trip to Urs with Maddie, Becca, Mary, Anna, and Mark (this is a good example of the female to male ratio on campus, the franciscan ratio...or Fratio as some say). We predict many more trips to Urs =)

Now I’m sick (I finally got the roommate plague) and I'm doing everything I can to be better by the weekend (Salzburg and Munich coming up). I'm gargling salt water, drinking tea, watching Gilmore Girls, and using the power of positive thinking to get better. Oh, and sleep...lots of sleep.