Another summer in the books...

15,391 pages (rough estimate, of course) later, here we are! In some ways, the time has flown by. In other ways, it feels like we've been here forever. Either way, the experience has been incredible, and I'm so thankful to be here! At the same time, I'm excited to come home! Kansas, here I come! Just 722 miles away!

While I'm at it, let me share a few more photos... Here's a beautiful view of St. Mary's Lake with the Golden Dome and the Basilica in the background (photo taken during one of my runs last weekend):

Here's a picture of the Golden Dome, which I walk by every day on the way to classes and/or the dining hall:

A shot of the Hesburgh Library (with the famous Touchdown Jesus):

Until next summer, South Bend! I was reminded of how thankful I am that our winter session class takes place in Tucson, AZ, rather than Notre Dame, IN, when I saw this sign in the parking lot:

And then... we went to Canada.

Hello again! We're in the final stretch, and it definitely feels like the last week. Eyes are drooping, backpacks are heavier, minds are overflowing... but the Spirit is propelling us forward, one way or another!

I figure I better take some time to briefly catch up on past events...

A week and a half ago, I went to Detroit with my friends Julie and Gene to take in a Tigers baseball game. We had a fantastic time! Justin Verlander almost pitched a no-hitter! Nevertheless, the Tigers came out with a win, and we enjoyed cheering them on!

After the game, we went to nearby Greek Town for a bite to eat. (We found the most authentic-looking Greek restaurant, and everyone ordered something that came in a pita.) And then... we went to Canada. Believe it or not, all that separates Detroit, Michigan, from Windsor, Canada, is a river. So we went over the bridge, and I had my first international experience!

After a slightly frightening encounter with the Canadian border patrol (they're just very vigilant, which is probably good), we made sure to put first things first... and stopped for donuts at Tim Horton's. I had some TimBits (donut holes) and an iced coffee, and it was fantastic! Gene swears that the donuts are fresher and better in Canada, and I was inclined to agree with him. 

We walked around town for a bit, taking in the Canadian air. Here's a picture overlooking the river, with the Detroit skyline in the background:

We were only in Canada for a couple of hours, but it was SO much fun! Thanks, Gene and Julie, for taking me on this adventure! I feel very blessed to have met some great friends here at Notre Dame!

The Grotto

Just wanted to introduce you all to one of my favorite places here on campus... I don't visit it nearly as much as I would like to (and probably should), but it is a beautiful, peaceful spot. It's called the Grotto:

It's patterned after the grotto where Our Lady appeared in Lourdes, France. I don't know that I've ever been there when it was completely empty - seems like there's always someone there praying. One of the gems of Notre Dame!

Blog Link

One other item to share, in case anyone is interested... Catholic Extension just posted a blog entry about our road trip adventures on the way here. Here's a link if you'd like to check it out!

http://www.catholicextension.org/blog/2013/07/08/road-trip-remember

Independence Day

Happy Belated Independence Day! I hope you were able to celebrate and enjoy a mid-summer break.  

The timing of the holiday was pretty perfect for us here at Notre Dame. We wrapped up our first module of classes July 5th. The day off on the 4th was a great opportunity to finish up papers, projects, etc. 

As always, my classes this term blew me away. Catholic Social Teaching has truly changed the way I look at the world. I realized how easy it is to look at situations objectively -- when we objectify the people involved. When we look instead at each person as a person, created in the image of God, with inherent human dignity that deserves to be protected, our view is suddenly much different. I think this really hit home to me when we were discussing the death penalty, and our professor had us read an excerpt from Sr. Helen Prejean's book about visiting prisoners on death row. I just started reading her first book, Dead Man Walking, and it’s been extremely eye-opening.

I’ll be posting more about this new module, as well as last weekend’s adventures in Chicago, soon, but I want to catch up on some of the other happenings here in South Bend. It’s been wonderful getting to know “the Girls” in the Catholic Extension program. A couple weeks ago we were able to go to Fiddler’s (one of my favorite places in the world) for some authentic live Irish music. Here’s a picture of almost all of us:

Another night, a group of us went to tour the “Four Horseman” brewery here in town. I’m not exactly sure what we were expecting, but our mental image definitely did not match up with the reality of this place. We drove up to what looked like an office building on the outside… and that trend continued on the inside. Here’s what we saw when we opened the door:

 

Despite the strange outward appearance, it ended up being a great place. We enjoyed our tour of the brewery and were able to sample some of their beers.

Now it’s definitely back to the grindstone for Module 2! Stay tuned… hopefully I will be more timely with the next posts!

Week 1

In some ways, it's almost impossible to think that a week has past since we arrived at Notre Dame. In other ways, it feels like a lifetime! According to the summer semester, we've made it through "5 weeks" of class already!

Basically, I am now in survival mode. But it's a good thing! Lots of reading, lots of writing, lots of inadvertent falling asleep while reading, and lots of caffeinated beverages.
Also, for Friday's Liturgical Prayer class, we took a "field trip" to the Hesburgh Library to visit the Rare Books Collection. When I found out that we would get to meet with the curator of the Rare Books collection, I FREAKED out. Last year, we made a similar trip in one of my classes, and that was a main highlight of the summer for me. This guy, Dr. David T. Gura, is fascinating. He's currently working on putting a medieval manuscript back together, and by the end of the presentation, I found myself moved by the cause against "breaking books." Anyway, it's just incredible to think about what life was like approximately seven centuries ago. The newest version of the iPhone might not have been the predominant status symbol, but a personalized, illuminated Breviary sure was! Unfortunately, you can't find much about this online, but here's a link to a brief webpage if anyone's interested: http://medieval.nd.edu/events/2013/06/03/17212-hour-by-hour-reconstructing-a-medieval-breton-prayerbook-2/.

Hoping you're all having a wonderful weekend!

Deja Vu? Or just the start of year two!

It's hard to believe, but a year has passed since we first stepped foot on the Notre Dame campus, and we're back again for our second summer. It's been quite an adventure so far, and I'm certainly looking forward to what lies ahead!

The night we arrived, Julie and I visited our favorite restaurant spot here in South Bend: Fiddler's Pub. Julie got the go-to favorite, Fish and Chips...

And I decided to try the Guinness Stew.

Both were as delicious as we remembered! We channeled our inner-Irish and are ready to go!

We started classes today. This module I'm taking Catholic Social Teaching and Liturgical Prayer. So far, so good! But I have definitely returned to the daily rhythm of last year: Coffee, class, eat, class, study, eat, study, sleep (maybe), repeat.

My home-away-from-home this summer is Siegfried Hall:

Miss all of you back at my Kansas home and hope you're doing well!